Several months ago I prepared a one-page summary on "the start of the year" in the biblical calendar. Firstly, it was a response to my daughter's request to simplify the issue, and secondly as a study for myself. I have since found the need to provide a more detailed response as to why my statements were made, hopefully as a means of giving greater clarification.

KEYS IN DETERMINING ABIB 1^st --- "THE START OF THE YEAR"
(1 ) The 1^st day of each Year and every lunar month begins at sunset (a Biblical sign), where within the next 24 hours a new moon (a Biblical sign ) will occur. This therefore makes 14^th-15^th a Full Moon. A lunar month is 29 days 12 hours 44 + minutes. The month Abib, meaning (sprouting, budding, green ears) is to be the first month of the Biblical Year (Ex 12: 2; 13:4).

2) This first month begins at the non-specific green ears or budding time (a Biblical sign), when barley is in ear, but wheat and rye are immature in the Northern Hemisphere (Ex 9:31,32).This green ears time is consistently identified astronomically by the Vernal Equinox which is the mid-way Sun position of days lengthening since the winter solstice (a Biblical sign), thus causing the growth of planted crops. The Vernal Equinox marks the separation of winter from summer in the earth's cycle around the sun. Biblically, this is the start of the summer season (Gen 8:22; Ps 74:17; 1Ki 20:26).

(3) The nearest New Moon cannot be more than 15 days before or after the Equinox, as the maximum number of days in a month is 30. This means that with the Equinox falling on the 20^th March, (which it currently does), the start of a Biblical New Year cannot be before 5^th March or later than 4^th April.

(4) There is the need for a thirteenth month to bring the Lunar and Solar cycle calculations, including the equinox, into synchronisation, (called Adar II). It is the month just before the start of the New Year, 1^st Abib.

The first of Abib, the beginning of the year, is the day of the New Moon nearest to the Vernal Equinox. It can be before or after the Equinox and the timing is from Jerusalem.
There is no biblical evidence to postpone the start of the Biblical year by a month so as to force the observance of Passover after the Equinox. It is a popular misconception, however.

In studying these Calendar issues so extensively I have come to the conclusion that the Calendar that most consistently and faithfully follows the various scriptural particulars, as well as retaining a practical synchronisation with annual astronomical and agricultural calculations, (also required by Scripture), is the Calendar to observe. Clearly this is accomplished only by a full recognition of the importance of the solar cycle as the seasonal determining phenomena. The lunar cycles divide time into months and the new moons signify the beginning of each month.

There are several opinions as to when a new moon occurs. The first mention of the timing of a new moon in the Bible demonstrates that it was predicted ahead of time, and that crescent sighting was not required.

1Sam 20:5 David said to Jonathan, "Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field until the evening of the third day" [i.e., of the month]

As Scripture testifies to, the heavenly bodies should be our time-keeping markers.

Gen 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 "and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 Then 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.

The term "seasons" incorporates festivals, significant annual dates, appointments, meetings, and solemn assemblies. Strong's Hebrew Dictionary gives: 4150. mow'ed, mo-ade'; or mo'ed, mo-ade'; or (fem.) mow'adah (2Chron 8:13), mo-aw-daw'; from 3259; prop. an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; spec. a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):--appointed (sign, time). (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation. (set, solemn) feast; (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed). The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament in 878b,c gives a fuller definition but essentially the same.

I have therefore concluded on available evidence, (both Biblical and secular), that for Biblical appointments and seasonal precision it is necessary to have synchronisation between :

1. The seasonal signs, markers, phenomena;
2. The solar sign, marker, or phenomena; and
3. The lunar sign, marker, or phenomena.

The coincidence of these three phenomena is not exact. It may have been in the past. However, regular evaluation of the initial 11.25 days approximate discrepancy when dividing 12 lunar months into the 365.25 days of a solar cycle needs to be considered, and timely correction made by adding another lunar month when necessary to minimise inconsistency. These corrections will synchronise as precisely as is possible the cycles which need to be considered.

1. The seasonal marker, sign or phenomenon that is used to start the year is the early new growing season, recognised by the name given to the first month of the year ABIB and confirmed by Scripture.

Ex 9:31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.
Ex 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Ex 13:4 This day you came out in the month Abib.

The Hebrew word ABIB means: SHD24. 'abiyb, aw-beeb'; from an unused root (to be tender); green, i.e. a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Abib or Nisan:--Abib, ear, green ears of corn.
This implies that the seasonal new growth, budding, sprouting time must, by definition, be either late Winter or early Summer as biblically there are only two seasons. I don't know of any arguments put forward against these criteria:

Mark 13:28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when her branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near:
Gen 1:22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.
Ps 74:17 You have set all the borders of the earth: You have made summer and winter.

2. The Solar marker, sign, or phenomenon which we know as the Equinox (Autumn and Spring), is referred to by two expressions (TWOT 2001a; SHD 8622).

 

a.tequwphah hayah shaneh Scripturally referred to as, the turn of the year, circuit, or year's end, depending on translation.
8622. tequwphah, tek-oo-faw'; or tequphah, tek-oo-faw'; from H5362. a revolution, i.e., (of the sun), course, (of time); lapse:--circuit, come about, end; (4 times in Scripture).

Ex 34:22 ... the feast of Ingathering at year's end.
1Sam 1:20 ... when the time was come (i.e., for Hannah's pregnancy to come to fruition).
2Chr 24:23 ... at the end of the year (the Syrian army came against Joash).
Ps 19:6 ... (the sun's) circuit (from one end of heaven to the other).

b.teshuwbah hayah shaneh: Scripturally referred to as after the year was expired or in the spring of the year, depending on translation.
8666. teshuwbah, tesh-oo-baw'; or teshubah, tesh-oo-baw'; from 7725; a recurrence (of time or place); a reply (as returned):--answer, be expired, return. The TWOT item 2340f, teshuba, says that this is used '5 times in reference to the spring as the "turn" of the year' (2Sam 11:1; 1Ki 20:22,26; 1Chr 20:1; 2Chr 36:10).

Tequwphot Nisan is the secular Jewish term for what we know as the March Equinox, or Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox.

We know that the equinoxes, vernal and autumnal, divide summer from winter, the two biblical seasons. The solstices mark mid-summer and mid-winter. The decision as to which of the solar markers to choose is apparent. As the seasonal green sprouting and budding harmonise with the March solar equinox, which divides winter from summer, it is then necessary to determine the correct lunar sign, marker, or phenomenon to synchronise all three (Gen 1:14; Ps 104:19).

3.The lunar marker, sign, or phenomenon is quite plainly the New Moon, which marks not only the start of the year but also the beginning of every month.

Ps 81:3 Blow the trumpet in the new moon (SHD 2320; TWOT 613b; hodesh; month, new moon), in the full moon (SHD 3677; TWOT 1006; kese), on our solemn feast day

The true conjunction, which is a natural and measurable astronomical event, rather than the variableness and subjectivity of a first crescent sighting for the new moon, gives this Scripture more credence. The times appointed, viz., the Passover and first day of the Feast of Tabernacles would then be full moons as required.

I should add that this, 'theoretically', would be the stance of Judaism, except that when taking these matters into account determination of the 1st Abib is back 177 days from having determined the first day of Tishri. In doing this the Passover is right according to the astronomical signs 40% of the time. This margin of error occurs because of non-scriptural postponements based on Pharisaic traditions. There is further complication by using an inaccurate 19-year time cycle adopted by Rabbi Hillel 2^nd in c.352 A.D. (See Attachment A which is copied from Jewish sources).

King Jeroboam (c.930-909 B.C.), who broke from the Kingdom of Judah, set up an alternative 'festival calendar'.

1Kings 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar

Given that these three natural phenomena are accepted as the necessary markers or signs to harmonise when determining the start of a biblical calendar year, i.e., a seasonal sign, a solar sign, and a lunar sign, another question needs addressing.

BEFORE OR AFTER THE SPRING EQUINOX?
There are debatable options, as viewed by some, as to the starting point for Abib:
1. whether to choose the new moon before the March equinox;
2. the new moon after the March equinox;
3. or the new moon nearest to the March equinox.

The whole point of this analysis is to understand the biblical criteria and to bring them into accord. I know of no biblical reason or logic to assume that the 1^st of ABIB should be anything other than the new moon nearest the equinox, which is the analytical choice, as closeness is crucial to synchronisation.

Judaism has selected the first new moon , for Abib 1998, as being after the Equinox. However, in 1999, Judaism will begin Abib before the equinox. But in the year 2000, as in 1997, because of devised traditions, the Rabbinic calendar will be a month late in terms of the equinox.

ATTACHMENT
The following article by Dr John Zucker appeared in the Jewish Chronicle, April 11, 1997.
Dr. Zucker is a research fellow in physics at King's College, London University.

"WHY PESACH IS NOW FALLING OUT OF SEASON?

Is Pesach this year later than it should be, according to the dictates of the Torah? The straight answer is yes. But if April 22 - on which the first day falls - is considered late, think ahead to the year 2005, when the first day will fall on April 24. Indeed, in some years - 1929, 1948 and 1967, for example - Pesach began on April 25. To understand why it is biblically inappropriate for the festival to fall so late in the year, one has to consider the conditions governing its date. The Torah specifies two criteria. "The festival of matzot," it says in Exodus 34:18, "shall be kept... at the appointed time in the month of Aviv." In Leviticus 22:6, the appointed time is given as the 15^th of the month. 'Aviv' means spring, so it is necessary to determine what is meant by the first month of spring. The first month is required on the principle that a mitzvah should be performed as soon as possible.

 

Although the Jewish festivals are placed in specific lunar months, the 'tekufot', or seasons, are governed by the solar calendar. The lunar month which is designated as Aviv is dependent on a civil date. It is generally accepted that the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere is when the length of the day - which has been increasing steadily since December 21 - equals the length of the night. This occurs on March 21 in a normal civil year, and March 22 in a leap year.

 

How does one know which lunar month includes the first day of spring? In the Talmud (Sanhedrin 13b), Rabbi Samuel, the son of Rabbi Isaac, states that the first day of spring should occur in the lunar month while the moon is still waxing. The moon grows from new to full in the first 14.5 days of the month. If a Rosh Chodesh (new moon) occurs at any time between the sixth and the 20^th March, then on the 21^st March the moon will still be waxing and that month is designated as Aviv. If this is not the case, the next lunar month is chosen. The earliest date Pesach can occur is March 21, and the latest it should occur is April 20. Yet an examination of the calendar from 1920 to 2019 shows the earliest date to be March 26. Instead of the festival falling between March 21 and April 20, this century has seen the first day being celebrated between March 26 and April 25.

 

Future calendars reveal a gradual shift of Pesach - and, consequently, of the other festivals - to progressively later dates. In the century from 2950 to 3050, the first day of Pesach will be found to fall between March 31 and April 30. What is happening? And, more importantly, is it possible to rectify the situation? The origin of this glitch lies in the fixed Jewish calendar that has been in use for the past 1,650 years. The calendar attempts to correlate the solar year - the time the earth takes to go round the sun - with the lunar month, during which the moon circles the earth. The year determines the seasons, while the months - in their appropriate seasons - determine the festivals. The present fixed calendar is based on the premise that 19 solar years are exactly equal to 235 lunar months. Dividing 19 into 235 gives 12, with seven remaining. Thus, in every 19-year cycle, seven years acquire an extra month, which is why we have Jewish leap years every 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 11^th, 14^th, 17^th and 19^th year cycle.

 

The 19-year Metonic cycle is named after the Greek astronomer , Meton, who devised it around 430 BCE. It was well known to the rabbis of the Talmud. When, in 350 CE, the Roman authorities limited the authority of the Nasi - the spiritual leader - in Eretz Yisrael, regarding the proclamation of Rosh Chodesh, Hillei 11, the then Nasi, instituted the present fixed calendar, based on the Metonic cycle. Although it was remarkably accurate for its time, it is not exact. The 235 lunar months exceed the 19 solar years by a little more than two hours. Spread over 1,000 years, this totals some 4.5 days. One thousand years ago, the first day of Pesach would have fallen, on average, four or five days earlier than now, in the correct solar time span as dictated by the Torah.

 

Is it possible to remedy the present situation, and to halt the gradual shift of Pesach? In his book, Rabbinical Mathematics and Astronomy, Dr. W.M. Feldman suggests a new basis for a fixed Jewish calendar. He demonstrates that if, in a cycle of 334 years, 123 of them were leap years, the differential between the Jewish and civil calendar would amount to no more than 39 mins. It would take 12,500 years to accumulate a one-day discrepancy, instead of 230 years it takes under the present system. Feldman proposes constituting the 334-year cycle as a series of 19-year minor cycles, with the odd 11 years forming the beginning of the next major cycle. If Feldman's 334-year cycle had been employed over the past 1,650 years, instead of the present 19 year cycle, there would have been one less leap year.

 

To make the festivals less movable in the future, and to accord more accurately with the requirements for Pesach to fall in the month of Aviv, one designated leap year would have to lose that status. The next most suitable year for this purpose would seem to be 2005 (5765). By making it a regular year instead of a leap year, Pesah would commence on Saturday, March 26, instead of Sunday, April 24. The year 5765 would be the 89^th year of a 334-year cycle, the 13^th year of the fifth 19-year cycle within the larger cycle. From this basis, future dates could be computed, demonstrating that Pesach would be confined to its designated Torah place for the foreseeable future. The year 2005 is sufficiently far ahead to enable one to compute, and to adjust to, the new system. Even the most forward-looking parents will not yet have booked their son's barmitzvahs! Dr. John Zucker (Jewish Chronicle. April 11.1997).