Did the Gentile nations have similar feast days?
Many Gentile nations had feast days that emulated Israel s feast days long before Yahweh gave Israel the Law (Rm. 2:14). Scholars of the Bible and of antiquity point out this similarity. The Dictionary of the Bible by James Hastings states: “Many scholars maintain that there were elaborate ceremonies on the analogy of the Babylonian new-year feasts or of Canaanite annual feast. The case for a close parallel between the pre-exilic Feast of the Ingathering and the Babylonian Feast is to be found in Myth and Ritual (ed. S.H. Hooke), p. 1-146.” These nations had attached spiritual significance to their harvest days. The Dictionary of the Bible also states: “The general pattern involved a dramatic representation of the death and resurrection of god, a recitation of the myth of creation, a ritual combat in which the god overcomes his enemies, a sacred marriage and a triumphal procession (p. 952).” To the surprise of many, the Gentile s understanding of the harvest was astoundingly correct al
