2002.09.D.03 Dates For Tabernacles 2002 Correct Determination Of Passover Created by James3 on 8/14/2019 7:30:23 PM Dates For Tabernacles 2002 Correct Determination Of Passover
Greetings,
In article 1AD.02.03.01 AScriptural New Year Commenced at Sunset Friday 15 March or Sunrise Saturday 16 March@ (19 March 2002) i published information based on my understanding of the determination of the dates for Passover, etc.
This information was based on the Karaite Corner dates based on first sighting of Abib Barley being the basis to determine the month of Abib (the first month of Yah=s calendar) and also based on new moon being the first sighting of the crescent moon and a scriptural day beginning at sunset.
Prior to this we had published 1A1.02.01.06 AThe Dayspring: Scriptural Proof a Day Begins In the Morning@ (29 January 2001) which had persuaded me that the Scriptural day begins at SUNRISE not sunset.
We were away the week of the feast of unleavened bread according to this calendar and established communication with a group in Pietermaritzburg who we hoped to share Passover with. However, they had the date of Passover as the evening of Wednesday 27 March whereas we had it as Saturday 30 March based on the day beginning in the morning. Eventually we were unable to celebrate Passover.
On return i found a series of emails dated 28 March which set out a very convincing analysis to the effect that Passover had to be AFTER the spring equinox (Northern hemisphere) and therefore in April with Friday 26 April indicated as the date of Passover.
These emails are reproduced below for your information.
After reading this series of emails i concluded that Passover must indeed be in April and, based on the day beginning in the morning concluded that it must be on Saturday 27 April.
As it happened we were at a fellowship North of Pretoria on that date giving a series of teachings on marriage and found ourselves on the road back late in the evening with a perfect view of a full moon. This convinced me that it was logical for the dates to be determined by the astronomical new moon and not the first sighting of the new moon which is a day or two after the date on which the sun and moon are in alignment.
At this stage i do not have absolute clarity on the exact dates of astronomical New Moon and full moon and therefore do not have absolute certainty regarding the exact dates for Yom Kippur and Tabernacles.
As best i can determine they are:
Yom Teruah (trumpets) Sunday 6 October 2002
Yom Kippur (atonement) Tuesday 15 October 2002
First day of Tabernacles Sunday 20 October
Great day of Tabernacles Sunday 27 October
But it is possible that i might be out by a day.
I would welcome comments from anyone else with insight into the determination of these dates.
Warm regards and blessings
28 March 2002 03:10
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua !!
You have PLENTY of time before Pesach (Passover) ... MORE than one month ...
The >>traditional== Hebrew calendar has been set up for convenience sake by >>traditions of men==. I am reminded of the words of YahShua, "Well has Isaiah prophesied ... This people honors me with their lips ... in vain do they worship me ... Full well you reject the commandment of Elohim that you may keep YOUR OWN TRADITION ... Making the Word of Elohim of none effect THROUGH YOUR TRADITION, which you have delivered." (Mark 7:6-13)
The New Moon determines the beginning of the month. It also determines the seasons (Gen. 1:14; Psalm 104:19).
The month of Passover (called Abib in Torah - - Deut. 16:1) is called "the beginning of months YY the first month of the year to you" (Exodus 12:2).
The year begins with spring at the equinox. This is the time of new life.
If the Passover is figured as in a month when the New Moon preceded the spring equinox, then the new month (and therefore the new year) has begun in the end of the previous year. This is neither logical nor sensible.
Therefore Passover is figured to fall during the month in which the New Moon appears after the spring equinox.
The New Moon that just occurred was PRIOR to the equinox. Therefore Passover is not until the month that will begin by the next new moon ... no matter what the traditions of men may say.
IN SUMMARY
The Feasts of YHVH in Hebrew are >>chag== or >>chagag== related to >>circle== or >>rotation==. They are also called >>mowadah== which are >>appointments== or times that are >>fixed==. All of these words are used for the Holy Day Feasts. They are to be fixed in a regular rotation. They are teaching tools for all of us.
The Feasts of YHVH start at the "beginning" (Exodus 12:1) representing new life, and end after 7 months. (Seven is the number of completion.)
Genesis 1 tells us the stars are for "signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years" (Gen. 1:14). The time of "new life" or "newness" "begins" in the spring specifically with the spring equinox. The New Moon observance is partially for monthly >>reflection and renewal==. It is also the key to the calendar.
The time of beginnings must be with the New Moon that immediately follows the spring equinox. To start the new year with a New Moon prior to the spring equinox is to have a beginning during a time that is an end rather than a beginning. It is contradictory to reason and purpose.
The "traditional" (read Mark 7:6-13) Hebrew calendar this year begins with the New Moon prior to the spring equinox because it is "closer" to the equinox than the New Moon that follows it. It is for the sake of convenience, and all quite Babylonian.
One example: the first month is called Abib prior to Babylon captivity (Ex. 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; Deut. 16:1). The first month is called Nisan after Babylon captivity (Neh. 2:1; Esther 3:7). The Almighty Himself uttered the word >>Abib== (Ex. 23:15; 34:18). That in itself goes a long way in my book!
When the Jews came out of Babylon they brought a calendar with different names of the months than the Scriptures written prior to Babylon. There are more examples than just 'Abib'. They also brought "crescent" New Moon observance with them. They also changed the name (and more) of Feast of Shoutings (or Trumpets) to Rosh HaShanah. Rosh HaShanah means "Head of the Year" as in "New Year's". Babylon observed this time as the New Year and yet Shoutings (Trumpets) is the 1st day of the "7th month".
The simple answer for these changes is, "THEY==RE BABYLONIAN". They are for convenience sake. They are not for the sake of The Almighty YHVH.
Ahava b' YahShua
(Love in The SAVIOUR)
Baruch YHVH,
Chris
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua !!
Ah, The RUACH!
"Howbeit when He, The SPIRIT of Truth, is come, He will guide you into ALL Truth ..."
Yochanan 16:13
Very early in my Sabbath/Feast/New Moon observance almost 20 years ago The RUACH taught me of the timing of The Feasts of YHVH while I yet knew of virtually NO ONE that kept the appointed times of YHVH (for more than a decade). My first year I followed the jewish calendar. The next year when I compared the jewish calendar with Scripture I discovered discrepancies. OOPS! So much for the jews being reliable ... :(
The RUACH revealed to me that keeping The Feasts of YHVH was to be with chodesh that FOLLOWS the equinox. Very shortly thereafter, this word was confirmed from another source ... the only other Feast observant people that I had just barely learned of at that time ...
We received a magazine that says the month of Nisan, on 14th of which is Passover, begins first new moon NEAREST Equinox, and that others are wrong in making it begin on new moon AFTER Equinox.
Which is right?
For years we have been where God answers us instantly by LITERAL VISIONS. So on one lot we wrote: "I Jehovah say Nisan starts on new moon NEAREST Equinox", on the other, that "I Jehovah say Nisan begins on new moon AFTER Equinox". These were folded and folded and mixed till no one knew which was which.
NO, NO, we did not then draw one and call this "God showing"--which would be silly. We prayed for Him to show. Visions were seen of an eye in darkness, of a black hand, of a person in black on one; on the other of a hand whiter than snow, of an eye in light, of a person in pure white. On opening we found the approval was that Nisan begins new moon AFTER Equinox. ... To observe it earlier is to be in darkness, is to have a black work (hand), and NOT to have pure righteousness. But to keep the other date is to be clothed in PURE RIGHTEOUSNESS, to see in LIGHT and to have a PURE work. Truly, "for want of visions MY people perish"!
from a 1930s publication ...
Mourn-
THE "EASTER" APOSTASY
By John Quincy Adams
Second in T H E S T O R Y O F A P O S T A S Y Series
___________
WHEN IS PASSOVER?
You may also check it out at the following:
http://www.childrenofjesus.org/page156.html
"The Anointing is The TRUTH and is no lie"
2:27 of the first epistle of Yochanan
Ahava b' YahShua
(Love in The SAVIOUR)
Baruch YHVH,
Chris
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua !!
Torah made provision for certain options regarding Pesach (Passover). In Numbers 9:9-11 provision was made for Pesach observance on the fourteenth of the 2nd month! This provision was utilized by King Hezekiah in II Chron. 30:1-15. Any who may be "in a journey" toward the Truth of "before or after equinox New Moon" might consider this!!If one keeps the "after equinox New Moon" Passover, you are either "right on", or observing the "2nd month" Passover for which allowance is made in Scripture. If one keeps the "before equinox New Moon" Passover, you are either "right on", or observing an early Passover ... for which NO allowance is made in Scripture.For those who decide to observe the "after equinox New Moon" Passover this year, there is still time in your "journey" into truth to either revert "back" to the previous timings for the Feasts to come later in the year, or to continue "forward" with regards to your calendar timings. J In case you haven't figured it out by now, we keep the "after equinox New Moon". We are not "crescent people" but fellowship with those who are so we are always working something out in that regard. Our "official" dates here will be from 4/26 (beginning the previous evening) through 5/3. It is great the way things work out though. 5/3 is the sixth day of the week. As we will be observing Sabbath anyway on 5/4, it could also serve as a "Feast Holy Day" for those so inclined. We could even s-t-r-e-t-c-h it into the 1st day of the week for those with a particularly elongated calendar understanding, being as it is a weekend!
YahVeh Bless you
And Guard you;
YahVeh Illuminate HIS Face on you
And Grant you Charism;
YahVeh Lift up HIS Face on you
And Set you at SHALOM.
(The Aaronic Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26 from Exegeses Bible)
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 3/17/02 11:11 AM
Subject: Ex 9:31-32 and Abib
\o/ \o/
Hi Chris:
I thought you would find the attached file I completed yesterday interesting.
Herb
Contents
[1] Introduction Exodus 9:31-32 and ABIB[2] Agriculture in Egypt[3] Smith's Paper[4] Lewis' Book[5] Hartmann's Book[6] Pliny the Elder[7] Conclusions on the Time of the Hail and the Meaning of ABIB[8] Time of the Barley Harvest in Israel[9] Ambiguity of Month of ABIB from its Name[10] Comparison of Barley Harvest in Egypt and in Israel[11] Applying this to Ex 12:2[12] The Vernal Equinox and Ex 12:2[13] Ezra and Nehemiah in Relation to the Equinox[14] Wave Sheaf Offering[15] Some Historical Miscellany on the Karaites[16] Genetics of Barley[17] Ending of Ex 9:32[18] Appendix A - Smith's Paper[19] Bibliography
Exodus 9:31-32 and ABIB
Herb Solinsky (c) March 16, 2002
[1] Introduction
Ex 9:22-34 gives the account of the plague of hail upon Egypt, and this mentions the word "abib" in verse 31. The context will help to clarify the meaning of "abib".
In Ex 9:22 Moses is given the instruction [NRSV] "Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that hail may fall on the whole land of Egypt, on humans and animals and all the plants of the field in the land of Egypt." By examining the Hebrew text for this it will be noted that the Hebrew word KOL, Strong's number 3605, occurs twice in this verse, first as "whole" (whole land of Egypt) and second as "all" (all the plants). Notice that it does not say "all" pertaining to humans and animals because they may take shelter within man made structures, but plants of the field can not take shelter and "all the plants of the field in the land of Egypt" are mentioned. This verse provides a purpose for the hail, namely that it reach exposed humans and animals and all outdoor plants. Verse 26 gives an exception [NRSV], "Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail."
In Ex 9:24 a further aspect of this miracle is shown [NASB], "So there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation." Here again the Hebrew word KOL occurs for "all" (all the land of Egypt since it became a nation). The severity was miraculous, so that one can not discuss its damaging effect in terms of normal sized hail. Another interesting point here is that it describes Egypt as having become a nation some time in the past, and what happened pertains to all of that nation. Verse 25 is especially emphatic because it mentions the Hebrew word KOL four times [NASB], "And the hail struck all [KOL] that was in the field through all [KOL] the land of Egypt, both man and beast; the hail also struck every [KOL] plant of the field and shattered every [KOL] tree of the field." What is amazing here is that the Hebrew word for shatter is SHEBAR, Strong's number 7665, and it does mean to break. It was such miraculous hail that it broke every tree of the field, certainly not any normal or isolated hail, but especially severe everywhere that trees grew in Egypt.
Ex 9:31-32 contains the Hebrew word ABIB in this context [NASB], "Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they [ripen] late." Here the entire phrase "was in the ear" is given for the Hebrew word ABIB. Magil uses square brackets writing "[was in the] ear". To show what is implied about the meaning ABIB from this context it is necessary to digess a little about agriculture in Egypt and more specifically about the time of the barley harvest in different parts of Egypt.
[2] Agriculture in Egypt
Except for the northern east-west strip of Egypt that comes close to the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt is a desert with less than two inches of rainfall each year. Barley requires about eight inches of rainfall (if there is no artificial irrigation) during the growing season for a crop to come. The only reason that Egypt produced abundant highly valued crops is that the annual overflooding of the Nile River provided much water that was highly mineralized from the mountains originating far south of Egypt, and the Egyptians had learned how to trap this water and slowly release it to irrigate their farmland along the banks of the Nile River. Once each year the Nile overflowed its banks beginning about the middle of July, and then three months later about the middle of October the water receded so that sowing the grain crops may begin.
In Egypt, the triangular Delta has one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and the Nile flows north into the Delta where it splits into a few tributaries that keep the whole Delta productive with crops. The ancient city of Memphis is 110 miles south of the Mediterranean Sea and is at the southern tip of the Delta. Modern Cairo is about 25 miles north of Memphis, within the Delta. Cairo is part of the desert with no more than about 1.5 inches of rain per year. When the Romans began to govern Egypt about 30 BCE, they divided it into three large districts. Page 168 of Talbert is titled "Roman Egypt", and states, "For administrative and fiscal purposes the province [of Egypt] was divided into three large districts – Delta [Lower Egypt in the north], Heptanomia [Middle Egypt], and Thebaid [Upper Egypt in the south]; to the last of these was also joined the frontier zone of the Dodecaschoenus beyond the natural barrier of the First Cataract." The distinction between Upper, Middle, and Lower relates to elevation above sea level; the Nile flows from the high elevation of Upper Egypt in the south to the low sea level elevation of Lower Egypt in the north. A good map of Ancient Egypt is shown on page 167.
Ancient Egypt extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the First Caratact, a straight distance of 500 miles, although the Nile twists and is thus a little longer up to the First Cataract. In rounded numbers the 500 miles is split into the northern 100 miles (Delta), the middle 150 miles (Heptanomia), and the southern 250 miles (Thebaid). The first dam at Aswan which is at the First Cataract (the southern boundary of Ancient Egypt) was built in 1889. This dam controls the annual floods along the Nile River and thus disrupts the ancient natural timings for some agricultural events. The dam provides energy for a continuous electrical supply and it provides a constant water flow. Artificial fertilization is used today. One must be cautious about using modern harvest data with its timings as if it was fully applicable to the distant past. Nevertheless, events dependent solely on temperature are reasonably applicable to the past.
[3] Smith's Paper
In 1883, six years before the first dam at Aswan was built, biblical scholar W. Robertson Smith published a paper (see Smith in the bibliography) concerning the time of the barley harvest in Egypt. Our interest is in the winter barley which is planted in the fall throughout the Nile River basin and grows during the winter. The last paragraph in Smith's paper helps to clarify and reconcile the reports numbered under points 2 and 4 in his paper. He points out that the source in point 2 means "about ready to harvest" when he writes "is in ear", but the source in point 4 means "the ear has just formed" when he writes "is in ear". Smith's paper is copied as Appendix A below.
Writing about southern Egypt, point 2 shows that the barley is ready to harvest from latter February to the middle of March. Point 4 shows that a little north of Cairo the barley is ready to harvest about the beginning of April. At the end of point 2 we find, "The difference between upper and lower Egypt is about 35 days." This is the time from latter February to the first part of April. Point 4 in the paper shows that the barley a little north of Cairo has its ear formed in the beginning of January although it is not ready to harvest until the beginning of April. The colder weather in the north retards the ripening process so that the time for harvest in the extreme north is about 35 days later than in the extreme south.
[4] Lewis' Book
Page 115 of Lewis states, "The following is the schedule of major activities in an average year in the vicinity of Memphis [southern tip of the Delta] and the Arsinoite nome [about 40 miles further south], with each phase coming two to four weeks earlier in the Thebaid [southern district of Egypt]." This says that from the southern part of Ancient Egypt to the southern tip of the Delta there is a four week (28 day) difference in harvest. Page 116 states "April [Pharmouthi] The grain harvest begins. May [Pachon] Harvesting continues, threshing begins." This is fully consistent with the paper by Smith when allowing for a seven day span from the northern end of the Delta to the southern end of the Delta 110 miles to its south. Page 115 of Lewis states, "October [Phaophi] The Nile flood is past. Sowing of cereal crops begins."
[5] Hartmann's Book
Hartmann writes about the main exporting region of the Delta on page 122 when he states (translated from the French by James Evans, a friend who enjoyed reading his French Bible during his lunch hours), "The harvest of cereal grains was generally carried out at the end of four months for barley and of five months for wheat (4), which is to say, in the months of April and of May."
[6] Pliny the Elder
Writing in the first century about the main exporting region of the Delta, Pliny the Elder states on page 229, "... in Egypt barley is reaped in the sixth month after sowing and wheat in the seventh, ..."
Sowing begins about the middle of October and continues into November. The first month after sowing is about November. The sixth month after sowing is about April. Pliny is saying that barley in the Delta is reaped in April and wheat is reaped in May. This is as Hartmann understands it, and it agrees with the earlier sources quoted.
[7] Conclusions on the Time of the Hail and the Meaning of ABIB
Based upon Ex 9:22, 24-25 mentioned above and the purpose of the hail in all of Egypt, we now consider the approximate time of this extraordinarily heavy miraculous hail. Point 4 in the paper by Smith (top of page 300) shows that in northern Egypt the ear of barley is formed in the beginning of January and in southern Egypt the barley is ready to harvest in the latter part of February. The most appropriate time for the hail to affect all of the barley in Egypt is about February 20 before the barley harvest in the south begins, but with time for the ear to grow a little in the north. But this range of stages of barley growth from near harvest in the south to over 35 days before harvest in the north is still called ABIB in Ex 9:31. This is evidence from the Bible that the Hebrew word ABIB has a wide range of meaning in stages of growth rather than a narrowly defined meaning such as the pliable "dough" stage.
Unfortunately, many biblical Hebrew lexicons such as those by Gesenius and by Brown, Driver, and Briggs are influenced in some of their definitions by the Talmud, the first part of which was published about 200 CE. Biblical scholars today have come to mistrust meanings given to Hebrew words based on the Talmud. DCH uses all sources of ancient Hebrew texts that were composed before the Talmud in order to arrive at its meanings. On page 103 of DCH the meaning of ABIB is "ear (of cereal)", and one context it cites for the use of ABIB is from "The Temple Scroll" (abbreviated 11QT) 19:7 where it gives the translation "new bread (made of) ears of various cereals". Here the plural of ABIB is translated ears and implies that the ears were ground into flour in order to make bread. This further shows that the range of the meaning of ABIB extends to being fully ripe so as to be able to make flour.
This shows that ABIB includes all stages of the ears, from newly formed to fully ripe. "The Temple Scroll" is found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and most estimates date it to roughly 150 BCE.
[8] Time of the Barley Harvest in Israel
My translation from page 415 of Dalman is, "The harvest that I first observed at Jerusalem on May 8, 1925 was during barley and wheat blossoming, and in the middle of the same month the barley harvest began, in which, on May 24, I used the ripping sickle. On May 19, 1926 the farmers in Jerusalem saw the barley harvest nearly completed, the wheat harvest still remaining. In Jericho the barley harvest is first permitted to begin about the middle or end of April, for on the 18th of April, 1909 I saw it nearly mature there. For the coastal plains April can be predicted as the time of the barley harvest, May as the time of the wheat harvest. At Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee one predicts the beginning of the harvest of broadbeans, jointed vetch, and barley from the middle of April onward; wheat harvest first starts in May and continues through July. For ... Bethlehem May is the time of the [harvest of] legumes, June is the time of [the harvest of] barley and wheat. In general, for the beginning of the barley harvest in mountainous areas one must wait until the middle of May; the beginning of the wheat harvest is sure to occur about the start of June. On the coastal regions and plains of Jordan the beginning will occur about perhaps 14 days earlier." This shows that the time of the barley harvest varies from about the middle of April in Jericho to June in Bethlehem, which is a span of about seven weeks.
[9] Ambiguity of Month of ABIB from its Name
The facts that Ex 9:31-32 has shown us that the meaning of ABIB encompases many stages of the earing of barley and that in Israel the barley harvest spans a seven week period, is clear evidence that the name of the first month, ABIB, does not in itself define only one month. From the earliest stage of the earing of barley until the harvest is completed in Israel spans a time of perhaps four months.
Hence the word ABIB alone is not sufficient to determine when this month occurs. Since the earliest phase of ABIB occurs long before it is ready to be harvested, if one wishes to propose that "month of ABIB" is intended to mean "month of first ABIB" (which the Bible does not say), then this would likely cause the first month to often begin about the beginning of March.
[10] Comparison of Barley Harvest in Egypt and in Israel
When comparing the time of the barley harvest in Egypt with the time of the barley harvest in Israel we see that the harvest in Israel begins at about the time that the harvest in Egypt is finished. In Egypt the barley harvest runs from about the latter part of February to the first part of April (a five week span), while in Israel it runs from about the middle of April to early June (a seven week span).
Certainly there are variations in some years due to abnormalities in the temperature; this is a general picture, but it shows a significant difference between Egypt and Israel.
[11] Applying this to Ex 12:2
This has implications for the meaning of Ex 12:2 which was spoken to Moses in the land of Egypt [NASB], "This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you."
The life of Moses indicates that he was never is Israel and was quite unfamiliar with the time of the barley harvest in Israel. Does it make sense to think that when Moses heard the words of Ex 12:2 he thought of the barley in Israel? The context of Egypt and the context of Israel are very different for barley. Now consider the time difference from Ex 9:31-32 to Ex 12:2. After the plague of hail there was a plague of locusts and then a plague of darkness. Then came Ex 12:2.
From the context nothing prevents a separation of about two months or more. Ex 9:31-32 is just not in the context of Ex 12:2, and with the difference in the time of barley harvest between Egypt and Israel, Ex 9:31-32 should not be associated with the barley harvest in Israel.
There is no reason for Moses to think about the barley harvest at Ex 12:2 because the word ABIB is not even there. One may not arbitrarily grab the word ABIB from EX 13:4 and shove it into Ex 12:2. If barley in itself was to define the timing of the first month, then it would be of the greatest importance for it or ABIB to appear in Ex 12:2, but it is not there!
[12] The Vernal Equinox and Ex 12:2
We must seek to know what Moses knew. Acts 7:22 reads [NKJV], "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." Pages 333, 336-337 of Lockyer show that most of the Egyptian pyramids are oriented east-west, and the two largest pyramids at Gizeh built by Cheops and Chephren are oriented east-west, having one wall aligned exactly east-west. Pages 63-64 of Lockyer explain that the sun's shadow on a vertical object from sunrise to sunset fall exactly east-west only on the days of the equinoxes. So it is clear that Moses knew how to determine the days of the equinoxes.
When one considers that Gen 1:14 points to the lights in the heavens to determine the festivals and that there are only four annual signs of the sun, one of which is the vernal equinox, then by logical process of elimination, knowing that only the vernal equinox of the four are related to the time of the year under consideration, Moses would naturally think of the vernal equinox in relation to Ex 12:2.
That would be Egyptian training, Egyptian thinking, Egyptian context, and in harmony with Gen 1:14, the only explicit Scripture that directly addresses the determination of the festivals. Would Moses think of the vernal equinox if it had not yet occurred by that day?
No, it would be premature for him to think of it. The natural thinking from Ex 12:2 in the context of Egypt and what Moses knew would point to the vernal equinox as having occurred.
Some people have proposed that merely the 16th day of the first month need be on or after the equinox, and not the first day of the first month. Aside from the fact that this is not a natural thing for Moses to imagine, there is the practical problem of having to predict at the beginning of the month whether the 16th day of the month will be on or after the equinox. From one equinox to the next is 365 or 366 days, and it is not an easy matter to predict between the two because there is no repetitive pattern. It is too far in advance to judge between the two choices.
[13] Ezra and Nehemiah in Relation to the Equinox
Another significant factor that is Scriptural is Ezra 6:15 and Neh 6:15 where the Babylonian month names are used in the context of Jerusalem, and this continued from that time onward. If the proposed rule that merely the 16th day of the first month need be on or after the equinox to determine the first month had been in effect, then about half the time the Israelite first month named Nisan would have been one month earlier than the Babylonian Nisan, and consider what confusion there would be in that case. The confusion would be unacceptable. From 499 BCE to 400 BCE the Babylonian calendar followed a 19 year pattern which began Nisan on or after the vernal equinox, with one exception by one day in 465 BCE (only that once the first month of the Babylonian calendar began one day before the vernal equinox, but not adhering to this would have upset the 19 year pattern which the Babylonians were apparently not willing to do). History reveals that Ezra traveled from Babylon to settle in Jerusalem in 458 BCE, and Nehemiah followed in 444 BCE. They were apparently willing to replace the use of the name Abib with the name Nisan in the context of Jerusalem. Neh 8:2, 9 shows that Ezra kept the holy day of the first day of the seventh month at the correct time.
Using Gen 1:14 with the biblical contexts discussed above only point to using the new moon on or after the vernal equinox.
[14] Wave Sheaf Offering
The word ABIB is not used in the two contexts that discuss the wave sheaf offering (Lev 23:10-14; Deut 16:9-10). The specific statements concerning the wave sheaf offeriing do not state any specifc state of barley to be mandatory. Some people assume this to be the case, but there is no evidence. Lev 2:14-16 and Lev 23:10-14 have incompatible descriptions in their formulas of procedure, so there is no need to assume that Lev 2:14 governs Lev 23:10-14.
[15] Some Historical Miscellany on the Karaites
Pages 303-304 of Ankori quote Levi ben Yefeth's writing from about 1006-1007 to show that the Karaites in his time were divided on how to determine the first month. At that time the Karaites in Israel wanted to use barley, but many Karaites in Babylon used only the vernal equinox and not the barley.
The following paragraph appears on page 326 of Ankori: "Thus, in the case of an unusually early ripening of barley in Palestine, the twelfth month of the Karaite calendar-year, Adar, would yield to Nisan, the first month of a new year. Indeed, an actual occurrence is cited when the Purim Festival, due to fall, as a rule, in the middle of Adar, was shelved altogether to make way for Passover, which falls in the middle of the succeeding month of Nisan." Footnote 66 places this in the year 1006-1007. In Est 9:19-22 it is clear that the Jews had decided that every year on the 14th and 15th days of the 12th month Adar they would celebrate Purim. Hence they understood that every year had to have at least 12 months, but the Karaites who used barley apparently accepted the viewpoint that some years might only have 11 months based on the state of the barley.
In discussing the Karaites, pages 392-393 of Nemoy state, "Some of them begin the '(month of the) fresh ears' (with the appearance) of (any kind of) green herbage, whereas others do not begin it until (fresh) garden-cress is found all over Palestine; others begin it only when (at least) one piece of ground becomes ready for harvest; still others begin it even when only a handful of corn is ready for harvest." This indicates that Karaites in the middle ages who wanted to use vegetation to determine the first month could not agree among themselves on the method. Of course this does not prove that all of the viewpoints are wrong, but only that the concepts of what to do were not so clear cut that it was easy for them to all agree.
[16] Genetics of Barley
Concerning the genetics of the earing of barley, page 149 of Nilan states, "The inheritance of the time of heading in barley ranges from fairly simple to very complex. Several reports have indicated a 3:1 segregation ratio with early (Doney 1961; Gill 1951; Grafius, Nelson, and Dirks 1952; Murty and Jain 1960; Ramage and Suneson 1958; Scholz 1957) or late (Bandlow 1959; Frey 1954a; Scholz 1957) being dominant.
Two-factor pair inheritance was reported (Frey 1954a) with late dominant to early. Fiuzat and Atkins (1953) found that the date of heading in two crosses appeared to be controlled by a single major gene pair plus modifying factors, an indication of some of the complexities of the inheritance of this characteristic. Yasuda (1958) reported on two-factor pairs responsible for the difference between early and late varieties. He labeled the genes 'AA' and 'BB' with 'AA BB' varieties 60-days earlier than 'aa bb' varieties. Each allele appeared to be additive, and no interaction between genes in the F1 hybrid was noted." The point here is that different varieties of barley behave differently with regard to reproductive timings.
Presumably, if farmers planted one variety of barley as opposed to another in the appropriate place, they could manipulate the calendar for those who wanted to use barley to determine the first month.
[17] Ending of Ex 9:32
When Ex 9:31-32 was quoted above from the NASB, the last Hebrew word was translated "[ripen] late". This Hebrew verb is AFEEL, Strong's number 648, but the specific verb form is AFEELOT. When discussing this word on page 357 of DCH, a translation of the end of Ex 9:32 is given with the words "the wheat and the spelt were not damaged for they are late (crops)". Thus DCH translates AFEELOT as "are late (crops)". Pages 46-47 of Klein translate AFEEL as "ripening late", and Klein relates this to the Akkadian (Assyrian) word APATU "to be late".
Klein is especially careful in applying the scientific principles of etymology to words, even using the words "possibly" or "probably" to show speculation, and when there are no grounds for speculation, Klein says nothing. Klein is an excellent source for correcting older sloppy careless guesses for etymology. Page 128 of Cohen translates this "late (of crops)". On the same page Cohen writes, "Contrast both KB I, 77, and HALAT, 76, where the attempt to derive this term from the root OFEL 'to be, made dark' is semantically impossible and must be rejected." Cohen is stating that he agrees with the two German
lexicons (which he abbreviates KB and HALAT, and which I looked up) that AFEEL is not derived from a word that means "to be made dark".
Perhaps the reason for this fuss by Cohen is that on page 66 of BDB, for AFEEL, we see "(darkened, concealed, thence) late, of crops", so that BDB seems to be attempting to etymologically derive this word from "darkened". None of the modern Hebrew lexicons agree with BDB on this and there is no evidence for this.
[18] Appendix A
Complete Smith Reference except for a section written in Arabic for which Smith includes a translation which he puts in quotation marks shown in the published paper and which is copied below
NOTE ON EXODUS IX. 31, 32
1. All over Egypt it is common to raise at least two crops of barley - shitawi and seifi. See Lane, Modern Egyptians, ch. xiv., from which it will be seen that the seifi or summer crop is sown about the vernal equinox or later, and so has no bearing on the text before us. Dr Grant-Bey of Cairo, who has kindly made a series of enquiries for me among natives and Europeans who know the country parts of Egypt, says however that in the Sharkiya district there are sometimes three crops of barley, and about Mansura and in the Gharbiya even four. What follows refers to the winter crop (shitawi).
2. The data of the harvest varies greatly in different parts of Egypt. From the Rev. Mr Harvey of the American mission Dr Grant got the following dates, applicable to the country south of Cairo:
(a) The barley is in ear from the latter part of February to 15th March.
(b) The flax is in flower from January 10th and in seed from February 15th.
(c) When the barley is in ear the ears of wheat begin to form, but the grains are in a milky state. The difference between upper and lower Egypt is about 35 days.
3. Rev. Dr Lansing of Cairo visited the region of Zoan in the first part of May,1880, and found the farmers reaping barley while the wheat was nearly ripe. But he was told that the crops were at least a fortnight later than usual.
4. I have before me an Arabic letter to Dr Grant-Bey from a farmer in the district of Kalyub, a little north of Cairo. The following is a transcript of part of it. [Arabic text appears here] "The barley is in ear in the beginning of January, and the flax blooms in the middle of January, and the seed is found in it in the beginning of April. When the barley is in ear the wheat is green herbage; but the seasons vary as I told you."
As the date when the flax blooms is almost the same in this statement as in Mr Harvey's it is plain that Mr Harvey is thinking of an earlier stage of the seed capsule, when he speaks of February 15th, than the native writer has in view when he says that the bizr or seed-grains are found in the beginning of April. On the other hand it is pretty plain that Mr Harvey's statement about the barley refers to the full ear, when harvest is about to begin. The letter of the native farmer gives what we want, for he speaks of the state of the barley when its ear is formed, but not that of the wheat. And at that time the flax is in flower, which appears to determine the sense of gevol.
[19] Bibliography
Ankori, Zvi. Karaites in Byzantium. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959
BDB. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, by F. Brown, S.R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907
Cohen, Harold R. Biblical Hapax Legomena in the Light of Akkadian and Ugaritic. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1978
Dalman, Gustaf H. Arbeit und Sitte in Palastina, Vol. I.2. Hildesheim:
Georg-Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1964 (originally 1928)
DCH. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Vol. 1., edited by David J. A. Clines. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993 Five of the projected eight volumes have been published to 2001
Hartmann, Fernande. L' agriculture dans L' ancienne Egypte. Paris:
Librairies - Imprimeries Reunies, 1923
Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew
Language for Readers of English. New York: Macmillan, 1987
Lewis, Naphtali. Life in Egypt under Roman Rule. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983 (reprinted 1999 without change by Scholars Press)
Lockyer, Joseph Norman. The Dawn of Astronomy. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1894
Magil, Joseph. The Englishman's Hebrew - English Old Testament Genesis --- 2 Samuel. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1974
Nilan, Robert A. The Cytology and Genetics of Barley. Pullman, WA:
Washington State University Press, 1964
Pliny the Elder. Pliny: Natural History, Vol. 5, translated by H.
Rackham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961
NASB New American Standard Bible
Nemoy, Leon. "Al-Qirqisani's Accout of the Jewish Sects". Hebrew Union
College Annual, 1930, Vol. 7, pp. 317-397
NKJV New King James Version
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
Smith, W. Robertson. "Note on Exodus IX. 31, 32". The Journal of
Philology, 1883, Vol. 12, pp. 299-300
Talbert, Richard J. A., editor. Atlas of Classical History. London:
Routledge, 1985
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 3/21/02 6:39 PM
Subject: EQUINOX IS IN THE BIBLE
Equinox and Solstice is in the Bible
by Herb Solinsky
The Hebrew word TKUFAH, Strong's number 8622, occurs four times in the Bible, Ex 34:22; I Sam 1:20; II Chr 24:23; Ps 19:7. In 1907 when the well known lexicon by Brown, Driver, and Briggs was published (see page 880 for TKUFAH), the Dead Sea Scrolls were not yet discovered and clarifying insightful meanings into some ancient Hebrew words were not yet available. The Dead Sea Scrolls use the Hebrew word TKUFAH in contexts before the time of Christ, and this is now discussed.
In The Jewish Quarterly Review, volume 58, 1967-1968, pages 309-316 there is a paper published by Sidney B. Hoenig titled, "Textual Readings and Meanings in Hodayot (I QH)". This is from the Dead Sea Scrolls. On pages 312-313 he discusses two expressions found there: one is "TKUFAH of the day" and the other is "at the appointed time of the night at TKUFAH". Hoenig explains that the former means "zenith of the day" meaning "noon" and the latter means "at the appointed time of the night at zenith" meaning "midnight". It is particularly intesting that in the expression "at the appointed time of the night at TKUFAH" the Hebrew word for "appointed time" is MOED, the same word used for the holy days in Lev 23 and for seasons in Gen 1:14. Thus it is not foreign to ancient Hebrew to use or associate TKUFAH with MOED. This use of TKUFAH shows two heavenly bodies, the earth and sun, interacting on a daily basis so that at astronomically distinctive points in time TKUFAH refers to those points in time.
In The Madrid Qumran Congress, volume 2, edited by Julio Trebolle Barrera and Luis Vegas Montaner (Leiden: Brill, 1992), there is a chapter by Johann Maier titled "Shire Olat hash-Shabbat. Some Observations on their Calendric Implications and on their Style". On page 146 Maier writes, "The Songs themselves are attached to the thirteen sabbaths of one quarter or season (tqufah) of a year, according to the editor the first quarter (the Nisan season) only." Here we see the Hebrew word TKUFAH used for the season of spring which begins with the vernal equinox and ends with the summer solstice. Here also astronomically distinctive points in time involving the earth and sun define a time period called TKUFAH.
The intertestamental apocryphal Book of Sirach (also known as Ecclesiaticus) contains the Hebrew word TKUFAH. This book was written in Hebrew about 190 BCE, but today only incomplete sections of it have survived, having been discovered with thousands of other Hebrew texts in the attic of a synagogue in Cairo, Egypt toward the end of the nineteenth century. The treasure of texts in that attic which survived for many hundreds of years is known as the Cairo Geniza. There are many copies of Sirach in Greek translation, and most of the Hebrew words in Sirach 43:7 is preserved, one of them being TKUFAH. The Greek translation for TKUFAH is SUNTELIA (Strong's Greek number 4930) which means completion, fulfillment, or destruction. These words indicate a point in time at which some event occurred. In harmony with this idea, the Jerusalem Bible translates Sirach 43:7, "the moon it is that signals the feasts, a luminary that wanes after her full". Here "her full" refers to the full moon and is translated from TKUFAH or SUNTELIA. Here TKUFAH refers to a natural distinctive time of the moon in its movement about the earth.
These contexts from the Dead Sea Scrolls and from Sirach from before the time of Christ show the Hebrew word TKUFAH used to refer to natural distinctive points or time intervals associated with the heavenly bodies of the earth, sun, and moon.
In A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by William L. Holladay (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), on page 394 the word TKUFAH is defined. The parentheses and square brackets are part of the text of that book by Holladay where he writes about TKUFAH "turning (of sun at solstice) Ps 19:7; (of the year, i.e. end of year, at autumnal equinox) Ex 34:22; (of the days [i.e. of the year] = end of year I Sam 1:20".
In Ex 34:22 Moses was told, in literal translation, "And you shall celebrate ... the Feast of Ingathering TKUFAH the year". There is no Hebrew preposition attached to TKUFAH here. In harmony with the astronomical uses shown above, this refers to the autumnal equinox. Certainly Moses was aware of the equinoxes from the knowledge he gained in his upbringing in Egypt (Acts 7:22), and the fact that the greatest pyramids had one wall aligned exactly east-west. Only on the days of the equinoxes does the shadow of a vertical object fall exactly east-west all day long. The ancients were easily able to determine an east-west line. Therefore the equinoxes are visible signs of the sun in relation to the earth and do fall within the perview of signs in Gen 1:14 "lights in the expanse of the heavens ... for signs and for festivals and for days and years". Note also that these, the lights in the sky, are for years. It would take some specific other Scripture, not some vague implication, to overturn the signs of the lights in the heavens for determining the festivals.
I refrained from using references in the Talmud for TKUFAH to mean an equinox or solstice, although they have this meaning in the Talmud many times, because I do not accept the Talmud as a proper way to establish meanings of biblical Hebrew words.
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua !!
Aviv is not THE indicator, rather it is AN indicator.There cannot be Pesach WITHOUT aviv, yet that has not stopped MOST folks (Armstrong and Messianic believers LARGELY included) from observing Pesach WITHOUT aviv for MANY YEARS!Now, for the first time in MANY YEARS aviv is available early and ALL OF A SUDDEN these rabbinical, talmudic traditionalists who make Ha Devar et Elohim of NONE effect (not my words but The Words of YahShua) are falling all over themselves to declare aviv and a pre-equinox New Year that is CONTRARY to Scripture.Review Hebrews 12. Also check out Deuteronomy 8:3, and Matthew and Luke 4:4.Aviv may be SAVED for FirstFruits NEXT month -- it's NOT A PROBLEM! Grains are EASILY and COMMONLY saved until later. *sigh*It looks as though YHVH may be narrowing the field earlier than I expected.Follow the narrow way or the BROAD way ... as always it is your choice.
Will you rule and reign with YahShua? Or will you be ruled and reigned over?
Ahava b' YahShua
(Love in The SAVIOUR)
Baruch YHVH,
Chris Barr, an underShepherd , little children of Jesus Christ, 89 Homeplace Trail, Pocahontas, AR 72455 (870) 892-7843 http://www.childrenofjesus.org
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 3/22/02 2:06:39 AM
Subject: Fw: ATTENTION SAINTS!!! I WAS WRONG! Pesach is later ...
Dear Saints and others,After prayer, a wonderfully edifying talk with Chris Barr and an intense study of the Word, I have come to the conclusion that I was wrong in dating the New Year and the subsequent dates of Pesach, First Fruits and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.I, like Michael Rood, the Kararites and almost every other Messianic Israelite, believed that the ONLY TWO indicators to determine the New Year was the barley in Israel being ripe and the next New Moon after the barley is ripe. I believed this because the Feast of Firstfruits, which happens just after Pesach, involves gathering ripened shocks of barley and so the New Year cannot begin until the barley has ripened.However . . . there is, in fact, a THIRD indicator that I did not quite understand until this evening.In Exodus 12:2 we learn that YHVH tells Moshe that "this will be the beginning of your months". However, is Moshe in Israel at the time when YHVH shows him how to determine the beginning of the year? No. In fact, Moshe NEVER even entered Israel during his lifetime. Moshe was in Egypt when YHVH taught him how to determine the beginning of the year.Now, if the Kararites are right, and the only two factors in determining the New Year is the ripeness of the barley and the New Moon . . . we have a MAJOR problem!The barley ripens on average SEVEN TO EIGHT WEEKS LATER IN ISRAEL THAN IN EGYPT! So, YHVH would have told Moshe to calculate a year that would have begun about two months earlier than it would have begun if they were in Israel! UH OH!!! How do we solve this discrpency????We know Moshe was raised in Egypt and learned in all the Egyptian studies. We also know that the pyramids are situated so that on the day of the equinoxes, they cast a shadow in a perfect east west line all day. Thus, Moshe would have CERTAINLY been aware of equinoxes.We also know from Genesis 1:14 that the sun, moon, and stars are given to us for signs and in determining feast days!So, when YHVH told Moshe to determine the beginning of months in Ex 12:2, Moshe would have instantly thought of the Spring equinox based off his learning and understanding.Now, if we wait until AFTER the Spring equinox (which typically occurs on March 20 or 21st), and determine the New Year on the next New Moon with the barley being ripe, then the New Year in Egypt and Israel WOULD BEGIN AT THE SAME TIME! YHVH MUST have wanted Moshe to determine the New Year based off 1. On or after the Spring Equinox 2. The ripeness of the barley harvest 3. the next New Moon after these first two were fulfilled. This is the ONLY WAY the New Year can begin at the same time in both Egypt and Israel. Since YHVH gave this commandment to Moshe in Egypt, it must be compatible in BOTH nations.Some critics say that you can only wave the barley if it is newly ripened and that if you wait until after the Spring Equinox and the next New Moon, the barley will be past its ripeness. This is not true. Scripture does not specify that the barley wave offering must be newly ripe . . . just that it needs to be ripe. Just as wheat can be stored for years without going bad, so barley can be harvested and then placed in a room for a month to await its wave offering after the New Moon.I hope this makes sense! Thus, Pesach will be on Friday, April 26th. The 1st Day of Unleavened Bread will be on Saturday, April 27th. The Feast of Firstfruits will be on Sunday, April 28th. The 7th Day of Unleavened Bread will be Friday, May 3rd. The commanded Shabbats will be Saturday April 27th ( a weekly commanded shabbat anyway) and Friday, May 3rd. Make sure to ask for May 3rd off from your employer! You now have MORE time to prepare for Pesach, cleaning out the leaven and to ask your employer off work! PRAISE YHVH!In YahShua and by His Torah
FROM THE ARCHIVES ...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris & Connie Barr" <cbarr@childrenofjesus.org>
Sent: 4/12/99 4:26 PM
Subject: The vernal equinox and the calendar
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/Greetings John in the Matchless Name of YahShua!Sorry for the delayed response ... YahVeh has had me SWAMPED ... not a complaint, just a fact. ALL GLORY AND PRAISE BE TO HIM!"All good things come to those who wait".Here is Part I - - The Historical Background. It is from a friend of mine who is quite a researcher and historian. We don't always see eye to eye on the application of information, but facts are facts. What is most interesting is that Jim sent this to me a short time ago - - unsolicited. That is how YahVeh often teaches me. He just sends answers to me without my even looking for them!
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
I had sent the following to Jim:\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
Greetings Jim in the Matchless Name of YahShua!I got this yesterday from a post-equinox observer ... my response follows. I thought you might enjoy it!-----Original Message-----From: JeffDate: 4/1/99 1:27 PMSubject: PassoverDear Brethren,Have a happy Passover today...April Fool's!Jeff -----Original Message-----From: Chris & Connie BarrDate: 4/1/99 3:42 PMSubject: Re: Passover
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
Greetings Jeff in the Matchless Name of YahShua!WOW! You've just come up with ONE MORE REASON why Passover should ONLY be counted ONLY from the New Moon AFTER Equinox: drum rollThat's the only way that the date of Passover will NEVER fall on April Fool's Day. :)Shalom,ChrisIt elicited this response from my historian friend:-----Original Message-----From: JamesTo: Chris & Connie BarrDate: 4/2/99 12:49 PMSubject: ONE MONTH TOO EARLY AND A DAY TOO LATEChris, Thanks for the e-mail concerning the premature celebration of the Passover by the Jews. Since the Jews call the 15th the Passover, and since their calendar is based on a lunar cycle that allows their ecclesiastical year to begin up to 13 days before the equinox, they are once again "one month too early and a day too late." I have done extensive research into how the ecclesiastical calendar of the Jews came to be based on an improper lunar cycle. A friend asked me if this year's Passover (14th) should be celebrated on March 31. There was no way that I could explain to him exactly why it had to be celebrated a month later without going into the history of how the Jews came to have an improper lunar cycle. You might find the history behind the improper lunar cycle of the Jews very interesting. Here is the history: Since the Nicene Council of A.D. 325, the Roman Catholic Church, the Jews, and the Protestant churches have all been using a lunar cycle which allows the biblical year to retrograde too much. This -- among many other reasons -- is why we cannot follow the calendar of the Jews today. The history of how this retrograded lunar cycle came into being is quite complex, but I'll try to be brief. In his book Easter in the Early Church, Raniero Cantalamessa says that "the Christians, who had always followed the Jews in setting the date of the Pascha, were perplexed when the latter, at the beginning of the third century [A.D. 200-300], began to allow 14 Nisan to come before the equinox and thus from time to time celebrate the Pascha twice in a single solar year" (p. 162). By the third century of our era, the Jews -- having been expelled from Jerusalem by Hadrian's anti-Judaic legislation in A.D. 135 -- began to adopt very arbitrary methods of intercalation, allowing the month of Abib to retrograde back into winter, even allowing the year to begin as early as March 5. These Jews were Talmudic, Pharisees who -- by this time -- had usurped the regulation of the calendar from the Torah-true priests. The Torah-true priests had always regulated the calendar by the new moon. In an annotation to its translation of the historian Eusebius Pamphilus' Life of Constantine, book 3, chapter 18, the Union Theological Seminary comments on this fact of error in the third century Jewish calendar: "Whereas the Jewish Paschal Neomenia [new moon] began from the fifth day of March, and was concluded at the third of April, hence it sometimes happened that their Passover began before the Equinox. So that they celebrated two Passovers in one [solar] year" (Eusebius Pamphilus' Ecclesiastical History, trans. Union Theological Seminary Library (New York: n. p., n. d.), p. 222, ftn. m). Even the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary notes this same one-month-too-early phenomenon of the third century Jewish calendar: "Whether it happened in Anatolius' day [A.D. 270] or at some earlier or later point, the Jewish [intercalation] cycle must have slipped back a month at some time after the Temple services ended, since in the later form it runs too early at times for the barley-harvest rule" (1956 ed., V, 259). It was the very fact that the churches of Asia Minor, Syria, and Mesopotamia were allowing the Jews to regulate the calendar which led to the famous Nicene Council of A.D. 325. The issue of Jewish regulation of the calendar was placed high on the agenda at the first Nicene Council summoned by Constantine. At the conclusion of the Council, Constantine wrote a letter to all the churches of the Roman world, mentioning the retrograded calendar of the Jews. He first mentions the fact that the Jews "sometimes celebrate Easter [Passover] twice in the same year" (Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 3, 18). He then asks a question, followed by a statement of the new church policy: "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" (Ibid.). The Nicene Council of A.D. 325 was also summoned by Constantine to correct the retrograded calendar of the Jews. The Council ruled: (1) that Easter must be celebrated by all throughout the world on the same Sunday, (2) that this Sunday must always follow the fourteenth day of the Passover moon, and (3) that that moon was to be accounted the Passover moon whose fourteenth day followed the spring equinox (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, s.v. "Easter Controversy"). The only problem is that the Nicene Council chose the wrong Passover moon. The "Passover moon" of the Nicene Council periodically allows the biblical year to begin as early as 13 days BEFORE the vernal equinox, resulting in March Passovers. Yet -- except for extremely rare meteorologically anomalous years -- March Passovers are generally not possible in Palestine because of the agricultural requirements of the wave-sheaf offering (Lev. 23:9-14).
"According to Scaliger, the [Roman Catholic] Church thought 'that they were celebrating the passover in Nisan'" (Grace Amadon, "Ancient Jewish Calendation," Journal of Biblical Literature, LXI [1942], p. 242). In other words, the Roman Catholic Church thought that the month of Nisan could begin up to 13 days before the vernal equinox. The Nicene Council of A.D. 325 replaced the retrograded lunar cycle of the Jews with the retrograded lunar cycle of the Roman Catholic Church. This is the lunar cycle that the entire world has been using since A.D. 325! Even the Jews were forced to go along with the retrograded lunar cycle of the Catholics. "Inasmuch as the [Roman Catholic] Church chose the passover of the resurrection as a basis for her feasts, placing Easter on the first Sunday after the equinoctial full moon, the Jews had no alternative but to take the first full moon after the spring equinox as their paschal season. As a result, from the fourth century onward, Jews and Christians alike had March passovers on their calendars" (Amadon, p. 242). What the Roman Catholic Church failed to realize is that the year of God's calendar is a luni-solar-stellar year, based on the biblical principle of multiple witnesses (Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16; 1 Tim. 5:19; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 John 5:7-8). The sun, the moon, and the stars must all be used in determining the beginning of the year. As multiple witnesses, their combined testimony must agree as one.The historical evidence that may be gathered indicates that the month of April was always the Passover month, thus indicating that the biblical year could not begin BEFORE the vernal equinox. Notice what the following sources have to say on the issue. "In the month of Xanthicus [i.e., April, ISBE, s.v. "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 ... the law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice ... which is called the Passover" (Flavius Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, III, X, '' 5). Even as late as the opening of the eight century, the Celtic Church in Britain "declared that they followed [the apostle] John, and this would make them Quartodecimans" (Leslie Hardinge, The Celtic Church in Britain , p. 95).
A "most significant paragraph" from the ancient Annals of Ireland [3 Fragments (ed. O'Dovonan), fragment II at A.D. 704] indicates that the Celtic Church in Britain recognized April as the Passover month (see Hardinge, p. 95). In the third century of our era, Anatolius of Laodicea wrote that "on the new moon of the first month [Abib] ... the sun is found not only to have arrived at the first sign of the zodiac, but already to be passing through the fourth day within it. This sign is commonly called the first of the twelve divisions and the equinoctial sign and the beginning of months and head of the cycle and the starting point of the planetary course. But the preceding sign is the last of the months and the twelfth sign and the last of the twelve divisions and the end of the planetary circuit. Therefore we say that they who place the first month in it, and determine the fourteenth of the Pascha accordingly, are guilty of no small or ordinary mistake. And this is not our own statement, but the fact was known to the Jews, those of old time even before Christ, and it was carefully observed by them. One may learn it from what is said by Philo, Josephus, and Musaeus, and not only by them but also by those of still more ancient date, the two Agathobuli, surnamed the Masters of Aristobulus the Great" (Raniero Cantalamessa, Easter in the Early Church: An Anthology of Jewish and Early Christian Texts , pp. 61-62). "About the end of the sixth century ... the difference, in point of time, betwixt the Christian Pasch [14th of Abib], as observed in Britain by the native Christians [the Celtic Church], and the Pagan Easter enforced by Rome [and based on the March-passover cycle of the Council of Nicaea], at the time of its enforcement, was a whole month [the Celtic Church always observed an April Passover]" (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons , p. 107). The Celtic churches of the British Isles said that they followed the calendar practices of the apostle John. That's the record of history whether people like it or not. In conclusion, the bottom line is that April is -- and always has been -- the Passover month. March "Passovers" are climatologically and agriculturally general not possible in Palestine. The biblical year cannot be allowed to begin before the vernal equinox. This year we have a very late Passover, which is to be observed on the evening of April 30, the new year having begun on April 18. True to its historical record, the Fixed Calendar of the Jews is one month too early and a day too late, with "Passover" having to be observed on the evening of March 30. I hope all of this helps. If you ever have any questions concerning anything, just let me know. I'll try to give an answer. Take care. Christian regards, James
----- Original Message ----- From: Herb Solinsky
Sent: 3/23/02 12:29 AM
Subject: Questions raised due to the email on TKUFAH
Questions raised due to the email on TKUFAH
(1) Does TEKUFAH's four occurrences in Scripture show it to have the specific use in context of vernal equinox?
The four places in Scripture do NOT show one in which TKUFAH in context means vernal equinox. But what I did show from contexts before Christ is that TKUFAH does have contextual meaning of distinctive points determined by an observer from earth involving two heavenly bodies, and furthermore, there is NO context that shows it to mean the end of a harvest as you hypothesize in an attempt to find an answer to the equinox use in Ex 34:22. Actually, from an earlier email in 2002 that I wrote, I use Ezra 6:15 and Nehemiah 6:15 which show that in the context of Jerusalem, the acceptance of Babylonian month names by Israel for their calendar. Thus they substituted the name Nisan for the name Abib. During that century in which Ezra and Nehemiah lived and went to Israel to restore true worship, the Babylonian calendar was stabilized and Nisan began on or after the vernal equinox. The evidence exists in the British Museum where the ancient cuneiform inscriptions from Babylon are housed, and the dates by regional years, months, and days of months (including some eclipses) fit perfectly with computer programs that go back in time using the astronomy of the sun, earth, and moon. The people who found those clay tablets and sold them for money could not read the ancient writing and it would have been impossible for them to forge this. Dan 12:4 shows that in the end time knowledge would be increased, and today specialists have the knowledge to interpret and compute this. Also, according to the book "Karaites in Byzantium" by Zvi Ankori mentioned in more detail in the paper I put out about Ex 9:31-32, the Karaites in Babylon about 1000 CE did NOT use barley to determine the first month but used the vernal equinox. I believe that our loving Father in heaven gave a method that enabled people in North America and South America (and the Karaites in Babylon) a way to keep the feasts and knowing the first month down through the centuries without any knowledge about barley from Israel. I believe He preserved the record for us in Ezra 6:15 and Neh 6:15 with the general principle shown in Gen 1:14 "lights in the heavens ... for festivals", becasue the vernal equinox is detmined by the light of the sun, and Moses knew the equinoxes, and TKUFAH, acccording to references in the Dead Sea Scrolls includes the meaning of the vernal equinox. The Bible does not have all contexts for a word, but other contexts illuminate its general meaning.
(2) Does Ex 34:22 refer to end of the harvest when it uses the word TKUFAH?
There is no ancient context that shows TKUFAH to mean a "point" of time relating to harvest in contrast to ancient contexts that show it to relate to heavenly bodies. This is simply a matter of finding contexts that bring out meaning that is clear. Incidentally, the two main crops harvested at that general time of the year are olives and grapes. The olive harvest occurs in September and October, over by mid to late October. The grape harvest occurs from about mid August to about the end of the first week in November. Figs, which are a little less important than olives and grapes, are a summer fruit, hardly ever extending into fall. This does not fit the description of a "point" in time. But the uses in the Dead Sea Scrolls show the meaning of a point in time.
(3) Does the harvest of barley have to begin as soon as it is ripe?
When I spoke with Dr. David Marshall, a barley and wheat genetcist from Texas A & M University about 10 years ago, he told me that when he visited Egypt, the farmers who still used a sickle waited until the barley was at 30 percent moisture or less before harvesting. This was about the first time at which flour could be obtained. This was by experience rather than a scientific measurement, but Dr. Marshall knew the moisture content. They could wait some weeks and let the moisture content decrease, but they could not let it get near 10 percent because at that point only modern machinery could harvest it without shattering and losing the grain. But winter barley that lies dormant over the winter ripens slowly because the temperature rises slowly. They have some weeks to wait before they will lose it to shattering.
The harvest of barley would be with domesticated barley, not wild barley, because wild barley does not have desirable characteristics for making bread, nor does it have a high yield, nor does it last long before shattering. A primary difference between wild barley and domesticated barley is that the domesticated is bred to enable the grain to stay on the stalk for a much longer time before shattering than wild barley. Wild barley does shatter soon after ripening, but not domesticated barley. Dr. Marshall recommended that I go to the main library and gather information. I took his advice and spent 2 1/2 days there photocopying.
Herb Solinsky
28 March 2002 03:12
----- Original Message ----- From: Herb Solinsky
Sent: 3/24/02 10:05 PM
Subject: DEUT 16:9
DEUT 16:9 and the First Month
Deut 30:11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far off.
30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
30:13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
30:14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it."
In Rom 10:6-10 Paul quotes parts of this and interprets this in a somewhat figurative way to look at the law as a type of our Messiah, because in the new covenant the law is written in our mind and heart, and our Messiah also is in our mind and heart ("Messiah in you, the hope of glory" - Col 1:27). He is our example of keeping the law. The intent of Deut 30:11-14 is that (even though we are too weak to live a sinless life) the law is not too difficult us, so that figuratively it is not across the sea. But by analogy, if it was intended for all those with faith down through the ages to keep the month of Abib using an unspecified rule of barley, IT WOULD BE TOO DIFFICULT (verse 11) because some would indeed have to CROSS THE SEA (verse 13). This was given to Moses before the original listeners reached the promised land where the Promised Land barley existed. It was intended that the law be kept down through the ages, not merely in the future when the law will go forth from Zion (Isa 2:3).
Now consider Deut 11:16-17 "Beware, lest your hearts be deceived and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them, or the anger of YHWH will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which YHWH is giving you."
Does this sound as if YHWH is obligated to control the weather so that all of every crop in Israel may be safely harvested, regardless of the sins of the people? It does not to me. In Israel today the religious people are in the minority and Israel is a highly secular society. Whether all of the domesticated varieties of barley will be capable of safe harvest with a sickle on Sunday, May 5 will be determined mostly by the temperature each day from now until then, without divine intervention. But does Scripture require that all of these varieties be safely harvested with a sickle on that date in order for that to be the correct date for the wave sheaf offering? That is the question that has been raised by Deut 16:9.
I carefully made the following literal translation:
Deuteronomy 16:9, AASeven weeks you shall count for yourself from [the time] you begin [to put the] sickle to standing grain, you shall begin to count seven weeks.@@
Does this verse state that they were not permitted to let any portion of any variety of domesticated barley go to waste according to the month this ceremony was performed? This is not discussed in this verse. I do not see where any Scripture states that the first month is directly determined by any particular state of any particular variety of barley in Israel.
In contrast to this, Gen 1:14 states, "Let there be lights in the vault of the heavens to separate between the day and between the night, and let THEM be for SIGNS and for festivals and for days and years."
This is a cause and effect verse. The cause is the lights and one effect is the festivals and another effect is the years. It would take some specific direct verse to overturn this. I know it has been proposed that the sun INDIRECTLY affects the barley to cause the time of the first month. But the trade winds and the rain also affect the temperature which affects the barley, NOT only the sun. It would take another direct verse to overturn the directness of Gen 1:14, especially in light of Deut 30:11-14.
Herb Solinsky
ABIB -- On the lighter side ...
02 April 2002 11:15
----- Original Message -----
From: Jeff
Sent: 4/01/02 11:54 PM
Subject: "Abib" Snow
All,
It snowed in the Chicago area on March 21. It snowed last Monday and Tuesday (March 25 and 26). Now it is snowing again on April 1st. I've never seen so much snow in Northern Indiana in Abib. I have seen such snow in Adar and Ve-Adar.
"Though He worked many signs among them, yet they believed not." John 12:37, paraphrased.
Jeff
ABIB -- But SERIOUSLY .
02 April 2002 11:22
EXCERPTED FROM ...
----- Original Message ----- From: tony
Received: 4/01/02 11:38 PM
Subject: update 4/2/02
There is some discrepency over the date of the festivals this year as some say ULB should be at the end of March and some say at the end of April. Both sides will have their Biblical reasons for choosing the date they do.
Do we have any direct evidence as to how the sacred year was started in Biblical times? Yes, we do.
Between the years of 472BC and 400BC there were Jews living in Elephantine Egypt and they wrote letters to the Jews living in Jerusalem and many contracts such as wills and deeds, etc. ... have been preserved in Elephantine. These letters are double dated with the dates of the Egyptian calendar as well as the Jewish calendar date.
Never once in this seventy-two period history did the Jews in Elephantine start the sacred year before the vernal equinox. 472BC-400BC was during the time that Ezra and Nehemiah were in Jerusalem.
This evidence is all documented in the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (SDABC) in the section on the Calendar. I had the SDABC on CD and found it when I did a word search on "equinox".
The SDA's do not keep the annual Sabbaths and thus they are not biased in the evidence they present.
As far as I know, this is the only direct evidence that shows how the year was started during Biblical times.
AWESOME CONFIRMATION!
05 April 2002 07:22
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/
Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua !!
RIGHT BEFORE the 'abib sightings' that spawned the current teaching opportunities I was visiting with an elder in our congregation. He goes back more than 50 years in Sabbath/Feast/New Moon/clean foods observance. He has been filled with The Ruach ha Kadosh for almost the same period of time. He asked, "Have you heard from Herb Solinsky lately?" I told him that I had not heard from him for awhile.
That was it ... until one week ago.
As he was enjoying ALL of the recent spate of writings resulting from this year's abib sightings (as well as sharing them with MANY) he shared the following with me.
He first asked if I remembered him asking about two weeks before if I had heard from Herb Solinsky. I told him that I did remember.
He then said his question at that time was not just a casual inquiry.
Just prior to that first time ... The Holy Spirit had spoken to him ... "Listen to every word that Herb has" ... so-o-o-o ... he has been feasting voraciously upon the recent series of writings and sharing them enthusiastically!
How about that?!? A prophetic utterance from The Ruach just before this 'abib sighting' to affirm that which YHVH has given Herb Solinsky to share in this matter!
Ahava b' YahShua
(Love in The SAVIOUR)
Baruch YHVH,
Chris Barr
Dateline: Eretz Ysrael
15 September 2002 07:29
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/ Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua !!
The following was sent to me about a report from one who is in The Land ...
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 9/15/02 1:25 AM
Subject: Pssst . . . Chris! Look here!
Dearest Chris,
Earlier this year I mentioned that Avram has changed from his equinox reckoning of the feasts to the Kararite reckoning since the barley ripened earlier than expected this year! Well, Avram HAS CHANGED BACK TO THE EQUINOX CALENDAR and just in time for the fall feasts! ... I REJOICE that the Ruach led him back to the equinox! HalleluYAH! Here's an email he sent out on the Messianic email list that details his reason for returning.
Love in YahShua,Daniel-
ear Bill & Bettye,
Shalom: May His Peace and Joy be with you today.
I am very, very sorry but it seems I have given out wrong dates for the Feasts this year.
The problem came in March, when I switched to the Karaite Korner's way of determining when the new month for the New Year would begin. The Karaites go by the barley when it is in the 'aviv' stage, which they sighted on the new moon of Friday night, March 15th. This made Passover very early, on Friday night, March 29th.
The word 'aviv' (literally, ha'aviv or 'the aviv'), is the Hebrew word used for the first month in Ex. 23:15, etc., and speaks of a stage of development for barley. Barley is the first grain to ripen and harvest in Israel in the spring.
Ex. 23:15: 'You must observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib (Hebrew: Aviv), for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed.' (Also Ex. 34:18 and Deut. 16:1).
The problem was not that the barley was in the aviv stage but that it would not be ready to HARVEST by the Karaite time for Passover. This is also part of the biblical requirement:
Lev. 23:10: 'Speak to the Sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the Land which I am going to give to you and HARVEST ITS HARVEST, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the Priest.'
It seems that the barley has to be in the aviv stage before the sighting of the new moon as that is the only way it will be ripe enough to harvest BEFORE Passover. It takes anywhere from 14 to 21 days to ripen for harvest, once the barley reaches the aviv stage. What seems to have happened is that it had just entered the aviv stage and when Passover came, it wasn't ready yet for harvest this past year. That being the case, it could not have been taken to the High Priest for the ceremony of First Sheaf that takes place on the Sunday of Passover week.
This year was the first year that I went with the Karaite understanding. I read the Karaite information and it seemed more reasonable to me than what I had been going by for years (the sighting of new moon AFTER the vernal equinox of March 21st to determine the New Moon for the New Year). The vernal equinox seems to line up with the barley being aviv and ready for harvest by Passover.
What this all means is that this is not the 7th Hebrew month that we are in and we have not celebrated the first day of the 7th month (Yom Teruah). We must wait till the next new moon for Yom Teruah (and Yom Kipor and Sukote).
Again, I am very sorry for passing on the wrong dates. Would you be able to forgive me?
Father, I ask for your forgiveness in the Name of Yeshua, in not understanding your Word fully and being led off the Right Path. Thank you for those who knew the Right Way and have recently instructed me therein.
Avram
P.S. These should be the dates for the Fall Feasts:
Yom Teruah (Feast of Unspeakable Joy!) Monday night Oct. 7th through Tuesday, Oct. 8th. This is a Sabbath.
Yom Kipor (Day of Atonement) Wednesday night Oct. 16th through Thursday, Oct. 17th. And this is a Sabbath with fasting and prayer.
Sukote (Feast of Tabernacles) Monday night, Oct. 21st through Tuesday, Oct 22nd is the beginning and first Sabbath. The Eight Day, the last Sabbath is Monday night, Oct. 28th through Tuesday, Oct. 29th.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
UPDATE: Eretz Ysrael
22 September 2002 07:56
\o/ !HALALU Yah! \o/ Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua !!
The following UPDATE was sent to me yesterday from one who is in The Land ...
----- Original Message -----From: DanielSent: 9/21/02 5:46 PMSubject: HOT NEWS Chris!!!!!
Dearest Chris,Shabbat Shalom greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua!!!!! HOT NEWS!!!I just got a response back from Avram regarding the harvest in Israel! Readit and REJOICE!Shalom Daniel,Yes! It's good to be on His Feast schedule!Your friend asked:>Are you keeping tabs on how the fall harvest is going in Israel?? Can you>confirm if the farmers are busy harvesting during Hillel's Tabernacles or>not? Or does it look like the harvesting won't start for another month?Israel has just begun to reap the fall harvest (and of course, Sukote hasbegun for the traditional Jews and so something is not lining up : )In this one can't be resting and rejoicing for Sukote if one is justgetting into the field. It'll be some time before the harvest is over.Actually, Sukote for them will be over before their harvest. What's wrongwith this picture? : )Avram
[MAKERATING]
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