A Calendar Bias for Biblical Time
(Revised 2021)

By: Shawn Richardson

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Section 3:

BIBLICAL DAYS

We are all probably aware of our calendar bias when it comes to days on a calendar. Here is where we break out our stopwatches, measuring the passing of time in hours, minutes, and seconds. For the purposes of a physical calendar, we have been conditioned to visualize each square representing a fixed 24-hour period. We transition from one day to the next starting at midnight, or 12 a.m. (or 12 ante meridiem, meaning "before midday").

Most may realize, if they've ever given it any thought, that the Bible never references days in this manner. This is because Adam, Moses or any of the disciples never had access to a Rolex or a smart watch to wear on their wrists. The modern clock, providing a more precise mathematical and universal time for all, was not invented until the sixteenth century. Prior to this, as we've already discussed, time for the day was measured directly using the movement of the sun. Even though man's intellect has increased over time, it does not mean that Yehovah, the God of the universe that grants man wisdom, intended for us to rely solely on man-made tools. His timepiece is never presented within scripture as mathematical measurements, nor did He establish any rules such as time zone boundaries and postponing time like we do for daylight savings. So, how did Adam and Moses constitute a Biblical Day?

If we remember Genesis 1, during the six days of creation, each day consisted of an evening (night) and a morning (day). Genesis 1:3-5[1] states:

    "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." {Underlined emphasis added}

As a side note, some will take this verse as referring to the creation of the Messiah Jesus (Yeshua), who referred to Himself as the "light of the world" in John 8:12. However, this idea is debunked by John who also explains in chapter 1 of his gospel that this light was created by the Messiah Himself:

    "In the beginning was the Word (Yeshua/Logos), and the Word (Yeshua/Logos) was with God (Yehovah/Theon), and the Word (Yeshua/Logos) was God (Elohim/Theos). He (referring to Yeshua/Logos) was in the beginning with God (Yehovah/Theon). All things were made through Him (referring to Yeshua/Logos), and without Him (referring to Yeshua/Logos) nothing was made that was made." {Emphasis added}

Yes, Yeshua Himself was the Creator in Genesis 1, a feat He could only accomplish, of course, through the power of the Heavenly Father, Yehovah. He confirms this in Mark 5:10 where Yeshua says:

    "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." {Emphasis added}

It's unlikely Yeshua would have created Himself. In either case, it wasn't until the Fourth Day of Genesis 1 that the motions of the sun and moon were ordained (or set) by the Creator - meaning the first three days may never have been anywhere near the 24-hour period of length as we observe days to be today.

As we touched upon earlier, Joshua 10:12-13 tells us the story of Joshua's Long Day, where Yehovah halted both the movements of the sun and moon to assist them in their battle against the Amorites at Gibeon, doubling the length of the day. This rare event should serve as a witness to us that our God does not measure time in fixed mathematical formulas or with the watches we wear on our wrists. Rather He controls the ordained signs of Genesis 1:14. As observers of those signs, we can be confident marking the passage of His time by viewing them and knowing they are of God - regardless of how long our watches indicate it takes for them to complete their expected trajectories within the sky.

Start of the Day

So, exactly when does the Biblical Day begin? Many may presuppose their calendar bias here believing it still begins at midnight (or at least the middle of the night). If you know of someone or are at all familiar with the weekly Sabbath, a day Yehovah commands for us to do no work (Exodus 20:8-11), you will find most begin that Sabbath day rest at sundown on Fridays until sundown on Saturdays. Although most Biblical scholars agree that the Bible measures full days from sundown-to-sundown, let's first look at whether there may be some other possibilities.

There are arguments that the Biblical Day begins when the sun rises early in the morning. This concept is very similar to the modern Zoroastrian Calendar that is also believed to have originated from Babylonia[71]. The greatest support for this theory likely comes from the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke that describe the crucifixion of Jesus beginning at the third hour (Mark 15:25), which would take place at approximately 9am on our modern clocks - three hours after sunrise (or as the sun is half way up in the sky). Darkness then covered the land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44), from around noon to 3pm (or when the sun is ordinarily directly overhead and drops half way down in the sky). His death then happened at the end of that ninth hour. While it was true that Jews counted hours of the day starting with the rising of the sun in that historical period, this was only done in measuring the day-time portion of the full day. At night, time was generally measured in 3-4 hour segments, cumulatively referred to as night watches (Luke 12:38), which lasted throughout the night-time portion of a given full day. It could also refer to the Romans method of telling time that, historically, also used two 12-hour systems to measure both the daytime and nighttime portions in a similar manner[68]. However, since Genesis 1 includes both one daytime and one nighttime portion, the ultimate question here would be: which comes first, the daytime or nighttime?

There are several examples in scripture that describe the day as starting and ending when the sun goes down. For example, Exodus 22:26[1] states:

    "If you ever take your neighbor's garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down." {Underlined emphasis added}

Leviticus 22 describes several scenarios, starting in verse 4, where one would be considered ceremoniously unclean and unable to partake in offerings if they touched a leper or corpse. To be considered cleaned, it was required to bathe and wait until after the sun goes down. Verse 7-8 states:

    "And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, because it is his food. Whatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am the LORD." {Underlined emphasis added}

This infers that if one were to touch a corpse after the sun had already gone down, they would have to bathe and wait until after the following sundown.

Other examples of the going down of the sun include Deuteronomy 16:6, 24:13, Joshua 10:27, Judges 14:18, II Samuel 2:24, 3:35, I Kings 22:36, II Chronicles 18:34, Ecclesiastes 1:5, Jeremiah 15:9 and Daniel 6:14.

Clearly, Yehovah understands the concept that the sun doesn't go downward, as it is the earth that moves in relation to the sun. Yet it undoubtedly is the sun itself that scripture uses. Yet our bias prefers the use of mathematics over observation of Yehovah's signs, believing you must calculate theoretical, conceptual events that are unseen (or invisible). For example, they may argue that the sun continues to go down after it disappears behind the horizon, even though we cannot see it. In other words, the sun only stops going downward when it is at its lowest point below our feet with the earth between us and the sun and just before it begins its turn back upward again - this moment is referred to as Solar Midnight. This moment is the exact opposite of High Noon, as we have already discussed. Understanding this concept, however, requires us to have a fuller understanding of the celestial movements of the sun in relation to the Earth in all their complexity, which simply are not described within scripture. If it were Yehovah's intention for us to create and rely upon pure mathematical calendars, then why would time be described so consistently from the perspective of an onlooker right here on earth rather than providing mathematical blueprints and rules?

Evenings

So now that we know the Bible begins the day with the evening, followed by the day, let's determine when evening takes place. You may have seen references to the end of the day as being "between the evenings," or ben ha arbayim. The word evening involves another bias we often apply with our modern reference to the general time that takes place between sundown and midnight. It's important to note that there is more than one time of the day in scripture that is referred to as evening (or "even" as the King James Version phrases it), and it doesn't always mean nighttime. Rather, evening often refers to the late afternoon portion prior to sundown, depending on the context. When given in the plural sense, such as "between the evenings," the first evening generally takes place an hour or more before the sun goes down, whereas the second evening occurs at sundown. An example of this can be derived from Deuteronomy 23:11[1] that says:

    "But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp." {Underlined emphasis added}

Here, evening is described as the point prior to the sun setting when a person should wash with water between evening and sundown. This is also the time of day when the evening sacrifices were made at the altar of the temple - one of two daily sacrifices to be given both in the morning and in the evening (or late afternoon described above) as commanded in Exodus 29:38-42, Leviticus 1:1-17 and Numbers 28:1-5. Another scripture also describes evening taking place prior to sundown in Joshua 8:29[1]:

    "And the king of Ai hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree." {Underlined emphasis added}

At first, it seems the evening described here took place right at sundown. But it was Joshua's command that they remove the corpse as soon as (just before) the sun was down. Joshua was following the Torah's instruction in Deuteronomy 21:22-23 regarding the handling of dead bodies of those put to death to be buried on that same day:

    "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." {Underlined emphasis added}

Leviticus 23:32, on the other hand, describes observing the Day of Atonement (the 10th day of the seventh month according to verse 26), starting from the ninth day of the month "at evening, from even until even". This can be confusing to us English readers when we see this. If we look closely, though, we can see this verse uses the singular evening. This means the Day of Atonement should be observed starting on the ninth day at sundown, from sundown to sundown - or the entire tenth day of the month. This verse clarifies the context of evening here to mean the evening that begins the day (or sundown) and not the one that begins in the late afternoon when the daily sacrifices begin.

Twilight

There is an even more specific time of the evening, just after the sun goes down and before total darkness, which is referred to as dusk or twilight. This moment, in Hebrew, is referred to as tzeit hakochavim. Technically, it refers to the moment when a minimum of three stars can be seen in the night sky. If you will remember, Genesis 1:14-19 gave us three signs that are used in the Biblical Calendar - the sun, moon and stars. We are also given three functions that these signs provide. The first rules over the day - the sun would clearly play that role here. Although the moon can be seen during the day at various phases, it certainly does not overpower the sun's light. The second and third signs fill the two remaining requirements: to rule over the night and to separate the day from the night. Since the moon can be seen at all times of the day depending on where it is in its cycle, it obviously does not separate the day from the night. However, when visible in the night sky, the moon does dominate as being the more powerful light source. Therefore, the moon rules over the night and the stars serve to separate the day from the night. Stars only appear to an observer starting at this time of night, in the short interval of time after the sun goes down. While the specific rule of three stars is not mentioned in scripture, it fits their role (and it does mention stars in plural form).

A very specific example of the Biblical Day is given in Nehemiah 13:15- 22 where the Weekly Sabbath is clearly described in verses 17 and 18 as being profaned, conducting business of selling goods that was not allowed on the Sabbath. Verse 19[1] says:

    "So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day" {Underlined emphasis added}

We see here the gates were closed 'as it began to be dark'. This usually happens after the sun goes down. The story continues in verses 20-21[1]:

    "Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I warned them, and said to them, "Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!" From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath." {Underlined emphasis added}

We see here that the Sabbath began and included the night-time portion when the merchants would camp out after the gates had closed and after the setting of the sun where they waited overnight.

These examples show the Biblical Day beginning right after sundown. Combined with Genesis 1:14, which gives us the sign of the stars (more than one) signaling the division of day from night, we can then specify - using scripture - that the Biblical Day is from twilight-to-twilight. This fulfills the role of the stars to divide days, starting when the sun's light no longer dominates the sky, and includes both evenings and mornings.

There aren't too many controversies over this method for determining the Biblical Day, with most keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath beginning right at sundown - likely because any differences in opinion, such as sunset (civil, nautical, or astronomical) usually only span a matter of a few minutes. While this can be frustrating to those looking for a very specific point to base their mathematical measurements, you will find that scientific precision is not emphasized in the Bible - even more reason to overcome our bias toward relying on mathematics.

Our Developing Bias

Some will still find arguments against observing the sun or stars using extreme outliers, such as: how can you observe the Sabbath when you're above the Arctic Circle or below the Antarctic Circle where days are irregular, and the sun doesn't shine for months at a time? This argument used to be more theoretical, but in our modern times many do find themselves in such a predicament where they experience a long polar night. In most of these cases, man-made tools are needed as a reference, such as watches, to determine the time of day. Many will mark the last known time the sun dipped below the horizon prior to the long polar night and use this as a reference point to begin and end each day until the sun can be seen again. But does this mean observing the signs given to us in the Bible are somehow not valid? Of course not! Sometimes, we are forced to use good old common sense.

For example, when storm clouds fill the sky and the sun or stars cannot be seen, we may have to determine the start of the Biblical Day using alternative methods - including mathematics. If we are actively practicing observing His signs, we will become accustomed to the approximate time these events should occur. But the visible ordained signs of Yehovah should always trump any other method that may be used, even if they are only temporarily used.

There are other man-made traditions for starting the Biblical Day given by Orthodox Jews who begin the Sabbath by lighting a Shabbat candle (or lamp) precisely 18 minutes before the sun goes down. Alternatively, they may light the candle when the sun is no longer seen by an observer on the treetops. Certainly, these are rules never given in scripture. Rather, they are found in the Talmud (for Shabbat 35b), which also add definitions for the size of stars to be seen to fulfill the moment of twilight - they had to be medium stars, not too large and not too small.

As we discussed in the introduction, directly observing the sun to determine days used to be a very common practice, historically, until very recently. Noon was marked at High Noon when the sun was directly overhead and, in turn, Midnight marked the time when the moon would have been directly below one's feet, sight unseen. Other developments, such as the telegraph, also helped play a role in standardizing time and bringing everyone into unity, albeit completely disassociated from the direct celestial movement of the sun in the sky - this is our clock bias.

In contrast, Biblical Days remain relative based on differences in geography and seasonal positioning of the celestial objects. This difference becomes apparent based on the moment the Weekly Sabbath begins for different individuals at varying times around the world - even for those located in the same time zone. Due to the curvature of the earth and its axis being tilted in relation to the sun as the earth completes its orbit, one person may observe the Sabbath (sundown) up to an hour earlier (or more, in some cases) than the other. This is in direct contrast to our Clock Bias that is based on average mathematical timetables that are disconnected from the reality one would observe when looking to the sun's trajectory directly.

Let's consider for a moment a hypothetical scneario. If one desired to observe the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and their employer asks them to always work the core business hours of Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm. This can be an issue in the winter as the sun often goes down prior to 5pm in most locations. This person may decide, for convenience's sake and to please their employer, that they will self-appoint the weekly Sabbath to be observed 6pm-to-6pm, ignoring when the sun goes down (relying on one's clock bias since observation is so annoyingly inconsistent with others using clocks throughout the year). They may even convince themselves that they're still making an honest attempt to keep Yehovah's Sabbath. After all, they could keep a full day's sabbatical rest for 24-hours, it just happens to extend into the next Biblical day slightly after sundown. Possibly 6pm could be considered the average time the sun goes down throughout the year and the consistency of being at 6pm would be mathematically predicted by others who may work in other locations outside of the office.

Of course, now you have allowed a man-made concept to define the Biblical Day. This type of negotiation of giving into our clock bias sets a bad precedent for recognizing His timepiece. Remember Deuteronomy 12:32 that says[1]:

    "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."" {Underlined emphasis added}

Most who have kept Yehovah's Sabbath have accepted and grasped the Biblical concept of observing the sun (and possibly the stars) and not relying solely on a standardized timetable or a calculated average like 6pm-to-6pm, to know when it should begin. In fact, the verse above would indicate such a practice as being sinful and contrary to Yehovah - especially when they know better.

Many have been raised and taught, as a child, the simple concept of observation. If one is new to keeping the Sabbath, however, it can take some time to make the adjustment for thinking of days differently than midnight-to-midnight on our clocks. While there are mathematical tools that can assist us in knowing what time the sun goes down in our local area, it's still an approximation and would not account for visibly acknowledging if any stars are in the sky. In either case, if one method differs from the other, it is ultimately the sun & stars that we should observe and comply with according to scripture, not man-made concepts based on calculations, rules, or average timetables. When we actively observe Yehovah's signs regularly to begin the Biblical Day, it can be a first step for many in overcoming their calendar bias and the lessons learned from this practice are foundational as we look further into the remaining components of the Biblical Calendar.

Summary of the Biblical Day

  • The Biblical Day begins at sundown and ends at the next sundown when it's light no longer dominates the sky.
  • The day consists of both a daytime and nighttime portion.
  • Observing multiple stars (or twilight) is the moment dividing the day from night, marking the start of the Biblical Day.
  • The Biblical Day is determined through direct observation of the sun and stars, rather than exact, mathematical measurements.
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© 2010, 2024 K. Shawn Richardson

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