We learned that a tequphah refers to a solar event and marks a specific point in time, which could be an equinox or a solstice.
We also noted that a tequphath represents a season of the solar year. The two seasons used for calculating Festival Days are spring-summer and autumn-winter.
With this understanding, we will continue in Part 2 by examining the Festival of Tabernacles and the Festival of Ingathering. We will uncover how both festivals relate to determining the scriptural New Year.
Khag of Tabernacles
We need to understand the distinction between the labels “the Khag (Festival) of Ingathering” and “the Khag of Tabernacles.” The latter is actually just a part of the former. The instructions from the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus regarding the seven-day Khag of Tabernacles state:
You shall perform the Khag (Festival) of Tabernacles for yourself seven days ˚באספך (be-asaph-k; in/with your gathering in)55 from your grain floor and your wine press.56
On the 15th day of the seventh moon, this is the Khag (Festival) of Tabernacles of seven days to Yahweh. . . . Only, on the 15th day of the seventh moon ˚באספך (be-asaph-k; in/with your gathering in) of the increase of the land, you shall keep the Khag (Festival) of Yahweh seven days. . . . And you shall celebrate it a khag to Yahweh seven days in a year.57
The Khag of Tabernacles, therefore, is a “seven day” festival to Yahweh, which is defined as occurring in the 7th moon (month) of the year and ב (be; in, with)58 your “gathering in” from your grain floor and your wine press.
Khag of Ingathering
The instructions for beginning the year become even more specific with the definitions regarding the greater festival consisting of eight days,59 of which Tabernacles represents only the first seven.60 The entire eight days are named the Khag of Ingathering. The instructions for observing this greater period are found in the book of Exodus:
You shall keep . . . the Khag of Ingathering בצאת (be-tsath; in/with the outgoing)61 of the year, ˚באספך (be-asaph-k; in/with your gathering in) of your labors from the field.62
Two points are made. The Khag of Ingathering must:
1. Fall “בצאת (be-tsath; in/with the outgoing)” of the year.
2. “In/with the gathering in” of your labors from the field, i.e., during the fall harvest time.
The Eighth Day
Since the Festival of Tabernacles, representing the first seven days of this festival, is stated explicitly as beginning on the 15th day of the 7th moon and ending on the 21st day, the 8th day of the greater festival is the 22nd day of the 7th month. In Leviticus, we read, “On the eighth day you shall have a sacred gathering,”63 while in Numbers it states:
You shall have an עצרת (Atsarth; Closing Assembly) on the eighth day. And you shall not do any work of service.64
This 8th day (the day following the seven days of Tabernacles) is defined once as a sabbathon;65 and, it is twice called an עצרת (Atsarth; Closing Assembly),66 a term used to describe the day ending a festival period.67
For example, the last day of the seven days of unleavened bread is also referred to as an Atsarth.68 The Jews by the 1st century C.E. were accustomed to call the entire eight days of the Khag of Ingathering by the designation “Tabernacles.”
For this reason, in the New Testament this 8th day is distinguished by being called, the “the last day, that great day” of the festival.69
The Outgoing of the Year
In these passages, we find that the 7th month of the year is connected with the “outgoing” of the year. Meanwhile, the first moon of the year, the moon of ha-Abib,70 is said to be “the beginning of moons: it is the first moon of the year to you.”71
Since the first six months of the year have already passed and the 7th month begins the last six months of a normally 12-month year, this description as “outgoing” is generally true.
Nevertheless, the outgoing of the year does not begin with the first day of the 7th month. We discover this detail in the next reference to the Khag of Ingathering, the important passage found in the book of Exodus. It reads:
And you shall observe . . . a Khag of האסף (ha-asaph; the gathering in; Ingathering) of the תקופת (tequphath) of the year. (Exodus 34:22)
The term תקופת (tequphath) proves to be the key to the entire issue of how one begins the sacred year. The LXX renders this passage:
And you shall keep to me . . . the festival of ingathering of the μεσοῦντος τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ (mesountos tou eniautou; middle of the year). (LXX, Exodus 34:22)
The Targum Onqelos translates tequphath in this verse to mean “במפקה (be-maphqah; in/with the outgoing)” of the year, using the same word found in its translation of Exodus 23:16.72
The term “tequphath,” therefore, refers to “the middle part of the year” and the “outgoing of the year,” which, as previously discussed, is associated with the 7th lunar month of the sacred calendar. It is with the word תקופת (tequphath) in the instruction from Exodus 34:22 that we will begin to unravel the question of how to start the scriptural year.
The key point is that the tequphath is specifically linked to the Khag of Ingathering and not to the entire 7th month.
The Solution
The solution to the question of when to begin the scriptural year does not rest solely on the instructions for the first month (Abib/Nisan) or on the details regarding the Passover, as later Christians may believe. Instead, the Festival of Passover must occur within the same solar year as the Festival of Ingathering.
The answer is, in fact, skillfully hidden within the guidelines for observing the festival of Ingathering, which is associated with the Festival of Tabernacles, observed in the 7th month (Tishri) of the sacred calendar.
It is often overlooked that the term “Festival of Ingathering” can be both inclusive and exclusive of the Festival of Tabernacles. This raises the question:
“Do all eight days of the Festival of Ingathering need to fall within the khoreph (autumn-winter) tequphath, or just the last day?”
Exodus 34:22 allows for both interpretations. However, determining when to start the scriptural year depends on this question, with all other instructions following it.
The solution becomes clear when we compare the evidence regarding the entire eight days of the Khag of Ingathering to the seven-day period known as the Khag of Tabernacles. The Khag of Tabernacles lasts seven days, from the 15th to the 21st day of the 7th month.
Ingathering and Passover
This seven-day festival is followed by an eighth day, known as the Atsarth (Closing Assembly), and a high Sabbath, which falls on the 22nd. This division and renaming of the festival period is similar to what occurred with the seven-day Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Initially, even after the one-time celebration of the Passover sacrifice on the first day of Unleavened Bread in Egypt, the entire seven days were referred to as the Days of Unleavened Bread. However, after the Israelites sinned at Mount Sinai, the Passover sacrifice was reinstituted as a permanent part of the Torah of Moses.
The first day of this seven-day festival was renamed the Khag of Passover, while the remaining “six days” continued to be referred to as the Khag of Unleavened Bread.73 Nonetheless, the entire seven-day period is recognized as both the Khag of Unleavened Bread and the Khag of Passover.
Similarly, the Khag of Ingathering is counted over eight days. It is important to note that this name is the first one used in Scripture to identify this festival, appearing only in the book of Exodus. Under this title, a connection is made to the “outgoing of the year” and the “tequphath.”74
In the other books of Scripture, the first seven days of this festival are specifically named the Khag of Tabernacles, while the eighth day is referred to merely as the “eighth day” without a specific title.
The Last Great Day
Therefore, this new understanding designates the 8th day, known as the “Last Great Day,” as the “Khag of Ingathering.” Although the Jews later referred to all eight days as Tabernacles, this is irrelevant since it is not based on scriptural definitions.
The fact that Yahweh did not rename the 8th day (the “Last Great Day”) of the Khag of Ingathering indicates that only this last day of the festival is pertinent to the instructions in Exodus 23:16 and 34:22. Specifically, these passages state that the Khag of Ingathering must always occur during the “outgoing of the year” and within its autumnal “tequphath (season).”
The Khag day must follow the day of the autumnal equinox. If it does not, part of that 24-hour day will still be considered within the summer season or tequphath. This approach also explains why the ancient Israelites did not initially wait for the appearance of new moons to determine the start of their months and years. Instead, they calculated their calendar well in advance, projecting the events of the 7th month and then working backward to establish the beginning of the first month.
This single factor establishes the start of the year and the timing of all festivals. The 8th day of the greater Khag of Ingathering—specifically, the 22nd day of the 7th month—is determined when that 24-hour day, as calculated by the moon, occurs after the 24-hour legal day established by the autumnal equinox, which is determined by the sun.
Legal days are defined from sunset to sunset. Thus, when the autumnal equinox occurs on a day measured from sunset to sunset, the following day—also counted from sunset to sunset—which corresponds to the 22nd day of the moon, marks the 7th month of the year. From this starting point, one can count back six moons to determine the date of the new moon in the first month.
Passover
Our final issue addresses the timing of Passover. The question arises:
“What impact does using this scriptural method for calculating the beginning of the year have on the date of Passover?”
Whenever we apply the scriptural formula mentioned above, we find that the 14th of ha-Abib (the first month) will always occur after the vernal equinox!
As a result, the Passover Festival typically occurs during the first of the 12 solar segments, each consisting of 30 degrees of the solar circle and lasting approximately 30.5 days. Similarly, the day known as “the Khag of Ingathering,” which falls on” the 22nd day of the 7th month, generally occurs within the 7th section of the solar year.
Additionally, it’s interesting to note that in our current solar year, which has approximately 365.2422 days and lunar cycles averaging about 29.5 days, there is an average of 186 days between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Conversely, there are 179 days between the autumnal and vernal equinoxes.75
Therefore, if the 22nd of Tishri comes one day after the day of the autumnal equinox, Passover cannot come any earlier than two days after the day of the vernal equinox.
Remarkably, even with the calendar used by the quasi-Quartodeciman Christian writer Anatolius76—which was based entirely upon the more ancient Aristocratic system used by the Jewish priests and Quartodeciman Christians—Passover was never dated any earlier than the third day after the day of the vernal equinox.
During this period, the vernal equinox was dated to March 24,77 and Anatolius calculated that the earliest possible date for Passover was March 27.78
Ancient Testimony
Therefore, Aristobulus correctly states that the sun would be in the vernal equinoctial segment of the solar circle. Referring to the most ancient Jewish writers (i.e., those following the Aristocratic practice), he reports:
These writers, in solving some questions which are raised with respect to Exodus, say that all alike ought to sacrifice the crossing-festival (Passover) AFTER THE VERNAL EQUINOX in the middle of the first month. And that is found to be when the sun passes through the first segment of the solar, or, as some among them have named it, the zodiacal circle. But this Aristobulus (3rd century B.C.E.) also adds, that for the festival of the Passover it was necessary not only that the sun should pass the equinoctial segment, but the moon also. For there are two equinoctial segments, the vernal and the autumnal, and these diametrically opposite to each other, and since the day of the Passover is fixed for the 14th day of the month, at twilight, the moon will have the position diametrically opposite the sun; as is to be seen in full moons. And the sun will thus be in the segment of the vernal equinox, and the moon necessarily will be at the autumnal equinox.79
The 1st century C.E. Jewish writers Philo and Josephus also recognized that, for the Khag of Passover to occur, it had to be within the spring season and the sun would normally be in the segment called Aries (the first segment of the solar circle).80
Socrates Scholasticus reports that this was also the view of the early Quartodeciman Christians:
“For,” they (the conservative Quartodecimans) said, “it ought to be celebrated when the sun is in Aries, in the month called Xanthicus by the Antiochians, and April by the Romans.”81
The Christian writer Anatolius, citing Origen’s book of Passover, states:
And in this book, while declaring, with respect to the day of Passover, that attention must be given not only to the course of the moon and the transit of the equinox, but also to the transcensum (passage) of the sun.82
Why would the early Christians insist that the early Jewish priests up until the time of Yahushua the messiah always observe 14th of Abib, the day of the Passover, after the vernal equinox and never mention the connection with the Khag of Ingathering and the autumnal tequphath?
There seems little doubt that the early Quartodeciman Christians did, in fact, use the autumnal calculation to begin their year for the following three reasons:
1. It is known that they continued to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.83
2. Their calculations agreed with those of the early Aristocratic Jews.84
3. They always celebrated Passover after the vernal equinox.
Later Christians, mainly influenced by the Roman Church, began to distance themselves from the celebration of the Festival of Tabernacles. As a result, discussions about this festival were largely abandoned. However, they continued to maintain their own versions of the celebrations for Passover and Pentecost. This trend led to a modified approach where they focused only on the aspects of the calendar relevant to their own observances.
The later Christians received their information from earlier Aristocratic Jews and Christians who adhered to a more ancient priestly system. This system was founded on two key pillars:
• First, the Khag of Ingathering must come after the day of the autumnal equinox.
• Second, it must fall within the same solar year as Passover.
Both rules, as we have demonstrated, are based on scriptural foundations. However, if one strictly adhered to the later Christian rule that states Passover should follow the day of the vernal equinox, he would likely encounter errors.
This is because there will be occasions when the 14th of the moon falls directly after the vernal equinox. If, in these instances, the 14th of the moon is used as the sole criterion for celebrating Passover, it would result in the Feast of Ingathering occurring “before” the autumnal equinox.
Interpretation of the Roman Church
Additionally, according to the later interpretation of the Roman Church, the 14th of Abib was no longer recognized as a day to celebrate Passover. Instead, only the first day of the week, which falls between the 15th and 21st days of the first month, was designated for this celebration.
Under this new interpretation, the 14th could now fall on the day of the equinox.85 Consequently, strictly following this late Christian view could lead to errors in calculating the start of the year and the timing of Yahweh’s festivals.
Hasidic Interpretation
The rules regarding the beginning of the year in scripture also shed light on the unique Hasidic system found at Qumran. The Qumran Covenanteers contended that originally, both the entire festivals of Passover and Tabernacles were required to occur after their respective equinoxes.86 They argued that this method of aligning the festivals with the equinoxes should still be used.
However, they were only partially correct. They did not realize that the solar year before 701 B.C.E. consisted of 360 days, with each of the 12 months having 30 days. As a result, they mistakenly tried to apply the findings from the more ancient practice to a new calendrical reality that had a solar year of approximately 365.25 days.
Nonetheless, their assertion that the complete festivals of both Passover and Tabernacles originally took place after their respective equinoxes was indeed valid. It is likely that they found a record confirming this fact, which established their views.
Always After the Equinox
Yet, suppose we return to that older solar year and month system and follow the two basic rules (i.e., that all three festivals must come in the same solar year, and the Khag of Ingathering must follow the autumnal equinox). In that case, we will find that the Khag of Passover and Ingathering would always fall after their respective equinox.
The first day of the seven days of unleavened bread under both the older 360-day and newer 365.25-day solar years would always come after the vernal equinox in order to remain in the same solar year.
Conversely, today, only the last day of the Festival of Ingathering must come after the autumnal equinox, ensuring that the 14th of Abib occurs after the vernal equinox. However, in the past—when every month consisted of 30 days, and the period between the spring and autumnal equinox lasted only 181 days87—it was impossible for the first day of Unleavened Bread, later known as “Passover,” to follow the vernal equinox unless all eight days of Ingathering also followed the autumnal equinox.
There is intriguing support for the earlier length of 181 days between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. With months being 30 days, the 14th of Abib (Passover) and the 15th of Tishri (the first day of Tabernacles) would be exactly 181 days apart.
In an ideal calendar year, Passover would fall on the day after the vernal equinox, and the first day of Tabernacles would occur on the day after the autumnal equinox. Thus, when we consider the length of the year and the months before 701 B.C.E., the error in the unusual practices at Qumran becomes apparent.
Summation of Parts 1 and 2
According to the evidence from Scriptures, the beginning of the scriptural year is determined based on the Promised Land using a straightforward formula:
1. The 8th day of the Festival of Ingathering (i.e., the 22nd day of the 7th lunar month) must always occur after the end of the 24-hour legal day of the autumnal equinox.
2. All three khag or festival periods (the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks or Pentecost, and the Festival of Tabernacles and Ingathering) must take place within the same solar year.
In essence, the Khag of Passover, which occurs on the first day of the first Festival of the year (Abib 14), will always take place after the vernal equinox. Likewise, the Khag of Ingathering, the last and eighth day of the final Festival of the year (Tishri 22), must always follow the autumnal equinox.
If either of these Festivals is placed before its corresponding equinox, it does not constitute a proper scriptural year. However, when these guidelines are adhered to, Passover will normally fall within the first of the twelve divisions of the solar circle. At the same time, the Khag of Ingathering will normally occur within the seventh division.
This framework establishes the beginning of the year and clarifies early Aristocratic Jewish and Christian perspectives.
Note: Adapted from a forthcoming publication by Qadesh La Yahweh Press.
Footnotes:
Click this link for Bibliography and Abbreviations.
55 The Hebrew נ (be) when attached to the beginning of a word means, “in, among, with, near, before” (Hebrew-English Lexicon (HEL). Zondervan Edition, 1970. Catalog #6264. Samuel Bagster & Sons, LTD., London. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, p. 30), though the implication of “before” is certainly not in this passage. The LXX, for example translates נ (be) in our relevant verses as ἐν (en), meaning, “in, within, surrounded by” and “during the time” of something (A Greek-English Lexicon [GEL]. Compiled by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott. At the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996, pp. 551f); and אסף (asaph), “collected, gathered . . . ingathering, harvest of fruits” (HEL, p. 21), “a collection (of fruits)” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible [SEC], Heb. #625); and ˚ meaning, “Your.”
56 Deut. 16:13.
57 Lev. 23:34, 39, 41.
58 See above n. 57.
59 Num. 29:12-35.
60 Lev. 23:36b, compare with Lev. 23:34-36a, 39-42. This dual system of names is equivalent to the Khag of Unleavened Bread, which was a seven day festival that was divided between the Passover of the 14th and the six days of unleavened bread extending from the 15th through 20th of Abib (Deut. 16:1-8; Lev. 23:5-8; compare with Exod. 23:15, 34:18).
61 The Heb. נ (be) when attached to the beginning of a word means, “in, among, with, near, before” (Gesinius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles. Samuel Bagster and Sons, Paternoster Row [GHCL], 1846, p. 30); and צאת (tsath), a form of יצא (yatsa), meaning, “to go (causat. bring) out” (SEC, Heb. #3318); “go out, go forth” (GHCL, p. 112).
62 Exod. 23:15-16, compare with Targum Onqelos. The Bible in Aramaic: Based on Old Manuscripts and Printed Texts. Vol. 1, “The Pentatuech According to Targum Onkelos.” Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1959; and the LXX, “the festival of completion at the outgoing of the year in the gathering in of the works out of your field.”
63 Lev. 23:36.
64 Num. 29:35.
65 Lev. 23:39.
66 Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35.
67 See discussion in The Festivals and Sacred Days of Yahweh (FSDY). Volume 1. Qadesh La Yahweh Press, Garden Grove, 1998, p. 162, n. 63, pp. 162-164, 248, 251. This discussion will also prove that the Jews referred to the 50th day of the Khag of Weeks (Pentecost) as an Atsarth as well.
68 Deut. 16:8.
69 John 7:37, compare with context of 7:1-37, esp. v. 7:2, 8, 10, 14.
70 The reference to “this moon” is to the moon or month named האביב (ha-Abib; the Abib) (see Exod. 13:4, 23:15, 34:18; Deut. 16:1). During the post-Exile period, this month-name was changed by the Judahites to the Babylonian form ˆsyn (Nisan) (see Neh. 2:1; Esther 3:7).
71 Exod. 12:2.
72 Targum Jonathan. The Bible in Aramaic: Based on Old Manuscripts and Printed Texts. Vol. 2, “The Former Prophets According to Targum Jonathan.” Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1959, Exod. 34:22, compare with 23:16. Also compare these verses with those in the Masoretic Text.
73 Deut. 16:1-8; compare with Lev. 23:5-8; Num. 28:16-25. An in-depth discussion of the evidence will be presented in the forthcoming work FSDY, Vol. 2.
74 Exod. 23:16, 34:22.
75 The 365 Days, by Keith Gordon Irwin, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1963.
76 For the quasi-Quartodeciman views, see FSDY, 1, p. 139.
77 Pseudo-Chrysostom, Paschal Hom., 9, SCXLVIII, 119.
78 Anatolius, Canon Paschalis, 14.
79 Anatolius, Canon Paschalis, 3, 4, 5.
80 Josephus, Antiquities, 3:10:5; Philo, De Specialibus Legibus, 1:35 §181, 2:28 §253, 160, De Vita Mosis, 2:41 §222.
81 Socrates Scholasticus, Historia Ecclesiastica, 5:22.
82 Anatolius, Canon Paschalis, 1.
83 Chrysostom, Adver. Jud., 1 (PG, 48, p. 848).
84 Anatolius, Canon Paschalis, 10, compare with 3, 4, 5, 6.
85 Bede, Opera Historica, 5:21.
86 Vermes, G. The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Penguin books, Middlesex, England, rev. ed. 1968, p. 43; Goudoever, J. Van. Biblical Calendars. 2nd rev. ed. by E.J. Brill Leiden, 1961, pp. 62-70, 112-115; compare with The Book of Jubilees, 6:23, 29-30, 16:20-31; 1 Enoch, 72:1-82:20; Community Rules, 10:1-7, frag. 2, col. iv, 1-6; and so forth.
87 At present, we have a 365.25-day year. There are 186 days between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and 179 days between the autumnal and vernal equinoxes (The 365 Days, by Keith Gordon Irwin, p. 9). The previous orbit of the earth, which consisted of only 360 days during a year, was affected during the early spring in 701 B.C.E. (Clover, R. The Sabbath and Jubilee Cycle. Vol. 1 of the series on Ancient World Chronology. Qadesh La Yahweh Press, Garden Grove, 1992, sec. i). As a result, only that part of the earth’s orbit lying between the vernal and autumnal would have changed. This circumstance indicates that the number of days between the autumnal and vernal continued to be about 179 days. The number of days between the vernal and autumnal, on the other hand, was less than our present year system by approximately five days, being only 181 days.