A Day in Scripture

DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to change, add to, delete, or otherwise alter any of my personal
writings as contained herein. I also reserve the right to reject any or all teachings quoted from outside
sources.
This study was prepared by Gordon Hayes on or about 5 Oct. 2010.
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There is a growing debate among those in the greater Hebrew Roots Movement as to what constitutes a
Scriptural Day. Jewish people, Seventh-Day Christian organizations, and nearly all in the Hebrew Roots
Movement follow the teaching that a Scriptural Day begins at sunset. Some logical questions would be,

 Why?
 Has it always been this way?
 Is there any Scriptural evidence for beginning a day at sunset?
 Is there any Scriptural evidence for an alternate view?
 How does this affect the moedim of Yəhowah?
Let me endeavor to answer these questions.

Why Sunset – Sunset?

When I left Constantinian Christianity back in the fall of 2000, I began attending a Messianic Synagogue.
Shabbath Services were on Friday nights. I was taught that Genesis 1:5, etc. said that evening was first
and then morning. I was told that this is the way that Yəhowah’s people had been doing it since the
creation of the world.
As I read from my scriptures, this made sense. After all, most translations of the scriptures say something
to the effect that “evening and morning made the first day” or “there was evening and there was morning,
the first day”. Who was I to question this great knowledge that had been passed down for millennia? After
all, I was just learning about Torah and the Hebrew roots of Christianity. It was my nature to accept what
my teachers were teaching me.
It was not until sometime in 2009 that my beliefs on this had been challenged. I first read of this idea in
some email postings on a Yahoo group I had subscribed to. As my nature was, I rejected this as a new and
fanciful teaching. I mean, how could the Jews be wrong for all these years. A few months later, I was
looking at a new website group I had found. On this group’s site, there was a note on the dawn being the
start of the day in Genesis 1. There were some links attached to the posting which I went to briefly.
Again, I rejected this idea. But as I studied this out to show others how it was wrong, I began to realize
that this made sense. It fit with the rest of the TaNaKh.
Now I believe not only that a scriptural day begins at sunrise, I also believe that a scriptural day is 12
hours long. I pray that you will read this study with open Scriptures, an open heart, and an open mind. If,
after studying this through you do not come to the same conclusion as I and others do, I will have done
my part to share this nugget of truth that I have found. And you will have done your part to test every
spirit. You will have done your part to examine all the evidence in a matter. I pray that you will have done
so without impartiality.

Has it Always Been This Way?

One thing that changed my understanding on this important topic is that I began doing some independent
study on the Internet on this matter. I wanted to know if the information presented in these groups was
accurate. Anyone can put any kind of information online and make it look official. As I looked at
independent and reputable sites, I found that there was not always unity among the Jewish people as to
how they observed the beginning of the day. There was not even a continuous, uninterrupted method of
doing so.
One of the first sites I found in regards to this fact was one that contained a copy of an email by Avraham
Fasick in February 2000. In this email, Mr. Fasick quotes from a book by Jacob Z. Lauterbach. In this
book1, Mr. Lauterbach has undertaken the task of showing the evolution of worship within Judaism.

Before we proceed to describe the ceremonies of the entrance of the Sabbath, we

must ascertain the exact time of her appearance, that is, at what time of the day the
arrival of the Princess Sabbath was expected. This will help us to understand better
certain features in the arrangements for welcoming her. As the Sabbath is the
seventh day of the week and extends over one whole day, a brief discussion of the
development of the Jewish system of reckoning the day is necessary to determine the
time of the coming in and the going out of the Sabbath. There can be no doubt that
in pre-exilic times the Israelites reckoned the day from morning to morning. The day
began with the dawn and closed with the end of the night following it, i.e., with the
last moment before the dawn of the next morning. The very description of the extent
of the day in the biblical account of creation as given in Gen 1.5 presupposes such a
system of reckoning the day, for it says: "And it was evening and it was morning, one
day." This passage was misunderstood by the Talmud, though significantly enough
when the Tosefta cites in proof Esth. 4.16 where the order occurs, but does not cite
the passage in Genesis or was reinterpreted to suit the later practice of a different
system. But it was correctly interpreted by R. Samuel b. Meir (1100-1160) when he
remarked "It does not say that it was night time and it was day time which made one
day; but it says 'it was evening,' which means that the period of the day time came to
an end and the light disappeared.

And when it says 'it was morning,' it means that the period of the night time came to
an end and the morning dawned. Then one whole day was completed." There are
many more indications in the Pentateuch pointing directly or indirectly to the mode
of reckoning the day from morning to morning. To mention but a few such
indications; when prescribing that a Thanksgiving offering must be consumed on the
very same day on which the sacrifice is slaughtered, the Law states "on the same day
it shall be eaten, ye shall leave none of it till the morning" [52] which directly
indicates that the day comes to an end on the next morning.[53] And when in special
case, as e, g., in regard to the Day of Atonement, where the Law wishes to make the
fasting on it stricter than on any other fast day so as to include also the preceding
night, the Law specifically states that it should begin with part of the preceding day
and therefore expressly says: "And ye shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the
month at even, from even to even shall ye keep your Sabbath." [54 ] This indirectly
but unmistakably points to a mode of reckoning the day from morning to morning.
1
Rabbinical Essays; Jacob Z. Lauterbach; Hebrew Union College Press; Cincinnati, OH; 1951
[55] In post-exilic times, however, probably not later than the beginning of the Greek
period, [56] a change in the system of reckoning the day was made, and the day was
reckoned as extending from the preceding to the following evening. As might be
expected, such a radical innovation was not immediately generally accepted It took
some time before it entirely supplanted the older system. In certain spheres of the
population the older system continued to be in use, either exclusively or side by side
with the newer system.

Thus in the Temple service the older system continued all through the time of the
existence of the second Temple, and there the day was reckoned from morning to
morning, or as the Talmud [57] puts it [Hebrew quoted] "In sacrificial matters the
night follows rather than precedes the day." [58] " In some circles [59] or among
some Jewish sects [60] the older system continued and the Sabbath was observed
from Saturday morning to Sunday morning For those groups, as for the people of the
time prior to the introduction of the new system, the night following the Sabbath and
not the night preceding it formed part of the Sabbath, and the morning of Saturday --
not Friday evening -- marked the entrance of the Sabbath. But the majority of the
people, following the teachings of the Halakah. [61] reckoned the day from evening
to evening and the entrance of the Sabbath for them came after the sunset of Friday
or on Friday evening. All the arrangements for welcoming the Sabbath and the
ceremonies connected with it were set for Friday evening.

[52] Lev. 22.30; see also Lev. 7.15.

[53] For further proofs see Morgenstern, loc, cit., to which I will add one point from
the Passover legislation in Ex.12 which is not pointed out there. The law in Ex. 12
prescribes that the Paschal lamb be slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the month
and eaten at the following night and that nothing be left till the next morning (verses
6-I0). And we are told that on the very same day, i.e., the fourteenth of the month
God brought out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt ( ibid., verse 51)· And in
verse 42 of the same chapter we read as follows: "It is a night of watching unto the
Lord for bringing them out of Egypt." Now then, if they came out at night that is, in
the night following the fourteenth day, and it is said on the very same day, that is on
the fourteenth day, they were brought out, it clearly indicates that the night
following the fourteenth day is still part of that day.

[54] The Rabbis of the Talmud who nowhere allude to and probably no longer knew
of the earlier mode of reckoning the day felt the difficulty in the phrase: "Ye shall
afflict your souls on the ninth day," and when commenting on it they say: "But are we
to fast on the ninth day?" (Yoma 81b, R. H. 9a, b). A very sound objection indeed. For
if the day had in Bible times been reckoned from evening to evening, as it was in
Talmudic times, then the phrase: "In the ninth day of the month at evening" contains
a contradiction in terms, for the evening is already part of the tenth day. Besides the
special injunction "from even unto even shall ye keep your Sabbath" would be
entirely superfluous, for any other day also extends from evening to evening. The
Talmudic explanation that the meaning of the passage: "Ye shall afflict your souls on
the ninth day" is to say who eats on the ninth day performs a Jewish religious duty
and it is accounted to him as if he had fasted both on the ninth and tenth days (ibid.,
loc. cit.) is, of course, a homiletical subterfuge. The fact is that the Rabbis of the
Talmud no longer knew or would not acknowledge that in ancient times there was
another mode of reckoning the day according to which the evening preceding the
tenth day still belongs to the ninth day. In the case of the Day of Atonement the Law
especially prescribes that the fast be observed in a new manner, covering part of the
ninth and part of the tenth days.

[55] 'See also H. J. Bornstein in Ha Tekufah V1, 254 and 303 ff, and especially 313.

[56] See Morgenstern, op.cit,. p. 179, note. Also "Three Calendars of Ancient Israel,"
in Hebrew Union College Annual X (Cincinnati, 1935; 146, note 236. The fact that the
Samaritans also reckon the day from evening to evening would not be any argument
against the fixing of this period for the innovation. For, in the first place we do not
know the exact date the Samaritans finally and absolutely separated from the Jews.

Furthermore, or they may have accepted Jewish practices even after the separation,
may independently of the Jews, have interpreted the passage in Lev. 23.32: "From
even to even shall you keep your Sabbath" to apply to every Sabbath and Holiday and
not only to the Day of Atonement. In my paper referred to above (note 47) I
expressed the idea, which was accepted by Morgenstern ("The Sources of the
Creation Story" op. cit., p. 179, note) that the statement in the Talmud (b. Ber. 33a)
that the men of the Great Synagogue instituted the ritual of Kiddush and Habdalah,
also points to the time of the beginning of the Greek period for the innovation of the
system of reckoning the day from evening to evening, since the ceremonies of
Kiddush and Habdalah are now observed on Friday evening and Saturday night
respectively. I would, however; now qualify this idea somewhat to the extent we
must understand the Talmudic statement to refer to the last generation of the men
of the Great Synagogue, who lived after the beginning of the Greek period. It is
however, possible that the reference is to the earlier Men of the Great Synagogue Yet
this would not necessitate the fixing the date for the innovation of the system in
reckoning the day before the Greek period. For the Talmudic statement only says that
they instituted a ritual for consecrating the Sabbath at its entrance and for marking
its distinction from the week days at its going out but does not say when the coming
in and going out of the Sabbath at the time when these rituals were first introduced,
took place. According to the Talmud (ibid., loc cit.) some changes as to when or
where the ritual of the Habdalah should be recited were made even during the period
of the Men of the Great Synagogue. It is therefore not impossible that another
change in the time for reciting these rituals also took place during the period of the
Men of the Great Synagogue. When the older generation of that period first
instituted these rituals, they may have been recited at Sabbath morning and at
Sunday morning respectively. Then, when the reckoning of the day was changed the
times for reciting these rituals were correspondingly shifted to Friday and Saturday
night respectively. (See below note 58.) The passage in Neh. 13:19-21 does not
necessarily prove that already at the time of Nehemiah, the night preceding the
Sabbath was part of the Sabbath as assumed by Bornstein (op. cit., p 305). See
Morgenstern, "Three Calendars of Ancient Israel," op. cit., P 22, note 36.

[57] Hul. 83a.

[58] This simply means that in the sanctuary the conservative priests persistently held
on to the older practice though in all other spheres of life it had been abolished or
changed The fact that in the Temple service the night followed the day is another
support for the theory that the innovation was introduced in the period of the Men of
the Great Synagogue (see note 56). For had it been introduced earlier in that period
in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, before the, Temple was rebuilt and the sacrificial
cult restored it would have been introduced into the Temple service also. The Temple
may have been slow in admitting changes in practices that were continuously
observed but when the service was instituted anew and everything reorganized there
would have been no reason to go back to a practice which had been observed in pre-
exilic times, but discontinued for a time and changed 59 According to the Talmud (p.
Ned. 8.1 [40d]) even among the common people the older system continued and in
the popular language [~Hebrew quoted ~~ ~~] the day included the following and not
the preceding night. See commentary [ Hebrew] ad loc. and cf. also Bornstein, op. cit.
p. 311. Likewise the author of the Gospel according to Matthew has preserved the
older system, for we read there 28.1: "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn
towards the first day of the week." So according to him the Sabbath extended
towards the dawn of Sunday morning.

[60]. Benjamin of Tudela (second half of the twelfth century) reports about a certain
Jewish sect on the island of Cyprus whose members observed the Sabbath from
Saturday morning to Sunday morning, or as he puts it, who desecrated the night
preceding but kept holy the night following the Sabbath day. See [ Hebrew Quoted] L.
Griinhut, I (Frankfurt a. M., 1904) p. 23. According to S. A, Poznanski in his
introduction to Eliezer of Beaugency's commentary to Ezekiel and the twelve minor
prophet" (Waraw, 1913), P 43, Ibn Ezra's attack in his [Hebrew] (Kerem Hemed V
[Prague 1839], 115 ff.) was directed not against R. Samuel b. Meir and his
interpretation of Gen.1.5, but against those heretical sects who drew practical
conclusions from this interpretation and observed the Sabbath from morning to
morning. Cf, also Bornstein, op cit., 304.

[61] But even among those who followed the Halakah allusion to the continuance of
the older system and traces of an extension of the Sabbath rest to the night following
Saturday are to be found. Thus, in commenting on the different expressions [Hebrew]
used respectively in connection with the commandment about the Sabhath in the two
versions of the Decalogue (Ex.20.8 and Deut. 5.12) the Mekilta says: " 'Remember'
and 'Observe.' Remember it before it comes and observe it after it has gone" (Mekilta
der. Ishmael Bahodesh VII [ed. Lauterbach, II, 252]). How to remember the Sabbath
before it comes is well illustrated there (ibid., P 253), but no illustration is given as to
how the Sabbath is to be observed after it is gone. Instead of such an illustration
 there is added the remark about the conclusions which the teachers drew from the
interpretation of the word "observe" as meaning "observe it after it has gone" This
remark reads: [Hebrew quoted] Hence the teachers said: "We should always increase
what is holy by adding to it some of the non-holy." But no illustration of the
observance of the Sabbath after it has gone is given in the Mekilta. 2

I have highlighted what I feel is a very important part of the email as far as this study is concerned.
Another independent site I examined was by Samuelle Bacchiocchi. Mr. Bacchiocchi is a Seventh Day
Adventist Historian and Scholar. He is probably best known for his book on how the Shabbath was
changed from Saturday to Sunday. He also wrote another book3 that showed his view of the chronology
of the death, burial, and resurrection of Yəhoshua. There are 5 chapters of this book online. In chapter 5
we read that there were at least 3 ways of reckoning the day in the lifetime of Yəhoshua haNotzri. 4 There
was the Sunset-Sunset reckoning, the Sunrise-Sunrise reckoning; and a blending of the two.
What I find interesting about the information presented is that the Pharisees and Galileans used the
Sunrise as the beginning of a day whiles the Sadducees and Samaritans used Sunset as the beginning of
the day. Yəhoshua was a Galilean. He was also more sympathetic to the Pharisees as was most of the
populace of Israel. The Pharisees were what we might call today, The People’s Party even though they
were very dogmatic in most areas of Torah observance. I also find it strange that some significant parts of
the platform of the Second Temple Era Sadducees have been adopted by the Modern Day Pharisees. The
most significant change being that of the sunset start of the day.
Some other sites that I looked at were http://www.2besaved.com, another site which contained an email
by a man named "Wilhelm Wolfaardt", and also a site which gives several excerpts of various Theses on
the subject of the timeline of the death, burial and resurrection. Again, I do not agree with their
conclusion on the matter. I just want to show what was believed within Judaism on the subject of when a
day begins.
Speaking of the Jewish beliefs on this important topic, I would like at this time to introduce into evidence
some commentaries by prominent Jewish teachers on Genesis/Bəreishith. The first one I would like to
quote is Ibn Ezra. Ibn Ezra was a very knowledgeable Jewish teacher in Medieval Europe. His comments
on verse 5 follow. A link to a more commentary on the first chapter of Bəreishith can be found here.

5. by naming the light "day" and the darkness "night." The diurnal[8] sphere revolved
once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn,[9] day one.[10] 5

Rashbam also is very clear in stating that daylight always preceded night. Rashbam, significantly, was the
grandson of the extremely revered Jewish scholar Rambam, also known as Maimonides, or by his real
name which was Moses ben Maimon.
I think you can see by this evidence that the Jewish people have not ALWAYS recognized sunset as the
beginning of the day. Much of their history, as a matter of fact, was spent in recognizing the sunrise as the

2
Ibid. pp 446-451 as quoted @ http://ebionite.tripod.com/_forum/0000003a.htm
3
The Time of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection; Samuel Bacchiocchi; Online version;
http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/books/crucifixion/ (I will say now, to avoid confusion, that I do not accept
Mr. Bacchiocchi‟s timeline in regard to Yəhoshua‟s death, burial, and resurrection.)
4
http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/books/crucifixion/4.html
5
http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/GenTradIbnEzraRamban.html. Notice also that even Ramban does not
say that a day begins at sunset.
start of the day. It was only after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE that the sunset became the
prevalent doctrine in regard to the start of the day. Sadly, many things changed in the post Second Temple
era.
Key Passages Used to Show a Sunset - Sunset Reckoning
Let us now move on to the question of whether there are any scriptures that prove that the scriptural day
begins at sunset. There are four main passages which those who adhere to a sunset-sunset scenario turn to
in order to defend their teaching.
The first is in Bəreishith 1:5 and the following verses listing the days of creation. In the English
translations of these verses we read phrases like, “and there was evening and there was morning, the first
day”, “And the evening and the morning were the first day”, or “the evening and the morning were the
first day”.
However, this is not the way the text reads in the Hebrew text. In the Hebrew of the Westminster
Leningrad Codex we read:
‫ַוּי ִקְ ָרא אֱֹלהִים ׀ לָא ֹור י ֹום ְולַח ֹׁשְֶך קָ ָרא ָליְלָה וַ ֽיְהִי־ע ֶֶרב וַ ֽיְהִי־ב ֹקֶ ר י ֹום אֶ ָחֽד׃ פ‬

The phrase we are interested in looking at especially at this point is highlighted. In the transliteration of
the Hebrew we read, “vayehi-erev vayehi-voker”. Some may recognize this from the blessing given when
the Torah Scroll is removed from the Aron which starts “vayehi bensoah ha’aron …”. This is also the first
phrase of Numbers 10:35. Properly translated, the phrase in Ber. 1:5 says “and/then it came to be morning
and/then it came to be evening”. We have also seen at least two very knowledgeable Jewish scholars have
interpreted this phrase to mean that the phrase “evening… morning” meant that daylight turned to
evening and progressed into night, the night ending at sunrise which signaled the start of a new day. So,
this phrase cannot be used to prove that a day does indeed start at sunset.
The second passage we will examine is found in Exodus/Shemot 16. The particular verses we want to
look at are in regard to the gathering of the manna and the quail. The argument goes that the Shabbath has
to end at sunset because the Israelites would have violated the Shabbath by collecting the quail in the
afternoon of the Shabbath. One problem with this argument is that the incident of the quail did not occur
until the second year of the Exodus from Egypt. This is recorded for us in Numbers/Bamidbar 11. There
were no quail given in the second month after Israel left Egypt.
The facts from Scripture which show this are:

 There is no mention of cooking the quail in Shemot/Exodus 16

 Only the manna is said to have been collected and cooked in double quantity in preparation for
the Shabbath in Shemot/Exodus 16
 Moshe was commanded only to put a bowl of manna in the Ark of the Testimony. No
 mention of the quail being placed in the Ark
 In Shemot/Exodus 16, the people looked to the wilderness and saw the esteem of Yəhowah
 The giving of the manna occurred in the second month after Israel left Egypt and continued until
the day after they ate the produce of Eretz Yisrael (40 years)
 The giving of the quail occurred at the start of the second year after leaving Egypt 6
 It was a onetime event
6
We read of the giving of the quail in Numbers 11. In Numbers 9, we read of the Pesach the year after Israel had
left Egypt.
  When the people asked for meat, they were already eating manna according to Bamidbar 11
 Yəhowah told Moshe that the people would be given quail enough to feed them for a month of
days
 In Bamidbar/Numbers 11, the quail come on a mighty wind from the sea.
 The quail surrounded the camp of Israel a day’s journey in both/all directions and they were
about 3 feet deep on the face of the ground
 The people gathered quail all that day, all that night, and all the next day
 The least amount gathered by any individual was 10 omers
 There were at least 600,000 footmen to gather quail
 This would work out to at least 37000 bushels of quail
 This does not figure in any amount for women and children if they also gathered quail
 After the quail were gathered the Israelites sat about to preserve them
 As the people began to eat the quail, Yəhowah went through the camp and slaughtered
 many
So, I think we can clearly see from putting these two passages together, we get a clearer picture of what
occurred. There was no giving of quail until the second year. Therefore, the violation of the weekly
Shabbath was not an issue. It is a moot point.
The next passage used to defend a sunset – sunset scenario is found in Lev. 23:32. Here we have the
timing of Yom haKippurim or Day of Atonements. Yom haKippurim occurs on the 10th day of the 7th
month. In verse 32 we read that the Shabbath connected with Yom haKippurim begins at evening of the
9th day and continues to the evening of the 10th day. Most interpret this to mean the end of the 9th to the
end of the 10th. Yet they argue that an evening begins a day. So, the evening of the 9th would be the
beginning of the 9th and the evening of the 10th would be the beginning of the 10th. If the evening truly
started a day, Yəhowah would have said the Shabbath starts at the evening of the 10th and ends at the
evening of the 11th. But that is not what he said.
Sunset followers are very adamant that sunset and evening are the same thing. And most will tell you that
sunset starts the next day and ends the previous day at the same time when questioned seriously about this
passage. But you can’t have the same moment being the previous day and the next day both. At some
point in time, it ceases to be the 9th and begins to be the 10th. If one evening begins the 9th, the next
evening would begin the 10th. The 9th would end BEFORE the evening started the 10th.
The solution is simple when we understand the way Yəhowah reckons a day to begin. We begin our fast
and Shabbath of Yom haKippurim on the 9th day of the 7th month. We continue through the night and
until evening of the 10th approaches. Therefore, we begin fasting and resting the last half of the 9th date
and finish at the end of the first half of the 10th date of the 7th month. The word Shabbath does not define
the start or duration of the rest. This has to be supplied by the context.
For example, we have:

 Weekly Shabbath = 7th Yom of the week

 Shabbath of Yom haKippurim = end of 9th and beginning of 10th dates of the 7th month
 Land Shabbath = After harvest in the 7th month to sowing time the next year in the 7th month
 Millennial Sabbath = 1000 years
 Eternal Shabbath – from the White Throne judgement onward
Another passage often used to prove the day begins at sunset is found in Nechemyah/Nehemiah 13,
especially verses 19-21. Let us examine this passage in more depth.

And it came to be, when the gates of Yerushalayim were shaded before the Sabbath,
that I commanded the doors to be shut, and commanded that they should not be
opened till after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so
that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. And the merchants and
sellers of all kinds of wares spent the night outside Yerushalayim once or twice, and I
warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you
do so again, I lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the
Sabbath. (TS2009)

On the surface this could be taken as showing the Shabbath began at sunset. However, when we compare
this passage to Nechemyah/Nehemiah 7:3 we see that the gates were always closed at night and were
generally opened when the Sun became hot. Our passage in Nechemyah/Nehemiah 13 can now be
understood in context. Instead of opening the gates when the sun became hot on the weekly Shabbath,
Nechemyah/Nehemiah commanded that they remain closed until after Shabbath. The focus in this
passage is on when the gates are opened. Not when they are closed.
Key Passages That Give Scriptural Evidence for an Alternate View
Let us now turn our attention to see if there are alternate views to be found in the Scriptures as to when a
day begins.
Our first order of business shall be to define the word Day according to the Scriptures. One rule of
Scriptural hermeneutics is to take the first definition given for a word. This is the definition to use unless
forced to do otherwise. So, let us examine another phrase used in Bəreishith 1:5, Again from the Hebrew
text of the Westminster Leningrad Codex.
‫ַוּי ִקְ ָרא אֱֹלהִים ׀ לָא ֹור י ֹום ְולַח ֹׁשְֶך קָ ָרא ָליְלָה וַ ֽיְהִי־ע ֶֶרב וַ ֽיְהִי־ב ֹקֶ ר י ֹום אֶ ָחֽד׃ פ‬ 5

Transliterated to English the phrase we shall look at says: vayiqra elohim la’ohr yom velachoshek qara
laylah
Translated to English we read: And called Yəhowah to the light, “YOM” and to the dark he called,
“Night”.
Thus, we see that the light portion of a calendar date is called yom by Yəhowah. Yom is Strong’s
#H3117. There are 1931 occurrences of yom in the Tanak. It occurs 442 times in the Torah proper. I have
personally looked at 208 references in Bəreishith/Gen. thru Vayiqra/Lev. The idea of the day being
limited to the daylight hours is not violated in any of the texts I looked at. When Yəhowah wants to make
sure that we understand that night is included in the context, HE includes the word for night in the
context.

Another significant thing that settled the fact that in Yəhowah’s plan a day is 12 hours, was the life and
times of Yəhoshua haMoshiac. In the days of Yəhoshua’s ministry, we have already established that there
were two ways of reckoning the beginning of the day that co-existed. One was the sunset beginning the
day and the other was the sunrise starting a day. One group started their day at sunset and continued to the
next sunset. The other group started their day at sunrise and continued to the next sunrise. Yet we never
read in the biographies of Yəhoshua that Yəhoshua ever disputed the matter. Why not? After all, the
weekly Shabbath is a very important doctrine. It is the mark of Yəhowah’s people. Logic would tell us

 if the day really did consist of the daylight and the dark, and
 if one group of individuals used the night before daylight as the start of a day, and
 if another group of individuals used the night after daylight as the end of the day
 one group is starting their day wrong
 one group is early or the other group is late
The only logical explanation is that both groups observed the Shabbath Day. They both set aside the
daylight portion of the calendar date. One group added the night preceding the Shabbath Day to their
observance and the other group added the night following to theirs.
We also have the Scriptures to show that the day is only the daylight portion of a 24-hour calendar date.
Even the number 24 is an arbitrary number for the number of hours in a calendar date. While it is not
totally clear where this number originated from, it appears that it developed in Babylon. Oxford
Companion to the Bible has this to say about a day in Scripture.

The day was either the period of sunlight, contrasted with the night (see John 11:9)
or the whole period of twenty-four hours, although not defined as such in the Bible.
In earlier traditions a day apparently began at sunrise (e.g., Lev. 7:15-17; Judges
19:4-19), but later its beginning was at sunset and its end at the following sunset. 7

It is very evident from many passages in the writings of the evangelists that the hours of a day were
counted from sunrise.8 This would be normal as the use of watches or mechanical timepieces was non-
existent to very rare. The use of sundials was prevalent.
If you were to look at the face of a sundial, you would see that the day is divided up into twelve segments.
These segments are laid out on the face of a sundial showing that sunrise marked the zero mark while
noon marked the sixth hour and sunset marked the twelfth hour. Therefore, just as Yəhoshua stated, there
are twelve hours in every day9.
We also have writings from Jewish scholars themselves who make the claim that the Shabbath Day was
indeed a twelve-hour period originally.

Source (2) "This, approximately, is the picture we have of the Sabbath in those very
old days, when both kingdoms, Judah and Israel, still existed. It was a festival on
which there was a cessation of DAILY work, and the people assembled in the
sanctuary to celebrate the DAY. The STRICT rest of LATER days was NOT YET a part of
the Sabbath (p.6)...At any rate, beginning with the BABYLONIAN EXILE, we find the
Sabbath attaining a NEW SIGNIFICANCE, and a deeper spiritual content....IN THE
BABYLONIAN EXILE...The Sabbath attained a HIGHER STATE OF DEVELOPMENT
among the exiled Jews in Babylonia, and it was these exiled Jews who ENFORCED ON
PALESTINE THEIR SABBATH, with its STRICTER observance and its universal rest
7
(1993) The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press. Time; p.774.
8
Mt. 20:1-16; 27:45, 46; Mark 15:25, 33, 34; Luke 23:44; John 1:39; 4:6, 52; John 19:14; Acts 2:15; 3:1; 10:3, 9, 30;
23:23.
9
John 11:9
 (p.7)....The Jews in Palestine, about a century after the Babylonian exile, did NOT as
yet know the STRICT Sabbath of the Babylonian Jews (p.8)...At The Beginning of The
Common Era...In order to assure against profanation of the Sabbath the Jews ADDED
THE LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON HOURS TO THE SABBATH (p.13)...The Sabbath in
general, thus attained its peak in the first two centuries of the Common Era, the age
of the Tannaim (My note: 70 AD-200AD), as the Jewish teachers and sages of that
period were called. However, there were NO FRIDAY NIGHT SERVICES AS YET. This
most beautiful part of the Sabbath observance DEVELOPED somewhat LATER in the
age of the Amoraim (My note: 350 AD-500 AD), as the sages of the Talmud from the
third century on were called, and it did NOT attain its highest peak until MUCH
LATER, at the very threshold of MODERN TIMES. In the time of the Tannaim there
was NO FRIDAY NIGHT SERVICE IN THE SYNAGOGUE (p.14) ... LATER it became
customary to hold communal services in the Synagogue ON FRIDAY NIGHT..." (p.15). 10

Notice especially what the web author highlighted in bold. The Jewish writer being quoted shows that the
night preceding the Shabbath Day was added after Babylon to prevent the profaning of the Shabbath.
Even in his defense of the sunset Shabbath, he admits that it was not originally this way.
Also note:

notes: "But even among those who followed the Halakah allusion to the continuance
of the older system and traces of an extension of the Sabbath rest to the night
following Saturday are to be found. Thus, in commenting on the different
expressions...used respectively in connection with the commandment about the
Sabbath in the two versions of the Decalogue (Ex. 20:8 and Deut. 5:12) the Mekilta
says: " 'Remember' and 'Observe.' Remember it before it comes and observe it after it
has gone." (Mekilta deR. Ishmael, Bahodesh V11 (ed. Lauterbach, 11, 252). How to
remember the Sabbath before it comes is well illustrated there (ibid., p. 253), but no
illustration is given as to how the Sabbath is to be observed after it is gone. Instead of
such an illustration there is added the remark about the conclusions which the
teachers drew from the interpretation of the word "Observe" as meaning "observe it
after it has gone."...the teachers said: "We should always increase what is holy by
adding to it some of the non-holy." But no illustration of the observance of the
Sabbath after it has gone is given in the Mekilta. Such an illustration, however, is
furnished elsewhere in the statement that the Jewish women refrained from work on
Saturday night even after the Sabbath had gone (p. Pes. 4.1 (30c, dl). This custom of
the women is disapproved by the teachers and declared to be not a proper
custom...But in spite of the disapproval of the teachers the custom has persisted
among pious Jewish women to this day. It is evident that this custom of the Jewish
women, which is supported by the saying of the Mekilta, is a relic of the ancient
practice of keeping the Sabbath till the dawn of Sunday. The teachers, insisting that
the Sabbath extends only from evening to evening, objected to this custom but they

10
http://www.12hoursabbath.com/ (Quoting from The Jewish Festivals: History & Observance by Hayyim Schauss -
Shocken 1938
 were unable to suppress it. They had to tolerate it, hence they tried at least to limit it
to only a part of Saturday night... (ibid., loc.cit). And even this approved refraining
from work during part of the time of Saturday night they explained to have its reason
not in the assumption that Saturday night or part of it was still part of the Sabbath,
but merely in the rule that it was a good custom "to add part of the non-holy to the
holy." And to be consistent they said that such an addition should not be one-sided,
i.e., not only part of the day following the Sabbath but also part of the day preceding
it, should be added to the Sabbath. The women, while persisting in their practice and
refusing to confine it to the limits fixed by the Rabbis for Saturday night, were
nevertheless not unwilling to accept the reason for their practice as given by the
Rabbis, and hence agreed that an addition to the Sabbath should also be made on
the day preceding it. But they seem to have assumed that such an addition should
consist not of a mere fraction of the day but of the whole day of Friday, just as the
addition at the going out of the Sabbath consisted --in their practice-- of the whole
night following the Sabbath. Thus, they would refrain from doing any work during the
entire day of Friday. This practice was likewise disapproved by the teachers and
declared not to be a valid custom... (p. Pes., loc. cit. (30d). Here also the teachers
insisted that only part of the day of Friday should be added to the Sabbath. And a
Baraita in b. Pes. 50b declares that whosoever does work on Friday afternoon after
the Minchah time and on Saturday night--significantly enough, no time limit is
specified as to what part of Saturday night--will not be successful. But it should be
noticed that while the Rabbis were successful in persuading the women to do work
on Friday, adding only a part of that day to the Sabbath, they did not succeed in
making them abandon their practice of refraining from work on Saturday night,
evidently because the latter custom was a survival of the ancient practice of
observing the Sabbath till the dawn of Sunday." (Rabbinic Essays, pp. 450-451). 11

The next thing I would like to do is give scriptures which show that a day begins at sunrise. I will also
like to look at the timing of the Pesach.
I will not look at all the passages that talk of the day beginning in the morning or at sunrise. There are
many. I do however want to look at some very important ones. I will not give the whole context of each
passage. I will leave that to the individual studying this information. As you read these passages in their
contexts, I think you will see a pattern developing. It will be a pattern that does not violate any passage in
the scriptures.

Bəreishith/Genesis 19:33, 34 -- So they made their father drink wine that night. And
the first-born went in and lay with her father, and he was not aware of it when she
lay down or when she arose. And it came to be on the next day that the first-born
said to the younger, “See, I lay with my father last night. Let us make him drink wine
tonight as well, and you go in and lie with him, so that we keep the seed of our
father.” (TS2009)

11
http://www.12hoursabbath.com/
Here we see that the oldest daughter lay with her father on the first night. Then we read that the next day
they conspired together for the younger one to lay with her father the second night. The point I want to
point out is that once it became light, it was a new day.

Shemot/Exodus 18:13 -- And it came to be, on the next day, that Mosheh sat to
rightly rule the people. And the people stood before Mosheh from morning until
evening. (TS2009)

Notice again that the morning was the NEXT day.

Shemot/Exodus 29:38, 39 -- “And this is what you prepare on the slaughter-place:

two lambs, a year old, daily, continually. “Prepare the one lamb in the morning, and
the other lamb you prepare between the evenings, (TS2009)

Bemidbar/Numbers 28:3-8 -- “And you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering made by
fire which you bring to ‫יהוה‬: two male lambs a year old, perfect ones, daily, a
continual ascending offering. The one lamb you prepare in the morning, and the
other lamb you prepare between the evenings, with one-tenth of an ĕphah of fine
flour as a grain offering mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil, a continual
ascending offering which was offered at Mount Sinai for a sweet fragrance, an
offering made by fire to, ‫ יהוה‬and its drink offering, one-fourth of a hin for each lamb.
Pour out the drink to ‫ יהוה‬as an offering in the set-apart place. And the other lamb
you prepare between the evenings. As the morning grain offering and its drink
offering, you prepare it as an offering made by fire, a sweet fragrance to ‫יהוה‬.
(TS2009)

If you look at the Hebrew of these parallel passages, it says that the FIRST lamb is sacrificed in the
morning and the SECOND lamb is sacrificed between the evenings. The words translated as one and
other are echad and sheni. These two words are used in Hebrew as ordinal numbers. Echad can be
translated as first if the text calls for it. In this instance the text does call for it to be used as an ordinal
number as sheni IS properly translated as an ordinal number and the word echad has the definite article
with it. If the day starts in the evening, how can the first lamb be sacrificed in the morning?

Shemoth/Exodus 32:5, 6 -- And Aharon saw and built a slaughter-place before it. And
Aharon called out and said, “Tomorrow is a festival to ‫ יהוה‬. And they rose early on
the next day, and offered ascending offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the
people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. (TS2009)

Aharon tells the people that tomorrow will be a festival to Yəhowah. The people rise EARLY the NEXT
day. You cannot rise early in the morning the next day if you start your day in the evening. The day
would be half over by morning time if the day actually started in the evening or sunset.

Vayiqra/Leviticus 6:20 -- “This is the offering of Aharon and his sons, which they bring
near to ‫יהוה‬, beginning on the day when he is anointed: one-tenth of an ĕphah of
fine flour as a daily grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the
evening. (TS2009)
Again, we see the two offerings being offered, the one in the morning and the other in the evening. The
word vaerev is wrongly translated as night in some English translations. We might notice also that
Aharon was not anointed at nightfall.

Vayiqra/Leviticus 7:15-17 -- ‘As for the flesh of the slaughtering of his peace offerings
for thanksgiving, it is eaten the same day it is offered, he does not leave any of it until
morning. ‘And if the slaughtering he brings is a vow or a voluntary offering, it is eaten
the same day that he brings his slaughtering, and what is left of it is eaten the next
day, but whatever is left of the flesh of the slaughtering on the third day is burned
with fire. (TS2009)

The sacrifice of the peace offering for thanksgiving is to be eaten the same day it is eaten. None of it can
be eaten the NEXT morning. The vow or voluntary offering can be eaten the second day. But it cannot be
eaten on the third day. To eat any of it on the third day would make it invalid. Morning starts a new day.

Yəhoshua/Joshua 7:13-16 --“Rise up, set the people apart, and you shall say, ‘Set
yourselves apart for tomorrow, because thus said ‫ יהוה‬Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “That which
is under the ban is in your midst, O Yisra’ĕl. You are not able to stand before your
enemies until you put away that which is under the ban out of your midst.” And you
shall be brought near in the morning, according to your tribes. And it shall be, the
tribe which ‫ יהוה‬takes comes according to clans. And the clan which ‫ יהוה‬takes
comes by households. And the household which ‫ יהוה‬takes comes by men. And it
shall be that he who is taken with that which is under the ban is burned with fire, he
and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of ‫יהוה‬, and because
he has committed wickedness in Yisra’ĕl.’” So Yehoshua arose early in the morning
and brought Yisra’ĕl by their tribes, and the tribe of Yəhuḏah was taken, (TS2009)

Morning is tomorrow, a new day.

Shophtim/Judges 19:4-9 -- And his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, took
hold of him, and he dwelt with him three days. And they ate and drank and spent the
nights there. And it came to be on the fourth day that they arose early in the
morning. And he prepared to leave, but the young woman’s father said to his son-in-
law, “Refresh your heart with a piece of bread, and afterward go your way.” So they
sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. And the young woman’s
father said to the man, “Please agree to stay all night, and let your heart be glad.”
And when the man arose to go, his father-in-law urged him. So, he spent the night
there again. And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to go. But the young
woman’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So, they delayed until afternoon,
and both of them ate. And the man arose to go, he and his concubine and his
servant. But his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “See, the day is
now drawing toward evening. Please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an
end. Stay here, and let your heart be glad. And you shall rise early tomorrow for your
journey, and you shall go to your tent.” (TS2009)

We see from this passage the following:

  On the fourth day they rose early in the morning
 The young man spent the night
 Early in the morning on the fifth day he arose
 At evening, the girl’s father asked the man to stay another night as the day was drawing to a
close. He told him he could rise early tomorrow morning
 While the day ends at sunset, we still have the night portion of a calendar date to go before a
new day begins.

Shemuel Aleph/1 Samuel 19:10-11 -- and Sha’ul sought to strike the spear through
Dawiḏ, and into the wall, but he slipped away from the presence of Sha’ul, so he
struck the spear into the wall. And Dawiḏ fled and escaped that night. And Sha’ul
sent messengers to Dawiḏ’s house to watch him and to put him to death in the
morning. And Miḵal, Dawiḏ’s wife, informed him, saying, “If you do not save your life
tonight, tomorrow you are put to death.” (TS2009)
Tomorrow is a new day

Melakim Aleph/1Kings 22:35-36 -- And the battle increased that day. And the
sovereign was propped up in his chariot, facing the Arameans, and died at evening,
and the blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. And as the sun
was going down, a shout passed through the camp, saying, “Each to his city, and
each to his land!” (TS2009)

Evening is before sunset

Ekah/Lamentations 3:22-23 -- The loving-commitments of ‫ !יהוה‬For we have not

been consumed, For His compassions have not ended. They are new every morning,
Great is Your trustworthiness. (TS2009)

Yəhowah’s blessings are new every morning. Why does HE wait until morning to give HIS blessings if
the day starts at sunset?

Yonah/Jonah 4:6-7 -- And ‫ יהוה‬Elohim appointed a plant and made it come up over
Yonah, to be a shade for his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Yonah
greatly rejoiced over the plant. But, as morning dawned the next day Elohim
appointed a worm which struck the plant so that it withered. (TS2009)

The dawning of morning starts a new day

Yochanon/John 6:16-22 -- And when evening came, His taught ones went down to
the sea, and entering into the boat, they were going over the sea toward Kephar
Naḥum. And it had already become dark, and Yəhoshua had not yet come to them.
And the sea was rising because a great wind was blowing. When they had rowed
about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Yəhoshua walking on the sea and coming
near the boat, and they were afraid. And He said to them, “It is I, do not be afraid.”
They wished therefore to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat was at the
land where they were going. On the next day, the crowd that was standing on the
other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except that one into
 which His taught ones had entered, and that ‫ יהושע‬had not entered the boat with His
taught ones, but His taught ones went away alone – (TS2009)

Evening comes and then dark followed by the next day.

Ma’aseh haShəlichim/Acts 4:3-5 -- And they arrested them, and put them in jail until
the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word
believed, and the number of the men became about five thousand. And it came to be,
on the next day, that their rulers and elders and scribes assembled in Yerushalayim,
(TS2009)

It is already evening and Kepha and Yochanon are placed in jail until the next day.

How Does This Affect the Moedim of Yəhowah?

We have already looked at Vayiqra/Leviticus 23:32. Now let us look at several passages regarding the
sacrificing of the first Pesach.
Shemoth/Exodus 12 (The first Pesach)

 Pesach is in the month of the aviv

 Each family was to take a male lamb or kid of the first year on the tenth of the month of the aviv
 If the family was too small to consume the lamb/kid, they could join with their neighbor
 The lamb/kid was to be taken into their home and examined for imperfections
 The lamb/kid was to be kept until the fourteenth of the month of the aviv
 It was to be slaughtered between the two evenings
 Some of the blood of the lamb/kid was to be placed on the lintel and posts of the Israelites homes
with a hyssop branch
 The lamb was to be roasted with fire in one piece
 The lamb/kid was to be eaten that night with bitter herbs and unleavened bread
 The Israelites were to eat the meal with their belt on, their shoes on, and with their staff in their
hands
 None of the lamb/kid was to be left over until the next morning. Any leftovers were to be burned
before morning
 The Israelites were not to leave their homes until morning
 Any male who eats of the Pesach must be circumcised
 The laws of Pesach apply equally to native born Israelites, the sojourners in the land, and their
servants
 The fifteenth of the month of the aviv begins the Feast of Unleaveneds
 For seven days they were not to eat anything leavened (fifteenth to the twenty-first)
Shemoth/Exodus 34:25

 None of the Pesach is to remain until the morning.

Vayiqra/Leviticus 23:5

 Yəhowah’s Pesach is the fourteenth day of the first month between the evenings (beyn ha arbaim)
Bemidbar/Numbers 9 (Pesach in the Wilderness: Year Two)
  Fourteenth day of the first month
 Between the evenings
 To be kept according to all the laws and right-rulings
 Some men were unable to perform the Pesach because they were unclean by reason of defilement
by a dead body
 Yəhowah tells Moshe that if a man is travelling in a far country or is unclean, he may perform the
Pesach on the fourteenth day of the second month between the two evenings
 They are to keep it the same as it was kept in the first month.
 It is to be eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread
 None of it is to remain until the morning
 Not a bone is to be broken
 Anyone who is clean and does not perform the Pesach shall be cut off from Israel
 Any sojourner who performs the Pesach must do it according to the laws of Pesach
Bemidbar/Numbers 28:16

 Pesach is on the fourteenth day of the first month

Bemidbar/Numbers 33:3,4

 The children of Israel left Rameses on the 15th day of the first month
 This was the day after Pesach
 They went out in the sight of the Egyptians
 They left while the Egyptians were burying their dead
Devarim/Deuteronomy 16:1-6

 We are to guard the month of the aviv and perform the Pesach to Yəhowah for in it Yəhowah
brought the Israelites out of Egypt
 We are to sacrifice the Pesach in the place Yəhowah chooses to place HIS Name
 We are to eat no leavened bread with it
 We are to eat leavened bread for seven days
 We shall have no leaven in our borders for seven days
 None of the meat of the Pesach shall remain until the next morning
 We are not allowed to choose where we want to slaughter the Pesach
 The Pesach is to be slaughtered in the evening while the sun is going down at the season Israel
left Egypt
 The Pesach is to be roasted in fire
So, if we put all our information together, we find the following concerning Pesach:

 On the tenth day of the month of the aviv, a one-year old, spotless, male lamb/kid was chosen as
the Pesach and brought into their homes to be inspected for blemishes
 The lamb/kid is slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the month of the aviv between the evenings
while the sun is going down
 Some of the blood was smeared on the doorposts and lintels of the homes of the Israelites using a
hyssop branch on the first Pesach
 That same night, the lamb/kid is roasted in fire
  The lamb is to be whole and no bone can be broken
 Only those whose males had been circumcised were allowed to eat the Pesach
 The lamb/kid is eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread
 The people ate the meal with their belts on, their shoes on, and their staffs in their hands
 None of the lamb/kid can be left over in the morning
 Any lamb/kid not eaten must be burned before morning
 The Israelites were not to leave their homes until morning
 Yəhowah tells Moshe that if a man is travelling in a far country or is unclean/defiled, he may
perform the Pesach on the fourteenth day of the second month between the evenings
 They are to keep it the same as it was kept in the first month
 Anyone who is clean and does not perform the Pesach shall be cut off from Israel
 The next day begins the Feast of Unleaveneds
 No leaven was to be eaten or found in their homes for seven days (fifteenth day to the twenty-first
day)
 The children of Israel left Rameses on the 15th day of the first month
 They went out in the sight of the Egyptians
 They left while the Egyptians were burying their dead
 There was no difference in the laws of Pesach for the native born or the sojourner

Beyn Ha’arbayim: What Does It Mean?

Much has been written about this phrase in Hebrew. Huge debates have been had over this simple three-
word phrase. Is it possible to determine what it means? I think so. I have previously shown several
scriptures to show that evening, “erev”, occurs before sunset. Now let us expound a little more of what
this volatile phrase means.
Gesenius has this to say about erev and beyn ha’arbayim:

(1) evening (m. and fem., I Sam.29:5) . . . at evening . . . Dual, ‫ עַ ְרּבַ יִם‬arbayim, the two
evenings; only in the phrase, ‫ ּבֵ ין ָהֽעַ ְרּבַ יִם‬ben ha arbayim, between the two evenings,
Exodus 16:12; 30:8, used as marking the space of time during which the paschal lamb
was slain, Ex.12:6; Lev.23:5; Num.9:3; and the evening sacrifice was offered,
Ex.29:39,41; Num.28:4 . . . according to the opinion of the Karaites and Samaritans . .
.the time between sunset and deep twilight. The Pharisees, however (see Josephus
Bellum Jud. vi. 9, par 30), and the Rabbinists considered the time when the sun began
to descend to be called the FIRST EVENING (Arabic 'little evening'; when it begins to
draw towards evening); and the SECOND EVENING to be the REAL SUNSET. 12

Yiremyah/Jeremiah 6:4 is very clear as to when the evening is. Here we read:

Jer 6:4 -- “Set apart battle against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for
the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are lengthening. (TS2009)

We can clearly see that evening is before sunset as there are no shadows after the sun goes down.

12
Gesenius, W., Gesenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, translated by Tregelles,
S.P., 1¶ ,‫ע ֶֶרב‬, p. 652.
Beyn ha’arbayim was the time of the evening sacrifice as we read earlier. It was also the time of the
evening prayers. Dani’el was praying about the time of the evening sacrifices when Gabri’el came to him.

Dan 9:20-21 -- And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the
sin of my people Yisra’ĕl, and presenting my supplication before ‫ יהוה‬my Elohim for
the set-apart mountain of my Elohim, while I was still speaking in prayer, the man
Gaḇri’ĕl, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, came close to me, in swift
flight about the time of the evening offering. (TS2009)

In Ma’aseh Shəlichim/Acts of the Apostles 3:1 and 10:1-4, 30, 31 we read that the time of the evening
prayers and sacrifices was at the ninth hour. This would be at approximately 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Acts 3:1 -- And Kĕpha and Yoḥanan were going up to the Set-apart Place at the hour
of prayer, the ninth hour. (TS2009)

Acts 10:1-4 -- Now there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a captain of
what was called the Italian Regiment, dedicated, and fearing Elohim with all his
household, doing many kind deeds to the people, and praying to Elohim always. He
clearly saw in a vision, about the ninth hour of the day, a messenger of Elohim
coming to him, and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And looking intently at him, and
becoming afraid, he said, “What is it, master?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and
your kind deeds have come up for a remembrance before Elohim. (TS2009)

Acts 10:30 -- And Cornelius said, “Four days ago I was fasting until this hour. And at
the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and see, a man stood before me in shining
garments, (TS2009)

Josephus testifies to this timing of the Pesach offering in his Wars of the Jews; Book VI; 9:3.

So these high priests, upon the coming of their feast which is called the Passover,
when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour to the eleventh, but so that a
company not less than ten belong to every sacrifice . . . and many of us are twenty in
a company, found this number of sacrifices was two hundred and fifty six thousand
five hundred: which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together,
amounts to two million seven hundred thousand and two hundred persons that were
pure and holy.
Below is a graphic I produced to show how the timing of the Pesach and the Feast of Unleaveneds can be
reconciled with the Torah commands we have discussed earlier. Notice that the only way to fulfill all of
the laws and right-rulings concerning Pesach is to use Method 3. It appears that Method 1 will fulfill the
commands. However, the command was to slaughter the lamb between the two evenings on the 14 th and
to eat it that night. This method has one eating the lamb on the 15 th of the month of the aviv, the next day.
Pesach sacrificed as the sun is going down on the 14th Pesach eaten on night of 14th Unleavened bread
for 7 Days.