Calendar
Time is determined by the sun and the moon.
Jsus observed the same dates of the feasts, new moons, and sabbaths as the Pharisees and scribes during his time.
The day begins at sunset.
The seventh day of the week is a day of Sabbath rest. The seventh day of the week currently falls on the modern-day Saturday. The Sabbath begins on Friday at sunset and ends on Saturday at sunset. The week has six workdays from Sunday through Friday.
The month begins when the first part of the new moon is visible from Jerusalem.
The first month of the year begins at the first new moon closest to the spring equinox.
Time
Time is determined by the sun and the moon.
Jsus observed the same dates of the feasts, new moons, and sabbaths as the Pharisees and scribes during his time.
Gen. 1:14 And Gd said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky for the illumination of the day, to give light on the earth, and to rule the day and the night, and to separate between the day and the night. And let them be for signs, and for appointed times, and for days, and for years.”
The Hebrew word for “appointed times” in the verse above is the same Hebrew word used for the feasts or festivals.
Psa. 104:19 He made the moon for the appointed times. The sun knows its setting.
Matt. 23:1-3 Then Jsus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The Pharisees and scribes sit upon the seat of Moses. All which they say unto you, observe and do; but their works do not do, because they say, and do not do.”
John 2:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, after seeing his signs which he did.
John 5:1 After these things, there was a festival of the Jews, and Jsus went up to Jerusalem.
John 7:2 Now the festival of the Jews, the Feast of Tabernacles, was near.
John 7:10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret.
The Day
The day begins at sunset.
Ex. 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening.
Lev. 11:24 By these you will become unclean: whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening.
Lev. 23:32 It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.
Judg. 14:12 Samson said to them, “Let me now put forth a riddle to you. If you can explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and figure it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.
Judg. 14:18 The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” He said to them, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have found out my riddle.”
Neh. 13:19 It came to pass that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath.
The Week
The seventh day of the week is a day of Sabbath rest.
The seventh day of the week currently falls on the modern-day Saturday.
The Sabbath begins on Friday at sunset and ends on Saturday at sunset.
The week has six workdays from Sunday through Friday.
Ex. 16:26 Six days you shall gather it [the manna food], but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.
Ex. 20:9-10 Six days you may labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lrd your Gd.
Ezek. 46:1 Thus says the Lrd Gd: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
Philo, The Decalogue 96 The fourth commandment has reference to the sacred seventh day, that it may be passed in a sacred and holy manner. Now some states keep the holy festival only once in the month, counting from the new moon, as a day sacred to Gd; but the nation of the Jews keep every seventh day regularly, after each interval of six days.
Philo, On the Creation 128 It was also greatly honoured by Moses, a man much attached to excellence of all sorts, who described its beauty on the most holy pillars of the law, and wrote it in the hearts of all those who were subject to him, commanding them at the end of each period of six days to keep the seventh holy.
Philo, On Special Laws 2:56 But after this continued and uninterrupted festival which thus lasts through all time, there is another one celebrated, namely, that of the sacred seventh day after each recurring interval of six days.
The divine Augustus Vespasian, on the day of Saturn, which is forbidden for the Jews to engage in any serious matter, attacked and conquered them. (Sextus Julius Frontinus, Stratagems Book 2, Chapter 1, Paragraph 17, Written c. 90 AD)
They [the Jews] made an exception of what are called the days of Saturn, and by doing no work at all on those days afforded the Romans an opportunity in this interval to batter down the wall. The latter, on learning of this superstitious awe of theirs, made no serious attempts the rest of the time, but on those days, when they came round in succession, assaulted most vigorously. Thus the defenders were captured on the day of Saturn, without making any defence, and all the wealth was plundered. (Cassius Dio, Historia Romana, Book 37, Chapter 16, Written c. 220 AD)
Thus was Jerusalem destroyed on the very day of Saturn, the day which even now the Jews reverence most. (Cassius Dio, Historia Romana, Book 65, Chapter 7, Written c. 220 AD)
They [the Jews] never had any statue of him even in Jerusalem itself, but believing him to be unnamable and invisible, they worship him in the most extravagant fashion on earth. They built to him a temple that was extremely large and beautiful, except in so far as it was open and roofless, and likewise dedicated to him the day called the day of Saturn, on which, among many other most peculiar observances, they undertake no serious occupation. (Cassius Dio, Historia Romana, Book 37, Chapter 17, Written c. 220 AD)
Josephus, War of the Jews 1:145-146 But Pompey himself filled up the ditch that was on the north side of the temple, and the entire valley also, the army itself being obliged to carry the materials for that purpose. And indeed it was a hard thing to fill up that valley, by reason of its immense depth, especially as the Jews used all the means possible to repel them from their superior station; nor had the Romans succeeded in their endeavors, had not Pompey taken notice of the seventh days, on which the Jews abstain from all sorts of work on a religious account, and raised his bank, but restrained his soldiers from fighting on those days; for the Jews only acted defensively on sabbath days.
The Month
The month begins when the new moon is visible.
Philo indicates that the start of the new month began when the new moon first began to be visible.
Philo, On Special Laws, Laws 2:140-141 Following the order which we have adopted, we proceed to speak of the third festival, that of the new moon. First of all, because it is the beginning of the month, and the beginning, whether of number or of time, is honourable. Secondly, because at this time there is nothing in the whole of heaven destitute of light. Thirdly, because at that period the more powerful and important body gives a portion of necessary assistance to the less important and weaker body; for, at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then she displays her own beauty to the beholders.
Jerusalem sent messengers or lit signal fires to inform other cities and countries of the dates of the new moons so that all the people of Gd could keep the festivals at the correct time.
Mishnah, Rosh Hashana 1:3-4 On the occasion of six new moons messengers go forth: 1) at Nisan, because of Passover; 2) at Ab, because of the fast; 3) at Elul, because of the New Year; 4) at Tishre, because of the determination of the set feasts; 5) at Kislev, because of Hanukkah; and 6) at Adar, because of Purim. And when the Temple stood, they go forth also at Iyyar, because of the lesser Passover. On the occasion of two new moons, they violate the Sabbath: at Nisan and at Tishre. For on these occasions the messengers go forth to Syria. And on them they determine the set feasts.
RoshHa. 1:7 – 2:4 A father and his son who saw the new moon should go [to give testimony]. It is not that they join together with one another [to provide adequate testimony], but so that, if one of them should turn out to be invalid [as a witness], the other may join with someone else [to make up the requisite number of witnesses].
R. Simeon says, “A father and his son, and all relatives, are valid to give testimony about the new moon.” Said R. Yose, “M‘SH B: Tobiah, the physician, saw the new moon in Jerusalem — he, his son, and his freed slave. “And the priests accepted him and his son [as witnesses to the new moon], but they invalidated the testimony of his slave. “But when they came before the court, they accepted his [testimony] and that of his slave, but they invalidated that of his son.”
These are the ones who are invalid [to testify about the appearance of the new moon]: 1) he who plays with dice, 2) they who lend on interest, 3) who race pigeons, 4) and who trade in produce of the Seventh Year, 5) and slaves. This is the governing principle: Any evidence which a woman is not valid [to offer], also they are not valid [to offer].
He who saw the new moon but cannot go [on his own]—they bring him along on an ass, even in a hand-carried bed. And if there is an ambush set up against them, they take staves in hand. And if it was a long trip, they take food in hand. For: On account of a journey for a night and a day they violate the Sabbath and go forth to give testimony about the new moon, since it is said, These are the set feasts of the Lrd, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season (Lev. 23:4).
If they [in Jerusalem] are not going to recognize him, they [in his own town] send another with him to give evidence about him. At first they would accept testimony concerning the new moon from everybody. Once the infidels had spoiled matters, they made the rule that they should accept testimony only from those who are recognized.
At first they would kindle flares. Once the Samaritans had spoiled matters, they made the rule that agents would go forth. How did they kindle flares? They bring long cedar wood sticks, reeds, oleaster wood and flax tow. One binds them together with a rope. And he goes up to the top of a hill and lights them. Then he waves them to and fro and up and down, until he sees his fellow, doing the same on the next hilltop, and so on the third hilltop [and beyond].
And at what place did they kindle flares? From the mount of Olives [they gave the signal] to Sarteba, from Sarteba to Agrippina, from Agrippina to Hauran, from Hauran to Bet Baltin. They did not move from Bet Baltin. But one waves them to and fro, up and down, until he saw the whole Exile before him lit up like a bonfire.
RoshHa. 2:6 How do they examine the witnesses? The pair which makes its appearance first do they examine first. They bring in the elder of them and say to him, “Tell us. How did you see the moon? Was it facing the sun or turned away from it? Was it to the north or to the south? How high was it, and in which direction was it leaning? And how broad was it?” If he said, “It was facing the sun,” he has said nothing at all.
Then they would bring in the second party and examine him. If their testimony coincided, their testimony was confirmed. And in the case of all the other pairs of witnesses, they ask the main points, not because they needed their [evidence], but so that they should not go out disappointed, so that they would make it a habit of coming along in the future.
First Month of the Year
The first month of the year begins at the first new moon closest to the spring equinox.
Ex. 12:1-2 The Lrd spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month [Abib] shall be to you the beginning of months. It is first for you for the months of the year.”
Ex. 13:4 Today you go forth in the month of Abib.
Deut. 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lrd your Gd; for in the month of Abib the Lrd your Gd brought you forth out of Egypt by night.
Philo, On the Life of Moses 2:222 Moses puts down the beginning of the spring equinox as the first month of the year, attributing the chief honour, not as some persons do to the periodical revolutions of the year in regard of time, but rather to the graces and beauties of nature which it has caused to shine upon men.
Philo, Questions and Answers on Exodus 1:1 “This month (shall be) for you the beginning of months ; it is the first in the months of the year.” (Ex. 12:2) thinks it proper to reckon the cycle of months from the spring equinox. Moreover, (this month) is said to be the “first” and the “beginning” by synonymy,” since these (terms) are explained by each other, for it is said to be the first both in order and in power; similarly that time which proceeds from the spring equinox also appears (as) the beginning both in order and in power, in the same way as the head (is the beginning) of a living creature. And thus those who are learned in astronomy have given this name to the before-mentioned time. For they call the Ram the head of the zodiac since in it the sun appears to produce the spring equinox.
The first month of the year is called Abib, which means “fresh, young ears of barley.” However, even though the first month’s name mentions barley, neither Philo, Josephus, Eusebius, or the Mishnah indicate that the ripeness of barley was used to determine the first month of the year.
Moses recorded numerous specific dates during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, even though the children of Israel did not have access to any barley.
If the ripening of the barley in Israel is used to begin the first month of the year, then if a devastating drought strikes the land of Israel, the land will produce no barley to be analyzed.
Philo, On Special Laws 2:158 And the unleavened bread is ordained because their ancestors took unleavened bread with them when they went forth out of Egypt, under the guidance of the Deity; or else, because at that time (I mean at the spring season, during which this festival is celebrated) the crop of wheat is not yet ripe, the plains being still loaded with the corn, and it not being as yet the harvest time, and therefore lawgiver has ordained the use of unleavened food with a view to assimilating it to the state of the crops. For unleavened food is also imperfect or unripe, as a memorial of the good hope which is entertained; since nature is by this time preparing her annual gifts for the race of mankind, with an abundance and plenteous pouring forth of necessaries.
Mishnah, Menachot 10:2-3 The requirement of the omer is to bring it from [barley growing] nearby. [If] it [the crop] did not ripen near Jerusalem [in time for use on Nisan 16] [however,] they bring it from any place. M‘SH S: It was brought from Gaggot Serifin, and [the grain for] the two loaves [Lev. 23:17] from the valley of En Sokher. How did they do it? Agents of the court go forth on the eve of [the afternoon before] the festival [of Passover]. And they make it into sheaves while it is still attached to the ground, so that it will be easy to reap. And all the villagers nearby gather together there [on the night after the first day of Passover], so that it will be reaped with great pomp.
During the days of Josephus, in order to keep the sun in the constellation called Aries during Passover, the new moon of the first month would always have to begin as close to the spring equinox as possible, either before or after the equinox. If the new moon of the first month began many days after the spring equinox, the sun would likely be in the next constellation, Taurus, during Passover.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 3:248 In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the beginning of our year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when the sun is in Aries — for in this month it was that we were delivered from bondage under the Egyptians, and law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice which I before told you we slew when we came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover.
From the first equinox, which occurs around the 8th day before the Kalends of April [25 March] in the month of March, it is formed in the 8th part of Aries, and the days of the spring season are considered to begin at the rising of the Pleiades, lasting for 12.5 days. (Columella, De Res Rustica, Book 9, Chapter 14, Section 1, Written c. 65 AD)
The Pharisees were in the practice of calculating equinoxes.
Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 3:18 R. Eleazar Hisma says, “The laws of bird offerings and the beginning of a woman’s menstruation period—they are indeed the essentials of the Torah. “Calculations of the equinoxes and reckoning the numerical value of letters are the savories of wisdom.”
Before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the Jews were keeping the Passover after the spring equinox.
Some time after the destruction of the Temple, the Jews changed their Passover calculations and would sometimes keep the Passover before the spring equinox.
Fragments from the Writings of Peter 5:1:1-2 For for this cause the month Abib was appointed by the law to be the beginning of months, and was made known unto us as the first among the months of the year; both by the ancient writers who lived before, and by the later who lived after the destruction of Jerusalem, it was shown to possess a most clear and evidently definite period, especially because in some places the reaping is early, and sometimes it is late, so as to be sometimes before the time and sometimes after it, as it happened in the very beginning of the giving of the law, before the Passover, according as it is written, “But the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up.”
Whence it is rightly prescribed by the law, that from the spring equinox, in whatsoever week the fourteenth day of the first month shall fall, in it the Passover is to be celebrated, becoming and conformable songs of praise having been first taken up for its celebration. … Moreover, he makes quite clear that the first month amongst the Hebrews was appointed by law, which we know to have been observed by the Jews up to the destruction of Jerusalem, because this has been so handed down by the Hebrew tradition.
But after the destruction of the city it was mocked at by some hardening of heart, which we observing, according to the law, with sincerity have received; and in this, according to the Word, when he speaks of the day of our holy festivity, which the election hath attained: but the rest have become hardened, as said the Scripture; and after other things. And He says as follows: “All these things will they do unto you for My name’s sake, because they know not Him that sent Me.”
But if they knew not Him who sent, and Him who was sent, there is no reason to doubt but that they have been ignorant of the Passover as prescribed by the law, so as not merely to err in their choice of the place, but also in reckoning the beginning of the month, which is the first amongst the months of the year, on the fourteenth day of which, being accurately observed, after the equinox, the ancients celebrated the Passover according to the divine command; whereas the men of the present day now celebrate it before the equinox, and that altogether through negligence and error, being ignorant how they celebrated it in its season, as He confesses who in these things was described.
Constantine accused the Jews of his era of sometimes keeping two Passovers within the same year, or in other words, within the two spring equinoxes. For instance, if the Jews kept a certain Passover after the spring equinox and then kept the next Passover before the spring equinox, they would have kept two Passovers during the same equinox-to-equinox period.
Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3:18 They [the Jews] sometimes celebrate Easter twice in the same year. Why then should we follow those who are confessedly in grievous error? Surely we shall never consent to keep this feast a second time in the same year.
Around the fourth century AD, when the Apostolic Canons were likely written, the Jews were sometimes keeping Passover before the spring equinox.
Apostolic Canons 7 If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon shall celebrate the holiday of the passover before the spring equinox with the Jews, let him be deposed.
The focus was on observing Passover after the spring equinox and not on observing the first new moon after the spring equinox.
Eusebius, Church History 7:20:1 Dionysius, besides his epistles already mentioned, wrote at that time also his extant Festal Epistles, in which he uses words of panegyric respecting the passover feast. He addressed one of these to Flavius, and another to Domitius and Didymus, in which he sets forth a canon of eight years, maintaining that it is not proper to observe the paschal feast until after the spring equinox.
The repeated focus was specifically on observing Passover after the spring equinox and not on observing the first new moon after the spring equinox.
If the first month was supposed to begin at the first new moon after the spring equinox, then Aristobulus’ insistence that the moon must cross into the autumnal equinoctial segment is superfluous since the entire month would already be after the spring equinox, and the full moon would by requirement always occur after the spring equinox.
Aristobulus said that the “first month” of the ancient Hebrews was near the equinox and not necessarily after it.
Eusebius, Church History 7:32:13-19 Anatolius [of Laodicea] did not write very many works; but in such as have come down to us we can discern his eloquence and erudition. In these he states particularly his opinions on the passover. It seems important to give here the following extracts from them. From the Paschal Canons of Anatolius:
“There is then in the first year the new moon of the first month, which is the beginning of every cycle of nineteen years, on the twenty-sixth day of the Egyptian Phamenoth; but according to the months of the Macedonians, the twenty-second day of Dystrus, or, as the Romans would say, the eleventh before the Kalends of April.
On the said twenty-sixth of Phamenoth, the sun is found not only entered on the first segment, but already passing through the fourth day in it. They are accustomed to call this segment the first dodecatomorion, and the equinox, and the beginning of months, and the head of the cycle, and the starting-point of the planetary circuit. But they call the one preceding this the last of months, and the twelfth segment, and the final dodecatomorion, and the end of the planetary circuit. Wherefore we maintain that those who place the first month in it, and determine by it the fourteenth of the passover, commit no slight or common blunder.
And this is not an opinion of our own; but it was known to the Jews of old, even before Chrst, and was carefully observed by them. This may be learned from what is said by Philo, Josephus, and Musaeus; and not only by them, but also by those yet more ancient, the two Agathobuli, surnamed ‘Masters,’ and the famous Aristobulus, who was chosen among the seventy interpreters of the sacred and divine Hebrew Scriptures by Ptolemy Philadelphus and his father, and who also dedicated his exegetical books on the law of Moses to the same kings.
These writers, explaining questions in regard to the Exodus, say that all alike should sacrifice the passover offerings after the spring equinox, in the middle of the first month. But this occurs while the sun is passing through the first segment of the solar, or as some of them have styled it, the zodiacal circle. Aristobulus adds that it is necessary for the feast of the passover, that not only the sun should pass through the equinoctial segment, but the moon also.
For as there are two equinoctial segments, the spring and the autumnal, directly opposite each other, and as the day of the passover was appointed on the fourteenth of the month, beginning with the evening, the moon will hold a position diametrically opposite the sun, as may be seen in full moons; and the sun will be in the segment of the spring equinox, and of necessity the moon in that of the autumnal.
I know that many other things have been said by them, some of them probable, and some approaching absolute demonstration, by which they endeavor to prove that it is altogether necessary to keep the passover and the feast of unleavened bread after the equinox. But I refrain from demanding this sort of demonstration for matters from which the veil of the Mosaic law has been removed, so that now at length with uncovered face we continually behold as in a glass Christ and the teachings and sufferings of Christ. But that with the Hebrews the first month was near the equinox, the teachings also of the Book of Enoch show.”
Spring Equinox
The year begins at the spring equinox when the sun passes from the autumnal equinoctial segment into the vernal (spring) equinoctial segment.
Full Moon After Spring Equinox
The full moon after the spring equinox occurs when the moon passes from the vernal (spring) equinoctial segment into the autumnal equinoctial segment.
