The Hebrew Lunisolar Calendar

The Hebrew lunisolar calendar has been used by the Israelites since Yehowah brought them out of Egypt. Yehowah commanded the Israelites that the first month of their year start from the month when He brought them out of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-2).

As the Moon goes around the Earth it looks different in the sky. This is because only certain parts of the Moon are reflected. Different lunar calendars in the ancient world use different definitions for the first day of a month. In the Hebrew calendar, the first day corresponds to a day when the Moon is hidden. This criterion is consistent with that for the astronomical new-moon day when the solar eclipse could occur. This is also consistent with the book of Enoch (Enoch 73:6-8):

This criterion also leads to a full moon that most often falls on the 15^th day of a month. Within this criterion, a crescent moon can be seen in the morning sky of the last day of a month. This was clearly described in the book of Enoch (Enoch 73:4), "And thus she rises. And her first phase in the east comes forth on the thirtieth morning: and on that day she becomes visible and constitutes for you the first phase of the moon on the thirtieth day together with the sun in the portal where the sun rises."

The Bible encyclopedia Insight on the Scriptures (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. Brooklyn, NY 1988. Vol. 2, p. 429) also says:

This practice of the Sanhedrin clearly tells us that the lunar month begins on the day after the old crescent before sunrise.

Do the Scriptures reveal anything about the new moon and full moon? Psalm 81:3 (ASV) says: "Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast-day." This verse implies that a full moon falls on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is the 15^th day of the 7^th month (Tishri). Similarly, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread falls on the 15^th day of the first month (Nisan). According to astronomy, there are about 14 days from the astronomical new moon (dark moon) to the astronomical full moon in the months in proximity to the Equinoxes. This indicates that the full moon is on the 15^th day if the dark moon is on the first day of the first or seventh month. Therefore, the Biblical definition of the new moon is identical to the astronomical one. With this definition, a solar eclipse mostly occurs on the first day of a month and a lunar eclipse mostly takes place on the 15^th day of a month.

A record of the Christian transition to pagan calendars has been preserved in various sepulchral inscriptions. One of the oldest dated Christian sepulchral inscriptions discovered in Rome referred to dies Veneris (day of Venus). It listed both the Julian and lunisolar dates. The inscription dated 269 AD stated:

The "Nones" of November is November 5 which fell on the day of Venus, Friday. This corresponded to the 24^th day of the lunar month. On October 13 of 269 AD, an astronomical new moon occurred at 2:06 am in Jerusalem. Within the dark-moon criterion for the Hebrew lunisolar calendar, the day from sunset of October 12 to sunset of October 13 was the first day of Heshvan (the eighth month) and the day from sunset of November 4 to sunset of November 5 was the 24^th day of Heshvan, in agreement with the sepulchral inscription. Therefore, this inscription confirms the dark-moon criterion for the first day of the month.

According to A Dictionary of the Bible [Volume I (Part I: A - Cyrus) by James Hastings, 2004, page 411], Nisan 1 in 277 AD was on March 22. The astronomical data for the moon-phases show that an astronomical new moon occurred at 0:53 am on March 22 of 277 AD. Within the dark-moon criterion for the Hebrew calendar, the day from sunset of March 21 to sunset of March 22 was Nisan 1, which is in perfect agreement with that recorded in A Dictionary of the Bible.

A pure lunar year without addition of an intercalary month is about eleven days shorter than the solar year (365.24 days). The pure lunar calendar with 12 lunar months cannot align with the seasons. This is not what God inspires us to follow because Yehowah clearly tells us that there are two seasons each year: summer and winter (Genesis 8:22 and Psalm 74:17). When one side of the Earth has summer, the other has winter and vice versa. There is an imaginary line called the Equator that divides the Earth into the northern and southern hemispheres. When the Sun just crosses the Equator, day and night are of equal length. This is called an Equinox. In the spring, the Equinox (called Vernal Equinox) occurs around March 21 in the current solar calendar. In the fall, the Equinox (called Autumnal Equinox) takes place around September 23.

In order to have two complete seasons each year, the year must align with the Vernal Equinox or the Autumnal Equinox. By intercalating a month every two or three years, one can align the lunar year with the solar year. It was known that every 19-year period, known as the Metonic cycle, the paths of the Sun, Moon, and Earth almost repeat. The Babylonians and Chinese also knew of this cycle. Even with this intercalation and the postponement rules (see below), the mathematically calculated Hebrew lunisolar calendar year is longer by 6 minutes and 40 seconds than the current mean tropical year, so that every 216 years the calculated Hebrew lunisolar calendar will fall a day behind the current mean tropical year. Since the currently used Hebrew calendar is mathematically calculated by matching the correct Hebrew calendar back to as early as the third century AD, they must be out of alignment after so many years have passed from the third century AD. Therefore, one needs to use the calculated astronomical moon phases to make a correct lunisolar calendar every year. In this way, we have selectively constructed some correct lunisolar calendars from 3971 BC to 3031, which may be used in the main text. These calendars are shown in Appendix D.

One of the most important events for modern Israelites is the re-birth of the nation of Israel on May 14 of 1948. According to the Hebrew calendar used by modern Israelites, this very important day was on Iyar 5 (the fifth day of the second month). But according to our correct Hebrew calendar (see Appendix D), the day was on Sivan 6 (the sixth day of the third month), which was the feast day of Pentecost. Because this event took place exactly in a feast day of Yehowah, it must be orchestrated by the Almighty God.

We know that the first new moon of the year is the month of Nisan. The barley in Israel starts to ripen during this time. The first new moon of the year can occur before or after the Vernal Equinox, but the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the 15^th day of Nisan, cannot precede the Vernal Equinox. That is, the full moon must be on or after the Vernal Equinox. Otherwise, we need to add a 13^th month (called Adar II) to the prior year.

In the current Hebrew calendar, the new moon of the seventh month (Tishri) is calculated based on the so-called "postponement" without fully respecting for the new moon of the first month (Nisan). As Tishri 1 is the only new moon that is assigned as a holy day (Feast of Trumpets), it is most important to determine this new moon. The other holy days must be aligned with it automatically.

The rules of postponement are used to determine which day should be proclaimed as the first day of Tishri. There are generally four postponement rules, two of them being primary while the other two are logical extensions of the first two.

The first rule states that if the calculated new moon of Tishri occurs after noon on a given day, the first day of the month is postponed to the following day. It is unclear whether or not this rule is mandated by the Scriptures.

The other primary rule is that if the calculated new moon of Tishri occurs on Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, the first day of the month is considered to begin on the following day, i.e., Monday, Thursday, or Saturday.

Is there Biblical basis for this? God first gave Moses a detailed list of His Festivals in Leviticus 23:4-44 (also see Table I). The feast days appeared to fall into two categories in terms of the levels of sanctity. There are six of these days in the first category: the first and seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day of Pentecost, the day of Trumpets, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the eighth day. During these six days, no servile work should be done. In the second category, the day of Atonement has the same sanctity as the weekly Sabbaths. On these two days, no work should be done at all. Clearly these two days are different from the other six days. Furthermore, in describing the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of Tabernacles, and and the eighth day, the Hebrew term "shabbaton," translated "Sabbath," was used. In contrast, for the weekly Sabbaths and the day of Atonement a different descriptive term "shabbat shabbaton" was used, translated as "a Sabbath of rest" (using plural Sabbaths in Greek New-Testament).

Since the weekly Sabbaths and the day of Atonement have a higher level of sanctity, the Levitical priesthood should have implemented the postponement rules. The day of Atonement should not be the preparation day for the weekly Sabbaths (which would occur if the first day of Tishri came on a Wednesday) because no work at all should be done. Similarly, the weekly Sabbaths cannot be the preparation day for the day of Atonement, which would happen if Tishri 1 fell on a Friday or a Sunday. Consequently, Tishri 1 cannot be on Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday.

The first postponement rule may not have to be followed since it was incorporated in the 7^th to 8^th century AD with no scriptural basis. If we obey the other main rules, Tishri 1 should fall on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday only. Furthermore, the odd-numbered months have 30 days except for the 9^th month (Kislev) which could have 29 days; the even-numbered months have 29 days except for the 8^th month (Heshvan) which could have 30 days.

In 269 AD, we know that the first day of Heshvan (the 8^th month) was on October 13, so Tishri 1 was on Monday, September 13, obeying the second category postponement rules. The astronomical new moon occurred at 16:34 on September 13, which was after noon, but that day was not postponed to the next day. This suggests that the first postponement rule was not obeyed in the third century AD. In 277 AD, Nisan 1 was on March 22 and Tishri 1 was on Saturday, September 15, which is also in agreement with the main postponement rules. The Hebrew lunisolar calendars in Appendix D will follow the second category postponement rules but ignore the first rule.