The Hebrew word chagag means to move around in a circle. It is a related word that is derived from the shoresh or root “hoog”. “Hoog” describes a circle, as in “to draw a circle with a compass”.

Chag is primarily defined as a festival or to keep a festival. Some examples are:

To dance:

Shmuel Alef (I Samuel) 30:16  “He led them down, and there they were, spread out all over the ground, eating, drinking and celebrating how much spoil they had taken from the territory of the P’lishtim and the territory of Y’hudah.”

To keep a festival (from the idea of leaping, and dancing in sacred dances):

Sh’mot (Exodus) 5:1 “After that, Moshe and Aharon came and said to Pharaoh, “Here is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they can celebrate a festival in the desert to honor me.”

Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:41 “You are to observe it as a feast to Adonai seven days in the year; it is a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh month.” *especially of a public assembly

Tehillim (Psalms) 42:5 “My soul, why are you so downcast? Why are you groaning inside me? Hope in God, since I will praise him again for the salvation that comes from his presence.”

To reel, to be giddy:

Tehillim (Psalms) 107:27 “…they reeled and staggered like drunk men, and all their skill was swallowed up.”

Most of the words translated as “feast” in the Hebrew Scriptures come from this word, chag. The Hebrew words chagag and chag have a root meaning “circle;” which primarily means circle dancing and is a typical Jewish traditional form of dancing that has been preserved from ancient days.

“Machol” is also used several times in scripture. It means: “a round dance” which comes from another root word “chul” which means “to twist or whirl, to dance.”