pentecost: sunday, monday, or sivan 6?

8/14/2019 Pentecost: Sunday, Monday, or Sivan 6?

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PENTECOST:

SUNDAY, MONDAY, OR SIVAN 6?entecost, also called the Feast of Weeks (Heb. Chag Shavuot), the Feast of Harvest (Heb. Chag haQatzir), and the Day

of Firstfruits (Heb. Yom haBikurim) in the Old Testament, is the only Holy Day which wasn't designated to fall on a

particular day of the month. Pentecost, which means "count fifty" in Greek, was to be determined by counting fifty days from

the time the wave sheaf was offered during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That sounds simple enough, but the difficulty that

arises is when to start and end the count.

Almost all will agree that the fifty-day count to Pentecost begins within the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known

as the Feast of Passover (Exo. 34:25; Eze. 45:21). The controversial passage which explains how to derive the date of

Pentecost is found in Leviticus 23:

LEVITICUS 23:9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of thefirstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted onyour behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. . . . 15 And you shall count for

yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the waveoffering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventhSabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.' " (NKJV)

Since at least the time of Yeshua, a debate has raged regarding the proper time to observe Pentecost. One of the primarysticking points has been the meaning of "Sabbath" in Leviticus 23:11 and 15. Some claim that the Sabbath being referred to

here is the weekly Sabbath which falls within the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Others believe it is the first day of Unleavened

Bread, an annual or high Sabbath upon which "no customary work" was to be done and "a holy convocation" held (Lev. 23:7).

A.S. Van Der Woude explains where these different beliefs originated:

After the time of the Old Testament there are different ideas among the Jews as to the day constituting the

terminus a quo of the seven weeks (Van Goudoever, pp. 18, 29). It concerns here the exegesis ofLeviticus 23:11, 15, which speaks of "the day after the sabbath." The Sadducees (and also the Samaritans)took the text as literally as possible. They understood the sabbath mentioned there as being the seventhday of the week . . . In that case the Feast of Weeks was always on the first day (Sunday). The Council ofNicea more or less went along with this and put Pentecost (even as Easter) on a Sunday. The Pharisees

counted differently. Their calculation became officially accepted in Jewish orthodoxy from the second

century A.D. According to them the "sabbath" in these texts refers to the first feast day of the Passover.On the following day the sheaf was to be brought and the fiftieth day was to be calculated from that.(p. 389, The World of the Bible)

For more information regarding this and other doctrinal differences between these two historical groups, see my article "Who

Were the Pharisees and the Sadducees?."

The question of whether Pentecost falls on Sunday, Monday, or Sivan 6 has historically been a divisive one for the sabbath-

keeping Churches of God and for messianic groups. Those who believe that Pentecost always falls on a Sunday or Monday

interpret "the Sabbath" specified in Leviticus 23:11 and 15 to be the weekly Sabbath which occurs within the seven-day Feast

of Unleavened Bread. These two related views are held by most of the groups which split off from the Worldwide Church of

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we slew when we came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover; and so we do celebrate thispassover in companies, leaving nothing of what we sacrifice till the day following. The feast of unleavenedbread succeeds that of the passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the month, and continues sevendays, wherein they feed on unleavened bread; on every one of which days two bulls are killed, and one

ram, and seven lambs. Now these lambs are entirely burnt, besides the kid of the goats which is added toall the rest, for sins; for it is intended as a feast for the priest on every one of those days.

But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake ofthe fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them. And while they suppose it proper to

honor God, from whom they obtain this plentiful provision, in the first place, they offer the first-fruits oftheir barley, and that in the manner following: They take a handful of the ears, and dry them, then beat

them small, and purge the barley from the bran; they then bring one tenth deal to the altar, to God; and,casting one handful of it upon the fire, they leave the rest for the use of the priest. And after this it is thatthey may publicly or privately reap their harvest. They also at this participation of the first-fruits of the

earth, sacrifice a lamb, as a burnt-offering to God. When a week of weeks has passed over after thissacrifice, (which weeks contain forty and nine days,) on the fiftieth day, which is Pentecost, but is called bythe HebrewsAsartha, which signifies Pentecost, they bring to God a loaf, made of wheat flour, of two tenthdeals, with leaven; and for sacrifices they bring two lambs; and when they have only presented them toGod, they are made ready for supper for the priests; nor is it permitted to leave any thing of them till the

day following. (p. 96, 3.10.5-6, Antiquities of the Jews)

The Jewish Publication Society's Tanakh reflects this same understanding in its translation of Leviticus 23:9-11, 15-16:

LEVITICUS 23:9 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 10 Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: Whenyou enter the land that I am giving to you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf of yourharvest to the priest. 11 He shall elevate the sheaf before the LORD for acceptance in your behalf; thepriest shall elevate it on the day after the sabbath. . . . 15 And from the day on which you bring the

sheaf of elevation offering - the day after the sabbath - you shall count offseven weeks. They mustbe complete: 16 you must count until the day after the seventh week - fifty days; then you shallbring an offering of new grain to the LORD. (JPS Tanakh)

In their commentary on this passage, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown concur with the traditional Jewish viewpoint. They write:

11. the morrow after the sabbath - i.e., the day after the Sabbath, not the weekly Sabbath, but the firstday of unleavened bread, which was to be kept as a Sabbath; for upon it there was to be a holyconvocation . . . 15. ye shall count . . . from the morrow after the sabbath - i.e., after the first dayof the passover week, which was observed as a Sabbath." (p. 497, vol. I, A Commentary: Critical, Experimental,

and Practical)

At the time of Yeshua's ministry, the Pharisees believed that the second occurrence of the word "sabbath" in verse 15 and

"sabbath" in verse 16 indicated a period of seven days, not the weekly Sabbath. This is the way the Tanakh translates this

passage above, and it is the common understanding of most Jews today.

A parallel passage in Deuteronomy 16 seems to substantiate the common Jewish understanding of "sabbath" in this passage:

DEUTERONOMY 16:9 "You shall count offseven weeks [shiv'ah shavu'ot], computing them from the day

when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 You shall then keep the Feast of Weeks [chag

shavu'ot] in honor of the LORD, your God . . . (NAB)

In this Scripture, the word "week" is a translation of the Hebrew root word shavua', which literally means "a period of seven,"

or "a week." The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(TWOT) says this about the use ofshavua'in Deuteronomy

16:

In Deut 16:9, shabu'a represents a period of seven days (literally "seven seven-periods you shall-number-to-you"). . . .

shabua'is also used as a technical term in Deut 16:10, 16 where it denotes the Feast of Weeks ( hag

shabu'ot), i.e. the Feast of Seven-Periods. . . . It was so named because it was to be celebrated "on themorrow after" the seventh sabbath after the day of firstfruits (Lev 23:15-16)! Hence it was the feast of theday following the seven seven-periods, or the feast ofhamishim yom, fifty days - "Pentecost" from the



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Greek. This feast marked the early wheat harvest at about the sixth of Sivan, at the end of our own monthof May. (p. 899, vol. II)

At the time of Yeshua, the Hebrew calendar was still being determined by the Sanhedrin every month by visual observation of

the new moon. Because of this, Pentecost could fall on either Sivan 5, 6, or 7 (Rosh Hashana 6b, Talmud). This was possible

because the total number of days in the months of Nisan and Iyar could be either 29 or 30. Now, because the standardized rules

for the Hebrew calendar compiled by Hillel II in 358 C.E. call for Nisan and Iyar to always have 30 and 29 days, respectively,

Pentecost consistently falls on Sivan 6 of the Hebrew calendar.

As John Lightfoot explains, there are two passages of Scripture the Pharisees used to determine that the Sabbath in Leviticus

23:11, 15 was supposed to be the first day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15):

"But the scribes, very differently [from the Sadducees], keep strictly to the sixteenth day of the month ofNisan for offering the firstfruits without any dispensation, after the sabbatical day or the first day

of the feast is over. And amongst other by which they strengthen their opinion, those two differentplaces of Scripture, Exod. xii. 15, "Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread," and Deut. xvi. 8,"Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread," they, according to the sense they have, do thusreconcile, 'seven days, indeed, you shall eat unleavened bread;' that is, unleavened bread of the oldwheat, on the first day of the feast, the sheaf being not yet offered; and unleavened bread of the new

wheat, the remaining six days, after you have offered the firstfruits." (pp. 23-24, vol. 4, A Commentary on the

New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica)

There is another passage of Scripture found in the book of Joshua that confirms that Nisan 16 is the proper time to begin the

fifty-day count to Pentecost:

JOSHUA 5:10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept [ya'asu] the Passover on the

fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after thePassover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched

grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longermanna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. (ESV)

God told Moses that when the Israelites came into the Promised Land, they were NOT to eat of the new produce of the land

until they had offered a sheaf of the firstfruits of the land as an offering to God (Lev. 23:9-14). This offering, which was to take

place AFTER a Sabbath, was then the beginning point for the count to Pentecost (Lev. 23:15-16).

The only way that the Israelites could have eaten the produce of Canaan on "the day after the Passover" is if Passover was the

Sabbath referred to in Leviticus 23:11, 15. This would of necessity mean that the term "Passover" sometimes is used to refer to

the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The seeming combination of Passover with the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread has been a cause for some

confusion. Regarding the wordya'asu, translated "kept" in Joshua 5:10, TWOTstates that the root word 'asa "is often used

in specialized expressions such as . . . "offer sacrifice" (Exo 10:25), "keep the Passover" (Exo 12:48) . . ., andmany more." The meaning of "kept" here is that the Israelites sacrificed the Passover lambbetween the evenings on the

afternoon of Nisan 14, which was the time commanded by God (Exo. 12:6). They then would have cooked the Passover late on

the afternoon of Nisan 14, and eaten the Passover meal after sunset, as Nisan 15 (the first day of the Feast of Unleavened

Bread) was beginning.

Although some have tried to separate the sacrifice of the Passover lamb and the Passover meal from the Feast of Unleavened

Bread, the ancient Israelites considered them to be intricately tied together. In fact, Ezekiel 45:21 states that "in the first

month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover, a feast of seven days." Compare this Scripture with

the original command for the observance of Passover:

EXODUS 12:17 "So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have broughtyour armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations asan everlasting ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening,

you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening." (NKJV)



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In the "Holy Day" chapter of the Law (Lev. 23), we see that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was commanded to be a seven-day

feast, beginning on Nisan 15 (Lev. 23:6). The original command shows that the Passover lamb was sacrificed in mid-afternoon

of Nisan 14, as the sun was setting. It was then cooked as the day waned and eaten after sundown on Nisan 15, as the Feast of

Unleavened Bread started. Although slightly longer than seven 24-hour days, the entire period from mid-afternoon on Nisan 14

to the sunset that ended Nisan 21 was considered to be a period of seven days. Consequently, the period from the afternoon of

Nisan 14 to the end of Nisan 15, even though it was longer than 24 hours, was considered to be one day (alternately called

Passover or the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread).

Therefore, we see that Joshua's account of the eating of the new produce of Canaan shows that Passover (from the afternoon ofNisan 14 to the sunset that ended Nisan 15) was the Sabbath referred to in the command that determines the count to

Pentecost.

Regarding the symbolism found in the Passover feast, theologians acknowledge that Yeshua was the "Lamb of God," the

ultimate embodiment of the Passover lambs (I Cor. 5:7; I Pet. 1:19; John 1:29, 36; Rev. 5:6). He was the one the Passover

lambs had represented for centuries. Indeed, He died on the cross on the fourteenth of Nisan at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon,

the same time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple courtyard. But those who keep a Sunday or

Monday Pentecost believe that Yeshua fulfilled another Old Testament symbol, the wave sheaf.

While there is no Scripture that directly links Messiah to the wave sheaf offering, those who hold to a Sunday or Monday

Pentecost allege that two passages of Scripture (John 20:17-18 and I Cor. 15:20) prove that he was the fulfillment of the wave

sheaf. We will look at each in turn:

JOHN 20:17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to [haptou] Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father;

but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My Godand your God.' " 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He

had spoken these things to her. (NKJV)

The offering of the wave sheaf (Heb. omer) was to be performed as part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, beginning when the

Israelites first entered the Holy Land (Lev. 23:11). Leviticus 23:14 specifically says that no bread, roasted grain, or new grain

was to be eaten until the wave sheaf had been offered to God.

Many of those who keep a Sunday or Monday Pentecost claim that this passage of Scripture is proof that Yeshua was the

fulfillment of the wave sheaf. They maintain that the reason Mary wasn't supposed to "cling to" ("touch"-KJV) the resurrectedMessiah on that Sunday morning was because he had not yet been "waved" before the Father. According to this theory, Yeshua

ascended to the Father in heaven later that morning at about 9:00 am, the same time the Sadducees were offering the wave

sheaf. After having his sacrifice on behalf of the people accepted by God, he later returned to earth and was then able to be

touched by his disciples (Matt. 28:9).

This theory has several fatal flaws.

The first comes about due to a misunderstanding of the Greek word haptou ("cling to"), a form of the verb haptomai. Friberg's

Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testamentsays that it literally means "to take hold of." Here it does not simply mean

"touch," as theKJVimplies. Rather, the connotation is of "embracing," clinging to one in an emotional way, seeking comfort

from someone through physical contact.

Mary, understandably emotional when she recognized Yeshua, wanted to embrace him and be comforted and reassured that he

was indeed alive and still with them. But Yeshua quickly sought to clarify her misconception of why he had returned. He did

not tell Mary that she could not "touch" him; rather, he was saying that their relationship has changed since his resurrection. He

was no longer a physical man, but a glorified spirit being. He would not now physically comfort his disciples. Instead, after his

ascension to claim the High Priesthood of the New Covenant, he would comfort them through the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, 26;

15:26; 16:7), which was to be sent on Pentecost.

In the passage above, Yeshua does say that he is ascending to his Father in heaven; however, he doesn't say when he will

ascend. Does the Bible tell us when he ascended back to heaven to his Father? Yes. Acts 1:3, 9 tells us that after appearing to

his disciples during a forty-day period, he ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. Nowhere is any other ascension



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mentioned in the Bible. Those who believe Yeshua ascended to heaven on Sunday morning after his resurrection do so based

on their own reasoning, not the Bible. (For information regarding when Yeshua was actually raised from the dead, see my

article "When Was Christ Resurrected?.")

Those who feel Yeshua is the wave sheaf believe that he had to ascend to the Father that morning to be accepted by the Father.

Only after this event, they believe, could his sacrifice on the cross be applied to the sinners who needed it. But does the Bible

support this view? No, it does not! In fact, it clearly shows through a symbolic event caused by God that Yeshua's sacrifice was

accepted immediately upon his death:

MARK 15:37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. 38 Then the veil of the temple was

torn in two from top to bottom. (NKJV)

The veil of the temple was the divider between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (Exo. 26:33). The Holy of Holies

represented God's throne in heaven. The ripping of the veil symbolically indicated that believers now had access to the very

throne of God through the sacrifice of Yeshua (Heb. 10:19-20). Clearly, this miracle showed that Yeshua did not have to wait

until after his resurrection to have his sacrifice accepted by the Father.

Finally, we must realize that even though the Sadducees controlled the high priesthood at the time of Yeshua, their power was

severely restricted. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary states:

Although the spiritual power of the Pharisees had increased greatly, the Sadducean aristocracy was able tokeep at the helm in politics. The price at which the Sadducees had to secure themselves power at this laterperiod was indeed a high one, for they were in their official actions to accommodate themselves toPharisaic views (p. 1112, "Sadducee").

Alfred Edersheim, a noted Jewish historian, recorded the practical effects of the Pharisees' power in relation to the keeping of

Pentecost:

The Pharisees held, that the time between [Passover] and Pentecost should be counted from the second dayof the feast; the Sadducees insisted that it should commence with the literal "Sabbath" after the festiveday. But despite argument, the Sadducees had to join when the solemn procession went on the afternoonof the feast to cut down the "first sheaf," and to reckon Pentecost as did their opponents. (p. 220, ch. 15,

Sketches of Jewish Social Life)

It is almost certain that the Sadducean High Priest Caiaphas did not wave the sheaf offering on the Sunday morning after

Yeshua first appeared to his disciples. History shows that, whatever his personal feelings about Pentecost were, he was forced

for political reasons to present the wave sheaf offering at the same time the majority of the nation thought it should be done:

the morning of Friday, Nisan 16.

Now let's look at I Corinthians 15:20, which Sunday/Monday Pentecost factions say also proves Messiah was the wave sheaf:

I CORINTHIANS 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits [aparche] of

those who have fallen asleep. (NKJV)

The Greek word aparche translated "firstfruits" above is singular, not plural. Yeshua was the "firstfruit," not the "firstfruits" as

the verse implies. This distinction will become important as we understand more fully what the wave sheaf offering really

consisted of. Let's look at a detailed description of the wave sheaf offering as described by Alfred Edersheim:

. . . They [delegates from the Sanhedrin] cut down barley to the amount of one ephah, or ten omers, or threeseahs, which is equal to about three pecks and three pints of our English measure. The ears were brought

into the Court of the Temple, and thrashed out with canes or stalks, so as not to injure the corn; then'parched' on a pan perforated with holes, so that each grain might be touched by the fire, and finallyexposed to the wind. The corn thus prepared was ground in a barley mill, which left the hulls whole.According to some, the flour was always successfully passed through thirteen sieves, each closer than theother. The statement of a rival authority, however, seems more rational - that it was only done till the flour

was sufficiently fine (Men. vi. 6, 7), which was ascertained by one of the 'Gizbarim' (treasurers) plunging



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pentecost: sunday, monday, or sivan 6?

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