Tentmaker Forum

I did some copy/paste info about how the Hebrew calendar works, but then decided to put it second..

THE MONTHS
1 - Nisan -----  30 days   March-April (/Nissan)
2 - Iyar -------  29 days   April-May
3 - Sivan -----  30 days   May-June
4 - Tammuz --  29 days   June-July
5 - Av -------    30 days    July-August
6 - Elul -----    29 days   August-September
7 - Tishri --     30 days   September-October
8 -Cheshvan -  29 or 30   October-November
9 - Kislev --     30 or 29 days   November-December
10 - Tevet ---    29 days   December-January
11 - Shevat --    30 days   January-February
13 - Adar I --  30 days (in leap years only; every 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th)
12 - Adar II/Adar-30 days   February-March

THE HOLY DAYS (original / of Leviticus 23 ; Numbers 28/29 ) and Exodus 12)

Begins @ Sun's Setting
Nisan 14 = Passover -
    when Passover Lamb was sacrificed - @ 9th hour / 3 p.m. | preparation day for the feast after sunset (Ex 12-3-8)
Nisan 15 = First Day of Unleavened Bread (of life?) - "A SABBATH" verses follow below - first day of 7 (Nisan 15-21)
- Controversy -
Nisan 16 - believed by some to be Firstfruits ("Jesus our firstfruits" - when Jesus rose)
Nisan 17 - regular weekly Sabbath of Spring Holy Week (day previous being weekly preparation for sabbath day)
Nisan 18 - (imo+) Firstfruits - 'Sunday' of Passover / Unleavened Bread week the year Jesus was crucified ("on the day after Sabbath" of holy week)
Nisan 21 - 7th day of Unleavened Bread, A SABBATH

Pentecost - From Firstfruits - "Leviticus 23:15,16 says, "Count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, (from day of Firstfruits) count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath…." Note: There are not special Sabbaths during each of the seven weeks during which the count is made. However - there are seven regular weekly Sabbaths. Therefore? the fifty-day count ends on Sunday, the day after the seventh weekly Sabbath (which is Saturday). And the count begins after regular weekly sabbath of spring holy week.

Tishri 1 (7th month - September-October) = Trumpets - a Sabbath

Tishri 10 - Day of Atonement - a Sabbath {"any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people"}

Tishri 15 - Tabernacles a Sabbath - {"on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day (the 22nd) a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days."}
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Here are the verses - Leviticus 23 (Also however are listed in Numbers 28/29)

Leviticus 23 (New King James Version (NKJV)

Feasts of the Lord
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.

The Sabbath
3 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread
4 'These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.' "

The Feast of Firstfruits
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks / 'Pentecost'
15 'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. 18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.' "

The Feast of Trumpets
23 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.' "

The Day of Atonement
26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 27 "Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath."

The Feast of Tabernacles
33 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. 36 For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

37 'These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— 38 besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.

39 'Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.' "

44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

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There's two main points about the Hebrew/Israel calendar -- The months of the Hebrew calendar begin with the new moon. And the Jewish "day" starts at sunset, rather than at midnight. In the story of creation, it says, "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day." From this, it is understood a day begins with evening, at sunset / sun's setting.

There's some little bit of controversy - does the new moon begin at the literal new moon? at the dark of the moon? -- OR when the sliver of new moon can be observed?

I lean toward the actual new and dark of the moon. Idk why.. it just seems more logical to be the actual new moon. To me it makes more sense as a calendar, to begin the new months when the moon can be said to be passing the path of the sun. (Controversy, but not important to understand the calendar itself.)

On average, the moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days, that is, about 12.4 lunar months.


This first part is a little confusing.. but as a background, good info.. then we'll list the months..
From - http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm

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The calendar used by most of the world has abandoned any correlation between the moon cycles and the month, arbitrarily setting the length of months to 28, 30 or 31 days.

The Jewish calendar, however, coordinates all three of the astronomical phenomena - the 24 hour day rotation, the 365¼ day revolution/year, and the 29½-day moon cycle. So months are either 29 or 30 days, corresponding to the 29½-day lunar cycle.

And years are either 12 or 13 months, corresponding to the 12.4 month solar --> :dsunny: cycle.

The problem with strictly lunar calendars is that there are approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year, so a 12-month lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than a solar year and a 13-month lunar is about 19 longer than a solar year. The months drift around the seasons on such a calendar: on a 12-month lunar calendar, the month of Nissan, which is supposed to occur in the Spring, would occur 11 days earlier in the season each year, eventually occurring in the Winter, the Fall, the Summer, and then the Spring again. On a 13-month lunar calendar, the same thing would happen in the other direction, and faster.

To compensate for this drift, the Jewish calendar uses a 12-month lunar calendar with an extra month occasionally added. The month of Nissan occurs 11 days earlier each year for two or three years, and then jumps forward 30 days, balancing out the drift. In ancient times, this month was added by observation: the Sanhedrin observed the conditions of the weather, the crops and the livestock, and if these were not sufficiently advanced to be considered "spring," then the Sanhedrin inserted an additional month into the calendar to make sure that Pesach (Passover) would occur in the spring (it is, after all, referred to in the Torah as Chag he-Aviv, the Festival of Spring!).

Instead of a february leap month of a day, the Hebrew calendar has a leap year with 13 months.

The additional month is known as Adar I. Adar II is the "real" Adar, and Adar I is the "extra" Adar.

Quote
a fixed calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations. This calendar, still in use, standardized the length of months and the addition of months over the course of a 19 year cycle, so that the lunar calendar realigns with the solar years. Adar I is added in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the (19 year) cycle. The current cycle began in Jewish year 5758 (the year that began October 2, 1997).

If you are musically inclined, you may find it helpful to remember this pattern of leap years by reference to the major scale: for each whole step there are two regular years and a leap year; for each half-step there is one regular year and a leap year.

huh? :umnick: Not a reader of music here..

http://www.jewfaq.org/calendr2.htm

Quote
Calendar Essentials
The Jewish calendar is based on three astronomical phenomena: the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year). These three phenomena are independent of each other, so there is no direct correlation between them. On average, the moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days, that is, about 12 lunar months and 11 days.

To coordinate these three phenomena, and to accommodate certain ritual requirements, the Jewish calendar consists of 12 or 13 months of 29 or 30 days..

The Jewish "day" starts at sunset, rather than at midnight. If you read the story of creation in Genesis Ch. 1, you will notice that it says, "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day." From this, we infer that a day begins with evening, that is, at sunset.

The thing that most interests me about the Hebrew calendar, and more specifically, the holy days, is how perfectly (it seems) the Spring Holy Days were a shadow of, and were fulfilled by Jesus, via His first advent. Which makes me believe the Fall ones are a shadow of and will be perfectly fulfilled by His long second advent. Which thing, to me - in the days and pattern of - 'proves' UR/CU.

Just a supplement to the MANY verses which state it, and to the taking into consideration the attributes of God our Father (and logic).
:Peace2: :gsmile:

The thing about the beginning of the months.. at new moon.. there's no difficulty perceiving the immediately following of the dark of the moon. And watching for the sliver of new moon to be seen, and calling that 1st day of the month, as far as I know (?) is not mentioned in the Bible.

Other religions confiscated the sliver of the new moon as a strong symbol.. It does, after all look kind of 'magical'. Miraculous of course it what it is.. And all creation, etc! Was it after the Babylonian captivity that they began watching for the sliver of the new moon as the new month/moon?

There are lots of different views on this.. but so far I can't help thinking for a celestial calendar, it would be the actual and genuine new beginning of the sun moon cycle (?) of course we could think the calendar is for those watching.. but, then I have to come back to i've not read that instruction in the Bible.. if it's there I hope to come across it. Perhaps it's in the Talmud, but the Talmud is not the Bible, but quite a bit of myth, etc ("Jewish myths" along the lines of the other 'religious' myths of the world, including (i've heard) myths of hell and afterlife torment, etc.. Which, btw and as we know the followers were told not to pay any attention to "Jewish myths" and "old wives tales"..
   :Peace2: :girlheart:

Well.. i'm starting to seriously rethink this..
I was reading up a bit on it - this, when is :dontknow: the new moon, on the web, via googling. Even pages we think are off track in some ways, can still offer good information. The key i'm thinking is knowing what the word says. Read the word first, and after prayer and thought, then commentary or website(s) and more prayer and thought.. (I think if we are taught first how to interpret, it can become hard to shake loose from that.. like w/ Et and evolution for instance.)

I was reading a theory that the full moon is the new moon. Crazy right? But as I read it made more sense.. the 2 lights in the sky at creation, the moon as full likely (?)..

The 'eclipse' at Jesus' death.. you can't have an eclipse at full moon because it's the moon between the earth and sun which makes an eclipse.. (so it wasn't an eclipse :dontknow: i'm thinking). And they presented some other intriguing supports/thoughts.. and I thought how easy to pinpoint would that be!

If nothing else, that got me to thinking of the benefit of a clear indication one can "observe" to see this new moon - upon which all the feasts were reckoned from. (So it would be nice to know what the actual and genuine (to God) new moon is. Right? Who wants to not know something once we set out to understand it! :laughing7: :mshock:

And then, imagine my surprise yesterday evening, not long after sunset, when I stepped out my front door and half veiled in cloud was a crescent moon. Not "the" crescent moon, but quite crescent still.

Now we've had a clear view of the sunset sky for 2 or 3 years now, and though I often notice crescent moons in a blue daytime sky, I haven't seen any at sunset..

How interesting is that? Surely i'm thinking, the new moon is indeed that first seen with naked eye, sliver of a crescent moon right after what is today commonly referred to - on our calendars - as a new moon. This means! The calendar new moon can tell one when to begin watching..

(Was the watching of the moon also parable/prophecy? Dark moon of separation from God.. crescent.. the Son emerges, comes forth.. then upon full moon is crucified, etc.. leaves - the waning moon.. then emerges again to return..

There's actually another theory about the new moon out there.. that it's the waning crescent. :faint: :mshock:

Read Philo. He's all about the conjunction, and boosting how precisly they could calculate it.
It even aligns with the creation account and Big Bang.

Plz make sure you don't mix up the first and last cresent moon  :banana:

It's fascinating he lived and was alive all during the time of Jesus' life.. He's a bit allegorical for me though.. Even though I do believe the Old Testament/Torah observances all are "a shadow and type".. It sounds like he may have written about those Torah practices ? both in his time, and based on the Scripture..? That sounds very interesting! I'll keep that in mind! Thanks! :thumbsup: