Topic
Solemn, Solemnity
20 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 43:3ISBE
And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.
- Exodus 16:23ISBE
And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the…
- Leviticus 23:36ISBE
Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
- Deuteronomy 16:15ISBE
Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
- 1 Samuel 8:9ISBE
Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
- 2 Kings 10:20ISBE
And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.
- 2 Chronicles 7:9ISBE
And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.
- 2 Chronicles 8:13ISBE
Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the…
- Nehemiah 8:18ISBE
Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.
- Psalms 81:3ISBE
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
- Psalms 92:3ISBE
Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
- Isaiah 33:20ISBE
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
Show 8 more
- Jeremiah 9:2 ISBE
- Ezekiel 36:38 ISBE
- Ezekiel 45:17 ISBE
- Ezekiel 46:9 ISBE
- Ezekiel 46:11 ISBE
- Zephaniah 3:18 ISBE
- Baruch 1:14 ISBE
- 2 Esdras 1:31 ISBE
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 23 references
sol'-em, so-lem'-ni-ti: The word "solemn" had
(1) at first the meaning "once in the year," through its derivation from Latin sollus, "whole," annus, "year." As, however, a regular annual occurrence is usually one of particular importance, the word took on
(2) the meaning "ceremonious." From this is derived
(3) the usual modern force of "grave" in opposition to "joyous."
This last meaning is not in Biblical English, and the meanings of "solemn" in English Versions of the Bible are either (1) or (2). Nor is there any certain case of (1), for the word is always a gloss in English Versions of the Bible and, although frequently introduced in references to annual events (Le 23:36, etc.), it is even more often used where "annual" is foreign to the passage (2Ki 10:20; Ps 92:3, etc.). The use of the word in the King James Version is unsystematic. It is always (except in Jer 9:2) found in conjunction with "assembly" when (10 times) the latter word represents atsarah ('atsereth) (Le 23:36, etc.) (retained by the Revised Version (British and American) with margin "closing festival," Le 23:36; 2Ch 7:9; Ne 8:18). the King James Version uses "solemnity" or "solemn day," "feast," etc., 17 times for the very common word mo`edh ("appointed" time, etc.).
See FEASTS.
RV's treatment of these passages defies analysis. "Solemnity" is kept in Isa 33:20; Eze 46:11, and "solemn" in Lamentations (4 times); Hosea (3 times); Ze 3:18. In Eze 36:38; 45:17; 46:9 it is replaced by "appointed," elsewhere (and for mo'adhoth, 2Ch 8:13) by "set." The margins further complicate the renderings. the King James Version also uses "solemn" with chagh, "feast," 4 times, and with chaghagh, "keep a feast," in De 16:15. The word is dropped by the Revised Version (British and American), except the English Revised Version in Ps 81:3. Finally, the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) have "solemn sound" for higgayon, in Ps 92:3. The context, however, demands "resounding melody." And 11 times the Revised Version (British and American) has introduced "solemn" to represent the intensive in the form shabbath shabbathon (Ex 16:23, etc.), where the King James Version has simply "sabbath" or "sabbath of rest." the Revised Version (British and American) here has imitated the adverbial "solemnly" in the similar intensified expressions in Ge 43:3; 1Sa 8:9.
The Revised Version (British and American) Apocrypha translates en hemerais kairou, "in the days of the season" (Baruch 1:14), by "on the days of the solemn assembly" (the King James Version "solemn days"), and both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) have "solemn feast days" for dies festos (2 Esdras 1:31). Otherwise the King James Version's use of "solemn" is dropped by the Revised Version (British and American).
Burton Scott Easton
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.