Facts About the Jewish Calendar The Jewish Calculated Calendar In Light of Scripture
If you observe God's Holy Days as given to Israel through Moses, then you are probably familiar with some form of the Jewish calendar. Among the non-Jewish Sabbath-keeping churches of God, much has been written in attempts to justify their modified schedules (of God's Holy Days) which are only partially based on the Jewish calculated calendar.
The more scholarly-sounding articles include some facts about astronomy and make some attempt to explain the difficulties of constructing a perpetual, lunar/solar calendar. These will often include more historical information and some interesting illustrations. However, they are not truly scholarly in the sense of being specific in topic or approach, in being an objective presentation of all significant facts, or in adequately explaining arguments which may contradict the author's conclusions.
In short, much of what has been written is not so much an attempt to inform or to educate, as it is to persuade the reader to accept the authors' predisposed opinions.
In order to help our readers to have a better understanding of the Jewish calendar we are presenting quotations to show several contrasts. These quotations are taken from scripture, Jewish reference and historical works, and from authoritative works on astronomy. This material is presented to show the contrast between what scripture says about God's schedule of His Holy Days and how the Jewish calculated calendar works. It also shows some of the differences between what many non-Jewish Sabbath-keepers say about the Jewish Calendar and what Jewish scholars and historians say about their own calendar.1. Regarding the antiquity of the Jewish calendar:
A. The Jewish calculated calendar is not mentioned in scripture, although some have tried to read it into obscure or awkwardly worded passages. These are discussed elsewhere in this series of articles.
B. The history of the Jewish calendar is conveniently found in most Jewish Encyclopedias and in many other historical works.
The following is from The Jewish History of the "Jewish Calendar":
. . . Also by the 7th and 8th centuries, we see Judaism split into factions, many of which rejected the calculated calendar as repugnant to scripture and reinstated lunar observation .
One of the Geonim, Saadya b. Joseph al-Fayyumi (892-942), responded by proposing that the calculated calendar was of immemorial antiquity, and that months and festivals had always been determined by calculation. He further proposed that observation was introduced in the 4th century, only for the purpose of verifying the accuracy of the calculations with the result being a perfect match. The Karaites used the Talmud to disprove this absurd theory, with the reluctant agreement of most of the Rabbinic authorities of the time. The "reluctance" was due to having to agree with an opposing sect of Judaism."In the 7th and 8th cents., again, Judaism in the East was disturbed by the rise of various sects, many of which refused to recognize the existing calendar. One of its outstanding assailants was Anan b. David, the founder of Karaism (2nd half of 8th cent.), who abandoned the method of computation, as being repugnant to Scripture, and reinstated that of lunar observation (see art. Karaism)."
"Against all these . . . a stand was made by the Gaon Saadya b. Joseph al-Fayyumi (892-942). In order to safeguard the existing system of calendar, he broached the remarkable theory that it was of immemorial antiquity, and that months and festivals had always been determined by calculation. He maintained that observation of the moon was introduced only in the time of Antigonus of Socho (3rd cent. B.C.), as heretics had arisen who questioned the accuracy of the calculations, and that this step was taken simply to show that calculation and observation were in perfect accord (see REJ xliv. 176). It was an easy matter for the Karaites to quash this theory by means of data from the Talmud (cf. Poznanski, JQR x. 271; also The Karaite Literary Opponents of Saadiah Gaon, London, 1908, Passim), and the majority of Rabbinical authorities had likewise to admit that Saadya's contentions were absurd."
("Calendar (Jewish)", Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, Volume III, pp. 117-124. Emphasis ours.)[For a more thorough discussion of the evolutionary history of the Jewish calculated calendar, see related article: The Jewish History of the "Jewish Calendar".]
Note: The quotation above refers to those opposing the calculated calendar as sects, which has a negative connotation. Who is a sect is a matter of perspective. The pagan Romans considered the Jews as a "sect". The Jews considered the followers of Christ as a sect . The Catholics considered Protestants as sects . The mainstream Protestant religions consider Sabbath-keepers as sects . The formerly Sabbath-keeping, now Sunday-keeping WCG considers its Sabbath-keeping offshoots as sects . Name-calling or labeling does not establish possession of truth.
By the 4th cent. AD, Pharisaism had prevailed over other Jewish political and ideological philosophies to the point that mainstream Judaism and Pharisaism meant the same thing. This did not mean that there was consensus among the Jews. Far from it. Ausebel quotes the Talmud as recording 24 different sects of Judaism in Jerusalem by 70 AD. Some of these divisions were over the calendar. (The Book of Jewish Knowledge, An Encyclopedia of Judaism and the Jewish People, Ausebel, 1964).
What Jewish scholars say:
"As in the case of all other calendars, the Jewish calendar as now observed is the product of a long historical development."
("Calendar", The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 631).
"By the tenth century the Jewish calendar was exactly the same as today." ( Calendar ,The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, pp. 43-54.)
So the Jewish calendar in its present form is no more than 1,100 years old at the most.But the form of the calendar varied with the location.
"Not till the 14th cent. did they [Karaites Jews] accept the nineteen-year cycle, and even then only for regions far away from Palestine, such as Byzantium, the Crimea, Poland, etc. In Egypt, for instance, as late as the 17th cent., we still find the practice of intercalation a supplementary month as necessity required (cf. Gurland, Ginze Israel, Lyck, 1865, I. 5)."
("Calendar (Jewish)". Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, Vol. III, pp. 117-124.)(See related article: The Jewish History of the "Jewish Calendar".]
2. Regarding the sacredness of the Jewish calendar:
A. The Jews have a historical awareness of the source and development of their calendar and therefore do not pretend that it is in any way sacred . In fact they refer to their calendar as a civil calendar, and to the schedule of feast days within that civil calendar, as their religious calendar. (See sources under 1B, and 2B above.)
B. The word sacred does not appear in scripture.
The word calendar does not appear in scripture.C. The word sacred is defined as, " . . .consecrated; entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; hallowed; holy; ".
Calendar is defined as, "A register of the year, in which the months, weeks, and days are set down in order:" (All definitions are quoted from New Webster's Dictionary of the English Language, Delair, 1981, unless noted otherwise.)Note: By definition, God never gave man a calendar. What He did, was to give us the sun and moon for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: . (Gen. 1:14) Then He gave us a schedule of His feasts which is based on those signs (Ex. 12, Lev. 23, Deu.16.)
3. Regarding the relationship between observation and calculation:
A. Scripture says that the sun and moon are for signs, seasons, days and years :
"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
. . . and God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1:14, 16, 18).B. Jewish history shows observation alone was used before calculation became possible:
"The history of the Jewish calendar may be divided into three periods--the Biblical, the Talmudic, and the post-Talmudic. The first rested purely on the observation of the sun and the moon, the second on observation and reckoning, and the third entirely on reckoning."
("Calendar, History of:", The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 498, Funk and Wagnalls, 1903)."Little is known of the procedure of determining the calendar up to the 2nd cent. C.E., when a description is given of the traditional practice. It ran as follows: On the thirtieth day of the month a council would meet to receive the testimony of witnesses that they had seen the new moon. If two trustworthy witnesses had made deposition to that effect on that day, the council proclaimed a new month to begin on that day, that is, the day on which the testimony was given became the first day of the new month instead of the thirtieth day of the old month. If no witnesses appeared, however, the new moon was considered as beginning on the day following the thirtieth. Once the council had proclaimed the new month, announcement was made far and wide by means of fire-signals to inform the communities outside of Jerusalem. Jews living at a distance greater than could be reached by such signals observed each thirtieth day and the day after as the new moon, in order to be sure to observe one day at least at the proper time.
This method of determining the new moon had its defects. During certain periods of the year continuous rainfall might prevent the new moon from being seen at all until several days after the month should have begun. Witnesses might be overzealous and imagine they had seen the new moon too soon; or malicious witnesses might purposely give false testimony. The leaders of the community, therefore, had to study astronomy, in order to ascertain by means of calculation when the new moon should appear, and thus check upon the testimony of witnesses. . . . Disputes arose between those who depended on witnesses and those who relied on calculation; a noted instance of such a dispute between Gamaliel [observation] and Joshua [calculation] is recorded in the Mishnah (R.H. 2:8-9). Eventually the calendar was determined entirely on the basis of astronomical calculations, and the hearing of the evidence of witnesses was merely retained to encourage individuals to perform their religious duties."
("Calendar", The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 632, The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. New York, 1940).Note: This Gamaliel lived 150-200 years after the New Testament contemporary of Paul. The Joshua mentioned here is not the one who assisted Moses.
Note: Critics of observation often mention the possibility of clouds blocking the view of a new moon. God promised, "If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, . . ." (Lev. 26:3-4).
He also promised that, for obedience, he would schedule the rains so that they would not interfere with the harvests. "And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day . . .That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil." (Deu. 11:13-14).
This is a promise of blessing for obedience. God promised to schedule the rainfall, if the people were obedient. If the people were obedient to his commandments, then it would not be a problem for God to also schedule the rain so that it would not interfere with the observation of his signs which identify his feast schedule. Israel and Judah were so frequently disobedient, on a national scale, that they were eventually taken into captivity by other nations. It is not surprising that they had problems with observation of the signs, since their disobedience would have resulted in rainfall being not in due season."The principal object of the calendar was to regulate ( . . .the intercalation of a day in a month, making it thirty days, and of a month in a year.)--which enabled them to test the accuracy of the evidence of the eye-witnesses, and which was probably resorted to on exceptional occasions (R.H.20).
The substitution of calculation for observation became gradually permanent, . . .
A permanent calendar, still in force [sic], was introduced by Hillel II, nasi of the Sanhedrin about 360. It is uncertain what the calendar of Hillel originally contained, and when it was generally adopted. In the Talmud there is no trace of it."
("Calendar, History of:", The Jewish Encyclopedia, pp. 502-503, Funk and Wagnalls, 1903).The need to declare a 13th month was also, at first, determined by observation.
"Every two or three years, as the case might be, an extra month was intercalated.
Moreover, it was possible to judge by the grain harvest. If the month of Nisan arrived and the sun was at such a distance from the vernal equinox that it could not reach it by the 16th of the month, then this month was not called Nisan, but Adar Sheni (second).
On the evening before the announcement of the intercalation the patriarch assembled certain scholars who assisted in the decision. It was then announced to the various Jewish communities by letters. To this epistle was added the reason for the intercalation. A copy of such a letter of Rabban Gamaliel is preserved in the Talmud (Sanh. xi. 2)."
("Calendar, History of:", The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 499, Funk and Wagnalls, 1903.)
What do the Jews do when there is a conflict between observation and calculation? What happens when the first crescent is visible on day 29 but the calendar rules require 30 days?
The new moon is sometimes visible on the 29th day. When there needs to be a 30th day, it is called new moon as well as the 1st day of the following month.
( The Jewish Calendar , Rabbi Ari Cartun, Hillel Foundation, Stanford Univ., http://portfolio-www.stanford.edu/104273).
So God's signs for his appointed days are ignored when they conflict with man-made rules.4. Regarding the order of the months:
A. Scripture says:
"And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." (Ex.12:1-2)."This day came you out in the month Abib." (Ex. 13:4)
"You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread: (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)" (Ex. 23:15)."The feast of unleavened bread shall you keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as commanded you, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt." (Ex. 34:18).
"And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation." (Lev. 23:23-24)."Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought you forth out of Egypt by night." (Deu.16:1).
B. The Jewish scholars say:
Tishri 1, *Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
Tishri 2, Second Day of Rosh Hashanah* (an asterisk indicates that they are observed by Reform as well as Conservative and Orthodox Jews: . . .
Although all Jews observe this calendar for religious purposes, most of them in their ordinary business dealings and documents use the civil calendar of the countries in which they live. Prior to their emancipation in the 18th cent. . . ., they would use the Jewish dates for all purposes.
("Calendar", The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 633, The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. New York, 1940).(Note: Not all Jews use the calculated calendar to schedule God's feast days. Some of those who do use it, do not recognize those who don't use it. Jewish histories show divisions over the calendar since the 1st cent. CE (AD).
(Note: This article refers to The Jewish Civil Calendar and to The Jewish Religious Calendar , p. 632. Both labels refer to the same document. The first refers to the Jewish perpetual calendar which may have 353, 354, 355, 383, 384, or 385 days, with 12 or 13 months. The second refers only to their schedule of 61 religious holidays, feasts and fasts within the year.)"Fixing Rosh Ha-Shanah (New Year's Day). The year begins on Tishri 1, which is rarely the day of the molad, as there are four obstacles or considerations, called dehiyyot, in fixing the first day of the month (rosh hodesh). Each dehiyyah defers Rosh Ha-Shanah a day, and combined dehiyyot may cause a postponement of two days:" [Some say that the only purpose is to prevent interference with the traditional Friday and pre-Atonement rituals which are considered as holy as the Sabbath observance itself, but other alleged purposes include avoiding having two consecutive days in which the dead could not be buried, or in which fresh vegetables and fruits could not be harvested for Sabbath meals.].
("Calendar",The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, pp. 43-54. Emphasis ours.)"Notwithstanding that Rosh Hashanah is called the Jewish New Year, its institution showed no concern with the calendar. It occurs, not--as one would expect on the first day of the first month of the Hebrew month of Nissan (March-April), but on the first day of the seventh month of Tishri (September-October)."
("Rosh Hashanah", The Book of Jewish Knowledge, An Encyclopedia of Judaism and the Jewish People, pp. 372-374, Ausubel, 1964).
5. Recognizing the first month of the year:
A. Scripture says:
"And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." (Ex.12:1-2)."This day came you out in the month Abib." (Ex. 13:4)
"You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread: (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)" (Ex. 23:15)."The feast of unleavened bread shall you keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as commanded you, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt." (Ex. 34:18).
"And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation." (Lev. 23:23-24)."Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought you forth out of Egypt by night." (Deu.16:1).
"Abib (meaning green ears ), also called Nisan, usually corresponds on our calendar to the time from mid-March until mid-April. This is the normal time for the barley harvest in Palestine." ("Calendar", The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, pp.222-226, Tyndale, 1980.)
B. Scholars say:
"The observation of the autumnal equinox, i.e."the going out of the year" (see Ex.23:16), and of the spring or vernal equinox, called "the return of the year" (1 Ki. 20:26; 2 Ch. 36:10, AV) was important for controlling the calendar and consequently the festivals. Thus the year began with the new moon nearest to the vernal equinox when the sun was in Aries. (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 3.201) and the Passover on the fourteenth day of Nisan coincided with the first full moon (Ex.12:2-6)."
("Calendar", The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, pp.222-226, Tyndale, 1980.)
(See also, Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 3:10:5.)Note: The present Jewish calculated calendar, which came to its final form long after the time of Josephus, is based on establishing the first day of Tishri which is the seventh month. From this date, Nisan 1, the length of the year, and the other annual holy days are calculated.
Note: What is meant by the "sun being in Aries"?
According to professional astronomers, saying that the "sun was in Aries" is a misnomer carried over from astrology. The correct terminology would be "the vernal equinox was in Aries"."This fourth motion of the Earth is called the precession of the equinoxes, because it causes an advance of the Spring Equinox every year in relation to the real revolution of the Earth around the Sun. The positions of the stars on the celestial sphere are defined relative to a line drawn from the Pole to the point where the Equator is crossed by the Sun at the time of the Spring Equinox. This is the point of the Vernal Equinox designated by [a Greek letter](gamma), which is a graphic version of the sign for the zodiacal constellation of Aries (the Ram), recalling its horns. This point advances each year from East to West; the equinox therefore covers all points of the Equator in succession in 25,780 years.
At some unknown date in very ancient times, the stars in the region of the sky covered by the Sun in its apparent annual motion were divided into twelve groups named the constellations of the Zodiac. The first one, in which the Sun used to be at the time of the equinox 2000 years ago, was named Aries (the Ram); . . .
The Spring Equinox departed from Aries a long time ago; it is now [1964] in Pisces, and in about [2597] it will be in Aquarius."
("The Fourth Motion of the Earth, The Precession of the Equinoxes", The Flammarion Book of Astronomy, pp. 46-47.)So the sun was in Aries for about 2,148 years (25,780/12). It is still "in Pisces" which means that at or near the time of the vernal equinox, Pisces would be visible just before sunrise, and just above the horizon, near where the sun rises, in the eastern sky. There are also other ways to identify the day of the vernal equinox which we shall discuss later.
Note: There is much argument among non-Jewish Sabbath-keepers over the first month. Some insist that the entire first month (spec. the "new moon") must be in season , (after the vernal, or spring equinox). Scripture only requires that God's Passover be kept in season (See No. 10, below.) It does not require that the entire month of Abib be in season .
C. What difference does it make?
There are only three choices: the last new moon before the spring equinox, the first new moon after the equinox, or the new moon closest to the equinox. Any choice here will periodically create an intercalation problem (adding a 13th month) if you are trying to maintain a perpetual calendar. Of course, God never commanded a perpetual calendar, He only commanded that we observe his feasts.
For Passover to be kept in season (Ex. 13:10), in Palestine (agriculturally, in a month of green ears or Abib ), it must be after the equinox, (i.e. "in spring"). Since the feast of Passover is at sunset on the 14th day of the lunar month, the equinox must have taken place before sunset on the 14th of the 1st month, and after sunset on the 14th of the previous month.
Since the lunar month is either 29 or 30 days (as measured by complete solar days, i.e. from sunset to sunset ), and Passover is at sunset on the 14th, there is no room for confusion. If the equinox occurs at or just before sunset on the (end of the) 14th day of the lunar month, it is 13 days from the previous new moon and 15 or 16 days until the next new moon. If the equinox occurs at or just after sunset on the 13th (the beginning of the 14th) of the lunar month, it is 12 days after the previous new moon, and 16 or 17 days until the next new moon. [So whether you observe Passover at the beginning or at the end of the 14th, there is still only one choice as to which new moon is closest to the equinox.]
Perhaps this will help:
If the equinox is on the 13th, it is 12 days after a new moon, 16-17 days until the next new moon.
If the equinox is on the 14th, it is 13 days after a new moon, 15-16 days until the next new moon.
If the equinox is on the 15th, it is 14 days after a new moon, 14-15 days until the next new moon.
If the equinox is on the 16th, it is 15 days after a new moon, 13-14 days until the next new moon.
If the equinox is on the 17th, it is 16 days after a new moon, 12-13 days until the next new moon.Prior to the rise of modern astronomy, before men had accumulated enough observational data and developed the math necessary for the calculations of a perpetual calendar (i.e. before 4th cent. BC), men still observed the movements of the stars and the sun and moon. David wrote about the annual cycle of the sun (Psa. 19:1-6). Kings of Israel used an official sun dial (2 K. 20:11). Sun dials were used in Egypt prior to the time of the Exodus, "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." (Acts 7:22). Some of the earliest sundials included markings to help identify not only the summer and winter solstice but also the vernal and autumnal equinox.
Sun dials were replaced by water clocks which worked on cloudy days and at night. Portable sundials were sometimes called "shepherd's sundials".
The equinox has always been observable by the stars."The stars of Taurus, especially the Pleiades, were the stars of the equinox for the Egyptians, for the Chinese, and still for the early Greeks."
The equinox occurs 88-90 solar days after the winter solstice. It comes after 3-5 lunations of the moon. ("The Fourth Motion of the Earth, The Precession of the Equinoxes", The Flammarion book of Astronomy, 1964, pp. 46-48.)
In the context of agriculture (Gen. 1:12), God introduced the sun as controlling the seasons in Gen. 1:14. David acknowledged the moon as "appointed" for "seasons" (Heb. mo'ed, appointments or appointed times, e.g. Holy Days) in Psa. 104:19.
The equinox is a point in the solar year (the earth's annual journey around the sun) when the geometric center of the sun's disk crosses the equator. This occurs once in spring (spring or vernal equinox) and once in fall (fall or autumnal equinox). The spring equinox marks the beginning of spring. In Palestine, when Israel was obedient to God's laws, he promised to give them rain in due season which also means no early or late springs, and no late frosts. The spring crops would have been ready on schedule and this would have identified the month of "Abib" or "green ears", in which Passover and Unleavened Bread were to be celebrated. (See John 11:9, 12:9.)
Jewish history shows Holy Days being scheduled, and sometimes delayed because of the conditions of the crops. When Israel or Judah was disobedient to God, the promises of rain in due season did not apply, and droughts and late frosts would have affected the keeping of the Holy Days accordingly.The solstice can be identified using any upright object which cast a shadow during the daylight hours. As the earth journeys around the sun, with its polar axis tilted in relation to its plane of orbit, the sun appears higher in the summer sky and lower in the winter sky. Throughout the year, daytime shadows cast by upright objects move northward from the time of the winter solstice until the summer solstice, at which time they begin moving southward until the winter solstice.
You can observe this in your own yard using an upright stick or a fence post, and marking the position of its shadow on the ground each day. This is most accurately done when the sun is at its highest point in the sky with the shadow pointing due North.A common belief is that the equinoxes are the two days of the year when the day and night are of equal length. Actually the equality of day and night can help you identify the equinox but it partially depends upon your location as measured in degrees latitude.
"On the day of an equinox, the geometric center of the Sun's disk crosses the equator, and this point is above the horizon for 12 hours everywhere on the earth. However, the Sun is not simply a geometric point. Sunrise is defined as the instant when the leading edge of the Sun's disk becomes visible on the horizon, whereas sunset is the instant when the trailing edge of the disk disappears below the horizon. These are the moments of first and last direct sunlight. At these times the center of the disk is below the horizon. Furthermore, atmospheric refraction causes the Sun's disk to appear higher in the sky that it would if the Earth had no atmosphere. Thus, in the morning the upper edge of the disk is visible for several minutes before the geometric edge of the disk reaches the horizon. Similarly, in the evening the upper edge of the disk disappears several minutes after the geometric disk had passed below the horizon. The times of sunrise and sunset in almanacs are calculated for the normal atmospheric refraction of 34 minutes of arc [note that this refers to the angle of the sun to the horizon and is not 34 minutes of time] and a semidiameter of 16 minutes of arc for the disk. Therefore, at the tabulated time the geometric center of the Sun is actually 50 minutes of arc below a regular and unobstructed horizon for an observer on the surface of the Earth in a level region.
For observers within a couple of degrees of the equator, the period from sunrise to sunset is always several minutes longer than the night. At higher latitudes in the northern hemisphere, the date of equal day and night occurs before the March equinox. Daytime continues to be longer than nighttime until after the September equinox. In the Southern hemisphere, the dates of equal day and night occur before the September equinox and after the March equinox.
In the northern hemisphere, at latitude 5 degrees the dates of equal day and night occur about February 25 and October 15; at latitude 40 degrees they occur about March 17 and September 26. On the dates of the equinoxes, the day is about 7 minutes longer than the night at latitudes up to about 25 degrees, increasing to 10 minutes or more at latitude 50 degrees."
(http://aa.nsno.navy.mil/aa/faq/docs/equinoxes.html)The equinox is also observable by the points on the horizon where the sun rises and sets. On the day of the equinox, the sun is directly above the equator, rising due east and setting due west of you regardless of your latitude on the earth. So the equinox can be recognized simply by knowing which way is east and west.
This movement is also observable using a stick in your yard. Shove it into the ground, in an upright position, and mark the shadows at sunrise or early morning and sunset or late afternoon. From solstice to equinox they will form a slight angle to each other. On the days of equinox, they will align into a perfectly straight line. So if you can force a pencil into a piece of cardboard, or drive a nail into a board, or set a steel rod in a slab of concrete, you can make your own sundial and recognize the solstices and the equinoxes. (For more information on sundials, see the links given after this series of articles.)In the southern hemisphere, the agricultural seasons are reversed from the northern hemisphere, but otherwise everything discussed above still applies.
In actual practice, identifying the first month is simpler than it sounds.
1. If the equinox occurs on the 16th of the lunar month (i.e. between sunset ending 15th and sunset ending the 16th) or later, the following new moon begins the new year.
2. If the equinox occurs on the 14th of the lunar month (i.e. between sunset ending the 13th and sunset ending the 14th) or earlier, the previous new moon began the first month of the new year.
3. If the equinox occurs on the 15th of the lunar month (i.e. between sunset on the 14th and sunset on the 15th) and the month ends on the 30th day, the 15th is closer to the previous new moon which would indicate that you are in the first month.
However, in a month of 29 days, the month would be evenly split with 14 days to both the previous new moon and to the following new moon. This would seem to leave room for confusion except for two things. If you depend upon observation, as Moses and Israel had to do from 1450 BC until some time after 400 BC, identifying the equinox on the 15th would mean that Passover could not be observed until the following month. Secondly, using observation, you cannot know in advance exactly how many days any month will have until you identify the first day of the next month.
Therefore, by observation, an equinox occurring on the 15th or later, means the following new moon begins the first month of the year.
With man's increased knowledge (Dan. 12:4) of astronomy, the equinox and the conjunction of the moon can be calculated in advance and this information can be quite helpful (as long as the data is correct). We should keep in mind that all of the world's business is done on Roman time in which days begin and end at midnight while God considers days from sunset to sunset. Thus, an astronomer or a printed calendar could report the equinox as occurring at 10:00 pm on the 14th of the Gregorian calendar. But this would be on the 15th as God counts time. A few minutes difference at sunset, can mean the difference of a whole day in trying to determine the closest new moon and the first month of the year. The moon's phases are also given on calendars in terms of astronomical calculation and by counting days from midnight to midnight, and may vary from what is actually observed. The Jewish calculated calendar is based on mean times not astronomical times. This includes a 6:00 pm sunset regardless of actual sunset. The total variation of the "mean" conjunction from the actual conjunction is 21 hours.Since God had Israel count days from new moons , which always cycle in either 29 or 30 full solar days (sunset to sunset), the actual day of the month seldom corresponds to the day shown on commercial (Gregorian) calendars in which months vary in length from 28 to 31 days.
Since the solar year is about 11 days longer than 12 lunar cycles, lunar/solar calendars will in some years (6 or 7 out of every 19) correspond to 13 lunar cycles. Just as the length of Friday is immaterial when you can recognize the beginning of the Sabbath day, the length of the previous year is immaterial when you can recognize the beginning of the 1st month of the coming year.
The 7th lunar month with its feast days, is counted from the 1st lunar month. While Sabbath-keepers often refer to these feasts as the fall feasts , scripture does not contain this term. Agricultural events associated with the feast days (i.e. firstfruits and ingathering ) in Ex. 23:16 and 34:22 applied to Palestine or the land which the Lord will give you (Ex. 12:25). Since the requirement for physical sacrifices ended with Christ's self-sacrifice, the physical offerings of the Holy Days (e.g. the wave sheaf , Lev. 23:10-11) were no longer required. This is particularly relevant for those living in other agricultural climates. For example, those living south of the equator observe Passover in their fall season and the Feast of Tabernacles in their spring season. However, the symbolism of the associated agricultural season in Palestine is still significant.
6. Regarding the length of the months:
A. Scripture shows 22 days of the month being mentioned. The 1st day is mentioned 24 times. The 10th is mentioned 12 times; the 14th, 17 times and the 15th day, 13 times. The other days are each mentioned 7 times or less, and some not at all. The 28th, 29th and 30th days are never mentioned. Probably because these would correspond to the approx. two or three days of darkness which is the final phase of the moon before becoming "new" again, which was the point from which the days were counted.
B. The Jewish calendar specifies the length of individual months for the convenience of calculations without regard to the actual appearance of God's signs (i.e. the moon's actual phase):
"The normal Jewish year consists of 354 days, divided into twelve months which are alternately thirty and twenty-nine days each; it is called kesidrah ( in proper order ) in Hebrew. In order, however, to prevent New Year and the day of Atonement from falling on Friday or Sunday, a day is sometimes added or subtracted from one of the months. If the day is added, it falls to the month of Heshvan and the year is known as sheleman (perfect); if the day is subtracted, it is taken from the month of Kislev, and the year is termed haserah (defective)."
("Calendar", The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 632, The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc. New York, 1940).Note: Heshvan, the eighth month counting from Abib, is also called Marchesvan or Bul. Kislev, the ninth month from Abib, is also spelled Chislev. The added and subtracted days are not applied to months one through seven in order to avoid a complication with the calculations. It is solely a matter of convenience for the sake of calculation that these days are applied to months eight and nine. Here again, we see days being added or subtracted regardless of the actual length of the month using the signs God gave.
Regarding other adjustments which affect the length of the months, see 9.C. below.C. Astronomy says there are several ways to measure the moon's cycles. The one relevant to God's schedule of Holy Days is called the synodic period of revolution. It is 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes 3 seconds. This is the approximate time required for the moon to travel from one conjunction to the next. It is approximately the time between one visible first crescent and the next.
Astronomy also tells us there are almost 1,500 irregularities in the motions of the moon, of which about 500 have to be carefully calculated in order to calculate lunar ephemerides (tables of the moon's position in relation to the stars on a daily basis). Because of these variations, the actual conjunction is impossible to determine in advance, just as the "mean" conjunction is impossible to determine in advance.
However, when you look for the first crescent, none of these really matters. You either see the first crescent or you don't.7. Regarding the addition of a thirteenth month:
A. The astronomical facts:
1) The mean synodic month (from one new moon until the next) is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds.
2) Twelve lunar months equals 354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 36 seconds.
3) One solar year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.
4) The difference between 12 lunar months and one solar year amounts to 10 days, 11 hours, 0 minutes, 10 seconds.
5) Since the actual solar year is more than 365 days but less than 366 days, one extra day is added (as Feb.29, in our present Roman or Gregorian calendar) once in every four years (called a leap year).
6) Since there is an 11-day difference between 12 lunar months and one solar year,
a combined lunar/solar, perpetual calendar requires an additional (intercalary) month be added periodically (in 7 of every 19 years).Note: The Jewish calendar and the Chinese calendar are the only calendars that attempt to reconcile the mathematical anomalies of the lunar and solar cycles.
B. Some Sabbath-keeping organizations say that "a careful reading of Ezekiel 1-8" shows that a 13th month was added in the time of the Old Testament.
(Source: UCG, AIA's Summary of the Hebrew Calendar, Doctrinal Study Paper, p.4)C. Scripture says:
1) Eze. 1:1 mentions 30th year, 4th month, 5th day .
2) Eze. 1:2 says that this 30th year is also the 5th year of King Jehoichin's captivity.
3) Eze. 3:15 says that Ezekiel sat with the captives for seven days .
4) Eze. 4:5 relates God's instructions to Ezekiel to lay on his left side for 390 days to symbolize the iniquity of Israel .
5) Eze. 4:6 relates God's instructions to Ezekiel to lay on his right side for 40 days to symbolize the iniquity of Judah .
6) Eze. 8:1 mentions the 6th year, 6th month, 5th day .
7) The difference between Eze. 1:1-2, and Eze. 8:1 amounts to 1 year, 2 months and 0 days (or 14 months).Note: . . .the Jewish calendar contains six different types of years, numbering 353, 354, 355, 383, 384, and 385 days, respectively. (The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p.631).
The normal Jewish year consists of 354 days, divided into twelve months which are alternately thirty and twenty-nine days each; . . . (Ibid. p. 632).
Adding 7, 390 and 40 (from Eze. 1-8), we get 437 days.
When we add 59 (30 + 29) days, the two months of line 5) above, to each of the possible Jewish years, we get 412, 413, 414, 442, 443, and 445 days respectively.
If we subtract one month of 29 or 30 days (looking for an intercalary year of 13 months) we get 407 or 408 days. If we subtract two months (30 +29), we get 378 days.
Regardless of how we add or subtract with the given numbers, nothing matches any of the six possible Jewish calendar years. Eze. 1-8 doesn't really tell us anything about any calendar. If we insist that it does, then it only proves that the current Jewish calendar was not being used.The astronomical fact that the cycle of the moon's phases does not correspond in whole numbers to the cycle of the vernal equinox does not affect the schedule of God's feast days which fall from the 1st to the 7th lunar months. As long as you can recognize the first month of a year, the length of the year is irrelevant to the schedule of God's feasts.
Scripture never mentions a 13th month. David ruled for 40 years and Solomon ruled for another 40. David scheduled temple service according to a 12 month year (1Chrn.27), probably reflecting the customs of the nations around them which used 12 months of 30 days, with an extra 5 or 6 days added at the end of the year. This was the calendar of Babylon from which Abraham was called and the calendar of Egypt out of which the Israelites came.
D. Jewish tradition says:
"Twelve lunar months, however, amount only 354 days, and the agricultural festivals . . . had to fall at or about the same time every solar year. Thus it became necessary to provide some way of adding the eleven days needed to make a complete solar year; . . . It is possible that an extra month was inserted (intercalated) every two or three years, as is done in the present Jewish calendar; in fact, Jewish traditions asserts that King Hezekiah (end of the 8th cent. BCE) made just such an intercalation (Pes. 4:9) [Talmud]. On the other hand, it is equally possible that ten or eleven days were added at the end of the year to make up the deficiency; there is a hint of this in a passage (Ezek.40:1) that speaks of the tenth of the month as being the head of the year (rosh hashanah)."
("Calendar", The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, 1940, Vol. 2, p. 632).E. Jewish history says:
"In Temple times this intercalation was decided upon in the individual years according to agricultural conditions (Tosef., Sanh. 2:2; Sanh. 11b); later, however, it was fixed to be in the years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19 of the cycle. "
("Calendar",The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, p. 43.)"The intervals of intercalation were at first irregular, intercalation being in part due to the prevailing state of various agricultural products and to social conditions.
Owing to the omission of intercalation over a period of some length, R. Akiva (d. 137) once intercalated three successive years as an emergency measure.
The gradual regularizing of the intervals of intercalations had to be in the terms of the seven-year sabbatical cycle as none of the styles of the 19-year Metonic Cycle would have been compatible with the rule not to intercalate in sabbatical and post-sabbatical years (Tosef., Sanh., 2:2-9, and parallels)."
("Calendar",The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, p. 49.)"There is, . . ., unimpeachable evidence from the works of writers with expert knowledge of the calendar that the present ordo intercalationis [sequence of adding a 13th month] and epochal molad were not yet intrinsic parts of the calendar of Hillel II, these being seen still side by side with other styles of the ordo intercalationis and the molad as late as the 11th century. Also the four dehiyyot [rules of postponement) developed gradually."
("Calendar",The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, p.50.)
"At first it was in the hands of the Sanhedrin to decide annually whether the year was to be a common year or a leap-year; and the decision was based on direct observation as to the signs of spring. In course of time, calculation was in this case also substituted for observation; and the sequence of common years and leap-years was permanently fixed."
("Calendar, History of:", The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 503, Funk and Wagnalls, 1903)."Under the reign of Constantius (337-361) the persecutions of the Jews reached such a height that all religious exercises, including the computation of the calendar, were forbidden under pain of severe punishment. The Sanhedrin was apparently prevented from inserting the intercalary month in the spring; it accordingly placed it after the month of Ab (July-August)."
(Ibid, p.500).
In other words, for perhaps as long as 24 years, an additional month was periodically added after the 5th month, Ab, making Tishri the 8th month from the vernal equinox.F. The Jewish calendar originally used a cycle of 8 years.
"In the 6th century BC, the Babylonians introduced a system by which they added a month three times in an eight-year cycle. The Babylonian calendar was later adopted by the Jews of Palestine and Egypt."
("II.8 Calendar", Almanac of the Bible, Wigoder, Paul, and Viviano, The Jerusalem Publishing House Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel, 1991, pp. 105-106.)"..the change from the 8-year to the 19-year cycle, which is said to have taken place between A.D. 222 and 276, ..."
("Calendar (Jewish)", Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, edited by James Hastings, Volume III, pp. 117-124.)
G. Adaption of Meton's cycle:"In 432 BCE the [Greek] Athenian astronomer Meton had reformed the Athenian calendar on the basis of a cycle of nineteen years, consisting of 235 lunar months, adding one month seven times in the cycle to take care of the excess (235 is 7 more than 19 times 12). This calendar was widely adopted, and was eventually followed by the Jewish teachers, who made seven out of every group of nineteen years leap years (embolismic years) of thirteen months."
("Calendar", The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p.632).H. Jewish scholars have known since before 1948, that the "minor discrepancy" in the 19-year cycle has accumulated to make the holy days a month late in some years, however the Jewish calculations still use 19 years.
The following is from: "Judaism Knowledge Base" at "torah.org".
"The Jewish Calendar and Holidays (incl. Sabbath): How accurate is the Jewish calendar?
The Jewish calendar is based on a figure for the length of the solar year that is 6 or 7 minutes too long. As a result, over the past 1500 years (since the time of Hillel II) the calendar has drifted by about 7 days, and in some leap years the first day of Passover occurs as late as April 25, which is more than a month after the vernal equinox. This discrepancy is not mentioned in most places that discuss the Jewish calendar, but it is treated on pp.207-8 of W.M.Feldman's book Rabbinical Mathematics and Astronomy. (ar@cfar.umd.edu)"Source: http://www.torah.org/qanda/kb.php3?file=100
8. Why the Jewish calculated calendar was published:
"Up to the middle of the 4th cent. C.E., the Palestinian patriarchate retained the prerogative of determining the calendar, and guarded the secrets of its calculation against the attempts of the rapidly advancing communities in Babylonia to have a voice in its determination. It was not until after Christianity had become dominant in the Roman Empire, and the Christian rulers forbade the Jewish religious leadership to proclaim leap years or to communicate with the Jews outside of the empire, that it was determined to abandon the method of official proclamation of months and years and to fix the calendar in permanent form. The patriarch Hillel II, in 359[AD], decided to publish the rules for the calculation of the calendar, so that all Jews everywhere might be able to determine it for themselves and to observe the festivals on the same day."
("Calendar", The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p.632).
Note: Only one witness from the 11th cent. AD testifies to this tradition. To find two contemporary witnesses to the use of the calendar, we have to look to sometime after 500 AD, probably to the 8th century or later.Note: This says that the official method was abandoned in order to use the fixed or permanent calculated form. The calculations originally came from the Babylonian Jewish community and were not a Palestinian secret to be revealed to them. In addition, the calculations continued to be modified by the Babylonian community long after the time of Hillel II.
9. When does a day begin and end?
A. According to scripture:
A day consists of an evening and a morning, in that order.
"And the evening (6153) and the morning were the [first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth] day." (Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31).At even means the time when the sun goes down.
"But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in , there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even (6153), at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt." (Deu. 16:6)
See also Josh. 10:26-27, Deu. 23:11, Gen. 30:16.
From Strong's: 6153. ereb, dusk:-- even, evening, eventide, night
"He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down. You make darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun rises they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. Man goes forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening." (Psa. 104:19-23).B. According to our contemporary (Roman) system of timekeeping, the day begins and ends at midnight. This may have originated with the Egyptian astronomers whom the Romans Emperors recruited to make their calendar more astronomically correct.
C. According to some individuals, the day begins at sunrise and ends at sunset. The dark period of the day isn't counted. We understand this belief to be based, apparently, upon light being symbolic of good (i.e. God), while darkness is symbolic of evil (i.e. Satan).
Scripture says: "The day is yours [God's], the night also is yours: you have prepared the light and the sun." (Psa. 74:16)
"I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons." (Psa. 16:7).
"The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge." (Psa. 19:1-2).
So God claims the night also, using it to give instruction (Psa. 16:7; 19:1-2), songs (Job 35:10, Isa. 30:29, Mat. 26:26-30), and visions (Job 4:13, Dan. 2:19; 7:2, 7, 13; Zech. 1:8).
Satan is not limited to the night. See Rev. 12:10.
See also Psa. 134:1-3 and Rev. 7:14-15.Scripture shows that the night is simply the dark portion of the day, not something separate. "Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: . . ." (Amos 5:8).
D. According to Jewish sources, The first appearance of the new moon determines the beginning of the month. "At first a small and faint arc, like a sickle, can be seen by those endowed with good sight, from spots favorable for such an observation."
("Calendar, History of:", The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 502, Funk and Wagnalls, 1903).This first crescent, marking the beginning of the "first day" of the month, can only be seen after sunset.
Nevertheless, the Jewish calendar calculations are based on the day beginning and ending at 6:00 p.m. regardless of actual, local sunset. But for ritual purposes, 6:00 p.m. and actual sunset are considered to be the same moment, regardless of calculations or official local time.
However, for astronomical and calendrical purposes, from the 2nd cent. AD until 1925, the day began and ended at noon.
The daylight and nighttime portions of the day vary in length throughout the year according to the cycles of God's created signs . They also vary according to latitude and geographical location. But for ritual purposes [for example the observance of Passover which is to take place at sunset (Lev. 23:5)], the day and night are considered to always have 12 hours each, which vary in length daily to fit the observable reality of light and darkness. In other words, by Jewish tradition, the day and night are each divided into 12 equal parts, called hours which may be more or less than 60 minutes each."For ritual purposes, e.g., in reckoning the times fixed for prayers or the commencement and termination of the Sabbath, the day is deemed to begin at sunset or at the end of twilight, and its 24 hours (12 in the day and 12 in the night) are temporary hours varying in length with the respective length of the periods of light and darkness. But in the reckonings of the molad the day is the equatorial day of 24 hours of unvarying length and is deemed to commence at 6 p.m., probably in terms of local Jerusalem time."
("Calendar", The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, pp. 43-44.)10. When does a month begin? What is a new moon ?
A. According to some individuals, the new moon is the full moon .
This is contradictory to scripture, history, archaeological findings, astronomical science, logic and common sense.B. Scripture shows:
1) That a new moon is a defining point for a month just as the Sabbath is a defining point for the week. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon (chodesh) to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says the Lord." (Isa.66:23).
2) The phrase new moon is translated from the Hebrew chodesh.
Strong's 2320. chodesh, from 2318, the new moon, by impl. a month: .
Strong's 2318. chadash, a prim. root; to be new; caus. to rebuild: renew, repair.
Other Jewish sources show that "chodesh" or "hodesh" literally means "newness" as in the first visible crescent.
Note: We speak of the moon's phases or changes in appearance as waxing and waning .
The verb wax is defined as, "To increase in size or strength; to grow in any manner; to become larger or to develop toward fullness, esp. the moon, as opposed to wane." The verb wane is defined as, "To diminish; to decrease or grow less: particularly applied to the illuminated part of the moon," (Webster's).
The Hebrew phrase new moon comes ultimately, from a root word meaning to "rebuild", as in "to increase, to become larger, and to develop toward fullness". A full moon could not increase or become larger.3) The new moon is described as coming into existence, or as something which was absent but is now present. Even the Hebrew word molad (as in the "molad of Tishri", meaning "Tishri 1") comes from a Hebrew root word meaning birth ("Calendar", The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971,p.44).
"So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come (Heb. hayah), the king sat him down to eat meat." (1 Sam. 20:24).
Strong's 1961. hayah, to exist, to be or become, come to pass: beacon, be.
"And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, . . . " (1 Sam. 20:27).The dark phase of the moon is the period when it described as being withdrawn .
"Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: . . ." (Isa. 60:20).
The word withdraw is from the Heb. acaph. Strong's "622. acaph, a prim. root; to gather for any purpose; hence to receive, take away, i.e. remove, utterly take away".4) The new moon is the first day of the month.
"Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation." (Lev. 23:24).
"Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob." (Psa. 81:3-4).Note: Although the priests of Israel adopted the practice of offering burnt sacrifices on every new moon , the feast of trumpets was the only commanded feast day to fall on the first day of the month. (Compare Lev. 23 with 1 Chrn. 23:1-2,27-28, 31.)
C. The Jewish calendar calculations are based on the molad, the conjunction of the sun and moon in relation to the earth. The actual, or true conjunction occurs at the moment when the moon passes between the sun and the earth (but not on the same plane). This occurs when the sun is at its highest point in the sky and this event cannot be seen by man.
The calculations however, are not from the astronomical conjunction, but from the mean molad."Owing to inequalities in the rate of both the solar and the lunar motion in longitude, the mean conjunction may precede or be preceded by the true conjunction." ("Calendar", The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, p. 46.)
The "mean" conjunction may be as much as 14 hours before or after the true conjunction. In Tishri, it can be up to 14 hours after the mean conjunction, or as much as 7 hours before it. In Nisan (Abib), it can be up to 14 hours before the mean conjunction, or as much as 7 hours after it.
The true conjunction largely determines when the first crescent would be visible. By ignoring the true conjunction, Tishri 1(the feast of Trumpets) could be scheduled one day later than the actual first day of the month. This is of particular significance for those who use the Jewish calendar without the postponements ("considerations or obstacles", Heb. dehiyyot). Using the calculated calendar without the postponements does not guarantee that one will be on the same schedule as the observable first crescent.
In the Jewish calendar, Tishri 1 is the basis for scheduling Abib 1, and all the other feast days. When Tishri 1 is a day later than the actual first day of the month, then all the other feast days are also scheduled one day later than what God commanded.Another problem is that the calculations cannot allow for the differences between the spring and fall variations from "mean" to actual conjunction. If the calculations were adjusted to harmonize either "mean" conjunction with the actual conjunction, then the discrepancy in the other one would be increased accordingly.
In addition, there is a similar situation with the time difference between true conjunction and the phasis, the visible first crescent. Some assume Jerusalem to be the area of geographical latitude and longitude, and of lunar longitude upon which the calculations are based. (Jewish history indicates that the calculations are actually based on the area of Babylon.) "In the region of Jerusalem . . . shortly before the autumnal equinox the minimum interval from the true conjunction to the phasis is approximately 20 hours, while the maximum is close to 72 hours, with the minimum of approximately 18 hours shortly before the vernal equinox . . . . Rosh Ha-Shanah [Tishri 1] may commence nearly 18 hours before the moment of molad . . . or more than 38 hours after the moment of molad." (Ibid. p. 46.)
In other words, the Jewish calculations may schedule Tishri 1 to begin at sunset on the day before the molad, which would actually schedule the feast of Trumpets to fall sometime within the 6th month. In addition, when this occurs, the Jewish calendar schedules all the feast days earlier than if based on God's signs .
If the calculations schedule Tishri 1 to begin more than 14 hours after the true conjunction, it could be one day later (along with all the other feast days) than it would be if scheduled by observation."The period of this calendric vacillation does not correspond with the periods of astronomical vacillations in the mentioned respective intervals between the true and mean conjunctions, from the true conjunction to the moment of the phasis and between the moment of the phasis and the commencement of the day of the phasis." (Ibid. p.46.)
In other words, these are not different descriptions of the same factor for error, but totally separate phenomena which can each cause one or more days difference between the feasts as scheduled by God's signs and as scheduled by the Jewish calculations.
"Rosh Ha-Shanah does, of course, occasionally occur before the day of the phasis begins or, in some extremely rare cases, on the day immediately after the phasis . . . with a rather wider range of the occurrence of the (first day) before and after the day of the phasis in other months: such oscillation is inherent in a system, like the present Jewish calendar, based on mean values." (Ibid. p. 46.)
In other words, Tishri 1 may occasionally vary one day before or after the true first day of the month, and in other months it will more frequently vary before or after the first day. Since all feast days are counted from the first day of the month (even Pentecost is counted indirectly from the first of Abib), using the calculated calendar can mean that any one, or any combination, or even all of the feasts could be scheduled on days other than as directed by God in Lev.23."The [Jewish calculations use a] reckoning of the lunation at 29d. 12h. 44 min. 3.33 sec. [which] slightly exceeds the present astronomically correct value (29d. 12h. 44 min. 2.841 secs.). The discrepancy is constantly increasing by a very small figure, owing to the secular acceleration of the mean lunar motion, . . . Nor can it be ascertained when, if ever, the moment of the molad was identical with the moment of the mean conjunction since, because of the great many inequalities in the moon's movement in longitude, it is practically impossible to fix the mean position of the moon at any time. Moreover, it is no more than an assumption (no less difficult to prove than to disprove) that the occurrences of the molad are expressed in the terms of local Jerusalem time." (Ibid. p. 46.)
Note: Passover and the feast of unleavened bread were given to Israel in Egypt (Ex. 12) where they were observed, based on local time and visual observation not calculation and not on Jerusalem time.
The weekly Sabbath and the other feasts of God were given to Israel at Mt. Sinai, in the wilderness, not in Jerusalem. The Sabbath was originally given in the Garden of Eden, probably located in the fertile crescent of what came to be called Mesopotamia (Gen. 2:10-14). It was observed based on actual sunset locally, not sunset in the, as yet non-existent, city of Jerusalem. So the Sabbath was first observed, not in Palestine, but in what later became Babylonia with its capital city Babylon.
Today, Sabbath-keepers all over the world, including the Jews, observe the weekly Sabbath and feast days beginning at sunset locally, not sunset Jerusalem time.
The molad or conjunction is something which is impossible to see and only with great difficulty, calculated by professional astronomers. The sign given by God for His feasts, the visible first crescent, can be seen anywhere in the world just as everyone, everywhere, has the opportunity to see the sunset."The Hebrew calendar year was composed of lunar months, which began when the thin crescent of the new moon was first visible at sunset."
("Calendar", The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Vol. 1, pp.222-226, Tyndale, 1980.)11. Regarding seasons.
Scripture says, "You shall therefore keep this ordinance (Passover, unleavened bread) in his season from year to year." (Ex. 13:10, and see 1-9).
"Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, you shall keep it in his appointed season: . . ." (Num. 9:2).In all references to the feast days, the word season is translated from the Heb. mo'ed (Strong's 4150), meaning "an appointment, i.e. a fixed time; spec. a festival, (also) . . . assembly, . . . . . congregation, . . . place of meeting, . . . signal".
In almost all references to agricultural products and to weather, the word season is translated from the Heb. 'eth , meaning only time (Strong's 6256). The references include rain, Lev. 26:4, Deu. 11:14, 28:12, Jer. 5:24, Eze. 34:26; corn, Job 5:26; fruit, Psa. 1:3; and grain, Psa. 104:27, 145:15. (The one exception is a prophetic verse, Ho. 2:9.)
However, appointed season , in the context of the feasts, is understood by Jewish writers and by many non-Jewish Sabbath-keeping groups to mean agricultural season.
". . . a solar year exceeds a lunar one (12 months) by about 11 days. The cycles of 12 lunar months must be adjusted to the solar year, because although the Jewish festivals are fixed according to dates in months, they must also be in specific (agricultural) season of the year which depend on the tropical solar year. Without any adjustment the festivals would wander through the seasons and the spring festival (Passover), for example, would be celebrated eventually in winter, and later in summer. The required adjustment is realized by the addition of an extra month (Adar II) in each of seven out of the 19 years that constitute the small (or lunar) cycle of the moon . . ."
("Calendar", The Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, Keter Pub. House Ltd. Jerusalem, Israel, 1971, p.43.)The Israelites (including Judah) were to be scattered throughout all nations (Jer. 30:10-11; Eze.6:1, 8, 11:16-17, 20:27,34, 34:2, 6; Joel 3:1-2; Zech. 7:14).
The disciples were to take the gospel to the scattered tribes of Israel (Mat. 10:5-6, 15:24), throughout the world (Mat. 28:19).
The gospel included obedience to God's law (Mat. 28:19-20, 5:17-22; Lk. 16:16-17; Mat. 19:16-21) which includes observance of God's feast days (Mat. 26:17-20; Jn. 4:43-45, 5:1; 7:1-4, 8-11, 14, 37-39, 11:55-56, 12:1,12-13, 13:1-5, 29).
This means that the feasts would be celebrated in different agricultural seasons throughout the world, even though everyone observed them at their fixed times within the lunar cycle.While the physical Temple existed and the physical sacrifices were being observed, there was a physical connection between the feasts and the agricultural seasons.
"And the Lord spoke unto Moses [at Mt. Sinai] saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it." (Lev. 23:9-11).The current Jewish calculated calendar, because of several built-in features and inherent errors often schedules the feasts later than they should be.
Hebrew Calendar Science and Myths
by Remy LandauThe Accuracy of the Hebrew Calendar "It is a myth to look upon the Hebrew calendar as some kind of celestial clock
capable of keeping the Jewish holidays in their season.The accuracy of the Hebrew calendar is fixed by the value of the mean
lunation period coupled to the 19 year cycle of 235 lunar months.That leads to an average Hebrew year length of 365.2468 days.
The mean tropical solar year is about 365.2422 days.
Hence, the average Hebrew year is slower than the average solar year by about one day in every 216 years. That means that today, we celebrate the holidays, on average about 8 days later than did our ancestors in 359 [AD] at the time that the fixed calendar rules were published.
Should no Hebrew calendar reform take place then over the next few millenia all of our holidays will have drifted out of their appropriate seasons and Pesach [Passover] could theoretically be observed in winter."Source: http://geocities.datacellar.net/Athens/1584/
12. Noah's 30-day months.
Scripture indicates that Noah counted 30 days per month. In Gen. 7:11, the flood began in Noah's 600th year, in the second month, seventeenth day, or 600, 2, 17.
In 7:24, the waters prevailed (Heb. increased) for 150 days. In 8:1, the waters were assuaged (Heb. pacified or calmed). In 8:3, and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated (Heb. decreased). In 8:4, the ark rested (went aground) in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month . . . (or 600, 7, 17). From 2,17 until 7,17 is five months. If the 150 days is describing the five months, you have 30 days per month.There are several possibilities here.
a. The most extreme theory proposed by some ministers is that the cycles of the earth and moon were changed at the time of the flood because of mankind's sin. They propose that the lunar month was exactly 30 solar days in length before the flood and approximately 29.5 days afterwards.
There are several problems with this theory.
1) The rain and the fountains were stopped after the first 40 days and nights. Noah counted 30 days per month from the beginning of the flood until the waters were abated (Gen. 8:3) and began to decrease (8:5). In other words, Noah began counting the day the flood began and continued counting until after the flood was over.2) There is no indication that Noah counted months any differently after the flood (Gen. 8:5-14).
3) God said that the punishment on man for his "evil, wickedness, violence and being corrupt" was to destroy man (Gen. 6:7, 13) with a flood (6:17, 7:4, 21-23). There is no mention of changing the cycles of the earth and moon for punishment or any other reason.
4) Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7). There is no mention of changing the cycles of the earth and moon at the time of the flood. Noah was a prophet (Heb. 11:7) and he didn't mention any time changes.
6) The proponents of this theory don't offer any explanation of exactly how changing the length of the lunar cycle would be a punishment for mankind's sins.
7) Proponents of this theory don't offer any explanation of why God would purposely change the lunar cycle in such a way that it would appear to make it more difficult for the righteous to obey God's laws.8) After the flood, God referred to his actions as having cursed the ground , not the sun, not the moon, or the months.
9) This theory is based on a major assumption made without any scriptural support. We'll discuss that assumption below.
10) Scriptures about the permanency of the moon and sun:
Psa. 72:5 "They shall fear you as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations."
Psa.72:7 "In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endures."
Psa. 72:17, "His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: . . ."
Psa. 89:36, "His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me."
Psa. 89:37, "It (David's line on the throne) shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah."
The moon is equated to a "faithful witness". God used it as a symbol of an eternal promise.Jer. 31:35-36, "Thus says the Lord, which gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, . . .
If those ordinances depart from before me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever."
God equated his promise to Abraham (Gen. 15:5) to the permanency of the "ordinances" (cycles) of the sun, moon and stars.Psa. 104:19, "He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down."
The cycles are scheduled by God. They are not haphazard due to man's sins.Ecc. 1:5-6, 9, "The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to his place where he arose.
The wind goes toward the south, and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to his circuits.
The thing that has been, it is that which shall be: and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."b. One very real possibility is that Noah could not see the moon.
1) He could not have seen it during the first 40 days and nights of rain (Gen. 7:12).2) The ark had only one small window about 17.5 inches below the top of the ark (Gen. 6:16). It was large enough for a raven to enter and exit (Gen. 8:7). It was operable, but Noah didn’t open it until after the 40 days of rain (Gen. 8:6). Through this window, he could see the tops of mountains on the horizon (Gen.7:19-20, 8:5), but not the ground (Gen. 8:8, 11-13).
3) The ark had a removable top which was not removed for 11 or 12 months (Gen. 7:11, 8:13-14).
It would have taken divine intervention every month for Noah to have seen the moon. He would have had to have seen it twice during the 40 days and nights of rain, but the window was closed. There is no indication that the ark had a rudder or any means of steering, by which he might turn the window toward the west at sunset on the first day of the month, for each of the 11 or 12 months that the ark was closed.
Since the weekly Sabbath was the only Holy Day known until 900 years later in Egypt, Noah had no need to see the moon's phases, or to count time by them.We considered whether the depth of the flood waters, about 5.5 miles above sea level to cover Mt. Everest, would affect the length of the observed lunar cycle but calculations show that it doesn't.
We calculated that if the ark were carried eastward, at 40 degrees latitude, by currents and wind at the rate of 9.25 mph, the observable lunar cycle would be increased by about 12 hours per cycle, to a 30 solar day month. However, at that speed, after 150 days and circling the earth 2.5 times, the ark would be on the opposite side of the earth from Mt. Ararat.
In addition, that one small window would have to be turned toward the western sky at sunset on the first day of each month, and allow 15 degrees of visible sky above the horizon.We mentioned above that the theory of the cycles being changed at the flood was based on an assumption without any scriptural support. That assumption is that Noah was counting days based on the lunar cycle.
1) The most widely used calendars today are solar based and ignore the moons cycle.
2) Most of the calendars in history have been solar-based, not lunar-based."The Babylonian year . . . seems to have consisted of 12 months of 30 days each, intercalary months being added by the priests when necessary. Two Babylonian calendars are preserved in the inscriptions, and in both each month has 30 days as far as can be learnt. In later times, however, months of 29 days alternated with those of 30. The method of intercalations is uncertain and the practice seems to have varied.
There is no mention of an intercalary month in the Bible, and it is not known whether the correction was applied in ancient times by the addition of 1 month in 3 years or by the adding of 10 or 11 days at the end of each year.
Astronomers know this kind of year as a bound lunar year. The Greeks has a similar year."
("Calendar, History of:", The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 499, Funk and Wagnalls, 1903).
3) When the Israelites were in Egypt, the Egyptians were using a combination lunar/solar/stellar calendar. It was originally lunar, which was the basis of their "religious" calendar, but had developed into a lunar/solar/stellar calendar because of the association of the annual appearance of the star, Sirius. It used months of 30 days because it was originally lunar. Egypt has three seasons, "flood and seeding", "growing and harvest", and "fallow". They used a solar year of three four-month seasons which adds up to 360 days. The five days left over was considered a "holiday" period and either were not "counted" and/or were considered an intercalation. The solar part of the calendar was their "civil" calendar. The three seasons were the "agricultural" calendar which began with "inundation" or the flooding of croplands by the Nile River. This began in mid-June and ended between mid-September and mid-October with the sowing of crops. Their second season ended in mid-March with the completion of the harvest. When God told Israel, in Egypt, that Abib (March-April) would be the first month of the year to them, it was completely opposite to what they were accustomed to, and the Jews today still observe "New Years" on Tishrei 1, which falls from mid-September to mid-October. ("Egyptian Calendar", http://www.britannica.com) ("The Geography of Egypt", NIV Atlas of the Bible, Carl G. Rasmussen, 1989, Zondervan, pp.57-59.)
Actually the Egyptian calendar was not truly lunar since it ignored the actual length of the lunar cycle and thus drifted in relation to the phases. It was not truly solar in that it did not use the actual length of the solar year, but used preset "months" with an annual intercalation. It was stellar only in the sense that it was anchored to Sirius.When God gave the Holy Days (Passover and Unleavened Bread in Egypt and the others at Mt. Sinai) he never specified any type of perpetual calendar . Israel maintained Egyptian customs except those prohibited by God, and they had difficulty giving up those customs. According to Jewish history, they have traditionally observed their "religious calendar" of feast days within the local "civil calendar" of whatever nation in which they find themselves. When they arrived in Palestine, they found the people using a calendar of "12 lunar months" similar to that of Egypt. While they were occasionally obedient to God, for most of their history, they were not. They did not drive out all the Canaanites but intermarried and adopted their customs. The concept of having a king was borrowed from pagan nations, ("that we also may be like all the nations;" 1Sam. 8:4-22). Aside from God's command, which they often ignored, there was no reason for them to stop using a 12-month "civil" calendar which basically ignored the excess days at the end of the year.
"While in Egypt the Hebrews may have conformed to the solar year of 12 months, each of 30 days + 5 additional days, i.e. 365 days (Herodotus,2.4, but if so a change was made thereafter and the beginning of months; or first month of the year was fixed in the spring (Ex. 12:2; 13:3-4;23:15; Dt. 16:1,6). Thereafter the Hebrew year followed the W Semitic [Canaanite] Calendar with a year of 12 lunar months (1 Ki. 4:7; 1 Ch. 27:1-15)."
( Calendar , The Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp.222-225).
4) Arabs, who know that they are descendants of Abraham, through Esau, use a 12-month perpetual lunar calendar for their religious holy days. By ignoring the difference between the lunar and solar cycles, their holy days cycle throughout the seasons of the year.
Does it matter how Noah counted months? 1) The only Holy Day that Noah observed was the weekly Sabbath which is solar based and has no relation to the moon's cycle.
2) The annual Holy Days did not exist until about 900 years later, when Israel came out of Egypt.3) If you are not trying to observe the annual Holy Days, the length of the lunar months is irrelevant. You can observe the 7th day Sabbath with any solar calendar. The number and length of the months is irrelevant.
Miscellaneous Arguments to Justify the Jewish Calendar: That the Tabernacle was with Moses in Sinai when the Law was given and later it was in Jerusalem, where the High Priest proclaimed (announced) the Holy Days. Therefore, some say that the Holy Days must be calculated based on Jerusalem time.
However, Passover as it was commanded by God, and from which the other Holy Days are counted, was originally given in Egypt (Ex. 12) and based on local time. There was no Tabernacle in Egypt. At Sinai, God gave the Law (Ex.20-23) before a Tabernacle was even mentioned (Ex. 25:8). The Holy Days were given (Ex.34:22) before the materials were ordered for the construction of the Tabernacle (Ex.35). A year passed before the Tabernacle was first erected (Ex. 40:2).
As was pointed out above, it is impossible to prove that the "molad" used for calculations is based on Jerusalem time. In an earlier article, we saw that the meridian of Babylon was used in the earliest versions of the calculated calendar.
Since the calculations were based on noon, supposedly in Jerusalem, the calculations are actually based on with first day beginning on the equator and 90 degrees east of Jerusalem, or in the Molucca Sea of Indonesia.Conclusions At about 1,100 years of age, the current Jewish calendar is a relatively new thing when compared to God's Holy Days which date from 1491 BC, or about 3,500 years ago.
The Jews, who created the calculated calendar do not claim it is "sacred". That would be idolatry and a violation of Deu. 4:2 and 12:32.
According to the Jews, recognizing the Holy Days by observation of God's appointed "signs", was the original method and has always been practiced, and still is, by at least some Jewish groups.
The Jews who observe the calculated calendar, celebrate Tishri 1 as the first day of the year and calculate their calendar accordingly, regardless of God's instructions in Exodus. They "observe" an invisible, imaginary "mean" astronomical event at the "first" of the month and arbitrarily set the lengths of months, sometimes in spite of being contradicted by the visible "signs" given by God.
God instructed us to "watch" his "signs". We are not required to be dependent upon mathematicians, astrophysical scientists or magician/priests.
A 13th lunar month is an occasional astronomical occurrence of interest only to those who are perpetually calendaring. It is totally irrelevant for those who "watch" for God's "signs" of the first month of the year and the first day of the month, whether by observation or through the use of true astronomical measurements.
The Jewish calendar was published because of the oppression of Rome, which came about because of the sins of the nation of Judah (and before it, all of Israel). It was a human reaction to a bad situation. It was not a divine oracle. We are not bound by the reaction to curses that came upon our spiritual and/or physical ancestors.
Next Calendar Index Copyright M.H. and G.H. 2000. All rights reserved.