Biblical Calendar

The site begins by making the case that the visible crescent is absent from Scripture. They need to look deeper and discover that Exodus and Deuteronomy clearly reveal the crescent: "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (Ex. 12:2, KJV).

"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto Yahweh thy Elohim: for in the month of Abib Yahweh thy Elohim brought thee forth out of Egypt by night" (Deut. 16:1, KJV).

The word "month" in both of the above passages is derived from the Hebrew chodesh meaning, "the new moon; by implication, a month" (Strong's Concordance). Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words offers this definition, "The word refers to the day on which the crescent reappears."

The word chodesh is from the primitive root chadash, meaning, "to be new; causatively, to rebuild" (Strong's). Clearly, the "black moon" or conjunction is neither new nor in the process of rebuilding. The only phase of the moon that fits this description is the first visible crescent.

Another key is in Deuteronomy 16:1. The word "observe" is from the Hebrew shamar. A key meaning of shamar is "to mark, look narrowly for" the new moon of Abib (Strong's). How does one mark or look narrowly for a moon that is black and invisible? It would be impossible.

An argument some cite for a calculated new moon is that David knew in advance when the new moon would fall, 1Sam. 20:5. Anyone capable of counting to 30 could know the same thing. The lunar cycle is approximately 29.5 days. As a result, the new moon falls at either 29 days or 30 days from its last verification. If it were not seen at day 29 we can be assured it will be visible at day 30.

Historical evidence also confirms that Israel began the month with the first visible crescent: "The Hebrew or Jewish calendar had three stages of development: the preexilic, or Biblical; the postexilic, or Talmudic; and the post-Talmudic. The first rested on observation merely, the second on observation coupled with calculation, and the third on calculation only. In the first period the priests determined the beginning of each month by the appearance of the new moon" (International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, "Calendar").

Another source confirms, "The Israelites divided their year according to natural phenomena exclusively, combining the solar and lunar years. The months began with the new moon, but the first month was fixed (after the Exodus and by the necessities of the Passover) by the ripening of the earliest grain, namely, barley. The lunar month averaging 29 1/2 days, a year of twelve months of 30 and 29 days alternately resulted" (The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, Calendar).

This reference also verifies that the Israelites marked the year by the ripening of the barley. "The month was a unit of time closely tied to the moon. The Hebrew word for 'month' also meant 'moon' (Deut 33:14, NIV, NASB). The reason for the connection between the month and the moon is that the beginning of a month was marked by a new moon. The moon was carefully observed by the people of Bible times. When it appeared as a thin crescent, it marked the beginning of a new month" (Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Calendar).

As for the vernal equinox starting the Biblical year, there is no Scriptural evidence to justify such a claim. Besides the fact that the equinox is absent from scripture, perhaps the best evidence is found in the name for the first month, i.e., Abib. Actually, "Abib" is less of a name and more of a description of the stage of ripening grain.

Strong's Concordance offers this definition for Abib: "to be tender; green, i.e. a young ear of grain; hence, the name of the month Abib or Nisan." By its very definition we find the first month firmly tied to agriculture, specifically grain or barley. Notice that the equinox is nowhere referenced. In addition to Strong's, we find the following from the Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, "(1) fresh, young barley ears, barley (2) month of ear-forming, of greening of crop, of growing green Abib, the month of the Exodus and the Passover (March or April)."

Following is more confirmation from scholarly references: "The month Nisan [a later name]. Meaning ears of grain, namely, barley (Ex 13:4). …the Jews began harvest by gathering a sheaf of barley firstfruits" (Fausset's Bible Dictionary, "Abib").

"The month the Hebrews were divinely directed to make the first of the year as a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt (Ex 12:1-2; 13:4). The Passover and the feast of unleavened bread occurred in it, and it marked the beginning of the barley harvest" (The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, "Abib").

"('Abhibh, young ear of barley or other grain, Ex 9:31; Lev 2:14): The first month of the Israelitish year, called Nisan in Neh 2:1; Est 3:7, is Abib in Ex 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; compare Deut 16:1. Abib is not properly a name of a month, but part of a descriptive phrase, 'the month of young ears of grain.' This may indicate the Israelitish way of determining the new year (Ex 12:2), the year beginning with the new moon nearest or next preceding this stage of the growth of the barley" (International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, "Abib").

An interesting find in Israel called the "Gezer" calendar shows that the Israelites were an agrarian society that based it's months from the vantage point of agriculture.

In the March April 2002 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review on page 45 we read "A Different Clock governed everyday life in ancient Israel. The society was agrarian- virtually everyone was a farmer- so people naturally regulated their daily lives by the rising and setting sun. Likewise the yearly calendar was defined by seasonal activities related to farming and herding. This small limestone tablet, found in 1908 at Gezer and called the Gezer Calendar, associates the months of the year with activities like sowing, pruning and harvesting, and gives us a glimpse into a way of life very different from ours- a life strongly tied to the earth and it's natural rhythms.

Written in Paleo-Hebrew, the Gezer Calendar dates from the 10th century BC, the time of the construction of Solomon's Temple. It contains the following text:

"Two months of harvest)
Two months of planting
Two months are late planting
One month of pulling flax
One month of barley harvest
One month of harvest and feasting
Two months of pruning vines
One month of summer fruit"

This calendar lays-out the fundamental importance of the agricultural cycle in King Solomon's day, this can be seen in the temple festivals of Shavuot ("Feast of weeks") or First Fruits in early Summer (the "month of summer" fruit in line 8), and the Feast of Ingathering (the harvest) in the Fall which culminates to the Feast of Tabernacles. The mention of feasting reflects the pilgrimages festivals which involved feasting.

Since Abib refers to young grain, i.e., barley, this is what we use to mark the first biblical month. Strictly speaking, Abib describes the stage of barley that is within the dough stage or later. The minimum allowance for Abib was a sheaf used in bundling or about two dry quarts. Also, since the Bible confirms that the barley precedes the new moon crescent (Exodus 9:31 and 12:2), you must have barley that meets the minimum stage of Abib by the new moon crescent. We reject the idea of projecting the barley in anticipation of the wave sheaf offering.

Since Israel observed the barley from the Holy Land and there is a need for one unified year throughout the globe, we observe the barley from Israel. While we do not personally look for the barley, we rely on several independent witnesses who travel and document the barley from Israel.

Scholarship also confirms the use of barley to commence the first biblical month of the biblical year:

"…Abib is not properly a name of a month, but part of a descriptive phrase, 'the month of young ears of grain.' This may indicate the Israelitish way of determining the new year (Ex 12:2), the year beginning with the new moon nearest or next preceding this stage of the growth of the barley," International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia.

"The months began with the new moon, but the first month was fixed (after the Exodus and by the necessities of the Passover) by the ripening of the earliest grain, namely, barley," New Unger's Bible Dictionary.

Regarding the new moon crescent and full moon, we believe that Scripture and scholarship confirms the new moon.

The word month, as seen in Exodus 12:2 and Deuteronomy 16:1, comes from the Hebrew chodesh and is defined, "…from OT:2318; the new moon; by implication, a month: -month (-ly), new moon." OT:2318, chadash, is "a primitive root; to be new; causatively, to rebuild." Strong's used for both definitions.

In addition to Scripture, evidence for the new moon crescent is also found in antiquity. Philo of Alexandria, c. 20 BCE - c. 50 CE, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, before and during the time of the Messiah, states, "…at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then she displays her own beauty to the beholders," The Works of Philo, p. 283.

Clearly, Philo is describing the first appearance of the new moon crescent and not the full moon.

Scholarship also confirms the new moon crescent:

"The Hebrew or Jewish calendar had three stages of development: the preexilic, or Biblical; the postexilic, or Talmudic; and the post-Talmudic. The first rested on observation merely, the second on observation coupled with calculation, and the third on calculation only. In the first period the priests determined the beginning of each month by the appearance of the new moon," International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia.

"As the festivals, according to the Mosaic law, were always to be celebrated on the same day of the month, it was necessary to fix the commencement of the month. This was determined by the appearance of the new moon; for the new moon was reckoned not by astronomical calculation, but by actual personal observation. On the thirtieth day of the month watchmen were placed on commanding heights around Jerusalem to watch the sky. As soon as each of them detected the moon he hastened to a house in the city kept for this purpose and was there examined by the president of the Sanhedrin.

"When the evidence of the appearance was deemed satisfactory, the president stood up and formally announced it, uttering the words, 'It is consecrated.' The information was immediately sent throughout the land from the Mount of Olives by beacon fires on the tops of the hills. The religious observance of the day of the new moon may plainly be regarded as the consecration of a natural division of time," New Unger's Bible Dictionary.

I assume your question is predicated on Genesis 1:14. Based on this single passage, some advocate the use of the equinox to begin the biblical year. They derive this from the reference to the sun and moon. However, it's crucial to realize that this passage is broad and does not provide any specifics as to how to determine the calendar. For this reason, we must consider additional passages.

Regarding your question, we believe that the sun marks the days, the moon marks the months, and the agriculture (i.e., barley) marks the year. Deuteronomy 16:1 states, "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto Yahweh thy Elohim…."

The word "observe" comes from the Hebrew shamar. The primary meaning of shamar is to guard, which requires the action of watching. The word "month" derives from the Hebrew chodesh and refers to the new moon. The word "Abib" is Hebrew and literally means, young ears of grain.

Based on the above passage and the Hebrew, it's evident that we're to watch for the new moon in the month when the barley is within the Abib stage (i.e., when there is sufficient dough in the ear to roast).

Psalm 104:19 also provides insight is how the sun and moon relates to the seasons: "He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down." The word "seasons" is moed and refers to the Feast days. Yahweh confirmed here that the moon, i.e., new moon crescent, is for the seasons. In other words, it's the crescent that determines the month and therefore the Feast days.