Astronomy

The Science of Calendar and Reckoning of Time

Biblical Hebrew Calendar Changed by the Rabbinical Jews: From Barley to Spring Equinox

Sun and Moon Cycles

“The original Hebrew calendar in organized Israel was founded upon both forms of year. Its months were determined by the course of the moon, while the lunar year (354.xx days) paced along with the sun’s motion (365.xx days) by means of the harvest festivals. Thus, during the Old Testament time till the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Biblical calendar and the festivals of Levitical 23 were dependent upon the course of the moon, and upon the influence of the sun on the harvests. Every two or three years the solar year exceeded the lunar by about a month, and a month was inserted, making a leap year of thirteen months also called an ‘embolismic’ year. This ‘intercalary month was announced by the Patriarch in a circular letter to the community….’

Horned Moon Crescent

One other “…feature pertaining to Jewish reckoning concerns the day itself upon which the New Year was started. The Hebrews, Arabs, Chaldeans, and Damacenes all had the same practice in reference to the beginning of their months. They started the month with the appearance of the new moon after conjunction. The presence of the moon in the western sky at sunset was called the phasis and marked the following day as the first of the new month….The Hebrew new moons, (that is, the new moons that marked the first day of the month), commonly exceeded the ordinary ‘size of the phasis’ or first appearance of the moon. While the Greeks started their month from the conjunction itself, it was a certain ‘shape of the moon’ that regulated the beginning of the Hebrew month. Scaliger called it the ‘horned moon’….

Barley Harvest Season

“In addition, about fifty days before the Passover, witnesses examined the state of the barley to determine if it would be ripe in time for the feast. Since the days of Moses, the maturity of the barley had been a determining factor in regulating the Hebrew year. It was a barley sheaf which was presented before the LORD on Abib 16 at Firstfruits….”

Barley Versus Spring Equinox

“The festal season remained stabilized in Jewry until the time of Hillel II (320 AD). In the mediaeval controversy between the various Jewish sects, one Yefet ben’Ali the Karaite challenged the opposing Rabbanites, claiming that they had changed the due season of the calendar by replacing the ‘barley’ for the ‘spring equinox’.”

— The Grace Amadon Collection, Parts I-VI, excerpts.

Note: The word ‘Hebrew(s)’ is used to identify the people living from the time of Abraham till the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD era. The term ‘Rabbinical Jews’ is used to identify the people who lived after the dispersion from the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD to today. It is also meant to differentiate between the ‘Barley’ used by the Hebrews to reckon the Biblical New Year and the change over to the ‘Equinox’ by the Rabbinical Jews around 320 AD. 

— The Grace Amadon Collection, Crucifixion Date, Part V, excerpts

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