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Subject:  THE START OF SHABBAT
Date:     Thu, 5 Dec 1996 11:30:21 +0000
From:     heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Reply-To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
To:       "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>


From:      "WilheImWolfaardt" <woif0ass@sprintlink.co.za>
To:        "Rav Yehoshua M. Otniel - c/o Hebraic Roots" <heb_roots_chr@geocities
Cc:        "Rav Yehoshua M. Otniel - c/o Hebraic Roots" <heb_roots_chr@geocities
Subject:   THE START OF SHABBAT


Shalom Rav Othniel

Herewith included an article about the historical background of when a day
commences. This subject has been under discussion for many decades. Please
give me your views on the content. Please don't be hasty in your reply. I
know you are very busy. Is there any historical background on this
"controversy" in the Taimud? If so, where?

Shalom

Ya'acov

SHABBOT - WHEN DOES IT START?

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the possibility that a day starts
in the morning, rather than in the evening, as commonly believed by all
those keeping the Shabbat and other feast days.

This assesment of starting a day is in contrast to the way the Jewish
people keep the Shabbat. It is common knowledge that the Shabbat begins in
the evening, at the going down of the sun on the 6th day of the week.

>From the Anchor Bible Dictionary, by D.N. Freedman, Volume I, I found the
following under CALENDARS, THE DAY, page 814. "The word yôm may be employed
to express the general sense of 'time', but it was regularly used to refer
to 'day' the stricter senses of a period of light and darkness or the time
of light alone. In the Hebrew Bible one meets various terms for different
parts of the day: sahar (dawn); boqer (morning); sohorayim (noon); nesep
(twilight); 'ereb (evening); laylâ (night); and hasî laylâ (midnight)
(e.g., Exod 14:24; Judg 7:19; I Sam 11:11; Lam 2:19; Matt 14:25; Mark
13:35), and Matt 20:1-16 and John 11:9 indicate that the daytime was
divided into 12 hours.

"Scholars have debated but not definitively settled the issue of when the
day was thought to begin at various times in biblical history. Before
examining the "evidence", one should be aware that casual references to
'day and night' and 'night and day' should not be equated with official
calendrical statements. R. de Vaux, for one, has maintained (Anc. Isr) that
before the Exile the day was regarded as beginning in the morning while
later the evening was considered the point when it began. " After referring
to day-night and night-day passages in Scripture, they continue by saying,
"A sounder approach is to examine passages which treat the issue more
officially. All of them, as it happens, deal with cultic (religious)
affairs. If there ever was an official, secular position regarding the
inception of the day, the sources do not divulge it. (1) Exod. 12:6,8,10,18
indicate that the rituals of pass over and unleavened bread are to begin the
evening of 1/14 (that is, month I, day 14) and conclude the evening 1/21.
(2) Lev. 23:32 mandates that the day of atonement is to be observed 'on the
ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall
you keep your Sabbath.' It is evident that the command envisages an
evening-evening day, but the underlying calendar (the day of atonement is
supposed to be 7/10 [23:27; cf. 16:29] ) may have followed a morning-morning
sequence." They then continue with passages that may imply that a day
started with evening, and some passages that indicate that a day started in
the morning.

Encyclopaedia Biblica, by T.K. Cheyne, Volume I, page 1035 under DAY, has
the following to say, "Among the ancient the day was reckoned in a great
variety of ways." He then refers to some nations starting the day in the
morning, and other in the evening. He continues, "'From dawn to dark' (a
luce ad tenebras) was the ancient and ordinary meaning of a day among the
Israelites; night, as being the time 'when no man can work' (Jn 9:4),
might, it was considered, be left out of account altogether, or, at all
events, as being the evident complement of the 'day' and involved in it,
did not require explicit mention. Thus the word 'day' came to have twofold
meaning: at the one time signifying the period from sunrise to sunset; at
another including day's inseparable accompaniment, the night, and embracing
the whole period from one sunrise to the next. Only in cases where the
contrast had to be brought out, or there was risk of ambiguity, was it
necessary to name the night expressly, as, for example, in Gen. 7:4,12;
31:39." He later continues by saying, "The Israelites regarded the morning
as the beginning of the day; in the evening the day 'declined' or 'went
down', and until the new day (morning) broke it was necessary to 'tarry all
night' (cp Judg. 19:6-9 and the series in Nu. 11:32, 'all that day and all
the night and all the next day'). Not till post-exilic times do we find
traces of a new mode of reckoning which makes day begin at sunset and
continue till the sunset following." He then refers to some passages
illustrating this change of reckoning by the Jews. Continuing he says, "In
connection with this later (evening to evening) Jewish custom one has to
remember the importance which the new moon (visible only in the evening)
had for the Israelites in the determination of their feasts, and it must
not be forgotten that other ancient peoples who observed lunar divisions of
time (Athenians, Gauls, Germans) also began their day with evening. All the
same, it is undeniably a somewhat unnatural mode of reckoning, and as far
as Israel is concerned can have come into use when it was desired to fix
times with legal and uniform precision for the nation at large."

It is important to notice the reversed reckoning, 'night and day' by the
prophet Yirmeyahu, in 14:17. Previously, before the exile we read in Deut.
28:66, of 'day and night'. This falls into place with the general concept
that the mode of reckoning was changed from day and night, before the
exile, to night and day after the exile. Or from morning to morning before
the exile, to evening to evening after the exile.

>From The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary of the Bible, by C.M. Laymen,
page 3, regarding the creation, specifically concerning Gen. 1:4,5, we
read, "The most obvious sign of order is the gift of light and its daily
separation from the darkness. (Elohim's mastership) is expressed further in
his naming of his works. The one day seems to be reckoned from morning to
morning; i.e. (Elohim) works all day till evening and begins his work again
the next morning."

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopaedia of the Bible, by M.C. Tenney, Volume
2, under DAY, says, "The concept of a legal or civil day, the period
between two successive sun risings, goes back to the creation story (Gen.
1:14,19) and is found throughout the Bible."

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, by G.A. Buttrick, under DAY,
says, "There are three principal uses of the term: (a) The time of
daylight, from sunrise to sunset, as contrasted to NIGHT. The day in this
sense was divided into morning, noon and evening." He carries on by saying,
"(b) The civil day, a space of twenty four hours, extending from sunrise to
sunrise or sunset to sunset. " And even later, "It would appear that the
early Hebrews reckoned the civil day from one dawn to the next, as would
naturally follow from its simplest meaning ... Gradually, however, they
began to count from sunset to sunset ... "

U. Cassuto, in his Commentary on Genesis I, (English edition in 1961),
says, "There only exists one time standard in the whole period covered by
the Bible, i.e., the one taking the morning as the beginning of the day,
'but in regard to the festivals and appointed times, the Torah ordains that
they shall be observed also on the night of the preceding day.'"

In his DOES THE DAY BEGIN IN THE EVENING OR MORNING?, of H.R. Stroes, from
the Vetus Testamentum, published by 'International organisation for the
study of the Old  Testament',  Volume 16, says on page 474 regarding Gen.
1:5, "... I do not deny that his (B Jacob, who wrote, 'Der Abend ist also
nicht der Anfang der Nacht, sondern das Ende des Tage'") arguments are
nevertheless very strong, even so strong that, considering Gen. 1:5 in
itself, it is justified, in my opinion, to conclude that the morning theory
(a day stretching from morning to morning) is the most obvious thing ...."
He later continues to say, "We have come to the conclusion with regard to
the pre-exilic civil texts that in many cases both views (morning-morning
and evening-evening) are possible but the tendency is toward the morning
theory." However, Stroes is very biased against the "morning-morning"
theory. He very often also refers to "my point of view".

An earlier thesis written was THE BEGINNING OF THE JEWISH DAY, by P.J.
Heawood, published in "The Jewish Quarterly Review", Volume 36 of 1945/46,
by The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning. Extracts from his
thesis reads, "Another 0.T. passage often referred to is Lev. 23:32 'From
evening unto evening shall ye keep your Sabbath'; it is sometimes ignored
that this has nothing to do with the weekly Sabbath, but is concerned with
the very special ceremonies and restrictions of the Great Day of Atonement,
Tisri 9-10. If it is lightly said, *no doubt the weekly Sabbath followed
the same rule,' it must be remembered that the weekly Sabbath was a joyful
festival, while the other was the most penitential occasion in the whole
year - a day for a man to afflict his soul."

Dr. Solomon Zeitlin, of Dropsie College, wrote THE BEGINNING OF THE JEWISH
DAY DURING THE SECOND COMMONWEALTH. This was also published in the same
"Jewish Quarterly Review". He starts off by criticising Heawood's thesis,
by saying, "Professor Heawood to bolster up his theory, brings together
passages from the Pentateuch and the Talmud. He ignores the great
difference in time between the periods of the Bible and of the Talmud. The
Jews had undergone vast development in their attitude towards religion and
hence, in their customs since the biblical period.
To ascertain when the Jewish day began we must clear up various matters
about the Jewish calendar. If the calendar was solar, the day began with
the dawn; the year began with the Spring or after the Winter equinox. If
the calendar was lunar, the day began either when the sun set or when the
stars became visible.

"The calendar used in the Pentateuch was solar, as I had occasion elsewhere
to demonstrate. Thus the day began with the morning. In the Pentateuch the
word 'morning' always preceded the word 'evening', as in Gen. 8:23; Lev.
8:35; Num. 9:21; Dent. 28:67. Some scholars who held that the calendar in
the Bible was lunar support their opinion by the verse of Gen. 1:5: 'And
the morning and the evening were the first day' (RV), 'and there was
evening  and there was morning one day' (JPS). From this verse they
conclude that the evening was first and was followed by the morning. The
words however should be translated; when the sun set and the sun arose
constituted the first day; i.e. the time from sunrise to sunrise completed
one day. This I believe is clear from the passage in the Pentateuch.  The
Book of Genesis says that first there was darkness and then that light came
when (Elohim) said: 'Let there be light.' We are told that (Elohim) divided
the light from  the darkness and called the light day and the darkness
night. When the light which (Elohim) created went down, and it became dark,
and then when the dawn arose, a full day was completed. Thus, the day
really began with the light and lasted until the following dawn.

"Those who hold that the Jewish day during the biblical period began with
the evening support their views with the words of Lev. 23:32: These words
are not to be interpreted to mean that the calendar used in the Bible
started the day with the evening, but that (Elohim) had ordained that the
Israelites should fast on the ninth and tenth days of the seventh month, so
that the Fast of Atonement actually consisted of two parts of consecutive
days.

"After the Restoration when the Jewish calendar was changed from solar to
lunar-solar, that is the year was reckoned according to the sun and the
months were calculated according to the moon, the time of beginning of the
year and of the beginning of the day also was changed. In the biblical
period the Jewish year began with the Spring and the day began with the
morning. In the second Commonwealth when the calendar became lunar-solar,
the year began with autumn and the day began with the sunset. Thus, while
in the Pentateuch the word 'day' preceded the word 'night', in the
post-biblical literature the word 'night' preceded the word 'day', as in
the book of Judith where we are told that Judith said to Holofernes that
she served (Elohim) 'night and day.' In the tannaitic literature the
evening preceded the day. We must make clear however, that in the Temple
the day was reckoned according to the calendar. The Temple was opened
during the day and closed during the night. The services began in the
morning and were finished by evening. Thus, the day of the Temple consisted
of only half a calendar day, i.e. from sunrise to sunset." He ends off by
saying, "The day during the Second Commonwealth began with the evening. " By
"Second Commonwealth" he means "post-exilic commonwealth."

Ail authoritative scholars are in agreement that the beginning of the day
was at dawn before Israel went into exile, and that they started a day at
evening after they returned from exile. They are also in agreement that the
day started in the morning during creation. The change of the commencement
of a day happened during or soon after Israel's captivity.

If we look at creation, we read in  Gen. 1:1-5, "In the beginning Elohim
created the heavens and the earth. And the earth came to be formless and
empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim
was moving on the face of the waters. And Elohim said, 'Let light come to
be,' and light came to be. And Elohim saw the light, that it was good. And
Elohim saw the light, that it was good. And Elohim separated the light from
the darkness. And Elohim called the light 'day' and the darkness He called
'night'. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the
first day."

First created here, was light. This was followed by the transition from day
to night, and then the transition from night to day. The concept of it
'came to be evening,' and it 'came to be morning,' were these transitions
from day to night, and from night to day. The word evening used here, in
Hebrew is 'ereb', (Strong's # 6153) which means dusk, derived from the
Hebrew word 'arab', (# 6150) which means to grow dusky at sundown. The word
morning used here, in Hebrew is 'boqer', (# 1242), which means dawn or the
break of day, derived from the Hebrew word 'baqar', (# 1239) which means to
break forth.

Gen. 1:31, 2:1, "And Elohim saw  all that He had made, and see, it was very
good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the sixth
day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array."

The physical creation of touchables were only regarded as being complete,
after the sixth complete day. Then the text continues about the 'Shabbat.'

Gen. 2:2, "And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had
done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.
And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He
rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had done."

Exod. 16:5, "And it shall be that on the sixth day that they shall prepare
what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily."

The sixth day was the day of preparation for the Shabbat.

Exod. 16:22,23, "And it  came to be, on the sixth day, that they gathered
twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the
congregation came and told Mosheh. And he said to them, "This is what YHWH
has said, 'Tomorrow is a rest, a Shabbat set-apart to YHWH. That which you
bake, bake; and that which you boil, boil. And lay up for yourselves ail
that is left over, to keep until morning.'"

The Hebrew word for morrow is 'machar', (# 4279) which means deferred. The
Hebrew word for morning is again the word 'boqer', meaning the breaking of
day.

2 Mosh. (Exod.) 16:25, "Eat it today, for today is a Shabbat to YHWH, today
you do not find it in the field. " This text needs no explanation to confirm
what time of day it occurred.

The Hebrew word for this day, is 'yôm', (# 3117) which means to be hot,
with reference to the warm hours of the day. The word can also mean a 24
hour day. This Hebrew word 'yôm' is also used for the days of creation,
'the first day', 'the second day' etc.

The purpose of YHWH's method of providing manna and quails to the people,
was to teach them the keeping of the Shabbat. On the sixth day they were
told to prepare their food and leave what is left over for the morning of
Shabbat. On the morning of Shabbat, they were told 'today is a Shabbat to
YHWH.' This was not told to them the previous evening, why? Did the Shabbot
start at sunset, or the next morning?
 

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