Biblical Calendar

Biblical Basics:

When is the start of the Biblical New Year?

Nisan 1 is the Biblical New Years Day, the start of the month of the Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of Jewish national history. It is also the first month used for counting the festivals (mo’edim) of the Hebrew Calendar and for reckoning the years of reign of the Kings of Israel.

The Hebrew calendar ( ha’luach ha’ivri) or Biblical calendar is a lunisolar calendar. A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. Lunisolar calendars use months to approximate the tropical year.  Since 12 months are about 11 days shorter than the tropical year, a leap month is inserted about every third year to keep the calendar in tune with the seasons.

The Jewish calendar has the following months:

Hebrew	English	Number	Length	Civil Equivalent
	Nissan	1	30 days	March-April
	Iyar	2	29 days	April-May
	Sivan	3	30 days	May-June
	Tammuz	4	29 days	June-July
	Av	5	30 days	July-August
	Elul	6	29 days	August-September
	Tishri	7	30 days	September-October
	Cheshvan	8	29 or 30 days	October-November
	Kislev	9	30 or 29 days	November-December
	Tevet	10	29 days	December-January
	Shevat	11	30 days	January-February
	Adar I (leap years only)	12	30 days	February-March
	Adar (called Adar Beit in leap years)	12 (13 in leap years)	29 days	February-March

The length of Cheshvan and Kislev are determined by complex calculations involving the time of day of the full moon of the following year’s Tishri and the day of the week that Tishri would occur in the following year.

 

According to our Creator, when does the day actually begin and end?

Gen 1:5

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Gen 1:8

And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Gen 1:13

And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Gen 1:19

And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Gen 1:23

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Gen 1:31

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

What have we found here in the creation account? Each individual day consists of “evening and morning,” and in that order – first the “evening,” then the “morning.” Thus, it is clear that God designates evening as the beginning of the day. This fact is reinforced in Leviticus 23, where God explicitly bounds the sacred 10th day of the seventh month:

Lev 23:27

Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Lev 23:32

It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

As is illustrated in the verses above, the 10th of the month begins at the precise point when the 9th of the month ends – “at evening.” The 10th of the month is reckoned “from evening until evening.”

 

God made the heavenly lights for signs, for appointed times, for days, and for
years:

Gen 1:14

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Gen 1:15

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Gen 1:16

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

——————-

Lev 23:23

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Lev 23:24

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

Lev 23:25

Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.