In the world there are many different calendar systems, but Yahweh’s calendar is special. Yahweh times His festivals so that His people can come up to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage festivals when the barley, the wheat and the grape harvests are ready. There are prophetic reasons for these things, which we will touch on in another place. Rather, our purpose here is to show how the head of the year is timed to the agricultural harvests alone, rather than to the vernal equinox.

 

We give more details in The Torah Calendar, but the very first of the spring crops to come ready is the barley. Yahweh wants us to give the very first of the barley to Him. This is called the Omer, or the firstfruits offering. We may not eat of the current year’s crops until we give the firstfruits offering back to Yahweh.

 

 

The Omer is offered on the first day after the Sabbath which falls just after the Passover, or coincides with it. Because the Passover is a pilgrimage festival, it might make sense that the Omer should not be offered until all of the barley in the land of Israel has become ripe, so that all of the barley farmers have something to offer, in order to fulfill the commandment that no one should come up to Jerusalem empty handed.

 

 

However, in practice there are a number of reasons why Yahweh wants us to offer the Omer when the very first of the barley comes ripe. For one thing, it is a prophetic shadow picture of Yeshua, who was the very firstborn of many brethren.

 

 

For another thing, Israel has many different climates. Barley ripens much later in the cooler mountains of Samaria and the Golan Heights than it does in the hotter valley regions, such as in Gaza and the Jordan River valley. It would create hardship for those in the warmer regions if they could not eat or sell their crop until everyone else’s barley had become ripe.

 

The need, then, is for a system in which the start of the year is timed to the start of the barley harvest. What better system for this can there possibly be, then, than for observers in the land of Israel to go out and physically examine the barley, and tell the priesthood when it is coming ripe? The truth is that there can be no better system than this, because this system relies on direct observation, rather than any kind of prediction or pre-calculation. Predictions and pre-calculations can fail, but direct observation never fails; and this is likely why Yahweh has chosen this system.

 

Direct observation, however, has its detractors. One of their chief complaints is that this method of direct observation has to be inferred from the text. They point out that Yahweh never says, “This is how I want you to establish the head of the year: step one, step two….” Rather, we have to deduce what Yahweh wants from a study of the text. The detractors decry this, and yet there are a number of reasons why this is not a problem. First, Scripture is not a step-by-step list of “by the numbers” instructions, but a record of things that Elohim has spoken to His people Israel throughout the years. Our instructions have come piecemeal, and it is understood that if we love Yahweh and want to do what He says, we are going to have to demonstrate our love for Him by studying His words (in order to show ourselves approved).

 

Second, we have to remember that just because something is not explicitly spelled out in an instruction set, it does not mean that the thing was not understood in the culture. For example, if I were to give you directions on how to get to my Feast of Tabernacles, I would probably not give you explicit instructions about how to operate a car. I probably would also not tell you to stop at stop signs and red lights, or to get a driver’s license before you drive, because these things are understood in our culture before anyone says a word (and if you have GPS, I might not even need to give you any directions at all). Yet if someone were to hypothetically read our conversation 3500 years from now, in a system where they used different modes of transportation, they might conclude that there was no such thing as rules of the road, because I had not spelled them out in our correspondence. Yet this would ignore the fact that these things are understood in our culture.

 

We give more details in The Torah Calendar, but when Israel was still in Egypt at the time of the ten plagues, it was recorded that the barley was struck by the plague of hail, because it was “in the head.” The word in Hebrew is aviv (אָבִיב), and it means that the barley was so far along in its development that all of the energy was going into developing the grain.

 

 

Soon after this, Yahweh told Moshe and Aharon that the month they were in was to be “the beginning of months.” He told them that it was to be “the first month of the year” to them.

 

 

In this passage, either it was the new moon day, or it was shortly after that. In either way, it was not yet the 10^th of the month, because they were to take a lamb for each household on the 10^th of the month. What this shows us is that the first month of the calendar year is to take place after the barley is “in the head,” or aviv.

 

What we need to see here is that this is how Yahweh told Moshe and Aharon to determine the beginning of the year. Therefore, this is the exact method we also should use, and any deviation from this method would, by definition, be non-scriptural (and not of Yahweh.)

 

Now that we have seen the method that Yahweh told Moshe and Aharon to use, now we can take a look at how some people want the start of the year to be based on the equinox. This word is based on the Latin, and it refers to two points in time halfway between summer and winter, when the day and the night are of equal length. The one in the spring is called the vernal equinox, and it usually falls around March 21^st. The one in the fall is called the autumnal equinox, and it usually falls around September 23^rd. It is especially curious that anyone would want to base the calendar off of the equinox, because the word does not appear anywhere in Scripture.

 

In Modern Hebrew, the word “tekufah” (תְקוּפָה) can be used to refer to an equinox. Because of this, some suggest that this word also refers to an equinox in Scripture. However, this is not the case. Just as many words in English have changed their meanings over time (e.g., “gay”), the meaning of “tekufah” in Modern Hebrew is very different than its original meaning in Scripture. Strong’s Concordance defines “tekufah” as a complete cycle of time (i.e., a “complete circuit”), or perhaps a revolution, without referring to any set length of time (such as a year).

 

 

If we look up the root word at OT:5362, we see that it means “to strike,” and in this case it refers to how the sun “bursts forth” in the dry desert air, changing the temperature suddenly, and encompassing everything with its heat.

 

 

Neither of these definitions says anything about an equinox. They also say nothing about “equal parts night and day” (as the Latin term “equinox” means). They only mention going around, circulating, completing a circuit, or “making a compass.”

 

The word tekufah (תְקוּפָה) is used only four times in Scripture, so let us look at all of them. Proponents of Equinox Theory try to use Psalms 19:6 (19:7 in Hebrew versions) as proof of an equinox, because it speaks of the sun traveling a circuit from one end of the sky to the other.

 

 

However, in context this passage does not speak of an equinox, but only of how the sun makes a circuit from one end of the heaven to the other. (The word וּתְקוּפָתוֹ in the second line is translated, “and its circuit.”)

 

 

Clearly, the word tekufah does not mean “equinox” in this context, because if we try to substitute the word “equinox” into the passage, we get nonsense.

 

 

Sure, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, but this does not mean the Torah commands us to begin our calendar year after the equinox (when the day and the night are equal parts in length); and to suggest that it does is taking some serious liberties with the text.

 

The word “tekufah” is also used in Exodus 34:22. This is where Yahweh tells us to observe the Feast of the Ingathering (i.e., Tabernacles) at the end (תְּקוּפַת) of the year. Equinox advocates suggest this refers to the fall equinox, but what it really says is that at the time of the Feast of Ingathering (i.e., Tabernacles), the year has made a “complete circuit.”

 

 

We know that this word does not mean “equinox” for the same reasons we saw before: if we substitute the word “equinox” into the passage, we get nonsense.

 

 

Because תְּקוּפַת הַשָּׁנָה is often translated as “the year’s end,” many suggest that the end of the year is in the fall, at the Feast of Ingathering (Sukkot, Tabernacles). However, the word תְּקוּפַת does not mean the same as the word “end” does in English. Rather, it refers to the completion of a circuit, as we saw in the Strong’s definitions (above).

 

It might also be that Exodus 34:22 is simply poetry. Since the fall festivals conclude Yahweh’s festivals for the year, some might think (poetically) that the year “is completed” in the fall, thus “making a complete circuit” by the Feast of Tabernacles. However, even if this is the case, it says nothing about the days being the same length as the nights.

 

We also find the word “tekufah” used in First Samuel 1:20, where we are told that “in the process of time” (לִתְקֻפוֹת הַיָּמִים), Hannah conceived and bore a son.

 

 

The literal meaning of לִתְקֻפוֹת הַיָּמִים is, “in the completion of days.” In this case it refers to Hannah’s normal forty week (“nine month”) term of pregnancy. If we try to plug the term “equinox” in here we get a total absurdity.

 

 

The term “equinox” just does not work in this context, and we have to seriously distort the meaning of the text in order to pretend it does.

 

Finally, the word “tekufah” also appears in 2 Chronicles 24:23, which tells us about how the army of Syria came against Judah and Jerusalem at the “tekufat” (לִתְקוּפַת) of the year. The New King James Version translates “tekufat” as “in the spring.”

 

 

However, this is an obvious translation error. To see this, let us compare to 1 Kings 20:26, which speaks of the “return of the year” (לִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה). This word is also translated as “spring.”

 

 

Neither tekufat nor teshuvat mean spring, and yet both of these words are translated as spring in the New King James Version, probably because this is the time of year when armies normally went out to war. However, it would be wrong to think that armies waited for the equinox to pass before they went out to war. It makes no difference to an army if the days and nights are of equal length. They simply wait for the dry season to begin, so they can safely travel on dirt roads without their men and their chariots getting bogged down in the mud.

 

In all four times the word tekufah is used in Scripture, it never refers to an equinox. It never refers to the day and the night being of equal length. Yet in spite of this, some scholars suggest that the start of the calendar year cannot come before the vernal equinox (or at least, that the start of the Hebrew calendar must be based on the vernal equinox in some fashion or other). They base this argument on Genesis 1:14-19, which describes the creation of the sun, the moon and the stars.

 

 

In Hebrew, the phrase “and for seasons” in verse 14 is the word “u’lmoedim” (וּלְמוֹעֲדִים), where the root of the word is “moedim” (מועדים). This is the word Yahweh uses for His festivals, but Strong’s Concordance tells us that this word also refers to any kind of appointment or time that is established (or fixed) in advance.

 

 

If we look up the root of this word at Strong’s OT:3259, we see that it refers to any time that is agreed upon, or fixed in advance.

 

Equinox advocates say the only way for the sun, the moon, and the stars to be used for signs, for festivals, for seasons, and for years is to begin the calendar year after the equinox (or to base it off the equinox in some fashion). They have various theories about how this should be done, but the most common is to suggest that the year should begin with the new moon that comes either on or after the equinox.

 

Equinox theorists claim their method is superior to the aviv barley method of determining the start of the year because they do not have to “read into” the text in order to know how to start the calendar year. But it isn’t true. We just saw that the word “equinox” does not even appear in Scripture, and there is no reference to a time when the day and the night are of “equal length.” (In fact, the Hebraic mind isn’t even interested in knowing when the day and the night are of equal length, because it is a theoretical construct that does not “do” anything real.) Yet rather than look to see how Yahweh told Moshe and Aharon to establish the start of the year, the equinox theorists interject a Latin-Roman concept into the discussion.

 

Because there is no equinox in Scripture, let’s take a closer look at Genesis 1, to see if we can understand what Yahweh is really saying. Verse 14 tells us that the lights in the heavens will be for signs, and for festivals (seasons), and for days and years. Then verse 15 tells us that their purpose is to give light on the earth. This is what the sun and the moon do.

 

 

Verses 17 and 18 tell us that Elohim set the sun and the moon in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and the night, to divide the light from the darkness. So this shows us that the primary purpose of the sun and the moon is to give light, to “rule over” the day and the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. All of these are things that the sun and the moon do.

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 104:19 says that Yahweh appointed the moon for festivals, and that the sun knows its going down.

 

 

In The Torah Calendar we show how Yahweh’s feasts are established by the sighting of the new moon of the first month, and the sighting of the new moon of the seventh month. The days within those months are then established by the sun’s going down. No equinox is mentioned.

 

We could stop the study here, but it is instructive to see how the equinox came to be taken into account in rabbinical circles. Just the fact that it has not always been included in the rabbinical calculations tells us something important, but so does the manner in which it came about.

 

Many scholars believe Yeshua’s ministry lasted from approximately 26-30 CE (give or take a few years). As we will see, the start of the year was determined by the aviv barley/new moon method we described earlier in this article (and in The Torah Calendar). However, the historical record in the Talmud tells us that perhaps twenty years after Yeshua’s death (about 50 CE), the rabbis began widening the list of what they considered in making their determinations with regard to the start of the calendar, to include more than just the barley. Approximately 50 CE they also began considering the fledgling doves and the newborn lambs.

 

Acts 22:3 tells us that Gamliel (Gamaliel) was Shaul’s teacher.

 

 

We also know that Gamliel was a contemporary of Yeshua, and of the apostles.

 

 

Babylonian Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 11b, then, gives us an anecdote about what Gamliel once did. (Since this anecdote is estimated to have been written circa 50 CE, the event occurred prior to 50 CE).

 

 

Gamli’el takes into account more than just the barley. Instead, he also takes into account the doves and the lambs. This is a clear violation of Yahweh’s Torah, in which He tells us not to add to His commandments.

 

 

What we see in this passage is a perfect example of how the rabbis view their authority with regard to Yahweh and His Torah. The rabbis do not teach that Yahweh gave Moshe the responsibility to teach His Torah without altering it: rather, the rabbis teach that Yahweh gave Moshe the authority to establish “Torah law” as he saw fit (and that such “Torah law” would be “inspired”). Further, they teach that when Moshe died, this authority to establish “Torah law” transferred to his successors (i.e., Joshua, and so on). Because Gamli’el and his “colleagues” saw themselves as being in this position of authority, they had no qualms about taking the fledgling doves and the lambs into account, in addition to the barley. They likely saw themselves as having full authority in that regard.

 

The Talmud also records how Gamliel’s son (Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel I) was faced with a similar situation a generation later, and issued an identical ruling, postponing the start of the calendar year based on factors other than the aviv barley. (Rabban Yannai is here quoting Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.)

 

 

From approximately 50-80 CE, the head of the year was no longer being based on the barley alone, but was being based on a total of three agricultural factors.

 

 

From a certain standpoint, this decision made sense. The barley, the doves and the lambs all need to be at a certain state of maturity before the Passover and the Wave Sheaf can be offered. However, if we will stop to think about it, when the barley is aviv, the lambs and the fledgling doves are also going to be ready, so in truth there was no need to “widen the scope” beyond what Yahweh has commanded.

 

Once Gamli’el and his son had “leavened the lump” by taking other agricultural products into account, it was a relatively simple matter to “widen the scope” just a little further, to take the vernal equinox into account as well.

 

Flavius Josephus’ works are dated circa 90 CE, some 60 years after Yeshua’s death. While writing for a Roman patron, Josephus said that the Jews would establish the start of their calendar year in the Roman month of Xanthicus.

 

 

While Josephus was once a highly respected priest, we need to remember that at the time he wrote Antiquities he was writing to please his Greco-Roman patron. Since he depended upon this Greco-Roman patron for his livelihood, he probably framed his explanation in terms his Greco-Roman patron could relate to easily. For this reason we could easily dismiss or discount this account (and leave it out of our study), except that it reminds us of the power and influence that Rome held over the Jewish nation at that time. In fact, it may be precisely due to the Roman occupation that Latin terms such as the “equinox” made their way into the Hebrew language, and into the Talmud. For example, note the use of the term “equinox” in Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 11b, which is dated circa 100 CE. [To intercalate is to insert a day or a month into a calendar.]

 

 

Originally the decision to add a month onto the end of the old calendar (or, more accurately, to wait another month before starting the new calendar year) was based on the barley alone. Then from approximately 50-80 CE the scope was widened to take the fledgling doves and the newborn lambs into consideration. Then starting about 100 CE, the list of considerations now included the Roman-Latin term “equinox.”

 

For as long as the Jews were allowed free access to Jerusalem, the determination of the new month and the start of the year were made from the Temple Mount. However, after the Jews rose up in the Bar Kochba revolt, and the Roman legions crushed it around 135 CE (perhaps 100 years after Yeshua’s death) the Romans banned the Jews from entering any part of Judea (southern Israel) at all. Because the rabbis could no longer enter the warmer regions such as the Gaza and the Jordan River valley (where the barley ripens the earliest), it was no longer possible for the rabbis to base the head of the year on the avid barley. Yet since the rabbis had already “opened their minds” to doing something other than what Yahweh said to d in the Torah, they were now mentally primed to accept a syncretic (mixed worship, hybrid) calendar.

 

But it is interesting to note that even after 135 CE (a full one-hundred years after Yeshua’s ministry), the rabbis still taught it was not right establish (or intercalate) the head of the year before aviv barley was found. We know this because Tractate Sanhedrin 12a (which dates after 135 CE) speaks of a time when Rabbi Akiva intercalated three years in advance. The reason he did this was because he was in prison after the Bar Kochba revolt, facing execution. (Though his role in the Bar Kochba revolt was not clear, he was executed in 137 CE.)

 

 

Rabbi Akiva may have felt it was necessary to establish the start of the year three years in advance because the nation (and also the rabbinical leadership) was in disarray. He likely felt this would give his brothers time to recover from their merciless defeat at the hands of the Romans, and establish new leadership.

 

Rabbinical Judaism, however, is legally oriented, and it holds that any ancient legal precedent gives grounds for a similar (or repeat) decision (even if that decision is unlawful according to the Torah of Moshe). Thus it was that when the Romans banned the Jews from entering Judea (i.e., southern Israel, where the barley ripens the soonest), they had to retreat to the Galilee, and look for some other way to establish the head of the year. Since there was already a precedent involving the use of the equinox, and since they could no longer access the barley to observe when it came aviv, they felt they had good cause to intercalate the years in Galilee. This may explain a later entry in Sanhedrin 11b, which some scholars believe was written after the Bar Kochba Revolt (i.e., after 135 CE), but before 200 CE.

 

 

 

In 200 CE the Sanhedrin was officially moved to the Galilee in order to find relief from Roman persecution (here euphemistically referred to as ‘the Evil Eye’):

 

 

The reason euphemisms such as “the evil eye” were used under Roman rule was general to avoid being punished for recording the sins of the Roman Empire (as such things were generally punishable by death). However, the story continues in our time. Having been barred from Jerusalem and Judea, the rabbis had little choice but to adopt new means of declaring the head of the year. Eventually, in the fourth century CE the rabbis created a calendar called the “Hillel II” calendar, which uses a brilliant mathematical algorithm to approximate the date the barley actually comes ripe in the land. This algorithm never declares the head of the year before the vernal equinox. Although it has issues, most years it approximates the appearance of the new moon within a day or two.

 

Even though the Jews are now back in the land, the rabbis still use the Hillel II calendar to this day (2011 CE), and this is a problem. While the Hillel II calendar was a brilliant solution during the years that our Jewish brothers and sisters were unable to directly observe the ripening of the barley in the land of Israel, now that they are once again able to directly observe the barley, the time has come (and now is) to keep the Father’s Torah, the way He says to keep it.