How to Count to Pentecost
Pentecost is a Greek term for the Feast of Weeks or Firstfruits. It means fiftieth. But fiftieth from what?
The starting point for counting to Pentecost comes within the Days of Unleavened Bread following the Passover. We begin with a key passage, Leviticus 23:11. “And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” The context of this wave sheaf day is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, vv. 6-8.
Now notice a few verses later, 15-16: “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall
ye number fifty days; and ye khall offer a new meat offering unto Yahweh.”
The count toward Pentecost is from the “morrow after the Sabbath” which falls within the days of Unleavened Bread, on the day of the wave sheaf offering. This count begins with what is called Sunday, the day after the weekly Saturday Sabbath.
The Hebrew for Sabbath here is Strong’s No. 7676, shabbath,
“intensive from shabath (7673); intermission, i.e. (spec.) the Sabbath.” Clearly we are talking about the weekly Sabbath, not a high day Sabbath.
Verses 15 and 16 mention the weekly Sabbath (No. 7676) three times. Thus, we can see that our count begins on the day after the Sabbath, which is the first day of the week, and we are to count until we reach 49 days. This is the weekly Sabbath when the week is out, and the next day is Sunday, the proper day for Pentecost.
In contrast, the “Sabbath” of verse 24 is shabbathown, a different word that refers to a high day, in this case it’s the Feast of Trumpets, not the weekly Sabbath. As we move to verse 39 we again find the Hebrew shabbathown, which refers to the High Sabbaths of the Feast of Tabemacles. According to Sfrong’s No. 7677, this means a “sabbatism or special holiday.”
Pentecost is observed on the morrow “after your weeks be out,” Numbers 28:26. The Feast of Weeks is counted “from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days,” Leviticus 23:15-16 (see also Deut. 16:9).
What all this means is that the morrow after the Sabbath cannot be the day after Abib 15, the first day of Unleavened Bread; it cannot be the 16th. The 15th is Strong’s No. 7677, which is shabbathown. Nor could it be the twenty-first day of Abib, which is also shabbathown, No. 7677.
The day to begin our count toward Pentecost has to be Sunday, the day after Saturday, the weekly Sabbath (No. 7676). This makes Sunday as day one with the count 50 days later ending on a Sunday, the proper day for Pentecost.
Had Yahweh wanted us to begin our count with Abib 16 He surely would have instructed that. Or He could have said to observe the Feast of Weeks on Sivan 6, the sixth day of the third month, as presently kept by the Jews. In that case no counting would even be needed. They allow it to float through the week instead of observing it “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” which is Sunday. It is also the time when “the weeks are out.”
Again, Leviticus 23:15 clearly says, “And you shall count from the morrow (Heb. mochorath, next day) after the Sabbath (No. 7676, weekly Sabbath) from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete.” Other translations read, “…seven weeks; they shall be complete.”
The Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society) reads “seven weeks: They must be complete: You must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days.” If we begin the count with the weekly Sabbath, we will not have complete weeks and the morrow after the seventh Sabbath will be 51 days.
Another key point is that the day to begin the count must fall within the Feast because it is also the day the wave sheaf was presented to Yahweh, as we read in verse 15. Whether it was a sheaf at Unleavened Bread or two bread loaves at Pentecost, both were waved before Yahweh on their respective Feast, not before or afterward, Leviticus 23:20-21. The focus in verse 15 is on the day after the weekly Sabbath, and not the Sabbath. That day after (Sunday) must fall within the Feast.
It is imperative that we follow the Bible’s plain statements and not seek out writers and authorities who repeat the traditions and customs of those like the Pharisees. It is up to us to follow the Bible as closely as we can.
The starting point for counting to Pentecost comes within the Days of Unleavened Bread following the Passover. We begin with a key passage, Leviticus 23:11. “And he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” The context of this wave sheaf day is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, vv. 6-8.
Now notice a few verses later, 15-16: “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall
ye number fifty days; and ye khall offer a new meat offering unto Yahweh.”
The count toward Pentecost is from the “morrow after the Sabbath” which falls within the days of Unleavened Bread, on the day of the wave sheaf offering. This count begins with what is called Sunday, the day after the weekly Saturday Sabbath.
The Hebrew for Sabbath here is Strong’s No. 7676, shabbath,
“intensive from shabath (7673); intermission, i.e. (spec.) the Sabbath.” Clearly we are talking about the weekly Sabbath, not a high day Sabbath.
Verses 15 and 16 mention the weekly Sabbath (No. 7676) three times. Thus, we can see that our count begins on the day after the Sabbath, which is the first day of the week, and we are to count until we reach 49 days. This is the weekly Sabbath when the week is out, and the next day is Sunday, the proper day for Pentecost.
In contrast, the “Sabbath” of verse 24 is shabbathown, a different word that refers to a high day, in this case it’s the Feast of Trumpets, not the weekly Sabbath. As we move to verse 39 we again find the Hebrew shabbathown, which refers to the High Sabbaths of the Feast of Tabemacles. According to Sfrong’s No. 7677, this means a “sabbatism or special holiday.”
Pentecost is observed on the morrow “after your weeks be out,” Numbers 28:26. The Feast of Weeks is counted “from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days,” Leviticus 23:15-16 (see also Deut. 16:9).
What all this means is that the morrow after the Sabbath cannot be the day after Abib 15, the first day of Unleavened Bread; it cannot be the 16th. The 15th is Strong’s No. 7677, which is shabbathown. Nor could it be the twenty-first day of Abib, which is also shabbathown, No. 7677.
The day to begin our count toward Pentecost has to be Sunday, the day after Saturday, the weekly Sabbath (No. 7676). This makes Sunday as day one with the count 50 days later ending on a Sunday, the proper day for Pentecost.
Had Yahweh wanted us to begin our count with Abib 16 He surely would have instructed that. Or He could have said to observe the Feast of Weeks on Sivan 6, the sixth day of the third month, as presently kept by the Jews. In that case no counting would even be needed. They allow it to float through the week instead of observing it “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” which is Sunday. It is also the time when “the weeks are out.”
Again, Leviticus 23:15 clearly says, “And you shall count from the morrow (Heb. mochorath, next day) after the Sabbath (No. 7676, weekly Sabbath) from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete.” Other translations read, “…seven weeks; they shall be complete.”
The Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society) reads “seven weeks: They must be complete: You must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days.” If we begin the count with the weekly Sabbath, we will not have complete weeks and the morrow after the seventh Sabbath will be 51 days.
Another key point is that the day to begin the count must fall within the Feast because it is also the day the wave sheaf was presented to Yahweh, as we read in verse 15. Whether it was a sheaf at Unleavened Bread or two bread loaves at Pentecost, both were waved before Yahweh on their respective Feast, not before or afterward, Leviticus 23:20-21. The focus in verse 15 is on the day after the weekly Sabbath, and not the Sabbath. That day after (Sunday) must fall within the Feast.
It is imperative that we follow the Bible’s plain statements and not seek out writers and authorities who repeat the traditions and customs of those like the Pharisees. It is up to us to follow the Bible as closely as we can.
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