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With the approaching “High Holy Days”, that is the fall feast of God as prescribed in scripture, I thought it was about time we discussed the nature of the biblical calendar.
It should not surprise those of you who’ve been following this site to learn that the calendars commonly used throughout the world today and the one dictated by God himself are not in alignment. It should also not surprise you when I say that it isn’t God’s calendar that needs to change.
God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so.
Genesis 1:14 – 15
From the very beginning, God ordained the times and seasons and created the means through which we are to count the days and reckon the passing of time – he is a God of order and it is incumbent upon those of us who would call ourselves His disciples to get to grips with, understand and enter into His order.
As an additional, yet important point, I would draw your attention to the first creative act of God recorded in scripture; the creation of light.
God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.
Genesis 1:3 – 5
if we intend to get a better grasp of God’s reckoning of time, we need to start from a solid foundation. Notice the final sentence in the previous citation: “There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.”
In Hebraic thought, even unto the present age, a day begins in the evening and continues until the subsequent evening. Why? Because that’s exactly what God stated; evening then morning… one day. It is a principle that is stated and restated a total of six times in the creation account. Proper understanding of this will be important as we move forward.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year.
Exodus 12:1 – 2
Immediately prior to the exodus of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, God instituted the Passover and stated quite plainly, that this was the “beginning of months”. In simple terms, this marks the first month of the year.
As we near the fall festivals of the Lord, you’re likely to hear about Rosh Hashanah, or the “head of the year”. In other words, new year. This can be cause for confusion among those not versed in such matters and sadly, many within Western Christianity know nothing of these issues or of the biblical calendar what so ever. I know because I was one of them.
Others may find themselves wondering how the head of the year can fall during autumn, when scripture plainly indicates that it is in the spring… fourteen days prior to the Passover. They may also find themselves wondering why they can’t find this day listed among the Holy Festivals in scripture. They can’t find it, because it isn’t there – what is there on this exact day is Yom Teruah or, the “Festival of Trumpets”.
There are a number of explanations for this dual observance; chief among them being the explanation that Rosh Hashanah marks the new year for the Hebrew Civic calendar… because reasons. It is not my intention to be contentious or dismissive, but the point of this article series is to provide a foundational understanding of the Biblical calendar.
The fundamental elements provided to us from the Torah are essentially the same as those with which we are all already familiar; days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries and millennia. There are differences however, in what scripture directs and what is commonly practiced throughout the world today.
As I stated previously, the bible indicates that a day begins, not at midnight, but at sundown; evening to evening marks a biblical day. Weeks are comprised of seven days, and the seventh day completes the cycle:
“Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. For six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”
Exodus 20:8 – 11
Synodic Months
Months are another matter. Although the timing involved can be, and frequently is similar to the common calendar, the method of determination differs greatly. Most modern calendars are solar – that is, they are based upon the apparent position of the sun relative to the stars. This would therefore infer Earth’s position in orbit around the sun and would provide a reasonable frame of reference for the determination of seasons. Months are therefore delineated accordingly.
The most prominent example of a solar calendar is the Gregorian calendar which stands as the accepted standard throughout much of the world today. It is, of course, not the only example, but I’ll leave that for you to research if you feel so inclined.
By contrast, the biblical calendar is lunisolar. Both lunar and lunisolar calendars base their months on the phases, or cycles of the moon – these are called synodic months. The difference lies in the use, or lack of intercalation; the insertion of time in order to bring the calendar into alignment with the solar year. Calendars utilizing intercalation are lunisolar, while those that do not, are purely lunar. As we move forward, you’ll see why both the modern Hebrew calendar and the ancient Biblical calendar are decidedly lunisolar.
Incidentally, if you’ve ever wondered why the Biblical Festivals don’t fall on the same Gregorian calendar date each year, this is why.
The word “month” in Hebrew, is חודש or “chodesh”, and the word for “head”, as in first in Hebrew is ראש or “rosh”; thus “rosh chodesh” means head of the month. This phrase is frequently translated in our English Bibles as “new moon”.
And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 66:23 (NKJV)
Further research into the scriptural account provides indication that the calendar was maintained on the basis of observation, rather than on calculation. This distinction is important, because inconsistencies can and do arise between the observed and calculated calendars.
Confused? Allow me to explain…
The Hebrew calendar currently employed through the world, in secular and theological circles alike, is more accurately known as the Hillel II calendar (inasmuch as the modern Hebrew calendar in its calculated form began with him). You see, in ages past, the biblical calendar was an observed calendar – upon sighting of the first sliver of a new moon (from Jerusalem), Rosh Chodesh was declared and a new month would commence.
Because the month could not be declared until the first sliver was sighted, no-one could know on what particular day, or what particular hour the new month would begin (ring any bells?). To reconcile this with the prescription in scripture to celebrate the new moon, it was not uncommon for the people to celebrate for two or more days until such time as the new moon had been cited and declared.
David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now. …”
1 Samuel 20:5
Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, for your seat will be empty. On the third day you should go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself the day this all started. Stay near the stone Ezel.
1 Samuel 20:18 – 19
You likely know this story, but you know it from the perspective of Jonathan’s loyalty to David, and rightfully so! He recognizes that David is the anointed King of Israel whether anybody – his own father included – likes it or not.
Dear, faithful, honorable Jonathan. May we all have a friend of his character and caliber in this lifetime…
The reason I bring this up however, is because it contains a vital clue regarding the keeping of the biblical calendar and the recognition of the new moon, and the new month…
So David hid in the field. When the new moon came, the king sat down to eat his meal. The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him and Abner at his side. But David’s place was vacant. However, Saul said nothing about it that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to make him ceremonially unclean. Yes, he must be unclean.” But the next morning, the second day of the new moon, David’s place was still vacant. So Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has Jesse’s son not come to the meal yesterday or today?”
1 Samuel 20:24 – 27
Do you understand the implications of this passage?
The new moon would be a one-day observance, yet as this story plays out we see that in this instance Israel spent two days in observance. They did so because, while they knew the new moon was coming, they didn’t know when. By starting the festivities when they did, they essentially guaranteed that when the first sliver of the new moon was sighted and Rosh Chodesh declared, they would have fulfilled the prescription of the Torah to observe the new moon and keep the creator’s calendar.
Any number of factors could have delayed the sighting of the new moon, atmospheric disturbances chief among them. The implication is that, the festivities would have continued until such time as a sighting was reported and confirmed.
Now that we have an basic understanding of how the calendar was kept in antiquity, we can move towards understanding how we arrive at the modern, calculated Hebrew calendar.
The Diaspora
Diaspora refers to the involuntary expulsion of a people-group from their land. In modernity, this phrase is generally used to specifically refer to the expulsion of the Jews from the land of Israel. This occurred the first time around 733 BC during the Assyrian exile, and again in the Babylonian exile, ca 597 BC. The final expulsion within the common era, which led to the complete absence of Jewish presence (prior to the re-establishment of Israel as a sovereign nation in 1948) reportedly ended around 132 AD.
With the temple destroyed and no access to Jerusalem (or to the land for that matter), there was no means by which to sight, or validate a new moon in accordance with the prescriptions of scripture. It was during this time that Hillel reportedly implemented the calculated calendar as a means through which Jews could reckon time and thereby keep the Biblical Feasts. Over time, the calculations have undergone some revisions and tweaking, but that’s the 2 minute summary for the uninitiated.
The thing is, matters have changed. Israel stands as a sovereign nation in fulfillment of biblical prophecy (see Isaiah 66:8) and new moons can once again be sighted and verified not only from within the land, but from within Jerusalem herself. There are even organization which seek to return to the scriptural method of sighting a new moon and using the aviv barley to determine when a new year is to be declared, or a “leap month” is to be added. (Note that these “leap months” are the primary reason the calendar is lunisolar as opposed to strictly lunar.)
We’ll address the issue of leap months and how a new year is determined in a subsequent article. For now, I hope I’ve provided you at least a basic understanding of the issues surrounding the calendar. I also hope you understand why this is important; at a minimum, proper observation of the mo’edim – that is, the appointed times of God – begins with and relies upon a proper reckoning of time.
“… for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known …”
Matthew 10:26 [Excerpt]
Until next time…
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You
I have many calendars, what’s one more? Good article.