HaYom – The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. by Matthew E. Parrott
Torah. Genesis
● Genesis 1:15 In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth came to be formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters. 3 And Elohim said, “Let light come to be,” and light came to be. 4 And Elohim saw the light, that it was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness. 5 And Elohim called the light ‘day’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the first day.
Creation Week Daily Cycle
● Genesis 1:14 19 And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years, 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it came to be so. 16 And Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. 17 And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good. 19 And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fourth day. ● Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. 3 And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made.
● Genesis 7:12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
● Genesis 8:22 as long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”
● Genesis 19:3334 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose. 34 And it came to be on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “See, I lay with my father last night. Let us make him drink wine tonight as well, and you go in and lie with him, so that we keep the seed of our father.”
***The passage above is a confusing one for a sunset reckoning, did this story take place over 3 days or 4? Check out the table on the next page to see how this plays out.***
HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Below shows a Dawn Reckoning of a day
Exodus
● Exodus 12:810 ‘And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire – with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 ‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its inward parts. 10 ‘And do not leave of it until morning, and what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire. ● Exodus 16:2326 And it came to be, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Mosheh. 23 And he said to them, “This is what יהוה has said, ‘Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath setapart to יהוה.That which you bake, bake; and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until morning.’ ” 24 And they laid it up till morning, as Mosheh commanded. And it did not stink, and no worm I in it. 25 And Mosheh said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to יהוה,today you do not find it in the field. 26 “Gather it six days, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath,there is none.” ● Exodus 18:13 And it came to be, on the next day, that Mosheh sat to rightly rule the people. And the people stood before Mosheh from morning until evening.
● Exodus 29:3941 “Prepare the one lamb in the morning, and the other lamb you prepare between the evenings,
● Exodus 32:56 And Aharon saw and built an altar before it. And Aharon called out and said, “Tomorrow is a festival to 6 ”.יהוה And they rose early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
● Exodus 34:28 And he was there with יהוה forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread and he did not drink water. And He wrote on the tablets the Words of the covenant, the Ten Words. Leviticus
● Leviticus 7:15 As for the flesh of the slaughtering of his peace offering for thanksgiving, it is eaten the same day it is offered, he does not leave any of it until morning
● Leviticus 8:35 “And stay at the door of the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days. And you shall guard the duty of יהוה ,and not die, for so I have been commanded.”
● Leviticus 11:24 And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.
● Leviticus 22:2930 “And when you bring a slaughtering of thanksgiving to יהוה ,bring it for your acceptance. 30 “It is eaten that same day, leave none of it till morning. I am יהוה.
Numbers
● Numbers 9:16 Thus it was continually: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
● Numbers 11:32 And the people were up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. He who has least gathered ten ḥomers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. Deuteronomy
● Deuteronomy 10:10 “And I stayed in the mountain for forty days i forty nights. And יהוה heard me at that time also, and יהוה chose not to destroy you. Other Verses that Indicate Day BEFORE Night (Not Every Single Verse):
● Judges 19:25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and rolled themselves on her all night until morning, and let her go when the day began to break.
● 1 Samuel 19:11 And Sha’ul sent messengers to Dawiḏ’s house to watch him and to put him to death in the morning. And Miḵal, Dawiḏ’s wife, informed him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you are put to death.”
● 2 Samuel 2:32 And they brought Asah’ĕl and buried him in his father’s tomb, which was in Bĕyth Leḥem. And Yo’aḇ and his men went all night, and they came to Ḥeḇron at daybreak.
HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
● Isaiah 38:13 “I soothed myself until morning. Like a lion, so He shatters all my bones. From day to night You make an end of me. ● Jeremiah 31:35 Thus said יהוה ,who gives the sun for a light by day, and the laws of the moon and the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, and its waves roar – יהוה of hosts is His Name:
● Jeremiah 33:20 “Thus said יהוה’ ,If you could break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there be not day and night in their season,
● Lamentations 3:2223, ‘The kindnesses of יהוה !For we have not been consumed, For His compassions have not ended. 23They are new every morning, Great is Your trustworthiness.
● Job 3:6 That night – let darkness seize it. Let it not be included among the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
● Job 17:12 They would turn night into day, saying that light is near, in the presence of darkness!
● Isaiah 5:20211‘Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight
● Matthew 12:40 “For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so shall the Son of Aḏam be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
● Mark 14:30 And יהושע said to him, “Truly, I say to you that today, this night, before the cock shall crow twice, you shall deny Me three times.”
● Luke 31:37 And He was teaching in the Setapart Place by day, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain of Olives,
● John 9:4 “It is necessary for Me to work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day – night is coming, when no one is able to work.
● Romans 13:12 The night is far advanced, the day has come near. So let us put off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Morning Verses:
● Zephaniah 3:5, ‘יהוה is righteous in her midst, He does no unrighteousness. Morning by morning He brings His right ruling to light, it has not been lacking, yet the unrighteous one knows no shame.
● Psalms 113:3, ‘From the rising of the sun to its going down, The Name of יהוה is praised’
● Lamentations 3:22 23, ‘The kindnesses of יהוה !For we have not been consumed, For His compassion have not ended. 23 They are new every morning, Great is Your trustworthiness.’
● Isaiah 45:6, ‘so that they know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none but Me. I am יהוה ,and there is none else,’
● Isaiah 59:19, ‘And they shall fear the Name of יהוה from the west, and His esteem from the rising of the sun, when He comes like a distressing stream which the Spirit of יהוה drives on.
● Malachi 1:11, ‘For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My Name is great among nations. And in every place incense is presented to My Name, and a clean offering. For My Name is great among nations,” said יהוה of hosts.
Scriptures Where Night Appears BEFORE Day (A Complete List): (Out of 313 verses that refer to the word night (KJV), approximately 85 times scripture references Day BEFORE Nightand less than 15 times does scripture refer to Night THEN Day.
HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
1. Deut. 21:22 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
2. 1 Kings 8:29 “For Your eyes to be open toward this House night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name is there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
3. Esther 4:16 “Go, gather all the Yehuḏim who are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I too, and my young women shall fast in the same way, then I shall go to the sovereign, which is against the law. And if I shall perish, I shall perish!”
4. Psalms 91:5 You are not afraid of the dread by night, Of the arrow that flies by day,
5. Isaiah 27:3 “I, יהוה ,do guard it, I water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I guard it night and day.
6. Isaiah 34:10 that is not quenched night or day, its smoke going up forever. From generation to generation it lies waste, no one passes through it forever and ever,
7. Mark 4:27 then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed sprouts and grows, he himself does not know how.
8. Mark 5:5 And continually, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
9. Luke 2:37 and she was a widow of about eightyfour years, who did not leave the Setapart Place, but served Elohim with fastings and prayers night and day.
10. Acts 20:31 “Therefore watch, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn each one with tears.
11. 2 Corinthians 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been in the deep,
12. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 For you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship, for labouring night and day, in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the Good News of Elohim.
13. 1 Thessalonians 3:10 night and day praying exceedingly, to see your face and make complete what is lacking in your belief?
14. 2 Thessalonians 3:8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but worked with labour and toil night and day, in order not to burden any of you.
15. 2 Timothy 1:3 I thank Elohim, whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my forefathers did, as I unceasingly remember you in my prayers night and day,
How Do We Measure a Day? Does Sunset end the day?
● Judges 19:9 And the man arose to go, he and his concubine and his servant. But his fatherinlaw, the young woman’s father, said to him, “See, the day is now drawing toward evening. Please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end. Stay here, and let your heart be glad. And you shall rise early tomorrowfor your journey, and you shall go to your tent.”
● Luke 23:54 And it was Preparation day, and the Sabbath was approaching.
● Mark 14:30 And יהושע said to him, “Truly, I say to you that today, this night, before the cock shall crow twice, you shall deny Me three times.
HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. How Many Hours are in a Day?
Question: When does the first hour of the day begin? And what hour of the day is sundown in?
● Answer: If the day began at sundown why is it at the 12th hour? If sundown is “at even”, why are evening oblations at the 9th hour and not the 12th? Last time I checked the 9th hour is still daytime which falls around 6pm. I fail to see the logic in beginning a new day at sundown. It’s the 12th hour not the 1st. The 1st hour doesn’t begin until sunrise.
Furthermore, even cannot mean sundown as evening seems to begin on the 9th hour during daytime. So which is it? Do you believe sundown begins a day or evening? If evening then you cannot say sundown begins a day. If sundown then you cannot use Gen 1:4 as evidence for day beginning at sundown because evening and morning belong to day not night. Something to think about.
John 11:9 Yahushua answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
The Third Hour
● Matthew 20:3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
● Mark 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
● Acts 2:15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
● Acts 23:23 And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;
The Sixth Hour
● Matthew 20:5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
● Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth u.
● Luke 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
● Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
● John 4:6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
● John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
● Acts 10:9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
The Seventh Hour
● John 4:52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
The Ninth Hour
● Matthew 20:5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
● Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
● Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
● Acts 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
● Acts 10:3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
● Acts 10:30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
The Eleventh Hour
● Matthew 20:6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
● Matthew 20:9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Order of a Day
Nehemiah 9:3 ‘and they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Torah of יהוה their Elohim a fourth part of the day, and a fourth part they were confessing and worshipping יהוה their Elohim.
Order of a Day
Hr Name
1 Twilight
2 Morning
6 Even Even Length Between Sun up and Sun down
6.01 First Evening One Moment Past Even to Sunset
11 Second Evening Sunset to Darkness
12 Night
Order of a Night Hr Watch 13 1st Watch 26 2nd Watch 79 3rd Watch 1012 4th Watch
Order of a Night
Hr Watch
1-3 1st Watch
2- 6 2nd Watch
7=9 3rd Watch
10-12 4th Watch
When Does the Sabbath Begin?
Weekly Shabbat
Nehemiah 13:19 And it came to be, at the gates of Yerushalayim, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.
Sunseting Sabbath Reckoning
Friday Sundown Saturday Dawn Saturday Sundown Sunday Dawn Close the Gates for Protection at Sundown Keep the Gates Closed for Shabbat Keep Gates Closed for Protection at Sundown Open Gates at Dawn for Business Sabbath Starts Sabbath Sabbath Ends
Dawning Sabbath Reckoning Friday Sundown Saturday Dawn Saturday Sundown Sunday Dawn Close the Gates for Protection at Sundown Keep the Gates Closed for Shabbat Keep Gates Closed for Protection at Sundown Open Gates at Dawn for Business Sabbath Starts Sabbath Sabbath Ends
In both of the above scenarios, the gates would have been closed at sunset on Friday evening, and opened at dawn on Sunday morning. The primary argument for a sunset recocking based on Nehemiah 13, is based on the idea that the gates were closed immediately prior to shabbat. However, the verse doesn’t mention immediately. Whether the gates were closed just prior to shabbat at sunset, or a full 12 hrs prior to shabbat at dawn, in either scenario the gates are shut prior to shabbat. Please also check out Nehemiah 7:3 and 1 Chronicles 9:2627
Is this the Sabbath??? And if so, does it matter that Messiah was healing on it?
● Luke 4:40 And when the sun was setting, all who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him. And He laid His hands on each one of them and healed them.
● Mark 1:32 And when evening came, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demonpossessed.
● John 19:4220:1 There, then, I because of the Preparation Day of the Yehuḏim, they laid out , because the tomb was near. And on the first day of the week Miryam from Mag̅dala came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Feasts:
● Pesach At Even???
● Feast of Unl. Bread
● Feast of Weeks
● Shavuot
● Yom Teruah
● Yom Kippur At Evening on the 9th to Evening on the 10th
● Sukkot
● Shemini Atzeret
Between the evenings:
b. dual in phrase (only P) םִבּיַרְעַה ָבּין ֵbetween the two evenings, i.e. probably between sunset and dark (see Thes [various views fully given]; otherwise Di Exodus 12:6 ; on form as possibly only expanded plural see Ges § 88c ), Exodus 12:6; Exodus 16:12; Exodus 29:39,41; Exodus 30:8; Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:3,5,11; Numbers 28:4,8 YHWH definitely removed His feasts from His people during exile, did this occur through a different calendar?
● Hosea 2:11 “I will also put an end to all her gaiety, her feasts, her new [months], her Sabbaths and all her festal assemblies.
● Isaiah 1:14 “I hate your new [month] festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.
● Lamentations 1:4 The roads of Zion are in mourning because no one comes to the appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate; her priests are groaning, her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is bitter.
● Zephaniah 3:18 “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feastsThey came from you, O Zion; the reproach of exile is a burden on them.
● Isaiah 29:1 Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year; observe your feasts on schedule.
Conclusion Neither Torah nor Messiah ever infer a sunset reckoning of a day. In both instances we see some scripture that could be used out of context, but it’s overwhelming the case, that the writers and characters in scripture lived and thought about a day in the context of a day starting when the sun was rising, and not when it was setting. Shalom! Resources:
http://www.knowbibletruth.com/issabbathday12or24hours.html http://www.knowbibletruth.com/whendoesthesabbathdaybeginandend.htmlhttp://www.2besaved.com/2BSDayStart.html http://messyanic.com/mycalendarjourney/calendarnotes/http://teachmetonumbermydays.blogspot.com/2010/05/whendoesbiblicaldaybegin.html http://www.worldslastchance.com/yahuwahscalendar/whendoesadaybegin.html http://bayithhatorah.blogspot.com/ http://www.fcogl.org/english/literature/Article_Day%20begins%20in%20morning.pdf http://yahuah.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/whendoesadaybegin/ http://bewaredeception.com
http://enochcalendar.m.webs.com
http://12hoursabbath.com/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/expertstimedivisiondayshoursminutes/
http://pauldnewman.blogspot.com/2013/10/whendoesdaybegin.html
Unnecessary Historical references: Here are quotations from many credible Jewish and Gentile historians who confirm that the Yisraelite ancient day began at sunrise,…and that the “evening to evening” dayreckoning actually came at a later time, via Babylonial [Judaism] tradition: (From (https://www.facebook.com/yahunatan.powell?fref=nf)
● “There can be no doubt that in preexilic times the Israelites reckoned the day from morning to morning. The day began with the dawn and closed with the end of the night following it…” (Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1951), p. 446)
● “…In earlier traditions a day apparently began at sunrise (e.g., Lev. 7:1517; Judg. 19:419)… later its beginning was at sunset and its end at the following sunset… this system became normative… and is still observed in Jewish tradition, where for example , the sabbath begins on Friday evening at sunset and ends Saturday at sunset…” (Oxford Companion to the Bible, p.744).
● “…It is also interesting that according to the Karaite historian AlQirqisanI (ca. 975 CE), the dissident Meswi alOkbari (ca.850 CE) broke from traditional Rabbinical Judaism in an attempt to get back to the original religion and began the reckoning of the day from sunrise. (The Itinerary of R. Benjamin of Tudela, ix, 58, ed. GruhutAdler, (1904), p. 23)
● “…Early in the old testament period, when Canaan was under Egypt’s influence, the day started at sunrise… later, perhaps under Babylonian influence, the calendar seems to have changed. the day began at moonrise (1800 hrs) and a whole day became an evening and a morning…” (Lion Encyclopedia of the Bible p.163).
● “In order to fix the beginning and ending of the Sabbathday and festivals and to determine the precise hour for certain religious observances it becomes necessary to know the exact times of the rising and setting of the sun. According to the strict interpretation of the Mosaic law, every day begins with sunrise and ends with sunset… (Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 591597)
● “When the Jews returned to Palestine after their Babylonian exile (516 B.C.E.) they brought back with them the Babylonian astronomy and way of reckoning time…” (What is a Jew, p. 108)
● “…It is also interesting that according to the Karaite historian AlQirqisanI (ca. 975 CE), the dissident Meswi alOkbari (ca.850 CE) broke from traditional Rabbinical Judaism in an attempt to get back to the original religion and began the reckoning of the day from sunrise. (The Itinerary of R. Benjamin of Tudela, ix, 58, ed. GruhutAdler, (1904), p. 23)
● “Among the Greeks the day was reckoned from sunset to sunset…” (Handbook of Chronology, op.cit., p.8).
● “…The Israelites, like the Babylonians, counted their days from sunset to sunset…” (NIV Study Bible, p.707). HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
● “…The night time is considered as belonging to the preceding period of daylight. from this there developed the meaning of “day” in the sense of the cycle made up of one period of daylight and one period of darkness, or according to our modern reckoning, twentyfour hours…from the natural viewpoint the twentyfour hour day begins at sunrise…however, beside this conception there arose another idea of the twentyfour hour day, according to which this daily period began at sunset… although the earlier computation did not die out completely, the custom of considering the day as beginning at sunset became general in later Jewish times…” (Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible. p.497).
● “There can be no doubt that in preexilic times the Israelites reckoned the day from morning to morning. The day began with the dawn and closed with the end of the night following it…” (Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1951), p. 446).
● “…To the Light He gives the name Day, to the Darkness the name Night…Thus the work of the first day, reckoned probably from morning to morning, is accomplished. The period of Light is followed by Evening and Darkness, which comes to an end with the next morning when the second day begins…”
● (Peake’s Commentary on The Bible, p.136).
● “In the Old Testament the earlier practice seems to have been to consider that the day began in the morning. In Gen. 19:34, for example, the “morrow” (ASV) or “Next Day” (RSV) clearly begins with the morning after the preceding night…” (Jack Finegan, The Handbook of Biblical Chronology, p.78).
● “…In earlier traditions a day apparently began at sunrise (e.g., Lev. 7:1517; Judg. 19:419)… later its beginning was at sunset and its end at the following sunset…this system became normative… and is still observed in Jewish tradition, where for example , the sabbath begins on Friday evening at sunset and ends Saturday at sunset…” (Oxford Companion to the Bible, p.744).
● “That the custom of reckoning the day as beginning in the evening and lasting until the following evening was probably of late origin is shown by the phrase “tarry all night” (Jdg 19:69); the context shows that the day is regarded as beginning in the morning; in the evening the day “declined,” and until the new day (morning) arrived it was necessary to “tarry all night” (compare also Num 11:32)” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). ● “We know little about the old Israelite calendar, apart from the laws of the festivals. But the Mishnah (the collection of Jewish law made at the end of the 2nd century AD) fully describes the system which the Jews had worked out under Babylonian influence…” (Eerdman’s Handbook to the Bible).
● “In order to fix the beginning and ending of the Sabbathday and festivals and to determine the precise hour for certain religious observances it becomes necessary to know the exact times of the rising and setting of the sun. According to the strict interpretation of the Mosaic law, every day begins with sunrise and ends with sunset… (Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 591597).
● “Days were reckoned from morning to morning… Following the reign of King Josia (c. 640609), and especially after the Babylonian exile a number of significant and enduring changes occurred in the Israelite calendar showing that the Jews gradually adopted the Babylonian calendar of the time…the seven day week persisted despite its failure to divide evenly either the month or the year. The day however, was counted from evening to evening, after the Babylonian fashion…” (New Catholic Encyclopedia Volume 11, p.1068). ● “So far as we know, the Babylonian calendar was at all periods truly lunar… the month began with the evening when the new crescent was for the first time again visible shortly after sunset. Consequently, the Babylonian day also begins in the evening…” (Exact Sciences in Antiquity, p.106). HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
● “…Numerous scholars have argued for the existence in Bible times of a sunrise method of day reckoning…the evidence for the sunrise reckoning is significant and cannot be ignored…” (The Time of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, Chapter 5).
● “In Israel, the day was for a long time reckoned from morning to morning…and it was in fact in the morning, with the creation of light, that the world began; the distinction of day and night, and time too, began on a morning (Gen. 1:35, cf. 14:16, 18). The opposite conclusion has been drawn from the refrain which punctuates the story of creation: “There was an evening and there was a morning, the first, second, etc., day”; This phrase, however, coming after the description of each creative work (which clearly happens during the period of light), indicates rather the vacant time till the morning, the end of a day and the beginning of the next work…The change of reckoning must there fore have taken place between the end of the monarchy and the age of Nehemias… this would bring us to the beginning of the exile…” (Ancient Israel, p.181182).
● “The first evening was not the gloom, which possibly preceded the full burst of light as it came forth from the primary darkness, and intervened between the darkness and full broad daylight. It was not till after the light had been created, and the separation of the light from the darkness had taken place, that evening came, and after the evening the morning…It follows from this, that the days of creation are not reckoned from evening to evening, but from morning to morning…” (Commentary on the Old Testament, The First Book of Moses, p. 51).
● “Days were reckoned from morning to morning… Following the reign of King Josia (c. 640609), and especially after the Babylonian exile a number of significant and enduring changes occurred in the Israelite calendar showing that the Jews gradually adopted the Babylonian calendar of the time…the seven day week persisted despite its failure to divide evenly either the month or the year. the day however, was counted from evening to evening, after the Babylonian fashion…” (New Catholic Encyclopedia Volume 11, p.1068) ● “…Numerous scholars have argued for the existence in Bible times of a sunrise method of day reckoning…the evidence for the sunrise reckoning is significant and cannot be ignored…” (The Time of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, Chapter 5)
● “In Israel, the day was for a long time reckoned from morning to morning…and it was in fact in the morning, with the creation of light, that the world began; the distinction of day and night, and time too, began on a morning (Gen. 1:35, cf. 14:16, 18). The opposite conclusion has been drawn from the refrain which punctuates the story of creation: ‘There was an evening and there was a morning, the first, second, etc., day’; This phrase, however, coming after the description of each creative work (which clearly happens during the period of light), indicates rather the vacant time till the morning, the end of a day and the beginning of the next work…The change of reckoning must therefore have taken place between the end of the monarchy and the age of Nehemias… this would bring us to the beginning of the exile…” (Ancient Israel, p.181182).
● “In early Jewish practice,… it seems to have been customary to reckon the day from sunrise to sunrise, or, rather, from dawn to dawn. Thus the law for the “praiseoffering” (lev. 7:17 (pt) specifies that this sacrifice must be eaten on the day upon which it is offered, and that nothing may be left until morning. The repetition of the law in Lev. 22:30… is even more explicit: “On that very day (when it was sacrificed) it shall be eaten; ye shall not leave anything of it until morning. Clearly the next morning is here reckoned as belonging to the next day, and not the same day as the preceding evening and night. In other words, the day is reckoned here from sunrise to sunrise… HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
● Likewise in Exod. 16:19f…the manna was given to the people in the morning, just at dawn and before the sun had become warm (16:21). It was to be eaten only on the day upon which it was gathered; nothing was to remain over until the next morning; that which did so became foul. Here, too, the day seems to have been reckoned from dawn to dawn…From Matt. 28:1 It may be inferred that the practice of reckoning the day from sunset to sunset was not universal in Israel, but in certain circles the older practice continued for several centuries…It is manifest that the day is still reckoned here from dawn to dawn. This is also the implication of the parallel passage, Mark 16:1f…Luke 23:56b24:1 seems to imply the same…
● Finally, it is significant that in the second Temple, throughout its entire existence, the practice seems to have been in all ritual matters to reckon the day from dawn to dawn, and not according to the later practice, from sunset to sunset…even the rabbis, who, themselves, reckoned the day from sunset to sunset, and refused to admit the legitimacy of any other practice, or rather, absolutely ignored all divergent practice, none the less had to admit the validity of the interpretation of Lev. 7:15…
● the day was at one time reckoned from sunrise to sunrise…
● The earlier practice, which continued until the time of the secondary strata of the Priestly code, was to reckon the day from dawn to dawn… The later practice was to reckon the day from sunset to sunset…
● It is impossible to tell exactly when this change in the mode of reckoning the day took place in Israel, and what causes brought it about. Possibly it may have had something to do with the introduction of the lunar calendar instead of the solar, for the lunar calendar naturally presupposes a reckoning of the day from nightfall to nightfall…
● It was probably coincident with the revision of the festival calendar, which took place in the period after the time of Ezra, and was, in all probability, the work of the soferim or of the Great Synod in the fourth century B.C. This may also be inferred from the statement in the Talmud (Berachoth 33a) that the men of the Great Synod instituted the ceremonies of Kiddush and Havdalah, the solemn sanctification of the Sabbath on Friday eve, and its equally solemn ushering out on Saturday eve, in other words, ceremonies specifically marking the beginning and close of the Sabbath as at sunset. These were ceremonies for the Jewish home instead of the Temple. This, coupled with the fact that in the second Temple the old system of reckoning the day from dawn to dawn continued to be observed, as we have seen, may perhaps indicate that this entire innovation was the work of an antipriestly group or party in the Great Synod…” (The Sources of the Creation Story Gen. 1:1 2:4, p. 169212).
● “A new stage in the investigation of the problem of the calendar of ancient Israel was marked by the appearance of a learned article by E. Koenig in 1906…He maintains that two distinct calendars were current in ancient Israel. The first, a solar calendar…This solar calendar was well adapted to the conditions of the simple, agricultural life which the Israelites lived during the first period of their sojourn in Palestine. It reckoned the day from sunrise..
.● The second calendar was a lunisolar year…The day now came quite naturally to be reckoned from sunset…This second calendar was obviously based upon Babylonian models and was adopted under direct Babylonian influence at about 600 B.C., when Babylonian religion and general culture began to affect with steadily increasing force the Jewish exiles in Babylonia and, through those of them who return from exile, the Jews who had remained in Palestine. This broadly sums up Koenig’s conclusions.
● …the time of the transition from the reckoning of the day as beginning with morning to the reckoning of it as beginning with evening… HaYom ‐ The Day Psalm 90:12 So Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
● …that in the earlier calendar and in the literature which records this the day was reckoned from the morning, presumably from sunrise, while in the later calendar and the literature pertaining thereto the day was reckoned from the evening…must be eaten upon the day upon which it is sacrificed, and that nothing of it must be allowed to remain over until morning. Obviously the implication here is that the next morning is no longer a part of the day upon which the sacrifice was offered, but mark the beginning of the next day… ● …Elsewhere we have presented quite a mass of evidence which establishes conclusively that the earlier practice in Israel during the biblical period was to reckon the day from sunrise to sunrise..
● …That in the earliest period of Israelite sojourn in Palestine, under calendar 1, the day was reckoned from morning to morning is established by a superabundance of evidence… ● …This in turn, together with other important considerations, would point to a time approximately about the beginning or the first half, of the third century B.C. as that of the introduction of the new system of reckoning the day.” (Supplementary Studies in The Calendars of Ancient Israel, p. 1148).
My Story
I want to take a second to tell everyone my story and how I got here. When we came into this we were told a day started at sunset, so we switched our entire life and thought of a new day starting at sunset, even in our daily conversations. After a while I started to question this when I reread Genesis.
After asking those in my fellowship about this, they quickly pointed out some verses and I accepted their instruction. A while later we started wondering again, this time it was after Sukkot when the Torah portion restarted and we read Genesis again, and I said to my wife, this doesn’t feel right, Genesis seems to point to a dawn start. So I asked another friend who pointed to Nehemiah, Day of Atonement, and Pesach, and I accepted it again.
Finally someone on FB said a day started at Dawn and I thought I should do my own study. So, I sat down and looked up all the verses that had the word day in them and it came back with over 2,500 I think, clearly that was not the route to take. Then I looked up all the verses with the word night, still a lot, and I read some, but I wanted to narrow it down even further.
Thirdly I looked up every verse that had day and night in the same verse, this way, if night showed up first a disproportionate amount of times, that could show some insight into how the culture thought, and likewise with the reverse.
Now this may not be the most advantageous way to start it, but it’s how I went about it. I had 2 premises,
`1 Torah + Messiah’s witness matter more than the rest of scripture, since even IF Nehemiah says shabbat starts at sunset, but Torah says otherwise, I take torah since Nehemiah just went through captivity.
2. Only scripture would be used for this study, and at the end I would read 3 articles on each position, to see the potential weaknesses or scriptures I missed when forming my conclusion.
What I found was that in the 100+ verses that mention day plus night in the same verse, it’s overwhelmingly day and then night (89 vs 14).
Secondly I found time after time, where life, and not the order of words, seems to be the biggest factor in how they viewed a day.
After finishing my study using no articles or books other than scripture, and with no agenda except to find the truth, I came to the conclusion very confidently, in a dawn start
.After this I sat down and read three articles on a sunset start and was left with ton’s of confusion. I prayed and said Father, I am about to give up, if I cannot figure out something so basic, as to when a day begins, how do I have any hope to be able to understand anything else in scripture? He directed me back to my original premises and I double checked Torah and Messiah, and they are FIRMLY on the side of a dawn start. So I read my three articles on a dawn start, and was brought a lot of shalom AND CONFIDENCE in my finding through scripture. Since that time, I have studied each position more and more and more. I have concluded that there are really only 4 or 5 idea’s in s cripture that ‘prove’ a sunset position, and all 5 can be used just as convincingly to ‘prove’ a dawn position, and in the other 2040+ verses that prove a dawn position, they cannot be used to prove a sunset position. Those 5 positions are the following: Genesis creation account, Pesach order, Day of Atonement, Nehemiah, and when a person becomes clean. None of those idea’s should be used to transpose how they are done onto the structure of a day, that’s not their purpose, neither is it the context of scripture, IMO. I look forward to everyone’s feedback.
More studies:
https://youtu.be/BMkT_1njwK4
When does a day start? Does The Sabbath really begin at evening (sunset to sunset) like we have been told for so many years? Why didn’t the Creator say,“and the evening and the evening”, day 1? Could it be possible that the words “evening and the morning” from Genesis the first chapter mean something else?
Many Sabbath Keepers have come to the conclusion that the phrase “the evening and the morning” determines the beginning of a new day. Is this your thinking? Creation started with night first, then the light (day) came. Therefore, evening equals the night and the morning equals the day. This constitutes one day.
Do you believe this? The evening equals the night portion of the day and the morning equals the daylight portion of the day. Can this be proven from the scriptures?
Let the scriptures speak!
First, here are some graphics of the creation account as they show the passage of time.
Notice there is creation activity during the day, AND there was evening, AND there was morning.
The next day begins where the first day ended – in the morning:
Also notice that on the second day, Elohim does not declare anything good.
Here is Rashbam’s (Rashi’s grandson) interpretation of Genesis 1:5 “5. God named the newly-formed unit of twelve hours of light “day” and the newly-formed unit of twelve hours of darkness “night,” and they have been so called ever since, day always preceding night. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The first of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the second day began.” You can read all of his interpretation of Genesis at http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/GenRashbam.html
I included the above quote for those who hold more to the rabbinic model, to show that the rabbi’s don’t all agree.
On the seventh day, He doesn’t declare anything good, and there is no mention of evening and morning.
The same pattern of creation is duplicated in the command to instruct children in Deuteronomy 6:7
And it occurs in the cycle of life as well:
Genesis 1:1-5 (King James Version)
1 In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was (became or had become) without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And Elohim said, Let there be light: and there was light,.
4 And Elohim saw the light, that it was good: and Elohim divided the light from the darkness. (The creator separates the light from the darkness)
5 And Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Why didn’t The Creator just say, “and the evening and the evening” were the first day.
We see this same pattern on each day “And the evening and the morning” second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, and the sixth day.
Light = Day and Darkness = Night … remember this.
What is the evening and the morning?
Definition of “Evening”
The word evening comes from the Hebrew root word “arab” which means “to grow dark”. See below.
Definition of “Morning”
Let’s also look up the word “Day”
Basic Strong’s Concordance Usage 101
The word “evening” #H6153 according to Strong’s Concordance means:
1) evening, night, sunset
a) evening, sunset
b) night
So which is it? Evening or sunset or night?
“Evening and sunset” is the primary meaning and “night” is the secondary meaning. To get a clearer understanding of the meaning for “evening” we have to look at the “root word” from which it is derived. That Hebrew word is “ARAB” which means “to grow dark”. The word night is not a good definition of the word “evening”.
However, there is a separate Hebrew word for “night” and that word is “layil”. Always look at the context in which a word is used.
Let’s read Genesis 1:1-4 again using light = day and darkness = night from Genesis 1:5
1 In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.
2 And the earth was (had become or became) without form, and void; and night was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And Elohim said, Let there be day: and there was day.
4 And Elohim saw the day, that it was good: and Elohim divided the day from the night.
5 ….. And it came to be evening (growing dark) and it came to be morning (growing light): the first Day.
Notice the translation from The Scriptures and The Hebrew Interlinear Bible of Genesis 1:5
The evening and the morning does not and cannot equal one day. If it did, then we would be keeping the Sabbath from sunset until sunrise in the darkness of night. Then I would ask you, why are you keeping the Sabbath from sunset to sunset instead of sunset to morning? Therefore, we know that there is a deeper meaning of “and the evening and the morning”.
Just because the darkness (night) existed on earth first doesn’t necessarily mean that the day begins at sunset or in darkness. The evening cannot exist unless there is light (day) first. In fact the evening is part of the day, but we’ll prove this later. The evening marks the ending of a day going into the night. The morning marks the period where night ends and day begins. And “the evening and the morning” are transitional periods that separate the day from the night.
When the light (day) was in the process of being removed from darkness (night), it was evening, and the coming of light brought morning, the completion of a day. A 24 hour period should be reckoned from morning to morning. However, the 24 hour period consists of The Day and The Night.
The progression would look like this:
C. H. Leupold (Exposition of Genesis, Vol. 1, pp. 57-58) states: [Gen. 1:5], presents not an addition of items but the conclusion of a progression. On this day there had been the creation of heaven and earth in the rough, then the creation of light, the approval of light, the separation of day and night. Now with evening the divine activities ceased: they are works of light not works of darkness. The evening “erbhof” merges into night and the night terminates with morning. But by the time morning is reached, the first day is concluded, as the account says succinctly, ‘the first day,’ and everything is in readiness for the second day’s task. For ‘evening’ marks the conclusion of the day, and ‘morning’ marks the conclusion of the night. It is these conclusions, which terminate the preceding, that are to be made prominent.”
Upon searching the scriptures you will discover that a 24-hour period consists of morning, day, evening and night. The day portion is a 12 hour period that occurs between the morning and the evening. Still using Genesis 1 as our foundation we see that in verse 5, the light is called day and the dark is called night, furthermore we see that the evening and morning are the separation markers between the day and night. Also notice that throughout Genesis 1 we see the words “and the evening and the morning” six times indicating the days when creation occurred. However, in Genesis 2:1-3 we see that only the seventh day was mentioned and was made set-apart. There is no “and the evening and the morning was the seventh-day.” It doesn’t exist. There is no reference of a “seventh night” or “Sabbath night” as set-apart. Only the seventh day was set apart by The Most High and should be observed as the Sabbath Day or Shabbat Yom.
Does the evening start the day (going into night) or is it a part of the day (light)?
John 11:9-10 (King James Version)
Understanding The Day
9 The Messiah answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbled not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbled, because there is no light in him.
When words like “tomorrow“, “the next day“, “in that day“, or “the same day“ are used in the Bible, this indicates that the evening is a continuation of the day and not the beginning of a new day. You’ll be able to see this clearly in the following verses.
Judges 19:9 (King James Version)
9 And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day (light) draweth toward evening (sunset), I pray you tarry all night (night comes after sunset): behold, the day (light) groweth to an end (at sunset), lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow (next day of light) get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
Mark 4:35 (King James Version)
35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. The words “same day and even” cannot be used this way if “even” starts a new day
John 20:19 (King James Version)
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came The Messiah and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. The words “same day and evening” cannot be used this way if “evening” starts a new day.
Jonah 4:7 (New King James Version)
7 But as morning dawned the next day The Most High prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. The day starts in the morning at daybreak.
Exodus 18:13 [King James Version]
[13] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening..
Leviticus 7:15 (King James Version)
15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.
Morning begins a new day; otherwise it would have said “none should be left until evening”, if evening begins the new day.
1 Samuel 19:11 (King James Version)
11 Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain. If the evening starts the day, tomorrow would be the following night and not the following morning.
Remember this verse
John 11:9 (King James Version)
9 The Messiah answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
Matthew 20:1-16 (King James Version)
The Master’s Vineyard
1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
5 Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
8 So when even was come (the 12th hour), the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
11 And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
12 Saying, These last have wrought but one hour (from the 11th hour until the 12th hour), and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
14 Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Leviticus 23:26-32 (King James Version)
The Day of Atonement
This is the only place I have been able to find scripture that use “even to even”.
26 And YAH spake unto Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh monththere shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy (set-apart) convocation (gathering) unto you; and ye shall AFFLICT (H6031) your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YHUH. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before YHUH your Elohim(Alahiym). 29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath
The Day of Atonement is actually on the 10th day of the 7th month . Israel was to afflict (fast) their souls starting the 9th day at even until the even of the 10th day.
If we use the sunset to sunset scenario to observe The Day of Atonement starting at sunset on the 10th day and end the Day of Atonement at the following sunset, then what happens to afflicting our souls on the 9th day?
If we use the sunset to sunset scenario to observe The Day of Atonement starting at sunset on the 9th day and end the Day of Atonement at the following sunset, then what happens to afflicting our souls on the 10th day?
The only option in keeping a Sunset to Sunset Day of Atonement to be inclusive of both the 9th day and the 10th day would be a 48 hour Day of Atonement.
However, if we recognize that a day begins at sunrise and ends at sunset (evening), then the Day of Atonement would be a 24 hour period starting the evening of the 9th and ending the evening of the 10th day. PERFECT!
Genesis 19:23, 33-35 (King James Version)
Lot’s deliverance
23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. 33 And they made their father drink wine that night (after the day light, same 24 hour period): and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow (the next day of light), that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight (last night; not yesterday) with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. See the progression from the day to night and the terminology used by Lot’s daughters to describe the event .
Disclaimer: Kingdom-info does not condone incest. Incest is a direct violation of the law of YAH (Torah) Leviticus 18:6-18.
Exodus 12:6-12 (King James Version)
Passover
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day (light) of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening (sunset).
8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night (the 14th), roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning (the 15th) ; and that which remained of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the The LORD’s Passover.
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
The Day of Preparation Before The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Matthew 27:57-62
Mark 15:42-46
Luke 23:50-54
John 19:38-42
If you are reckoning time from sunset to sunset, it is very difficult to see the flow or harmony between the Torah (law) account of the Passover and the Gospel account of the Messiah Crucifixion on Passover.
Sequence of events:
1. Joseph of Arimathea prepared the body of The Messiah to be buried on the Preparation Day before the Holy Day.
2. John 19:31 (King James Version): The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
He knew that he had to get the body ready for burial as soon as possible on the preparation day (Passover) before the Feast of Unleavened Bread (The Holy Day). Joseph knew that the body of The Messiah could not be left hanging overnight according to the Law or Torah. Take a look at Deuteronomy 21:22-23 & Joshua 10:26-27 .
3. It was already ” between the evening” (from 3:00 pm to sunset toward the beginning of darkness or night) on the Day of Preparation (i.e. Wednesday evening) when Joseph requested permission from Pilate to take The Messiah’s body (See Matthew 27:57-58; Mark 15:42-43). .
4. Pilate sent a centurion to verify that The Messiah was dead (Mark 15:44-45).
5. Joseph purchased linen strips to wrap the body of The Messiah (Mark 15:46).
6. Joseph returned to the place of the crucifixion to take down the body (Mark 15:46, John 20:27).
7. Nicodemus shows up with approximately 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes to prep the body for burial (John. 19:39, 40).
8. The body of The Messiah was taken to the tomb and a stone was rolled in front of it (Mark. 15:46; John. 19:41).
Remember this: It was already between the evenings when Joseph got permission from Pilate to take the body.
By the time they got the body buried, it would have been at sunset going into the night and the Sabbath (which started the next morning) was drawing near (Luke 23:54).
Luke 23:54 (King James Version)
54 And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on.
Let’s look up the words “drew on” …
Exodus 16:1-26 (King James Version)
Manna
1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to Elohim we had died by the hand of YAH in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
4 Then said YAH unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that YAH hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of YAH; for that he heareth your murmurings against YAH: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8 And Moses said, This shall be, when YAH shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that YAH heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against YAH.
9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before YAH: for he hath heard your murmurings.
10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of YAH appeared in the cloud.
11 And YAH spake unto Moses, saying,
12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread
13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which YAH hath given you to eat.
16 This is the thing which YAH hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning (the next day).
20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and
Moses was wroth with them.
21 And they gathered it every morning (the start of the day), every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23 And he said unto them, This is that which YAH hath said, To morrow (the next morning or day or light) is the rest of the holy sabbath unto YAH: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning (the start of the day).
24 And they laid it up till the morning (the start of the day), as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
25 And Moses said, Eat that to day (light); for to day is a
Sabbath (light) unto YAH: to day ye shall not find it in the field.
26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day (light), which is the Sabbath; in it there shall be none.
Nehemiah 13:15-20 (King James Version)
Sabbath Violations
15 In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals.
16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?
18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath.
19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day. (If the Sabbath is from sunset to sunset, the phrase “began to be dark before the Sabbath” would not be necessary because it should already be the Sabbath. It is obvious that the Sabbath had not come yet and that the night before is not the Sabbath. The gates of Jerusalem were closed when it became dark according to Nehemiah 7:3. The Sabbath begins on the following morning or day.
20 So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. (Some translations use the word “spent the night” for the word lodged).
21 Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath. (They came no more on the Sabbath to do what? To sell their merchandise)
Began to be dark in Nehemiah 13:19 is used by most but not all translations of the Bible. I have noticed that some translations use “began to shadow”. This is used by the Hebrew Interlinear Bible.
New International Version Nehemiah 13:19 as:
When evening shadows (meaning sunset) fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.
If you are doing your Sabbath from sunset to sunset, then “before the sabbath” in this verse means the going down of the sun into the night.
In a sunrise to sunset reckoning of the Sabbath, “before the Sabbath” means” rising of the sun on the next day (light)
Let’s look up the words “Began to be dark” is Strong’s H6751 – tsalal. This word has the following meaning …
1) to be or become or grow dark
a) (Qal) to become or grow dark
b) (Hiphil) to shadow
This word comes from a primitive word Strong’s # H6749 – tsalal which means 1) (Qal) to sink, be submerged
Gesenius’s Lexicon states that the word means to be shaded or dusky.
When I looked at the Hebrew word, it does not have the Hiphil stem attached to it. The Hebrew Hiphil Stem would cause the word to mean “To Shadow”. Therefore the meaning of the word is (QAL) “to began to be dark”.
No matter how you translate it, it has something to do with shadows and growing dark. Since there are no shadows after sunset, the verse would have to be speaking of a time prior to sunset. Long shadows are a characteristic of the time just before sunset.
Let’s say that Nehemiah closed the gates just before sundown, what would have been the purpose? Obviously, it was “before the Sabbath” which would start the next day. Nehemiah did not want people bringing in and carrying burdens into Jerusalem to sell on the “Sabbath day” so he had the gates shut to prevent that in verse 19. The word day carries the meaning “heat of the day” from its hebrew root word.
To shadow, when does that occur? Right after the sun has reached its highest point in the sky as it descends into a sunset.
If he shut the gates at sundown, someone could have come in just before sundown. It was the intent of the merchants to bring their merchandise into Jerusalem to set up and sell on the Sabbath, but notice the use of the words “Sabbath Day” in Nehemiah 9:19 & 22.
Nehemiah 7:3 tells us that the gates were usually closed at night. This was an ongoing event every night. Therefore, Nehemiah closed the gates during the day (6th day) before sunset and the gates were not opened until after the Sabbath Day.
Nehemiah 7 (New King James Version)
[1] Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, [2] that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared Elohim more than many.
[3] And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”
Pay attention to this. From Genesis 1: day = light and night = darkness. The Most High said that light is called day, but man says, “No … the night is the day starting at sunset”.
The merchants could not get into the gates, so they spent the night outside the gates in hopes of getting into Jerusalem on the Sabbath Day.
Nehemiah put his guards at the gates and then the Levites were put on the gates on The Sabbath Day. Why would Nehemiah put guards on the gates when they were already assigned to keep the gates at night. Ah-Ha! They were to guard the gates during the day (6th Day) when the gates were normally open.
We would be assuming if we said that the Sabbath begins at sunset going into the night in light of all evidence presented in scripture and in nature.
Based upon the definition of the words and its root meaning, the message in Nehemiah 13:19 supports a sunrise to sunset Sabbath.
Genesis 2:1-3 (King James Version)
About The Sabbath
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day Elohim ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and
made. (What happened to “and the evening and the morning” the 7th Day? You do not see it because the Creator was making a point. The Sabbath is literally the 7th day (light) from morning to evening in the heat of the day).
I have already done the search or research and I have not discovered any mention of a “Sabbath Night “in the Bible. I challenge you to do the same.
Matthew 15:9 (King James Version)
[9] But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
(The Doctrine of Men: Keeping the Sabbath on the 6th night and the 7th day)
Mark 16:1 (King James Version)
1 And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him
2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
If the Sabbath was from sunrise to sunrise, then they could not have bought spices between the end of the Sabbath and the rising of the sun. Why? Because they could not buy or sell on the Sabbath because that would be profaning the Sabbath. Here is another verse from three different versions of the Bible that would further illustrate this point.
Matthew 28:1 (King James Version)
1 In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre
Matthew 28:1 (Young’s Literal Translation)
1 And on the eve of the Sabbaths, at the dawn, toward the first of the Sabbaths, came Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre,
Let’s look up the Greek words for (“in the end of the Sabbath”)
Let’s also look up “begin to dawn”
The Sabbath ended at evening. The night followed the Sabbath. After that, we see the growing of light as the first [day] of the week started that morning (daybreak).
We see the same in Luke 23:54 “That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near (to grow light). The Greek word is the same as in Matthew 28:1 from strong’s G2020 meaning “to Grow Light”.
Understanding Acts 27:27-35
Some use this text to validate an evening to evening reckoning of a day, but is this really proof in light of what we already know?
Acts 27:27 & Acts 27:34 are talking about two different events.
#1. 14th night at sea
#2. 14th day of going without food
If Paul had said in verse 27 that “when the 14th night of fasting without food had come while in the Adria Sea”, then there would be a valid case for a day starting at even and ending at even.
27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; (This was the 14th night at sea)
28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.
29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.
30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,
31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.
33 And while the day (light) was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. (This day is the fourteenth day of fasting)
Joshua 6 (King James Version)
The Day is The Light. A day is 12 hours and not 24 hours
[1] Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. [2] And YAH said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. [3] And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. [4] And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
Moving to verse 12…
[12] And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of YAH. [13] And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of YAH went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of YAH, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. [14] And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. [15] And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day. they compassed the city seven times. [16] And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for YAH hath given you the city.
1 Samuel 20 (King James Version)
David & Jonathan
5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon (new month or new month day), and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.
The translators decided to use the word “new moon” instead of new month or new month day. When David said tomorrow is the new moon, it had to have been during the day portion of a 24 hour period because he makes reference to “tomorrow” which would be the next day or next light.
We will see why “new month” or “new moon day” would have been a better translation later. 1 Samuel 20:5 tells us that tomorrow is the next day.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.
19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. Three days concluded at even on the third day as stated in verse 5
20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.
21 And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as YAH liveth.
22 But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for YAH hath sent thee away.
23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, YAH be between thee and me for ever.
24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon (new moon day or new month) was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty.
26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. Saul didn’t speak that day. The Hebrew word for “day” comes from a root word meaning “the heat of the day”.
27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? Notice that the translators used the word “month” here but they did not use new moon as in verse 5. It is now the second day of the month which means that yesterday was the 1st day of the month also called the new month or new moon day.
28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
29 And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table.
30 Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?
31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?
33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.
34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
35 And it came to pass in the morning (the morning started the day which was the third day), that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed (the third day) with David, and a little lad with him. Remember that David said he would hide until the 3rd day at even, but Jonathan came in the morning on the third day.
36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee?
38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
39 But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.
41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
New Moon should have been translated New Month Day. Tomorrow is the next day or light and not the night. Jonathan went at the appointed time to meet David on the third day in the morning. Pay attention to the sequence. David knew that tomorrow was the next day and the new moon day. The three days started with the new moon day and ended at the third day at even but Jonathan came in the morning of the third day.
2 Kings 7
The Syrians Flee
3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die?
4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.”
5 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.
What is definition of the word twilight?
Twilight can be in the evening as well as in the morning!
6 For YAH had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!”
7 Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives.
8 And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day (Hebrew word “yom” meaning day, daylight or in the heat of the day) is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light (the next day) , some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” The lepers did what they did during the daylight. It is an assumption if we think that they did what they did at night. The word “day” is key in this verse.
10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.”
11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.
12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.’”
Judges 16:1-2
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. 2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him.
Abraham: The Smoking Furnace & the Burning Lamp
Does this passage of Scripture (Genesis 15:12-18) defines the beginning of a day at sunset?
On the surface, this passage of Scripture can be used to support both an “evening to evening” as well as a “sunrise to sunset” rendering of a day.
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. 17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. 18 In the same day YHUH made a covenant with Abram, saying, unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Let us look a little closer
In verse 18, the word “same” was added by the translators to make the verse flow better in English. This is not in the Hebrew text from which the KJV was translated. Read this verse again without the word “same” in it. It makes a difference.
Genesis 15:18 (Revised): In day YHUH made a covenant with Abram, saying, unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates …
Now we see that the passage is talking about the light portion or day of a 24 hour period.
Back to Genesis 1:5, light is called day. This passage, Genesis 15:18, is either talking about the daylight before the Smoking Furnace and the Burning Lamp appearance at night, or it is talking about the daylight after.
Conclusion
The Sabbath Day (7th Day) should be celebrated from sunrise to sunset. An “even to even” scenario does not fit with events that happened in the Bible no matter how you try to fit it. If the day begins at sunset, wouldn’t that be like saying light equals darkness? Friday night is the 6th night and not the 7th day.
Hebrew words often carry multiple meanings for one word. The word day (yowm) has this same meaning. The context determines whether or not the day is a 24 hour period (day and night) or just the light portion called the day.
Leviticus 8:35 (King James Version)
35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.
Esther 4:16 (King James Version)
16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
Leviticus 15
16 And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.
17 And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the seed of copulation, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even.
18 The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
28 But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
29 And on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons, and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
The 7 days of a woman’s separation in Leviticus 15 consist of both the day and night in which we call a 24 hour period. She becomes clean after 7 days. She had to appear before the priest on the 8th day for atonement.
Key point: YAH says that 6 days you shall labor, but the seventh day is a day of rest. If he wanted to include the night with that, he would have said 6 days and 6 nights.
During the days of antiquity, people ceased working at night and slept. In modern times, we have electricity, open stores, and other things to allow us to work during night.
Ceasing work on the 7th day sets us apart from the rest of the world that continues to work during that time.
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible (commentary on Acts 2:15) states…
“For these are not drunken … – The word these here includes Peter himself, as well as the others. The charge doubtless extended to all. The third hour of the day – The Jews divided their day into twelve equal parts, reckoning from sunrise to sunset. Of course the hours were longer in summer than in winter. The third hour would correspond to our nine o’clock in the morning” (end).
Both of the expressions “the evening and the morning” and “the morning and the evening” can be found in the Bible.
The phrase “the evening and the morning”, (and similar expressions) occurs in Genesis. 1:5,8,13,19, 23, 31; Exodus 27:21; Leviticus 24:3; Numbers 9:21; Psalms 55:17 and Daniel 8:14,26.
The phrase “the morning and the evening”, (or similar expressions) occurs in Exodus 18:13,14; 1 Samuel 17:16; 1 Chronicles 16:40; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 13:11; 2 Chronicles 31:3; Ezra 3:3; Job 4:20; Psalms 65:8; Isaiah 21:12; Isaiah 28:19; and Acts 28:23.
Both of the expressions “night and day” and “day and night” can be found in the Bible.
The phrase, “night and day”, (and similar expressions) occurs in 1 Samuel. 25:16; 1 Kings. 8:29; Esther. 4:16; Psalms 19:2; Psalms 91:5; Isaiah 27:3; Isaiah 34:10; Jeremiah 14:17; Mark. 4:27; Mark 5:5; Luke 2:37; Acts 20:31; Acts 26:7; 2 Corinthians. 11:25; 1 Thessalonians. 2:9; 1 Thessalonians. 3:10; 2 Thessalonians. 3:8; 1 Timothy 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:3.
The phrase, “day and night”, (or similar expressions) occurs in Genesis 1:18; Genesis 7:4; Genesis 8:22; Genesis 31:39,40; Exodus 10:13; Exodus 13:21,22; Exodus 24:18; Exodus 34:28; Leviticus 8:35; Numbers 9:21; Deuteronomy 9:9,11,18,25; Deuteronomy 10:10; Deuteronomy 28:66; Joshua 1:8; 1 Samuel 30:12; 2 Samuel 21:10; 1 Kings 8:59; 1 Kings 19:8; 1 Chronicles 9:33; 2 Chronicles. 6:20; Nehemiah 1:6; Nehemiah 4:9; Nehemiah 9:12,19; Job 2:13; Psalms 1:2; Psalms 32:4; Psalms 42:3; Psalms 55:10; Psalms 74:16; Psalms 88:1; Psalms 121:6; Psalms 136:8-9; Ecclesiastes 8:16; Isaiah 28:19; Isaiah 38:12,13; Isaiah 60:11; Isaiah 62:6; Jeremiah 9:1; Jeremiah 16:13; Jeremiah 33:20,25; Lamentations 2:18; Jonah 1:17; Zechariah 14:7; Matthew 4:2; Luke 18:7; Acts 9:24; Revelations 4:8; Revelations 7:15; Revelations 12:10; Revelations 14:11; Revelations 20:10.
Job 17:12
They change the night into day: the light [is] short because of darkness
Jeremiah 33:19-21
[19] And the word of YAH came unto Jeremiah, saying, [20] Thus saith YAH; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season (time); [21] Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
1 Thessalonians 5 (New King James Version)
[4] But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. [5] You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. [6] Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. [7] For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. [8] But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. [9] For YAH did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Yahusha The Messiah [10] who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. [11] Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
(The same yom) they came to the Wilderness of Sinai
Jerusalem Spring Equinox reading confirmed Spring Astronomical Equinox was on March 20th 2019
No.4. 6 years priestly order cycle…
before solar noon March 20 2017 Equinox Report from Utah USA
JBL 136, no. 4 (2017): 905–936
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1364.2017.290288
eshbal ratzon
eshbal@gmail.com
University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
jonathan ben-dov
jonbendov@gmail.com
University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
In this article we ofer a reconstruction and edition of one of the last unpublished
Dead Sea Scrolls. It is an extremely fragmentary calendrical scroll written in the
Cryptic A code. While images of 4Q324d were included in the DJD series, no
formal edition of it exists. Te suggested jigsaw-puzzlelike reconstruction integrates
forty-two extremely small fragments into a stretch of fve consecutive columns
of what we consider to be one continuous scroll (pace earlier preliminary
editions). In terms of its content, the calendar contained in this scroll resembles
the one found at the top of 4Q394 3–7 (a copy of 4QMMT) and in 4Q394 1–2.
An intriguing interlinear gloss in both shape and content ofers a ruling on the
Festival of Wood Ofering that follows the halakic rulings of the Temple Scroll.
A distinctive corpus of scrolls written in cryptic script stands out among the
scrolls found in Qumran.1 While the fnal publication of all Qumran scrolls is ofen
celebrated, several scrolls in cryptic script are the only scrolls lef that have not been
Tis study was written with the support of the Israel Science Foundation, grant number
1330/14. We would like to express our gratitude to Asaf Gayer, who has been deeply involved in
the material reconstruction of this scroll and ofered invaluable help. Composite images in this
article are based on the PAM images, supplied to us courtesy of the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls
Digital Library, Israel Antiquities Authority. In addition, we gained much beneft from the new
multispectral images supplied to us by the same library (photographer: Shai Halevy). 1For a description of this corpus, see Stephen J. Pfann, “Te Character of the Early Essene
Movement in the Light of the Manuscripts Written in Esoteric Scripts from Qumran” (PhD diss.,
Te Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 2001); Pfann, “Writings in Esoteric Script from Qumran,” in
Te Dead Sea Scrolls Fify Years afer Teir Discovery: Proceedings of the Jerusalem Congress, July
20–25, 1997, ed. Lawrence H. Schifman, Emanuel Tov, and James C. VanderKam (Jerusalem:
Israel Exploration Society, 2000), 177–90. furnished with a full scientifc edition.
In effect, they are the last unpublished Dead
Sea Scrolls. We are privileged to have completed an edition of one of these last
scrolls and present it here. We assign the scroll presented here the number 4Q324d.2
Te reconstruction suggested here for one of these extremely fragmentary
scrolls presented outstanding difculties and required extraordinary eforts, much
like assembling a jigsaw puzzle with individual pieces measuring 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm
on average. Important preliminary work on this scroll was carried out by Józef T.
Milik and Stephen J. Pfann, to whom we are greatly indebted. Te fnal result, as
presented here, is a calendar text covering a 364-day year, with pronounced concluding
formulas at the conclusion of each of the seasons. A calendar list of the
same kind was famously preserved at the top of 4Q394 3–7, a copy of the important
halakic scroll Miqṣat Mataśe haTorah. Tere only its last line can be read, but more
information can be gleaned from the better-preserved scroll 4Q394 1–2.3 Notwithstanding
the partial information of the above scrolls, we are now able to trace the
structure of the whole year according to that—or a very similar—order.
A complete publication of this modest-looking scroll is signifcant for Qumran
studies, even for the entire feld of biblical studies, in several respects. It alerts
scholars to the opportunities that are still present in the Dead Sea Scrolls corpus if
older editions are reexamined with the proper attention and with new technologies
available today.4 Te scribal practice of this little scroll adds particularly telling
2Te number 324d was used by Pfann for only a small part of the sixty or so fragments
discussed here, as he divided them into six diferent copies 4Q324d–i. Since we now see all
fragments as constituting a single copy, we name it 4Q324d, the frst available siglum in the
sequence. Although we are alert to the confusion that choosing this siglum may cause, we prefer
to use it in order to preserve the direct fow of 4Q324 numbers, rather than invent a whole new
siglum. Since no publication was written about this scroll beyond the mere editions, the risk of
confusion seems limited. 3 See the initial publication of 4Q394 1–2 and 3–7 in Elisha Qimron and John Strugnell,
Qumran Cave 4.V: Miqṣat Mataśe ha-Torah, DJD X (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), 6–9, 44–45. While
DJD X assigns frags. 1–2 and 3–7 to one and the same manuscript, Strugnell (ibid., 203) doubted
this association, and VanderKam concluded against it; see James C. VanderKam, “Te Calendar,
4Q327 and 4Q394,” in Legal Texts and Legal Issues: Proceedings of the Second Meeting of the
International Organization for Qumran Studies, Cambridge, 1995, ed. Moshe Bernstein, Florentino
García Martínez, and John Kampen, STDJ 23 (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 179–94. In his title, VanderKam
called frags. 1–2 by the old designation “4Q327.” His arguments were accepted by Shemaryahu
Talmon; see S. Talmon, J. Ben-Dov, and U. Glessmer, Qumran Cave 4.XVI: Calendrical Texts, DJD
XXI (Oxford: Clarendon, 2001), 158. Elisha Qimron leaves the question open in his new edition:
Te Dead Sea Scrolls: Te Hebrew Writings [in Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi, 2013), 2:204.
For the relation between MMT and the calendar of 4Q394, see Hanne von Weissenberg, 4QMMT:
Reevaluating the Text, the Function, and the Meaning of the Epilogue, STDJ 82 (Leiden: Brill, 2009),
33–38.4 See, e.g., Jonathan Ben-Dov, Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, and Asaf Gayer, “Reconstruction of a
Single Copy of the Qumran Cave 4 Cryptic-Script Serekh haEdah,” RevQ 29 (2017): 21–77;
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Ratzon and Ben-Dov: A Calendrical Scroll from Qumran 907
examples to the record of scribal practices assembled by Emanuel Tov.5 In addition,
our reconstruction adds several signifcant details about the 364-day calendar, specifcally
about the nature of the Feast of Wood Ofering and about the tәqûpôt, that
is, the days standing at the turn of the seasons. Finally, the reconstruction of 4Q324d
as a single scroll rather than as a collection of six separate scrolls, as suggested in
earlier research, is signifcant for assessing the nature and scope of encryption in
sectarian circles. Te religious phenomenon of secrecy and encryption in the
ancient Near East, Judaism, Christianity, and other late-antique religions, keeps
attracting scholarly attention and will beneft from the fnds of the present project.6
Tese three aspects are discussed below, followed by a detailed edition of 4Q324d.
Te extent of material work performed here requires an extensive technical apparatus,
without which the more general results cannot stand.
I. The 364-Day Calendar Tradition
Te calendar constituted a central part of the sectarian identity. Members of
the Yaḥad adhered to a year of 364 days, which was diferent from the luni-solar
year of the Jerusalem temple and the Hasmonean state.7 Te sectarian calendrical
tradition is well represented in a variety of documents from Qumran and outside
it.8 It is a highly schematic year with ideal relations between its numerical
Chanan Ariel, Alexei Yuditsky, and Elisha Qimron, “Te Pesher on the Periods A–B (4Q180–
4Q181): Editing, Language, and Interpretation” [in Hebrew], Meghillot 11–12 (2015): 3–39. 5Emanuel Tov, Scribal Practices and Approaches Refected in the Texts Found in the Judean
Desert, STDJ 54 (Leiden: Brill, 2004).
6 See, e.g., Alan Lenzi, Secrecy and the Gods: Secret Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia and
Biblical Israel, SAAS 19 (Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, 2008); Adela Yarbro Collins,
“Messianic Secret and the Gospel of Mark: Secrecy in Jewish Apocalypticism, the Hellenistic
Mystery Religions, and Magic,” in Rending the Veil: Concealment and Secrecy in the History of
Religions, ed. Elliot R. Wolfson (New York: Seven Bridges, 1999), 11–30. 7For the role of the calendar in sectarian polemics, see the ever-relevant Shemaryahu
Talmon, “Yom Hakippurim in the Habakkuk Scroll,” Bib 32 (1951): 549–63. Although much of
the criticism leveled against Talmon by Sacha Stern (“Qumran Calendars and Sectarianism,” in
Te Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Timothy H. Lim and John J. Collins [Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2010], 232–53) is valid, the core sectarian value of the calendar cannot
be denied. 8Uwe Glessmer, “Calendars in the Qumran Scrolls,” in Te Dead Sea Scrolls afer Fify Years:
A Comprehensive Assessment, ed. Peter W. Flint and James C. VanderKam, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill,
1999), 2:213–78; James C. VanderKam, Calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Measuring Time,
Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls (London: Routledge, 1998); Jonathan Ben-Dov, “Te 364-Day
Year in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish Pseudepigrapha,” in Calendars and Years II: Astronomy
and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World, ed. John M. Steele (Oxford: Oxbow, 2011), 69–105.
Te Qumran calendrical texts 4Q319–324c and 4Q325–330 were published by Talmon, Ben-Dov,
and Glessmer in DJD XXI.
constituents. Te number of 364 days is neatly divided by seven, a typological
number with signifcant religious connotation. Each 364-day year contains exactly
ffy-two weeks, a fact that allows anchoring the festivals to fxed weekdays, thus
avoiding their coincidence with the Sabbath. In addition, the number 364 divides
neatly by four as well, yielding a good symmetry of the four seasons, each season
containing exactly 91 days. Finally, the synchronization of the 364-day year with a
schematic lunar calendar of alternating twenty-nine- and thirty-day months is easily
achieved, using an intercalation of one thirty-day month every three years (a
triennial cycle of three years of 364 days = three lunar years of 354 days + an intercalary
month of thirty days).
A distinct part of the 364-day calendar tradition appears in a collection of
calendar texts from Qumran that present the characteristics mentioned above in
the form of detailed rosters in addition to the following: the triennial cycle involving
lunar months; a six-year cycle that incorporates the times of service of priestly
families (mišmārôt) in the temple; and a detailed record of lunar phases along the
six-year cycle. Each type of calendrical scroll represents only some of these traits,
and thus a variety of calendrical “genre” is created.9 Te scroll 4Q324d represents
the Sabbaths and festivals as well as a simple record of the names of priestly courses
but does not go into the details of either the mishmarot service or of the lunar
phenomena. It is unique in phrasing a distinct type of formula indicating the dates
of transition between the seasons.10
Te vocabulary and style of the calendrical texts are typically very limited and
monotonous, a fact that eases the task of reconstructing fragmentary scrolls. We
benefted greatly from this characteristic when assembling the jigsaw puzzle of
4Q324d.
Te account of annual festivals recorded in 4Q324d generally agrees with the
record of festivals in other scrolls. An exception pertains to the Festival of Wood
Ofering, as explained below. In this case, a long marginal note specifes some
details about the performance of this particular feast, in accordance with the halakah
of the Temple Scroll and in contrast to other practices refected in Second
Temple literature.11 Te inclusion of this note seems to indicate an awareness of
halakic disagreements and the need of additional clarification.
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