Pentecost

== Etymology ==
The term ''Pentecost'' comes from {{lang-grc-koi|πεντηκοστή|pentēkostē|fiftieth}}. One of the meanings of "Pentecost" in the [[Septuagint]], the Jewish Koine Greek translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]], refers to the festival of [[Shavuot]], one of the [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals]], which is celebrated on the fiftieth day after [[Passover]] according to [[Re'eh#Shavuot|Deuteronomy 16:10]],{{efn-lr|{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|16:10}}}} and [[Ki Tissa#Shavuot|Exodus 34:22]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Exodus|34:22}}</ref> where it is referred to as the "Festival of Weeks" ({{lang-grc-koi|ἑορτὴν ἑβδομάδων|heortēn hebdomádōn|link=no}}).<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |publisher=United Bible Societies |isbn=978-0-8267-0104-6 |last1=Bratcher |first1=Robert G |last2=Hatton |first2=Howard |title=A handbook on Deuteronomy |location=New York |date=2000}}</ref><ref name=jansen /><ref name=BDAG>{{Cite book |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-03933-6 |last1=Danker |first1=Frederick W |last2=Arndt |first2=William |last3=Bauer |first3=Walter |title=A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature |location=Chicago |date=2000}}</ref> The Septuagint uses the term {{transliteration|grc|Pentēkostē}} in the [[Book of Tobit]] and [[2 Maccabees]], which are in the [[Catholic Bible]], but for [[Protestantism|Protestants]] are [[deuterocanonical books]].{{Clarify|reason=Is Tobit in the Septuagint?|date=March 2024}}<ref name="TDNT" /><ref name="isbe">{{Cite encyclopedia |editor-first=Geoffrey William |editor-last=Bromiley |title=Pentecost |encyclopedia=The International standard Bible encyclopedia |edition=2 |publisher=W.B. Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |date=2009}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Tobit|2:1|NRSV}}{{bibleverse|2 Maccabees|12:32|NRSV}}</ref>

The translators of the Septuagint also used the word in two other senses: to signify the year of [[Jubilee (biblical)|Jubilee]] ([[Behar|Leviticus 25:10]])<ref>{{bibleverse|Leviticus|25:10}}</ref><ref name="TDNT">{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-first=Kittel |editor1-last=Gerhard |editor2-first=Gerhard |editor2-last=Friedrich |editor3-first=Geoffrey William |editor3-last=Bromiley |translator=Geoffrey William Bromiley |title=Pentecost |encyclopedia=Theological dictionary of the New Testament |publisher=Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-8028-2243-7}}</ref> an event which occurs every 50th year, and in several passages of chronology as an [[ordinal number]].{{efn-lr|As part of the phrase {{lang|grc|ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ἔτους πεντηκοστοῦ καὶ ἑκατοστοῦ}}<ref name="acadbible1mac6.20">{{cite web |title=Septuagint (LXX), 1 Maccabees 6:20 |website=academic-bible.com: The Scholarly Portal of the German Bible Society |publisher=German Bible Society |url=https://www.academic-bible.com/en/online-bibles/septuagint-lxx/read-the-bible-text/bibel/text/lesen/stelle/45/60001/69999/ch/d41d34ca2080867bd6761e2a9fcef7a9/ |access-date=9 June 2017}}</ref> ({{transliteration|grc|ep autēn etous pentēkastou kai hekatostou}}, "in the hundred and fiftieth year", or some variation of the phrase in combination with other numbers to define a precise number of years, and sometimes months. See: "... in the hundred and fiftieth year..." (1 Maccabees 6:20, KJV),<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Maccabees|6:20|KJV}}</ref> "In the hundred and one and fiftieth year..." (1 Maccabees 7:1, KJV),<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Maccabees|7:1}}</ref> " Also the first month of the hundred fifty and second year..." (1 Maccabees 9:3, KJV)<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Maccabees|9:3|KJV}}</ref> with other examples at 1 Maccabees 9:54 (KJV)<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Maccabees|9:54|KJV}}</ref> and 2 Maccabees 14:4 (KJV).<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Maccabees|14:4|KJV}}</ref><ref name="TDNT" />}} The term has also been used in the literature of [[Hellenistic Judaism]] by [[Philo of Alexandria]] and [[Josephus]] to refer to Shavuot.<ref name=BDAG />