Relevant work 1 Chapter 7

7 – The Preciseness of Time in the Biblical calendar and the Search for temporal
preciseness in some pagan calendars
J. D. Douglas asserts that the Hebrews adopted a calendar structured in lunar
months. And, for being farmers, they also divided the calendar in seasons of the year
(DOUGLAS, 1995, p.235). Generally, it is said that the Judaic month had from twentynine to thirty days, and the Jewish people had to add a month (they repeated the sixth
or twelfth month) to take out the difference between the lunar (354 days) and the solar
(365 days) calendar. Herodotus (apud DOUGLAS, 1995, p. 235) assured that the
Hebrews, when they have been in Egypt, they adapted to the Egyptian calendar. Such
calendar was divided in twelve months of 30 days (360 days) and five additional days
making a total of 365 days. This year was divided in three seasons: inundation, winter
(or receding of water) and summer (or lack of water) (PÓVOA, 1982, p.23). The
Egyptian classification of three climatic seasons differs from some old calendars. The
Sumerians observed the universe without any special technique. They chose some
celestial corpus and followed or tracked them restlessly.1 That is how they created, for
example, the calendar.
According to historians, the lunar calendar would have its start with the Sumerians.
They were mainly farmers and as such their calendar should reflect that reality.
Generally, seasons in agricultural calendars were classified as follows: dry season
(April-September), rain season (October-March), seeding season (NovemberDecember) and harvesting season (April-June).2 The Sumerians divided their calendar
in twelve parts of thirty days. The months were called Periods. These periods
emphasized activities such as burns, seeding, harvesting, brick-making, religious
rituals, cattle raising, among others.3 However, the Sumerian calendar (360 days) and
its periods seemed delayed in relation to the solar cycle. Looking to adjust the lunar
cycle with the solar one, the Sumerians introduced days (it is not said how many,
maybe 30) in their calendar. The Acadians reformulated the Sumerian calendar by
introducing twenty-four months in it. This total of months relates to the addition of
other daily activities not mentioned by Sumerians such as sheep shearing.4 The
Egyptians had a twelve month calendar with three seasons that had four months. The
first season (Inundation) marked the beginning of the year. This beginning was marked
by the appearance of the star Sothis. When this start appeared in cosmos, the Egyptians
knew the first season of the year had begun – Inundation. This season was
characterized by the manifestation of rain and inundations (or floods). In terms of
Western calendar, this season happened in the months from July to October. When
waters evaporated, in November, it was the beginning of the Seeding season or time to
seed. This season was ongoing until February and it was substituted by Harvesting.
This season happened in the months from March to June, and was characterized by the
harvest of the products planted during the seeding.5
1
See <http://www.calendario.cnt.br/cal_diversos.htm> (calendars)
See <http://www.calendario.cnt.br/cal_judaico.htm> (Judaic calendar)
3
See <http://www.calendario.cnt.br/cal_diversos.htm> (calendars)
4
See <http://www.calendario.cnt.br/cal_diversos.htm> (calendars)
5
Ver <http://www.klepsidra.net/klepsidra16/egito-1.htm> (Egypt)
2
1
Besides, the civil year with 365 days is a quarter of day smaller than the solar year
(365d 5h 48min 46s). Did the Hebrews accept the Egyptian calendar entirely? No!
They did not, because the Hebrews had a twelve-month annual calendar. That is
confirmed by the narration in Gn 8:4-13. It is informed by the Bible that Noah’s ark
came to rest on the mountains of Ararat on the seventh month (Ge 8:4). On the tenth
month, the tops of the mountains became visible (Ge 8:5). 40 days later, Noah opened
a window on the ark (Ge 8:6). Passing that time, on the eleventh and twelfth months,
the facts accounted in Ge 8:7-12 happened. And by the first day of the first month, the
waters had dried up from the earth (Ge 8:13). Well, the passages above confirm that
the Hebrew year had twelve months. The Hebrew meaning of the word year (shãnâ)
relates to the change or sequence of the year’s seasons. These occur, according to Ge
1:14, in strict obedience to the movement the Earth makes around the Sun.
Since ancient times, the Hebrews (later Jews or Israelis) didn’t only have words to
define climatic seasons, but also had season’s characteristics that were described like
the ones of modern science. From our four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and
winter), the Hebrews had words correspondent to three of them. In the Bible, there is a
Hebrew word (kaitz) for summer.6 Therefore, the Hebrews knew the word “summer”
before the Romans named this season Veranum (see discussion ahead). In the Bible,
there is also the Hebrew word (chöref) for winter.7 Likewise, the Hebrews knew the
word “winter” way before the Romans named this season Hybernus (see discussion
ahead). In the Bible, there is a Hebrew word (aviv) for spring.8 The Hebrews also knew
the word “spring” before the Romans named it as Primo Vere (see discussion ahead).
In modern Hebrew, there is the word autumn or stav (HATZAMRI & MOSEHATZAMRI, 2000, p.206; ZLOCHEUSKY, 1985, p.105). However, this word is not
in the Bible (Old and New Testaments). The season autumn is defined by the Bible as
harvest (HATZAMRI & MOSE-HATZAMRI, 2000, p.57) or katif (ZLOCHEUSKY,
1985, p.37). These are the biblical passages that introduce us to the harvest season (Ex
23:16; 34:22; Jer 51:33; Hos 6:11; Joel 3:13; Jn 4:35) or gathering (Lev 23:39, 40).
Therefore, the execution of the Earth’s movement around the Sun emerges as a
fundamental point for making the Hebrew calendar (Ge 1:14; 8:22; Ps 74:17). In other
words, for Hebrews, the months and seasons couldn’t advance or delay. That way, the
execution of the Earth’s movement around the sun emerges as a fundamental point for
making the Hebrew calendar (Ge 1:14; 8:22; Ps 74:17).
J. D. Douglas states that the Hebrew year first started on the seventh month (Tisri),
i.e., when the harvest season or autumn started (Ge 8:4; Ex 23:16; 34:22; Lev 23:39).
That way, the primitive Hebrew calendar had its start on the seventh month (Tisri) and
finished on the sixth month (elul). Indeed, the primitive Hebrew year started in autumn
and ended by the end of summer. This was the primitive civil calendar of the Hebrews.
Still these days, the Israelis (former Hebrews/Jews) celebrate seventh month’s first day
6
Verses in the Bible that bring the word summer: Ge 8:22; Jer 8:20; 40:12; 48:32; Job 6:17; 24:19; Ps 74:17; Pr 10:5; 26:1; 30:25;
Am 3:15; 8:1; Mal 7:1; Zec 14:8; Mt 24:32; Mk 13:28; Lu 21:30.
7
Verses in the Bible that bring the word winter: Ge 8:22; 2 Sa 23:20; 1 Ch 11:22; Ps 74:17; Pr 20:4; SS 2:11; Isa 18:6; Am 3:15;
Zec 14:8; Mt 24:20; Mk 13:18; Jn 10:22; Ac 27:12; 2 Tm 4:21; Ti 3:12.
8
Verses in the Bible that bring the word spring: 2 Ch 36:10; SS 2:12,13; 7:12; Jer 8:7.
2
as Judaic New Year’s Day (Rosh Hashanah). Such celebration doesn’t match the
change that was made in the Hebrew calendar when God’s people left Egypt (Ex 12:2;
13:4; 23:15; Dt 16:1; Ne 2:1; Est 3:7; Zec 1:7; 7:1). The restructured calendar had its
beginning in the first month (abib ou nisan) and had its end in the twelfth month
(adar). However, many erudites, like J. D. Douglas, affirm that the restructured
calendar for the month nisã was used only in the first-fruit rituals, because the
primitive calendar remained being used for civil purposes (DOUGLAS, 1995, p.235).
If that’s true, the Israelis have a good justification to celebrate the year in the month of
tisri. And that makes us think that in Israel there were two calendars: a religious one
and a civil one. But Est 3:7 and Zec 1:7 clarify that matter. According to the referred
passages, the civil year and the religious one constituted only one period of time, i.e.,
the biblical year started in the month of nisan and ended in the month of adar. Maybe
the survival of the seventh month as beginning of the year could explain itself as the
transgression of Hebrews not to accept the change proposed by God. As a result of
that, most Hebrews celebrate the beginning of the year in the month of tisri. Such event
has its fundament not only by the maintenance of the beginning of the year in tisri, but
also through the incorporation of a thirteenth month to the Babylonian calendar. This
incorporation was made by the rabbi during the exile period in Babylonia. According
to the study entitled “Talmudic Period”, the rabbi Simon Ben Gamaliel propagated in
the Talmud the insertion of thirty days in the Judaic calendar.9
However, the change that God proposed to the calendar inserted the progress of his
Revelation in the history of the world by making it possible to compare the Biblical
Calendar with, for example, the western calendar in a natural basis, i.e., seasons of the
year. The season regimen on Earth is established by earth’s rotating movement and by
the orbital motion of our planet around the Sun. Earth’s rotational axis is bended
around 66,5 degrees in relation to Earth’s orbital plan. And that allows the sunbeams to
hit our planet’s surface, during Earth’s orbital motion, in different angles according to
the different days of the year (PÓVOA, 1982, p.65). That way, December 22nd
determines, on one side, the occurrence of summer in the Southern Hemisphere and, on
the other, the occurrence of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. June 21st expresses the
occurrence of winter in the Southern Hemisphere but, on the other side, the occurrence
of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. March 21st marks, on one side, the beginning
of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere and, on the other, the beginning of spring in the
Northern Hemisphere. And September 23rd determines, on one side, the coming of
spring in the Southern Hemisphere and, on the other side, the coming of autumn in the
Northern Hemisphere. That way, the annual calendars of western nations situated in the
Southern Hemisphere begin and end in summer. And the annual calendars of western
nations situated in the Northern Hemisphere start and end in winter. However, Israel’s
biblical calendar does not follow the same pattern that calendars of Western nations
situated in the Northern Hemisphere do. Israel’s biblical calendar starts in the spring
and ends in winter. And the comparison of Biblical calendar with Earth’s season
9
See <http://www.calendario.cnt.br/cal_judaico.htm> (Judaic calendar)
3
regimen allows us to say that Hebrews have, in fact, adopted, as suggested by
Herodotus – Greek historian from century V b.CE, an annual 365-day civilian calendar.
That way, the biblical calendar has been done through the observation of seasons and
moon phases throughout the year. By the way, the Hebrew word for month (yerah) has
its origin in the word moon (yãreãh).
In fact, the moon was used as a reference sign to the Biblical Calendar. The Bible
proves that the restructured calendar started on the first month (abib ou nisan), and the
first day of that month began in the new moon phase (Nu 28:14; 2 Ki 4:23; 1 Ch 23:31;
Ps 81:3; Isa 1:13; Eze 46:1,3,6; Am 8:5). Therefore, the twelve months of the Biblical
calendar start with the new moon phase. As a sign for the establishment of month, the
adoption of moon phases could produce, according to the erudites, twelve months of
twenty-nine or thirty days (DOUGLAS, 1995, p.235). Given that, the biblical twelve
months were distributed in a way to allow the adequacy/harmonization, on one side, to
the tropical or solar year and, on the other, to the moon phases. According to
Mesopotamian astronomers, in months of thirty days the moon phases happen every
seven and a half days. As moon cycles happen in a regular way, the 14th day of nisan,
for example, is marked by the appearance of full moon. And the visualizing of this is
clarified to us by the understanding of how days were marked by Hebrews. According
to Ge 1:5, the Hebrew day in the Old Testament was characterized by the expressions
“evening and morning”. According to Charles Ryrie, the evening is the initial mark for
the newest method that Jews use to compute the hours of the day (Lev 23:32). This
mark can establish the order of natural events described in Ge 1:5 or just point to the
closure of a temporal cycle (day-night), once that the day ended at evening and evening
ends in the morning. That way, the sentence “evening and morning” determines that
the first day had ended. Besides, Ryrie argues that such expression cannot be
understood as an era, because on the Pentateuch it was written with an ordinal number
and meant a solar day, being measures, nowadays, as 24 hours (The Ryrie Study Bible,
p. 7).
In relation to the Charles Ryrie’s argument, two things can be said. First: Ge 1:5
must be understood as an era. That is because the Sun didn’t exist, since it was created
only in the fourth day (Ge 1:14-19). Such fact makes it impossible to characterize
Earth’s first day as a solar day. Besides, the first day occurred on God’s timing (2 Pe
3:8; Ex 20:6; Ps 25:6; 102:24; 103:17; 105:8) and, therefore, it corresponds to a
thousand-year era. Second: Ge 1:5 reflects a natural fact provoked by Earth’s rotating
movement in face of the light of the explosion that started Earth (see chapter 11), that
is, Earth’s first day, in a short term perspective, was characterized by evening in one
hemisphere and morning in the other (Ge 1:3,4). That’s why in the Bible there is the
expression “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day” (Ge 1:5).
The morning, as an expression of the temporal movement caused by Earth’s rotation
around its own axis, was understood by Hebrews as “from the evening until the
following evening” (Ge 1:5; 28:11; Lev 23:32; I Sa 30:17). This mark could be related
to the cool of the day from Ge 3:8. In this passage, the Bible lets us know that God
walked in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day. The cool of the day is a
phenomenon that happens in the end of the afternoon and is characterized by a breeze
that comes up. Probably, the Lord God visited Adam and Eve in the end of the
4
afternoon and this marked the beginning and end of a day. This day’s mark has been
perpetuated for thousands of years after Adam and Eve. Besides, the referred mark’s
origin could be related to the establishment of Easter (Ex 12:6-14, 18, 42; Dt 16:1, 4,
6). Either way, the correct understanding of the Hebrew day happening from one
evening to the other can only be seen by us when the Hebrew day is compared with the
Western day. For example, Western’s Friday starts by the end of Thursday’s first six
dark hours and ends in the beginning of Saturday’s first six dark hours. But the sixth
day of the Hebrew week starts by the end of fifth day’s afternoon (twilight) and ends in
the beginning of seventh’s day night (twilight). The observance of Hebrew day, such as
establishes in the Old Testament, can also be detected in the New Testament. In the
four New Testament’s gospels there are passages that prove such observance. I quote
as an example the passage in Luke 23:50-56:
Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and
upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from
the Judean tow of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going
to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth
and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It
was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had
come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his
body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But
they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
The passage above clarifies two points. First: it proves the observance of day
marking such as stipulated in the Old Testament, i.e., the day started in the end of an
afternoon or beginning of night and it extended to the next end of an afternoon or
beginning of night. That because Jesus Christ died at 3 hours in the afternoon of the
sixth day, that is, there were still 3 hours to the end of that day and beginning of
another day. Second: the days of the week in biblical months harmonically
incorporated the regular cycles of moon phases. Therefore, the day in which Jesus died
preceded the arrival of full moon. That way, full moon appeared in the hours after
Christ’s crucifixion. In other words, the biblical calendar harmonizes with lunar
phases. However, it is credited to Mesopotamian people the elaboration of a calendar
that is adequate to the moon phases. According to Romildo Póvoa, the Mesopotamian
(or Babylonians) elaborated an extremely precise calendar that has been improved
through time. Besides, they might have created a lunisolar calendar with twelve lunar
months (month of phases). As the month of phases has an approximate duration of
twenty-nine and a half days, the Babylonians used intercalated months of twenty-nine
and thirty days when making the civil calendar. However, such calendar didn’t have
the same solar year duration (365 days). Thereby, the Babylonian civil calendar was
around eleven days shorter than the solar one (PÓVOA, 1982, p. 20-1). And that
difference induced them to create a month in between. With the improvement of
astronomical observations, Babylonian magicians found out that the calendar system
got a delay of approximately thirty days every six revolutions, or years, of the sun. To
solve that, Babylonians decided to include a thirty-day thirtieth month every three
5
years. This month was inserted after the month elul (sixth month on the Babylonian
calendar).10
The deficiency of the Mesopotamian calendar (thirteenth month intercalated) didn’t
represent a problem to the biblical calendar, because this one brought a 365-day
lunisolar religious/civil year. That way, the biblical calendar had already been, since its
start, in complete accordance to nature (seasons of the year and moon phases). That
gives evidence or proves the superiority and concreteness that the biblical calendar
proposed by God has in regard to other lunisolar calendars from many different human
societies. Besides, the biblical calendar was made under the rigidness that seasons of
the year and moon phases have. Due to that, the biblical calendar, on one side,
established the same days (dates) to the seasons of the year and, on the other, it shaped,
in a permanent way, the days of the months in days of the week in the calendar
throughout eras (Ex 12:1-6; Eze 45:18-25; Lu 23:54; Jn 19:14,31). This fact is also
presented by J.D. Douglas in his discussion about days of the week in the Biblical
Calendar (DOUGLAS, 1995, p.179):
Among days of the week, the Sabbath is frequently mentioned. The ‘second-first
Sabbath’ (Lu 6:1, RVMG) is probably a technical tern whose meaning can no
longer be determined with certainty. Friday is ‘the preparation (Gk. paraskeuẽ),
that is, the day before the Sabbath (Gk. prosabbaton)’ (Mk 15:42; cfJn 19:31); ‘the
preparation of the passover’ (Jn 19:14) means ‘Friday of Passover week’ (Gk.
paraskeuẽ tou pascha). The ‘first day of the week’ (Gk. mia sabbatou ou mia tõn
sabbatõn, i.e. one day after the Sabbath) receives a new significance from its being the
resurrection day; cf. (in addition to the resurrection narratives in the Gospels) Ac 20:27; 1
Co 16:2; also ‘the Lord’s day’ (Gk. kyriakẽ hẽmera) in Rv 1:10. In general, the Jewish
calendar in New Testament times (at least before AD 70) followed the Sadducean
reckoning, since it was by that reckoning that the Temple services were regulated. Thus the
day of Pentecost was reckoned as the fiftieth day after the presentation of the first
harvested sheaf of barley, i.e. the fiftieth day (inclusive) from the first Sunday after
Passover (cf. Lev 23:15 f.); hence it always fell on a Sunday, as it does in the Christian
calendar. The Pharisaic reckoning, which became standard after AD 70, interpreted
‘Sabbath’ in Lev 23:15 as the festival day of Unleavened bread and not the weekly
Sabbath; in that case Pentecost always fell on the same day of the month (an important
consideration for those in whose eyes it marked the anniversary of the law-giving) but not
on the same day of the week. Even more important than the minor calendrical differences
between Sadducees and Pharisees was the cleavage between the Sadducees and Pharisees,
on the one hand, and those, on the other hand, who followed the ‘sectarian’ calendar
known from the Book of Jubilees and now also from the Qumran literature. If Jesus and
His disciples followed this ‘sectarian’ calendar, that might explain how they kept the
Passover before His arrest, while the chief priests and their associates did not keep it until
after His crucifixion (Jn 18:28).
The passage above shows three very important points. The first one refers to Jews’
observance as for the marking of day as temporal movement “from the evening until
the following evening” in neotestamentarious times (Mt 26:62; Mk 14:42; Lu 23:56; Jn
10
See <http://www.celendario.cnt.br/cal_diversos.htm> (calendars)
6
19:31). Such day temporal marking still happens in the Judaic and Muslim calendar.
But the day starting at midnight was adopted by the Chinese, Roman and Westerns
(BARSA, 2000, p.308). The second point relates to the existence of three calendars in
neotestamentarious times. According to the passage above, the Sadducees calendar,
which was observed before the year 70 a.CE was characterized by the fixation of days
of the months in days of the week and by the observation of Easter in the 14th of nisan.
But the Pharisee calendar, which became a pattern after the year 70 a.CE, was
characterized by the non-fixation of days of the months in days of the week and by the
celebration of Easter in the 14th of nisan. And the sectarian calendar, used by the
people from Qumran. The third point refers to Douglas assertion that Jesus would have
followed the sectarian calendar. Among the points listed above, the second one is
highly revealing in the matters of Easter celebration and the civil calendar. In Jesus’
time, Sadducees and Pharisees (including Jews) both celebrated Easter on Saturday
(14th of nisan). And that expressed the fixation of the days of the months in days of the
week. But the Pharisee calendar, which became pattern after year 70 a.CE, introduced a
change in Jew calendar. This change incorporated the variation of days of the month in
days of the week.
In fact, who introduced the flexibility in days of the week was Julius Cesar, by
creating a leap year. That way, Douglas affirmation that Hebrews religious parties were
always in the same day of the month, but not in the same day of the week demonstrates
that Jews varied the days of the month in days of the week. And that proves the
incorporation of a leap year introduced by the ram Julius Cesar in the year 46 b.CE
(see discussion ahead). Such incorporation is an entirely true fact because since the
year 63 b.CE the Roman Republic was already present in Jews’ Holy Land. On the
other side, information in Enciclopédia Barsa (Barsa Encyclopedia) tell us the
incorporation, by Jews, of the Julian Calendar, was done in a partial way, i.e., they did
not want Judaic Easter to coincide with the Christian one which is celebrated on
Sunday (BARSA, 2000, p.308). But such justification does not combine with facts. The
reason for this partial incorporation of Julian Calendar by the Jews is not rooted in the
differentiation of days of the week related to Easter’s celebration, since even with the
change made in the year 70 a.CE Easter was still being celebrated in the 14th of nisan,
however, not in the same day of the week. However, the change introduced in the
Pharisees calendar after 70 a.CE is explained by the introduction of leap year as a way
to deny the fixation of biblical calendar as biblical facts, especially those related to
Jesus Christ’s life and work. In other words, the Hebrew calendar was adequate to
Western’s calendar, that is, varying of days of the month in days of the week.
Nevertheless, it is possible to compare the biblical calendar with the Western calendar,
for they are both lunisolar. Such comparison will allow us to visualize, on one side, the
adjustment of moon phases in the biblical calendar as well as in the Western one and,
on the other side, the adjustment/arrangement of months in the civil biblical and
Western year. This comparative study will be held by the Gregorian calendar 2003
analysis and of biblical information concerning the biblical calendar.
As for the arrangement/order of months, the Gregorian calendar displayed seven
months of thirty-one days, four months of thirty days and one month of twenty-eight
days. This arrangement guarantees a year of 365 days. Therefore, this calendar would
7
be, at first, totally adequate to seasons of the year and moon phases. As far as seasons
are concerned, it is possible to say that such calendar has approached the tropical or
solar year (time the Earth takes to complete a lap around the Sun). However, the
addition of a leap year every four years removed the adequacy to seasons of the year
(see discussion ahead). In relation to moon phases, investigation is needed to find out if
they are adequate or not. Many authors (for example, Romildo Póvoa) affirm that
astronomy established the approximate duration of moon phases in twenty-nine and a
half days. And, because of that, the Babylonians created a 354-day civil calendar that
consists of alternating twenty-nine and thirty-day months (PÓVOA, 1982, p.21).
Besides, Enciclopédia Barsa (Barsa Encyclopedia) asserts that, in such month
configuration, the lunar movement is composed of a period that has “29d 12h 44min
2,8s” (BARSA, 2000, p.307). Such movement, according to the referred encyclopedia,
induced the ancients to make mistakes when determining the beginning of months in
the new moon phase. That because moon’s synodic revolution (time – 29d 12h 44min
2,8s – contained between two conjunctions of the moon and the Sun) does not allow
the beginning of new moon (and others in the same hour, because the synodic
revolution does not happen in entire days (BARSA, 2000, p.307). Die to that, the
ancients conventionalized the alternate use of twenty-nine and thirty-day months. As
the lunar month comprehends twenty-nine and a half days, there is the occurrence of
“Blue Moon Phenomenon” (the occurrence of a certain phase two times in one month,
because the 30-day month settles a seven and a half days period to each of the four
moon phases). To avoid such issue, it was added, in a determined moment, one day to
each 30-day month (BARSA, 2000, p.307). In these terms, the lunar day was
composed of 360 days distributed as follows: four twenty-nine day months (116 days),
four thirty day months (120 days) and four thirty-one day months (124 days).
The lunar 360 day year would cause, for being shorter than the solar year, a delay
between the beginning of the year and of seasons. Such dilemma was solved through
the periodic intercalation of a complementary month, starting the lunisolar year
(BARSA, 2000, p.307). Following Babylonians logic, this complementary month
should have had twenty-nine days. That way, the Babylonian lunisolar month had,
from time to time, a 13-month civil year with 389 days. It is said that the Babylonian
calendar was gradually improved. That means to say that such calendar must have been
adopted in Egypt and in the many Middle East cultures. If the historian Herodotus is
right, such calendar would have been improved by the Egyptians, because it is believed
that they created a lunisolar 365-day calendar divided in twelve thirty-day months plus
five additional days. To have such achievement, the Egyptians would have to have
developed a much more advanced astronomy than the Babylonians. In fact, Babylonian
astronomy is considered as the most advanced among every Orient ancient civilization.
Such advance lies, according to Póvoa, not only on quantity, but also in the quality of
astronomy observations and work (PÓVOA, 1982, p.19). In face of the grandness of
Babylonian astronomy, one is able to infer that the Egyptians did not have condition to
supersede it. Indeed, that did not happen. The Egyptians had, as Póvoa affirms, a not
very developed astronomy and mathematics. Egyptians mathematics only had one
practical die (utilization of the base 10 number system). The Egyptian calendar was
meant for religious purposes and was based in lunations. However, Egyptian
8
astronomy went through a certain improvement pattern, since the Egyptians built the
pyramids with its faces turned towards the four cardinal points. Nonetheless, the
instruments of astronomic observation were rudimentary: the Egyptians observed the
sky, for example, with a “gnomon made of palm trees leafs’ nerves with a small cut in
the largest end” (PÓVOA, 1982, p. 23-4).
In fact, the Egyptians could not surpass the Babylonians by observing the sky with
“palm trees leafs’ nerves with a small cut in the largest end”. Neither could the
Babylonians have set up such a precise astronomy without having built structures to
observe the sky (750 b.CE). Before that period, the Babylonians used sticks to mark
stars positions, compasses to measure the angles between celestial bodies. And to mark
the duration of celestial observations, the Babylonians used sun and water clocks.11
The one people that could have surpassed Babylonian astronomy were the Greek.
Before astronomic preciseness, and perhaps even after it, Greeks had an alternating
calendar divided in twelve months of twenty-nine and thirty days. This way, such
calendar had 354 days being, then, eleven days smaller than the tropical year. Longing
to keep correspondence between civil and tropical years, Greek people intercalated,
from time to time, a thirteenth month. Therefore, the Greek or Athenian calendar could
have had 354 or 355 days, or yet, 384 or 385 days. The Greek calendar was constituted
by the following months: hekatombaiom (month of hecamtombs/sacrifices);
metageintnion (month of spilling); boedromion (month of races); pyanopsion (month
of cooked fava beans, party to Apollo); maimakterion (month of storms, party to
soothe Zeus); poseidon (month of god Neptune or Poseidon); gamelion (month of
nuptials); anthesterion (month of flowers); elaphebolion (month of deer-hunting);
mounikhion (month of Artemis Mounychia); thargelion (month of party to Apollo and
Artemis) and skirophorione (month of party to Athena or Minerva).12 Analyzing the
months in this calendar, one is able to see that the Greeks had three seasons. The
twelfth, the first, the second and third months integrated a racing season (summer).
That is because the Ancient Greek Olympics happened during the summer13 and the
first games were restricted to a race with, approximately, 192 meters.14 The fourth,
fifth, sixth and seventh months were part of the storm season (autumn and winter). The
eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh months represented the flower season (spring).
The Greeks also did not know week (month divided in six sets of ten).15 With the
improvement or preciseness in celestial observations, the Greeks substituted the
intercalation of a thirteenth month for the introduction of five days every five years.
Among the philosophers that became noticeable in these studies, are Aristarchus of
Samos and Hipparchus of Nicaea. Aristarchus of Samos (+- 310-230 b.CE), for
example, tried to determine Earth-Sun relative distance. However, his result is very
different from real distance (PÓVOA, 1982, p.29). Modern astronomers credit
Aristarchus’ mistake to the rudimental character of observation instruments. Probably
in the years between 161 to 126 b.CE observation instruments were improved with
astrolabe’s invention by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of Nicaea (considered the
11
See <www.astroamador.sites.uol.com.br/pesquisa.htm /historia da astronomia/observatórios antigos>
See <http://www.felipex.com.br/cal_grego.htm> (Greek calendar)
See <http://www.historianet.com.br>
(History website)
14
Again, see <http://www.historianet.com.br> (History website)
15
See <http://www.felipex.com.br/cal_grego.htm> (Greek calendar)
(Old observatories)
12
13
9
main ancient time astronomer). In his time, astronomy instruments that were mainly
used were the gnomon, the clepsydra, the sun-clock, the armillary sphere, the
cosmolabe and the torquetum. It is credited to Hipparchus of Nicaea the astrolabe’s
invention, an instrument that measured, in angles, the distance between stars height and
the horizon line. Such instrument was largely used in maritime navigations until the
XVI century. Besides, Hipparchus of Nicaea studied the celestial bodies’ movements,
created stars catalogues, classified stars in six magnitude classes and assigning value
one to the brightest ones and to fainter ones value of two. It is believed that Hipparchus
of Nicaea systematized plane and spherical trigonometry, who determined moon’s size
and distance and précised the tropical year. It is assured that Hipparchus’ main
discovery was the precession (advance) of equinoxes and the calculation of its period
in 26000 years (PÓVOA, 1982, p.30).
It was from Hipparchus of Nicaea’s observations that a more precise astronomic
knowledge was produced (moon movement and determining of the tropical year) in
order to shape the lunisolar calendar with 360 days plus 5 additional ones. In face of
that, how to explain the biblical calendar’s existence as being an overcome of the
Babylonian lunisolar calendar? According to Babylonian astronomy, the period of a
moon phase was of seven and a half days. And that was a sign that they understood the
moon’s phases and how it moved. From the Greek astronomers of centuries III and II
b.CE there are no clarifications about the determining of the period of phases. Not even
Hipparchus of Nicaea found out the period of moon phases, even though he calculated
using fairly approximated data concerning moon’s dimensions, the length of moon’s
orbit and Earth-moon distance.16 In relation to the moon phases, modern science says
that such phases result from the incidence of sun light.17 But this phenomenon was
already implicit in Eze 32:7. By the way, it is known that the planets and the moon do
not have own light, i.e., they reflect sun light. As mentioned above, the exact
knowledge about moon phases was completely unknown before modern science.
However, the Bible revealed to us this knowledge on V century b.CE. The part b of
Eze 32:7 reveals that to us. Notice that part b of such passage is a period put together
by coordination where there is a relation between the two sentences. This relation is
given by the connector “and”, that is, idea of addition or increment. Nonetheless, the
possessive pronoun “its” gives us an ambiguity, which is if the light refers to the moon
or to the sun. By substituting this pronoun for “his” or “her”, the ambiguity still
persists, because one can either say “and the moon will not give his light [the sun]” or
“and the moon will not give her light”. But by emphasizing the covering of the sun
with a cloud, the Bible is affirming that the light that shines in the moon comes from
the sun.
Indeed, the light the moon reflects comes from the sun. That way, the Bible
revealed this truth way before science did! Besides, the correct configuration for the
days of the lunisolar 365-day year depended on the correct determination of the amount
of days in which sun light arise over the system Earth/moon produced moon phases.
16
See “TV Cultura – Alô Escola – Olhando para o céu – Lua: da paixão à conquista” (Looking at the Sky – Moon: from passion to
conquest)
17
See “TV Cultura – Alô Escola – Olhando para o céu – Lua: da paixão à conquista” (Looking at the Sky – Moon: from passion to
conquest)
10
Therefore, the exact knowledge of this mechanic was reached only by modern science.
And to determine, in comparative terms, the period of moon phases in the Biblical
Calendar as well as in the Western calendar (Gregorian 2003), it is necessary to count
the days between one phase to the other in such calendars. That way, the study of all
twelve annual sequence in the Western Gregorian calendar/2003 demonstrated there
are ten different sequences and two equal ones (June-August/July-September).18 As the
sequence of moon phases in the Western calendar is done, it is needed, now, to
visualize the biblical calendar to proceed with the proposed comparative study.
The Bible let us know about the existence of a twelve month calendar that started in
the month of abib ou nisan (Ex 12:12; 13:4; 23:15; Dt 16:1; Est 3:7; I Ki 4:7). In other
biblical passages, it is asserted the year began in the time when kings, usually, made
wars (2 Sa 11:1; I Ki 20:22, 26; I Ch 20:1). This war time happened in the spring as 2
Ch 36:10 let us know. The biblical passages mentioned above prove the biblical year
started in the spring in the month nisan. Now, we need to determine which moon phase
marked the beginning of months. The Bible informs us that the beginning (the first
day) of months was characterized by the offering of holocaust and the arrival of the
new moon (Nu 10:10; 28:11-14; Ps 81:3). Therefore, the biblical year started in the
first day of spring. In order for the biblical year to be arranged with season of the year
and with moon phases, it was necessary for the year to have 31-day months. However,
an issue comes up because months of 31 days are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible.
The highest day that it presents is the 27 of Adar (2 Ki 25:27) and 27 of the second
month (Ge 8:14). Meanwhile, the Bible, in Ge 8:5-13 situates us in the first day of the
tenth month. Ge 8:6 informs us that 40 days had gone by after the first day of the tenth
month. Considering the month has thirty days, these 40 days ended in the 11th of the
eleventh month. On that day, Noah sent out a raven (Ge 8:7) that flew over Ararat for
seven days (Ge 8:10). On the 18th of the eleventh month, Noah sent out, along with the
raven, a dove (Ge 8:9, 10). On the 25th of the same month, Noah sent out the dove
again (Ge 8:10, 11). After seven days, Noah sent out the dove, but she didn’t come
back (Ge 8:12). Well, the seven days added to the twenty-five days of the eleventh
month result in 32 days. Therefore, the Bible confirms the establishment of the 365day in the biblical calendar, because the spare day in the eleventh month was passed on
to the next month. In other words, the eleventh and twelfth months had 31 days. Many
attempts were made to determine the right distribution of days of the year (a
configuration that was adequate to seasons of the year and moon phases), and the exact
configuration of days of months according to the Bible is presented in table 3.
Before analyzing the period of the phases in the restructured biblical calendar, a
point needs to be cleared that there was a calendar which existed prior to the one
18
These are the sequences: January (8 days new moon – 8 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon), February
(8 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon), March (9 days new moon – 7 days waning
moon – 7 days full moon – 8 days waxing moon), April (8 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 8 days
waxing moon), May (8 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 6 days full moon – 9 days waxing moon), June (7 days new moon –
7 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 8 days waxing moon), July (7 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 8 days full moon
– 8 days waxing moon), August (7 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 8 days waxing moon), September (7
days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 8 days full moon – 8 days waxing moon), October (6 days new moon – 8 days waning
moon – 8 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon), November (7 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 9 days full moon – 6 days
waxing moon), December (7 days new moon – 8 days waning moon – 8 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon – 8 days new moon).
11
described above. The Jews did not adopt the restructured biblical calendar since the
Enciclopédia Barsa (Barsa Encyclopedia) let us know that this people has a lunar 12month calendar of 353,354 or 355 days and an intercalated month – elul – that has
twenty-nine days (BARSA, 2000, p.308). That way, from time to time, the Hebrew
civil year could have 384, 384 or 385 days. The mentioned encyclopedia also informs
us the Babylonian, Egyptian and Athenian calendars have twelve months, as for the
roman (as well as the Hebrew) had twelve lunar months and an intercalated month (see
table 2).
Table 2: Some World Calendars
Table 2 presents us with three information. The first one refers to the 12-month
plus an additional intercalated month Babylonian lunar calendar which was
standardized in ancient times. That is assured through two historic facts. On one side,
the Babylonian calendar was disseminated through its temporal culture. Its influence
was noticed in Egypt, Greece and many other nations, such as the Romans (that
became a people by connecting many people, including the Greeks that lived in the
south of Italy. These Greeks might have disseminated the intercalated Babylonian
calendar). On the other side, the intercalated lunar calendar of present time Jews’
observance. The second information related to this calendar’s improvement by the
Babylonians, the Greek and the Athenians. These people would have substituted this
calendar for a lunisolar twelve month, 360 and 5 additional days. Such assurance is
given to us by the historian Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda. He asserts the Egyptians
elaborated the most perfect calendar in the ancient world, with which they could
predict Nile’s overflowing. This calendar had 360 days plus 5 additional days put
together in twelve months of thirty days. The Egyptians also divided day and night in
twelve equal parts, originating, therefore, the hour.
12
Table 3: Restructured biblical calendar
As seen before, the Babylonians, Egyptians and Athenian could not produce a
calendar that was in complete accordance with seasons of the year and moon phases
because they did not know with absolute accuracy the mechanics of such phenomena.
Besides, Carl Sagan asserts that the determining of day, month and year is done by
observing eminent astronomic conditions (SAGAN, 1996, p.157). So, a question
emerges: how could the Egyptians, Babylonians and Athenian have improved their
calendar without the proper astronomy knowledge of sky’s mechanics? It is very
probable that they have plagiarized the Hebrews calendar. That becomes evident by the
use of months’ names from the restructures biblical calendar in the Babylonian
calendar. It is asserted that the Hebrews might have incorporated the Babylonian
calendar when they were exiled in Babylon. It is true that the Hebrews arranged months
13
in an ordinal way (Ex 12:2; Lev 23:5, 24; Est 3:12), but they also named the months,
after escaping from Egypt. For example, Abib month (Ex 13:4; Dt 16:1; Est 3:7), ziv
month (I Ki 6:1,27; 2 Ch 3:2), Ethanim month (I Ki 8:2), Bul month (I Ki 6:38), adar
month (2 Ki 25:27; Jer 52:31; Est 3:7). These months are pre-exile. Therefore, the
Hebrews named the twelve months in the calendar after leaving Egypt. Charles Ryrie let
us know the first month, abib, was a “Canaanite” name (Ryrie Study Bible, p.95). It is
probable that the names “Bul” and “Ethanim” are also Canaanite (Ge 10:6-11). And the
names “ziv” and “adar” may be Hebrew. Since the Hebrews refused the restored biblical
calendar, they may also have refused the months’ names proposed by God for this
calendar. That is because the name “ziv” from the restored biblical calendar is not seen
in the Babylonian and Israeli calendar (see table 3). And maybe the use of the names
“bul” and “ethanim” express the Jews refuse to use the new biblical calendar (Ex
20:18,19; 23:16; 34:22; Lev 23:39; Nu 14:27-35; Dt 2:14,15). Besides, the Babylonians
might have plagiarized the names from the restores biblical calendar. Nevertheless, the
non-observance of this calendar by the Jews (third information extracted from table 3) is
proved by the incorporation of a lunar 355-day Babylonian-based calendar and a 385day intercalated month. That way, the civil Israeli year could have 353, 354 or 355 days.
And the intercalated Israeli civil year could have 383, 384 or 385 days (BARSA, 2000,
p.308). Even before the Jews refused the restored biblical calendar, they used the
primitive biblical calendar, which had twelve lunisolar months and 365 annual days,
which were in perfect accordance with seasons of the year and moon phases. According
to Ex 23:16; 34:22, this calendar began in the seventh month (see table 4).
In spite of the non-growing numerical order of months’ character, the primitive
biblical calendar introduced for the first time in history the seven-day-week.19 Besides,
such calendar was used by Noah according to the accounts from Ge 8:4-14. The
existence of this calendar since flood’s time (2774 b.C) confirms a central issue: the
creation of writing and the alphabet by the Hebrews in Seth and Enosh’s time (Ge 4:26).
The referred issue has its fundament in the fact that Israel, according to J.D. Douglas,
shared with its neighbors from the Mediterranean Sea and the Near East (for example,
Assyria, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Phoenicia) the decimal number system. As for Israel,
the numbers registered in the Old Testament were written in words. Number one
corresponded to an adjective. Numbers from two to ten corresponded to a series of
nouns. Combinations of numbers from one to ten give numbers eleven to nineteen. For
numbers after twenty, each one was formed in a pattern similar to that used in English,
i.e., three, thirty. Number one hundred was written by a separate word, and two
separated words formed number two-hundred. Numbers three hundred and nine hundred
were formed in a pattern similar to the numerical system in Portuguese. And the highest
number expressed in word was twenty thousand or “the dual form of ten thousand”
(DOUGLAS, 1995, p. 895).
19
Biblical passages that confirm the establishment of seven-day-week: Ge 2:3; 7:4,10; 8:10,12; 29:27; Ex 12:15,19; 13:6; 16:21-30;
20:8-11; 31:13-17; 34:21; 35:2; Lev 19:3,30; 23:3,8,15,16,38; Nu 15:32; Dt 5:12-14; 16:3,8; Ne 10:31; 13:15-22; Job 1:2,4,5; Isa
56:2-4; 58:13; Mt 12:1-12; 27:57-28:1; Mk 2:23-28; 15:42-16:2; Lu 4:16; 6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; 23:50-24:1; Jn 5:1-18; 19:3820:1.
14
Table 4: Primitive biblical calendar
Most erudite agree that writing was originated around 4000 b.CE after the Egyptian
hieroglyphs. It is said that the first Egyptian books were produced in long papyrus
scrolls round 4000 b.CE. But these assertions do not combine with the Bible. In 4000
b.C (or 8000 from God’s Revelation march) Canaan lived calmly in Mesopotamia. It
would still be necessary 1.327 years for Egypt to be born (Ps 78:51; 105:22,27; 106:22).
Since God’s Revelation March needed to be registered, the writing in goat skin (or hide)
scrolls started with ancient Hebrews and would have been disseminated for many places
after Noah’s sons scattered. The creation of these scrolls may have happened around
Enosh’s birth, because it was then that men began to call on the name of the Lord (Ge
15
4:26). God, then, taught Seth (Ge 4:26; 5:3,6-8) to write (Ex 31:18; 32:15,16; 34:1,28;
Da 5:24,24; 7:10; 12:1; Ps 139:16; Rv 20:12,15). That way, Seth would have written the
first genealogy information in Genealogy book (Ge 5:1) and narrated the first good
men’s life in the Book of Jashar (Jos 10:13). Besides, Seth would have taught writing to
Hebrews. That way, the existence of Hebraic writing is anterior to Old Testament’s
formation. That is why the Bible presents books, genealogic records and accounts from
before the constitution of 37 Old Testament books. For example, Job narrates that in his
time they used books. There are controversies about when the book of Job was written:
some think it was written in Salomon’s time. And others still think the book of Job was
written in the Babylonian exile. But the Bible indicated that such writing happened in
patriarchal era, because the Lord God himself mentioned the existence of Job by listing
him being with Noah and Daniel (Eze 14:14,20). Certainly, Job was not a contemporary
to Ezekiel and Daniel. Would he have lived before Noah? Or would he have been
Abraham’s contemporary, since he was a priest (Ge 14:19)? It is the Lord God himself
who will give us an answer: Job was a Canaanite contemporary to Noah (Eze 14:14,20;
Job 1:1; 41:6). That is because Job lived in the city of Uz (Job 1:1). This city was at
southeast of the Dead Sea. Lam 4:21 identifies Uz as Edom. According to Charles
Ryrie, Edom was also recognized as Uz by the Greek general, Ptolemy, who was active
in Alexander the Great military apparatus (Ryrie Study Bible, p.659). J.D. Douglas
(1995, p.183-4) gives us more elements that prove Job’s Canaanite origin:
“Canaan” in both Scripture and external sources has threefold reference. First
and fundamentally it indicated the land and inhabitants of the Syro-Palestinian
coastland, especially Phoenicia proper. This is indicated within Ge 10:15-19 by
its detailed enumeration of Sidon ‘the first-born’, the Arkite, the Sinite, the
Zemarite and Hamath in the Orontes valley (…) Secondly, ‘Cannan(ite) can also
cover by extension the hinterland and so Syria-Palestine in general. Thus, Ge
10:15-19 includes also the Hittite, Jebusite, Amorite, Hivite, and Girgashite,
explaining that ‘the families of the Canaanite spread abroad’ (verse 18); this
wider area is defined as extending coastally from Sidon to Gaza, inland to the
Dead Sea cities Sodom and Gomorrah (…) Thirdly, the term ‘Canaanite’ can
bear the more restricted meaning of ‘merchant, trafficker’, trading being a most
characteristic Canaanite occupation. In Scripture this meaning may be found in
Job 41:6; Isa 23:8; Eze 17:4; Zep 1:11.
The Canaanites wrote books in pieces of rock and, probably, in hide, because Job
19:23,24 says: “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,
that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever!”
Certainly, the Canaanites learned the art to write books from the Hebrews (Ge 5:1; 9:28;
10:1-11:9). That way, Job 19:23,24 assures to us that the Hebrews, in fact, wrote books
since its beginning. Besides Job, the Bible lists some Hebrews who wrote books: Moses
(Ex 17:14; 24:4,12; 34:27; Nu 33:2; Dt 24:1; 27:3; 30:10; 31:19,22; Ps 40:7; 56:8; Jer
8:31,32; Mal 4:4), Joshua (8:32; 24:26), Samuel (1 Sa 10:25); David (2 Sa 11:14);
Salomon (2 Ch 2:11; 35:4), Isaiah (2 Ch 26:22; Isa 8:1); Hezekiah (2 Ch 30:1);
Jeremiah (25:13; 30:2; 36:27,28; 45:1); Daniel (10:21); Nehemiah (9:38); Ezra (8:34);
16
Hosea (8:12) and Malachi (Mal 3:16). Besides all the people above, the Bible presents
19 books and genealogic records that contributed, in addition to the 37 books of the
Hebrew bible, to the writing of The Old Testament: (1º) Genealogy Book (Ge 5:1; 2 Ch
12:15; Ezr 2:62; Ne 7:64); (2º) Creation Book (Ge 1,2); (3º) Job’s Book; (4º) Jashar’s
Book (Jos 10:13; 2 Sa 1:18); (5º) Book of the Wars (Nu 21:14); (6º) Book of the Kings
(2 Ch 20:34); (7º) The Records of Shemaiah (2 Ch 12:15); (8º) The Record of Iddo (2
Ch 12:15); (9º) Records of Samuel (1 Ch 29:29); (10º) The Records of Nathan (1 Ch
29:29); (11º) The Records of Gad (1 Ch 29:29); (12º) The Book of the Annals of
Solomon (1 Ki 4:30-33; 11:41; Pr 1:1; Ecc 12:9-12); (13º) The Annals of the Kings of
Judah (1 Ki 14:29); (14º) Genealogic records (1 Ch 4:38,41; 5:7,17; 7:7,9,40; 9:1,22;
24:6; Ezr 2:59,62; Ne 7:64); (15º) Book of Death (Ge 4:16-22; 10:1-20; Ps 69:28; 87:6;
139:3,16; Jer 17:13; Eze 13:9; Da 7:10; Rv 20:12,13); (16º) Book of Life (Ge 5; 10:2132; 11:10-32; Ex 32:32,33; Ps 69:28; 87:6; 139:3,16; Isa 4:3; Da 7:10; 12:1; Mal 3:16;
Lu 10:20; Php 4:3; Heb 12:23; Rv 3:5; 13:8; 20:12,15); (17º) Book of Amalek (Ex
17:14); (18º) Book of Covenant (Ex 24:7; 2 Ch 23:2); (19º) Words of Law (Dt 31:24).
The genealogy book was consulted when one wanted to investigate the genealogy
tree of certain people (1 Ch 26:31). Having a book that has genealogy records take us
back to information that were put together through time.20 In other words, the genealogy
book is the first Hebrew book to be enlarged through Hebrew history (Ge 2:4; 5:1; 10:1;
11:10,27; 25:12,19; 36:1). Besides, Joshua mentions a book that is mentioned only
twice in the Bible (Jdg 10:13; 2 Sa 1:18). According to Charles Ryrie, Jashar’s book
narrates Israel’s wars in which some remarkable events and notorious men were
poetically honored (Ryrie Study Bible, p. 406). In 2 Sa 1:18, King David determined
that the “lament of the bow”, written in the Jashar’s book, were, because of Saul and
Jonathan’s death, taught to the Hebrews. But Joshua had already mentioned this book
around 551 years before David (see table 1). Besides, there is no mention in the Bible
that Moses would have written that book. That way, information about some Hebrew
wars (for example, Ge 14; 34:13-31) and some notorious men (for example, Ge 6:9;
37:2) were compiled in book. That way, Jashar’s book constitutes the second Hebrew
book that was enlarged throughout Hebrews history. Besides, Abraham and Joseph must
have taught writing to Egyptians, because both cohabited with pharaohs (Ge 12:10-20;
41:38-46). Moreover, Joseph taught the Egyptians the science of administration and
patrimony (Ge 41:33-36). To sum up, Moses compiled data from Genealogy book and
Jashar’s book on writing the book of Genesis. In relation to the other books from the
Pentateuch, Moses registered data of his time and transmitted them, in form of books, to
the following generations.
As said before, the calendar used until Moses’ time was the primitive biblical
calendar. We also saw that the use of this calendar demanded writing, because months
and dates were not written in numbers, but in letters. This calendar began on the seventh
month, in the harvest season or autumn. The beginning in this day related to the seventh
day of creation. In this day, God finished (in Hebrew, shãbbath – Ge 2:2) his creation.
This day became very important because, on one side, it commemorated God’s creation.
20
See Ge 16:11; 19:32-38; 21:3; 22:20-24; 25:1-4, 12-15, 21-26; 29:31-34; 35:16-29; 36:1-43; 38; 41:50; 46:8-27; Ex 2:1,2; 6:1425; Nu 26:5-65; Ru 4:18-22; 1 Ch 1:1-9:44.
17
It was not a day to work, but to think, contemplate and worship. On the other hand, the
referred day became a celebration, Saturday’s celebration (in Hebrew, shabbãth)
according to Ex 20:8-11; 31:17. Coincidently, the Egyptian 365-day year started on the
seventh month such as the primitive biblical calendar. In the Egyptian calendar, the
appearance of the star Sirius, that was called “Sótis” or “Sepedet”, marked the
beginning of the solar year. It is said that this year also marked the beginning of season
Inundation. Therefore, this day was commemorated in great parties (PÓVOA, 1982,
p.23).
The arguments above indicate the Egyptians started their year in the seventh month,
because the Inundation season was marked by torrential rain that happened from the
middle of September until the middle of October. At first, this argument contradicts the
assertion that the season Inundation happened from July to October.21 If the solar year
started in the beginning of Inundation season, then, this season started in September.
Therefore, the Egyptian year would start in Inundation and would go on until
December. The seeding season was from January to April, and then the harvesting
season would come from May to August. Beyond the definition of the months in which
Egyptian season occurred, the fact that the Egyptian year started in the seventh month
allows us to establish two things. First: Egypt plagiarized the primitive biblical calendar
since Noah’s sons scattering, which happened after the flood, or since Abraham or
Joseph stayed in Egypt. Second: Egyptians must have incorporated the fixation of days
in months aspect of the biblical calendar. That way, Egyptians had a 365-day (360 plus
5) calendar and, in such point of its historical development, and to differentiate it from
the Hebrews’, mainly in Egypt’s unification, they introduced five additional days every
five years so that there would be a variation of days in months in days of the week
(epagomenal days) . With the full incorporation of the biblical calendar, the Egyptians
had, for sure, the most perfect calendar among all civilizations on Earth. Intercalated
months were no longer necessary, and it could, in a future time, make it impossible to
mark the beginning of seasons. But the introduction of five days every five years came
to solve two problems. First: the Egyptian calendar allowed them to establish
differences in relation to the biblical calendar. Second: the introduction of a fifth year
maintained the variation of days in months in days of the week without overly
impacting the marking of seasons in the calendar. This way, the Egyptians built a far
more advanced calendar than any other nations’ (Babylonia, for instance). The lunisolar
calendar surpassed the solar one, and only a few people (like the Romans) that did not
orbit around Egypt did not adopt the lunisolar fifth year calendar (this is affirmed
because, as we will see ahead, the Greeks determined the precession of equinoxes and
that was only possible with the introduction of 5 more non-permanent days in their 360day calendar).
When the Hebrews got free from Egyptian slavery, God restructured the biblical
calendar. The new calendar keeps the original 365 days totally harmonized with seasons
of the year and moon phases and the stability of days in months in days of the week. On
the other side, the configuration of months is not the same from the primitive calendar.
The month begins, now, in abib (or nisan) and ends in adar. Now there is a numerical
21
See <http://www.klepsidra.net/klepsidra16/igito-1.htm> (Egypt)
18
crescent order of months. Besides, celebration is also changed. The first celebration of
the year is not based on creation but in the parting of the Hebrew people from Egypt and
the restoring of Easter. On the other hand, there is a biblical passage that seems to
contradict the restored biblical calendar. In Lev 23:26-38, the Bible informs us that the
Day of Atonement happened on Saturday, in the 10th of tisri. The restored biblical
calendar brings such day as happening in the third day of the week. If the 10th of tisri
was correct (that is, if it was always on Saturday), the 14th of nisan would be on a
Sunday. That could not be true, because the Bible categorically assures that Easter (14th
of nisan) happens on a Saturday. However, things are clearer once you examine Lev
23:24 and Nu 29:7. In these verses, it is clearly noticeable that the 10th of tisri is a
Sabbath, a day of rest. The Sabbath of rest was not necessarily on Saturday (Lev 23:36;
Nu 29:35). When a Sabbath weren’t on Saturday, but on other days of the week, such
day was understood as “Sabbath of rest”. To sum up, 14th of nisan can only occur on
Saturday with the configuration of days in months presented in the restored biblical
calendar. Besides, the counting of days in the biblical calendar is discontinuous when
going from one month to the other, i.e., when a determined month doesn’t end in a full
week, the beginning of the next month doesn’t continue in sequence from the days of
last week from last month. In spite of the changes God made, the biblical calendar was
still extremely precise (100%), that is, totally agreeing with the eminently astronomic
conditions needed to arrange day, month and year of an astronomically perfect calendar.
Its astronomic preciseness was already shown is the primitive biblical calendar,
however, ancient people never had this preciseness. And that way, this people could
never calculate, in terms of calendar, the seasons of the year with moon phases.
As seen before, the periods of moon phases from the western side are very irregular.
Since Babylonians, it is known that the periods of phases are regular. But this
knowledge was not popularized by the Chaldeans priests. In ancient days, especially in
Babylonia, the gods were identified with planets. That is because the ancients thought
that the planets’ movement (or “wandering stars” in Greek) looked, just like gods’
behavior, irregular and unpredictable. But when the priests found out that the planetary
movements were irregular and unpredictable, they kept this discovery to themselves.
They did this because they did not want to worry the population, or to mining religious
beliefs and eroding what sustained political power (SAGAN, 2001, p.218-219).
Something like that was made in relation to the irregular aspect of the periods of moon
phases in Western’s calendar. That way, some manipulation or fraud was produced in
such calendar. Now, the analysis of periods moon phases in the restored biblical
calendar must prove ou deny the movement of phases in the Western’s calendar. The
determining of lunar phases in the Bible must be based on some indication of the day
when a determined moon phase starts.
The Bible asserts that the beginning or first day of months of the year is started by
the offering of sacrifices and the appearance of new moon (Nu 10:10; 28:11-14; Ps
81:3). However, the beginning of new moon could happen before the beginning of a
determined month, and that implies to say that not every month of the year starts on the
first day of new moon. The Bible quote for many times two lunar phases: new moon
(Nu 10:10; 28:11-14; 1 Sa 20:5,6,12,18,19,24-43; 2 Ki 4:23; 1 Ch 23:31; Ps 81:3; Isa
1:13; 66:23; Eze 45:17,18,20; 46:1,3,6; Am 8:5) and full moon (Ex 11:4; 12:1-14; Lev
19
23:15; Nu 9:1-5,11; 28:16; Ps 81:3; Eze 45:21). But these passages do not talk about the
first day these phases occurred. In relation to full moon, the passages above don’t
express, when analyzed separately, the first day of such phase in the month of nisan.
But when they are taken together and compared with Ps 81:3-5 and with table 2, it is
possible to notice that the 14th of nisan is a full moon and Sabbath. This Sabbath is a
prescription from the Lord given to Egyptians when they left Egypt. Therefore, the 14th
of nisan is the second full moon day. That way, the correct interpretation for Ex 12:1-14
is that the Lord’s Easter was made in the twilight of the afternoon or sunset, that is, right
when the 13th ended and the 14th of nisan started. Easter began in that moment,
according to Dt 16:4,6. Soon, Easter began in the second full moon day of nisan month,
that is, in the 14th, Saturday, of nisan. J. D. Douglas, quoting the historian Josephus, let
us know that the Jewish or Israeli year started with the new moon in winter’s equinox.
And that Easter, happening in the 14th of nisan, coincided with the first full moon day
(DOUGLAS, 1995, p.235). As seen before, Easter did not happen on full moon’s first
day, but in the second one. And so that the full moon showed itself for the second time
in the month of nisan (the 14th), both prior phases (new and waning) would have to have
seven days, just as full moon and waxing would have to have eight days. That way, the
beginning of months in the biblical calendar is marked by the new moon and the middle
of the months by full moon. Therefore, the referred calendar presents four regular
patterns: 1º of adar to 24 abe corresponds to six lunar regular periods that have seven
days new moon – seven days waning moon – seven days full moon – eight days waxing
moon; 25 abe to 36 elul corresponds to a lunar regular period that has eight days new
moon – eight days waning moon – eight days full moon – eight days waxing moon; 27
elul to 31 marscheshvan corresponds to two lunar regular periods that have eight days
new moon – eight days waning moon – eight days full moon – nine days waxing moon;
1º of kislev to 31 of shebat corresponds to three lunar regular periods that have seven
days new moon – seven days waning moon – seven days full moon – ten days waxing
moon.
From the study of moon phases in the biblical calendar, it is possible to make 5
comments: (1º) the configuration of 365-day biblical calendar incorporates all the time
related to moon phases and seasons of the year. (2º) This study denies the ten irregular
and two regular patterns manifested in the Western’s calendar. (3º) One can see the real
configuration of days of the months in the year, that is, a twenty-nine day month
(nisan), five thirty-day months (from ziv to elul) and six thirty-one-day months (from
tisri to adar). (4º) Every month of the year in the biblical calendar start with new moon.
However, not every first day of the months of biblical year start with new moon. Only
in four months is that this happens (kislev – tebeth – shebat - adar). In all the other
months (nisan – ziv – sivan – tammuz – abe – elul – tisri – marscheshvan), the first day
of the month happens when the new moon is already started. In eight months of the year
derivations of moon phases happen (nisan – ziv – sivan – tammuz – abe – elul – tisri –
adar), that is, the new moon only appears twice. And in four months of the year there is
no derivation of lunar phases (marscheshvan – kislev – tebeth – shebat). By contrasting
celestial natural mechanics about the rotating movement of the Earth and moon phases
in the biblical calendar with Western’s calendar, the occurrence of grotesque facts that
demonstrate the false character of Western’s calendar is noticeable. The biblical
20
calendar has four patterns of moon phases: the pattern seven days new moon – seven
days waning moon – seven days full moon – eight days waxing moon, which happens
six times; the second pattern is eight days new moon – eight days waning moon – eight
days full moon – eight days waxing moon, which happens one time; the third pattern is
eight days new moon – eight days waning moon – eight days full moon – nine days
waxing moon and it happens two times; the fourth pattern is seven days new moon –
seven days waning moon – seven days full moon – ten days waxing moon, which
happens three times. But the Western’s calendar 200322 introduces ten different patterns
and an equal one that happens only once (seven days new moon – seven days waning
moon – seven days full moon – six days waxing moon). As days vary in this calendar,
these patterns are not repeated in the year after that because there may be an increase or
a decrease of moon phases in this calendar. The western’s calendar 2008 introduces
eight patterns that do not repeat and two that repeat (7-7-8-8 and 8-8-7-7). Besides,
there are increases and decreases of days in some moon phases when compared to the
Western’s calendar 2003.23 As moon phases patterns are natural and regular
phenomena, then, it is mandatory to affix days of months in days of the week in the
Biblical Calendar.
It is assured that the precise knowledge about our planet’s motion around the Earth
and about moon phases was only possible in the XVII a.CE century (PÓVOA, 1982).
But, long before that, the right expression of these movements was already registered,
even though in an implicit way, in both biblical calendars. That way, the ancients were
in no intellectual and material condition to produce a completely precise calendar in
relation to the natural phenomena that dictate natural (physical) in our solar system.
Meanwhile, an ancient people (the Hebrews) had a completely precise calendar. These
people were also in no condition to have such an achievement, because they had
rudimental mathematics and astronomy. As every man that lived before modern science
could not know the celestial mechanics so precisely something or somebody
superhuman/supernatural revealed/offered a calendar in complete accordance with
celestial mechanics. That way, the Bible, through biblical calendars (primitive and
restored), proves, in a biblical-scientific way the existence of God and the truth in its
propositions since it reveals to us unreachable facts/knowledge in determined moments
in the development of human civilization. The preciseness of the restores biblical
calendar is based on the fact that follows: the affixation of days of the months in days of
the week is mandatory as a natural consequence to the observation of the planet’s
motion around the Earth and of moon phases. But this natural principle was neglected
by the Egyptians when they plagiarized the primitive biblical calendar.
22
The study about the sequence of Western’s calendar 2003 in this book lies in the fact that it was in it that the author began the
distributing of months and moon phases in the calendar.
23
These are the sequences of the Western’s Calendar 2008: January (7 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 8 days full moon –
8 days waxing moon), February (7 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 8 days waxing moon), March (7
days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 8 days full moon – 8 days waxing moon), April (6 days new moon – 8 days waning moon
– 8 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon), May (7 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 8 days full moon – 7 days waxing
moon), June (7 days new moon – 8 days waning moon – 8 days full moon – 6 days waxing moon), July (8 days new moon – 8 days
waning moon – 7 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon), August (7 days new moon – 8 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 7
days waxing moon), September (8 days new moon – 8 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon), October (8
days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 7 days waxing moon), November (9 days new moon – 7 days waning
moon – 6 days full moon – 6 days waxing moon) and December (8 days new moon – 7 days waning moon – 7 days full moon – 8
days waxing moon).
21
With the incorporation and implementing of partial changes in the primitive biblical
calendar, the Egyptians were able to surpass the intercalation, from time to time, of an
entire month in a year. The Egyptians adopted, such as suggested by Herodotus,
Douglas and Holland, a 360-day plus five annual calendar. This calendar turned the
days of the month into days of the week. For this to happen, it was necessary to invert
the marking of Hebrew day, that is, the day would not be measured from one evening to
the other evening, but from midnight. Actually, the Hebrews also named the half-point
of the twelve hours of sun (day) as noon24 and the half-point of the twelve dark hours
(night) as midnight.25 And when the Egyptians fixated midnight as the beginning of a
day, they, without knowing it, unmade the mechanics that guaranteed to the biblical
calendar the capture of the hours that are necessary for the Earth to go round the Sun.
They also anticipated that, by unmaking such mechanic, they would have to add a few
days so that the broken harmony was, somehow, restored. So, the Egyptians introduced
a 360-day plus 5 days (fifth year every five years. That way, the Egyptian calendar
became a pattern for Babylonians and Athenians, as assured to us by Enciclopédia Barsa
(Barsa Encyclopedia). The existence of a fifth year comes up when analyzing the
calculus that Hipparchus of Nicaea did when predicting the equinoxes, i.e., equinoxes’
anticipation is only possible because of the introduction of days (not an entire month) in
the same year (365 days) from time to time.
To get to the date 26000 a.CE when Hipparchus of Nicaea predicted the equinoxes,
one needs to do some mathematical operations. Every fifth year26 adds 90h 56min 60s
more than the solar year. 19 fifth years add 1728h 3 min. For one to have the
approximate number of hours that were calculated by Hipparchus of Nicaea, one needs
to multiply the number of hours of the fifth year for a certain number (13,68422 x
1728h = 23 646h). Done that, it is needed to determine the number of fifth-year
centuries necessary to anticipate spring/autumn (13,68422 x 19 = 260 centuries).
Knowing the number of centuries that have fifth years, it is possible to calculate the
time in which the anticipation will occur (260 x 100 = 26.000). In the year 26.000 a.CE,
the Greek calendar, according to Hipparchus of Nicaea, would anticipate the beginning
of spring/autumn. In other words, the Greek had a civil calendar of 365 days plus five
days every five years (fifth year) in which the days of the month varied in the days of
the week. As for the Romans, they adopted a lunisolar calendar with intercalated month.
And that adoption shows, somehow, the Mesopotamian or Babylonian astronomy’s
influence, because one of the people (for example, the Etruscan) that started forming the
Romans descends from the Orient. As for the evolution of the roman calendar, here is
what is said by Roberto Accioli and Cynil Bailey. According to Accioli (1975, p. 14446):
The pre-Cesar, pre-Julian calendar, based on the lunar year and established
according to the Etruscans astronomy ideas, put together, with modifications
introduced through the centuries, to the king Numa Pompílio [717-673 b.CE], but
prominicent, it is attributed to Romulo to have divided, using existent calculations in
24
See Ge 1:14-18; 1 Sa 11:11; 30:17; Ps 74:16; 136:7-9; Jer 6:4; 15:8; 20:16; 31:5; Zep 2:4; Jn 11:9.
See Ge 1:14-18; Ex 11:4; 12:29; Jdg 7:19; 1 Sa 30:17; Ne 4:21,22; Job 34:20; Ps 63:6; 74:16; 136:7-9; Jer 31:5; Mt 20:1-12;
25:6; Mk 13:35; Lu 21:37,38; Jn 8:2; Rm 13:12.
26
What I call here fifth year is it only when divisible by 5.
25
22
many regions, the roman year in ten months, the first month dedicated to Mars, his
father, from which comes the name March. The normal year in republican time was
formed of 355 days, divided in twelve months in a way that March, May, July and
October had each 31 days; February had 28 and the other months 29. In the roman
calendar the first day of the month was called calendas, from Calare, call, because
in that day people were called to the assemblies. The following days were counted
by its distance from the Nonas celebration (the ninth day before idos) what was
done at 5 or 7 according to the month: after that day it was counted by the distance
of the Idos celebration (13 or 15 of each month) and from Idos (from the word idus
= division)by the distance of calendas. The roman year was delayed in over eleven
days in relation to the solar year, so they started to intercalate every two years a
month of 22 or 23 days, alternately. That way, the years counted successively 355,
377 and 378 days. The intercalated days were inserted after February 23rd,
Terminalia’s celebration. The five days left from the same intercalated month –
mercedonius – had, that way, 27 and 28 days, alternately. The four roman years are
equivalent to 1.465 days, which is 366 days and a quarter. 24 days should be
suppressed in the last 8 years from a 24-year period. This intercalation seems to
have been followed, from 702 to 691, in which it had 23 days. Due to civil problems
it was omitted. To solve the disorder, a reformation was imposed. To the calendar
based on a solar year of 365 days and a quarter it was established they would add
to every quadrennial one day, and then on February 23rd, day called bis sextas
Calendas Martias, from which the name bissextile comes, given the year of 366
days. It started by establishing harmony between chronology and seasons by the
insertion of three intercalated months between November and December: two of 22
days and one of 23, that is, 67 days at once. The year 46, with this much needed
addition was the last to deserve the name annus confusionis. Cesar also ordained
that the civil year, which until then started on March 1st, would start in the
beginning of the political year (…) in January’s calendas.
Cynil Bailey (1956, p.433) argues that:
Roman calendar’s primitive history is obscure. We know through Censorino
(passed away in the year 283 of our era) and through Macrobius (passed away in
the year 400) that the roman year consisted of, initially, ten months and 304 days.
Livio (59 b.C to 17 a.C) and Plutarch (46-126 a.C) give us contradictory versions of
Numa’s reformation [717-673 b.CE], from whom it is said to have introduced the
12-month year. Evidently, for a very long time the 355-day lunar year existed, and
that corresponds to exactly twelve lunations. Martius (month of March) was the first
month of this calendar; Aprilis (probably aperilis, from aprire “open”); Mayo may
have been related with majority; Junio (that may refer to junior or juvenile). These
months received such months because of the initiation, development and maturity of
vegetation. The six following months: Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October,
November and December received numerical months whose order still remains.
Januarius received this name, perhaps, from god Janus or Februarius, the last
month, it was the time for ritual purification (februare, “purify” or “expiate”). To
obtain some approximation to this lunar reckoning with the solar year the four-year
cycle was invented, from which the first would have 355 days; the second, 367
[addition of an intercalated 22-day month]; the third, 355; the fourth, 368 [addition
23
of an intercalated 23-day month]. The cycle had 1.465 and the medium year had
1.465/4 = 366 and ¼ of a day. And evidently a year that varied so much was useless
for agricultural activity. That way, agriculture had to be oriented by appearance
and disappearance of some constellations, like the Arturo’s and the Pleiades, to
regulate their activities. The year was modified in many ways in different periods,
even from Cesar’s reformations there were no adequate correspondence with solar
phases. Instead of this system, Julius Cesar, oriented by the alexandrine
mathematician Soignée, implanted solar year of 365 days erasing any intent to
adapt the years and months to the lunar phases. Every four years, one day was
intercalated, denominated bisextus, before February 24th (…) These years were
knows as “bissextile” years. It is believed that this reformation might have been an
incorporation of the Egyptian calendar implanted in the year 238 b.C., and that,
maybe, it was indicated in an older time by the Greek astronomer Eudoxio (passed
away in 350 b.C). In the year 44 b.C., the second year of the Julian calendar, one of
the months was called iulius [or July] in tribute to his founder [the month of July
came as a substitution to the month Quintilis]. And in the year 8 b.C, another month
received the name Augustus [August, month that came as a substitution to the month
Sextilis] in tribute to Cesar’s successor.
The two quotations above show us two very important points. The first one is that
both quotations make it clear for us that the roman civilization did not conquer, neither
have given up, of building a calendar that was in complete accordance with the moon or
the solar phases. About the making of Julian calendar, Bailey let us know that the
astronomers and mathematicians gave up on making the solar calendar adequate (365
days) to all the moon phases. And that implies to say the Gregorian calendar also could
not get such adequacy (as demonstrated before). Besides, no human calendars got such
adequacy, since the Gregorian calendar is adopted in almost every civilization in the
world (BARSA, 2000, p.308). And that implies to say that no human culture was able to
put together, in terms of calendar, the lunar phases to the solar ones. In a general way,
every calendar is astronomical, varying in its mathematic preciseness. They are
classified as sideral, lunar, solar and lunisolar. The sideral calendar is based on the
periodic return of a celestial body in a determined space configuration. Here, it is the
observation of the rising or of the hellion (or cosmic) sunset of the heavenly body that
defines the beginning of the calendar. The hellion rising refers to the first annual
appearance of a determined heavenly body on the oriental horizon when the dispersion
of the first sunbeams happen. In order not to miss the hellion rising’s moment of
registration, the Egyptians priests, for example, did rigorous night-watches. Actually,
the hellion rising was used by many human cultures to mark the beginning of the year
or to determine the making of the calendar. That way, some of Brazil and Central
America tribes used the hellion rising from Pleiades to mark the beginning of the new
year. On Assyria, the making of the first calendar was based on the hellion rising of
Canis Major (Canis Majoris) constellation, from which the main star (Sirius) assumed
an important role in Assyria’s mythology (BARSA, 2000, p.307). The hellion rising
was also very important on the making of sideral calendars.
Basically, the sideral calendars were structures in two calendars: a religious one
(lunar) and a civil one (solar). Even then, such calendars could not put together the
24
moon phases with the sun phases because they needed to introduce a time cycle that
would make the referred calendars adequate. As an example, see what Barsa
Encyclopedia says about ancients more elaborate sideral calendar: the Maya calendar. It
is assured that this calendar is the most elaborate of all pre-Colombian ancient
civilizations. It is also assured that the Aztec calendar comes from the Maya calendar.
As said before, the sideral Maya calendar is constituted of two calendars: a religious one
and a civil one. The religious one consisted of 260 days divided in 13 months of 20
days. But the civil calendar consisted of 365 days divided in 18 months of 25
epagomenal days, i.e., days that did not belong to any month and that were added to the
calendar to complement the year. The Mayas considered the epagomenal days as been
of bad luck or disgraceful. Because of the religious and civil structure of the Maya
calendar, it was needed to establish a cycle to put together such structure of time
marking. This way, the Mayas established a 52-year solar cycle to have the religious
and the civil calendar in complete accordance. Besides, two solar year cycles (104
years) were part of a Venetian year of 584 days, a new solar year of 365 days, a new
cycle of 52 solar years, and a sacred year of 260 days (BARSA, 2000, p.308).
The lunar calendars are based in the moon’s movement around the Earth and had
months that had from twenty-nine to thirty days. As the observations had mistakes,
corrections were being added to the lunar calendars. It was then discovered that the
average lunar month consists of twenty-nine days and 12 hours. That way, a year was
added every 30 months looking to avoid the derivation of lunar phases (BARSA, 2000,
p.307). It is known that the lunar year was of about 354 days and, therefore, there was a
discrepancy between its beginning and seasons. To eliminate that, a complementary
month was intercalated, creating, that way, the lunisolar years (BARSA, 2000, p.307).
The lunar calendar was elaborated by people that were essentially nomads or shepherds.
The Babylonians were the first, in ancient times, to use it. It is affirmed that Hebrews,
Greeks and Romans used it too. The lunar calendar demands, such as the sideral
calendar, a cycle of days to put together moon phases and solar phases. Nowadays, the
Muslim calendar is the only lunar one. The Muslims started using the lunar calendar in
Hegira, that is, the commemoration of Mohammed’s escape from Mecca to Medina.
This commemoration coincides with July 16th, 622 a.CE from the Gregorian calendar.
The Muslim lunar calendar is divided in twelve months of twenty-nine or thirty days
completing a 354-day year. As the synodic month (lunar phases revolution) does not
have 29,5 but 29,5306 days, the Muslim calendar needs to be adapted to the lunar cycle.
Trying to solve this problem, the Muslims introduced eleven days in the calendar every
thirty years (BARSA, 2000, p.308). The solar calendars are those that obey the Sun’s
trajectory making it coincide, in minor or major preciseness, with the solar year and the
civil year. That way, seasons occur in the same days every year. It is assured that the
Egyptians were the first to elaborate the solar calendar. However, it is known that
Egyptians’ twelve months of 30 days reflected the lunar calendar. It is also affirmed that
the calendar instituted by the roman Julius Cesar and then reformed by the pope
Gregorio XIII is from solar nature, and reflects the Egyptian calendar. Nowadays, most
civilizations on Earth use the Gregorian calendar (BARSA, 2000, p.308). The lunisolar
calendars, however, were structured by the addition of an intercalated month as an
attempt to put together the moon phases with the solar phases. It was used by the
25
Babylonians, Chinese, Assyrians, Greeks and Hindi. In this calendar, the month is
determined by moon revolutions in such a way that the year starts with the beginning of
lunation. And so that season of the year happens in set dates, a supplementary or
intercalated month is added aiming to, after a certain number of years, form a cycle
(BARSA, 2000, p.308).
The types of calendar mentioned above demonstrate that humanity were not able to
elaborate an astronomically perfect calendar, one that put together the moon phases with
the solar phases. Only the biblical calendar was able to have such harmonization. And
that demonstrates the supernatural and divine character of the Bible. Besides, the
biblical calendar represented the first successful model of solar (the Egyptians were not
the first) and lunisolar year (however, without the intercalation of a complementary
month). Another interesting fact that reinforces humanity’s difficulty to produce a
perfect calendar (one that puts together the solar phase and the moon phase) is the
history of roman’s calendar evolution. Accioli and Bailey tell us a little bit of that
history. It is known that in the beginning of Roman’s city foundation there was a ten
month lunar calendar, which was part of a 304-day year. It is known that lunar calendars
had twenty-nine or thirty days and that this configuration was drawn by Babylonians.
The second important point refers to the affirmation that Accioli and Bailey transcript
above. Roberto Accioli asserts the pre-Cesar, pre-Julian calendars were lunar. That way,
Romulo’s were too. Hence, this calendar should have twenty-nine or thirty-day months.
If it had six months of thirty days and four months of twenty-nine days, it would add
296 days. If it had six months of twenty-nine and four months of thirty days, it would
add 295 days. In other words, such configurations would never add 304 days. It was
needed to redistribute the days in the calendar. In order for Romulo’s calendar to add
304 days, there were only two possible formats: six months of thirty days and four
months of thirty-one days (304 days) or four months of thirty days and six months of
thirty-one days (304 days). It has been asserted the referred calendar had six months of
thirty days and four months of thirty-one days. Ancient historians such as Licinius,
Macer, Fenestada and Plutarch believed that Romulo’s calendar had twelve months put
together with the solar year.27 On the other hand, other ancient historians (such as
Censorinus, Graco, Fulvius, Varro, Ovidius, Gelio, Macrobius, Solin and Servio)
believed Romulo’s calendar had ten months.28 Besides, Plutarch said the months of
January and February ended the year, i.e., they were the eleventh and twelfth months.
Also, Censorinus, Macrobius and Solin assured that in such calendar there were four 31day months (Martius or Mars, Quintictilis and October) and six thirty-day months
(Aprilis, Junius, Sextilis, September, November and December).
The month of Martius or Mars was the first month of the year due to the importance
of the god Martius (Mars) for the Romans. According to Theodor Mommesen, the god
Mars was the center of adoration and roman religion. The god Mars was the god that
kills. He carried a dart with which he protected the flocks and threw down enemies
(MOMMESEN, 1971, p.72-73). The month Aprilis comes from the verb “Aperide = to
open or spring-flower” (MOMMESEN, 1971, p.72-73). The month Maius is a reference
to the goddess Majus-Maia (goddess of fertility). The month Junius is in honor of the
27
28
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
Ver <www.calendario.cnt.br>. (calendar)
26
god Iunius (god Juno). Quinctilis was the fifth month. Sextilis was the sixth month.
Seventh was September. The eighth month was October. November was ninth and
December the tenth. The ten months of Romulo’s calendar were not in complete
accordance with seasons of the year or moon phases. According to Macrobius, when the
cold season was in the summer, and vice-versa, the calendar’s accommodation to
natural time was done by the interruption of counting determined natural days in the
calendar’s months (MOMMESEN, 1971, p.72-3). That way, the referred calendar does
not represent every season of the year. Through the significance of months in this
calendar and for the season initiated in the first month, the articulation of other seasons
in Romulo’s calendar can be noticed. The three first months (Mars, Aprilis and Maius)
represented the flower season. The months (Junius, Quinctilis and Sextilis) represented
the seeding or fructification season. The months September, October and November
represented the harvesting season. The month December represented the cold season,
which was named “dead season” or “rigorous winter”. This season had the duration of
approximately two months (MOMMESEN, 1971, p.72-3). In fact, Romulo’s calendar
had only one month for this season.
As for the days of the month, it has been said that “the roman calendar was based on
the lunar cycle and had 304 days divided in ten months – six with thirty days and four
with thirty-one. In that time, week had eight days and would only have seven in the year
321 a.C.”29 Such change was made by the emperor Constantine. Let’s see! The days of
the months in Romulo’s calendar were divided in calendas (1º day of the month), Nonas
(Waxing/waning crescent that in the months of March, May, July and October were on
the 7th) and Idos (middle months – days after the 15th). In Numa Pompilio’s restored
calendar, the Nonas and Idos in the months of January, February, April, June, August,
September, November and December were, respectively, in the days 5 and 13 of the
month.30 Well, the analysis of the period of days that mark the three divisions of days in
the Roman calendar demonstrates a seven-day sequential period, with an exception to
the Idos division. From Calendas no Nonas there are seven days. The Nonas begin in
the 8th and they go up to the 14th of any given month, i.e., another seven-day period. The
Idos begin in the 15th and go up to the end of the month. Here, one can observe two
seven-day sequential periods. From the 15th to the 22nd there is a seven-day period. From
the 23rd to the 30th there is another seven-day period. And the days that were remaining
to end the month made a non-complete week, such as in the biblical calendar.
Therefore, the Romans were familiar with seven-day week. According to Romildo
Póvoa, the Babylonians were the ones that configured days of the week in accordance
with the names of seven gods that were worshiped by them, being the Sun the most
important god that directed the first day of the week; the second day era directed by the
moon; the third was directed by Mars; the fourth by Mercury; fifth was directed by
Jupiter; the sixth by Venus and the seventh was directed by Saturn, which is the god of
time; the day that celebrates god Saturn is Saturday or Saturn’s day (Saturni dies). Such
commemoration was already done (Saturnalia) before Roman’s foundation and was
reported to a time of happiness supposedly occurred in the past.
29
30
See <http://cienciahoje.uol.com.br/materia/view2852> (Science today)
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
27
In Saturnalia, the Romans looked to relive the equality that was very important
among men in the beginning of human’s odyssey. For that, they suspended the ruling of
the lord over his slaves. These could live freely (words and actions). Every activity was
stopped, including wars and criminal executions, because pleasure and joy should
prevail. In Rome, people went up to the Aventine mountain to breathe in the clean air
and slaves were served at the table by his lords.31 As said before, the Saturnalia started
on Saturday. Consequently, the Romans knew Saturday in the time of Roman’s
foundation already. And that implies to say that they knew a seven-day period that was
incorporated, maybe, from the biblical or Babylonian calendar. According to what is
said, the Babylonians would have created the lunar calendar (BARSA, 2000, p.307).
Besides, the Roman calendar that existed during Romulo’s time did not have the
months of Januarius (eleventh Numa month) and Februaris (twelfth Numa month),
because the year started in March and the first day of the week was Sun (Sunday). In
spite of these Babylonian contributions to Romulo’s Roman calendar, it was not
structured by months of twenty-nine or thirty days (like stipulated by Babylonians).
That is because the year in Romulo’s calendar would have 294 days, not the 304 written
by Cynil Bailey. For the referred calendar to have 304 days, it was necessary to have
thirty and thirty-one days months. And for this information, Romulo went to the biblical
calendar. That way, Romulo’s roman calendar, which lasted for thirty-two years, fixated
the days of the week in the months (such as on the biblical calendar) and had its
configuration established such as on table 5. As seen above, Romulo’s calendar left
available only one month for the cold season or “dead season”. That caused the
beginning of next season (flower season) to happen only in the third month of the
following year. In other words, every year the climatic seasons started two months
later.32 Numa Pompilio (717-673 b.CE) tried to solve this problem by introducing solar
phases. Numa knew that the lunar calendar had 354 days and solar had 365 and ¼
days.33 The introduction of solar phases made it possible to create a 12-month lunisolar
calendar of 355 days and an intercalated month of twenty-two or twenty-three days.
31
See <http://www.mundodosfilosofos.com.br/caos.htm> (Caos)
See <http://www.alternex.com.br>
33
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
32
28
Table 5: Romulo’s Roman calendar (735 – 703 b.CE)
The intercalated month showed itself as a solution to the eleven-day delay of
Numa’s calendar in relation to the solar or tropic year, as well as the fitting of seasons
through the creation of months Januarius and Februarius. That way, the two months that
were necessary for the cold season or “dead season” to be complete was, in thesis,
solved. The introduction of an intercalated month was done through the establishment
of a four-year cycle where the first one had 355 days; the second 377 days; the third 355
and the fourth had 378 days. This cycle comprehended 1.465 days and an average year
of 366 days and ¼ of day. In relation to the configuration of months in the calendar, the
change implemented by Numa meant the withdrawal of one of the six 30-day month,
and the six days withdrawn from the 30-day months added to 51 days created two
months (Januarius with twenty-nine days and Februarius with twenty-eight days). This
mechanism made it possible to create seven 29-day months (203 days), four 31-day
months (124 days) and one twenty-eight-day month, adding up, then, a 355-day
calendar (see table 6).
29
Table 6: Numa Pompilio’s Roman calendar (702-691 b.CE)
The month of Januarius mentioned god Janus (two-faced god). The month
Februarius made reference to Fibro, god of the dead. And as an even number is a
number that brings bad-luck, Numa ordained the year had 355 days. This calendar still
had some imperfections: the flower season, in terms of calendar, stopped being
represented in the month Mars and starts being represented in Januarius: the referred
calendar was over ten days smaller than the tropic year. To solve these issues, a
thirteenth months was intercalated in the calendar. This month was called
Mercedonious. This name comes from Mercedonia, goddess of merchandise and
payments. The four-year cycle had an average solar year if 366 and ¼ days. However,
Numa, wanting the day to have 365 and ¼ days, issued laws stipulating the last years of
this cycle as having 371 and 372 days so that the year would approximate to 365 and ¼
days. 34 Therefore, the news proposed and implemented by Numa is expressed by the
addition of two months (Januarius and Februarius) to the previous calendar and the
introduction of the intercalated month (Mercedonious) through the establishment of the
four-year cycle. The referred calendar had a established configuration such as in table 7.
34
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
30
Table 7: Numa Pompilio’s restored Roman calendar
The introduction of the intercalated month Mercedonius in Numa’s retores
calendar broke the rigidness of Romulo’s calendar, that is, the days of the months
started to vary in days of the week. However, Numa Pompilio’s Roman calendar
provoked a lot of disorder and its variation did not orient agricultural activities.
Agriculture was oriented by the appearance and disappearance of some stars
constellations. And the referred calendar persisted, according to Accioli, up to 691
b.CE when civil wars broke out (Accioli, 1975, p.145). Since that moment until the
year 46 b.CE, many modifications were suggested to improve it (Bailey, 1956, p.433).
In the year 450 b.CE, the Romans promulgated the Twelve Plank or laws
codifications. As for the calendar, Roman legislators reconfigured Numa Pompilio’s
calendar (see table 8). The legislators put the months Februarius and Mercedonius
between the months Januarius and Martius.35
35
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
31
Table 8: Roman calendar (450 b.CE)
The Roman calendar from 450 b.CE had 357 annual fixated days and, every eight
years, the intercalated month was incorporated. This intercalation did not only make
sure that the calendar counted 379 days, but it also made the days of the months in the
weeks vary. This calendar persisted for 297 years. In the year 153 b.CE, the Roman
senate altered the calendar putting the beginning of the year the month Januarius,
which was followed by the months februarius, mercedonius and martius. That way,
the month December became last in the calendar (CHERMAN, 2008, p.67). However,
the problems with the calendar persisted, because the fourteen additional days in the
solar year impacted the season regimen. This was such a serious situation that many of
the parties which were celebrated in the seasons that had been instituted, started been
celebrated in different seasons. For example, the party of Ceres (goddess of harvest)
started been celebrated in the winter; and the party of Bacchus (god of wine) started
happening in the spring.36 In order to correct the many irregularities of the Roman
calendar, the emperor Julius Caesar decided to change the calendar in the year 46
b.CE. To do that, he hired the Egyptian mathematician and astronomer Sosigenes,
who became noticeable by studies and observations in Alexandria’s Observatory.37 In
the Julian calendar:
The lunisolar system is definitely broken; the Julian calendar started reflecting
approximately the Sun’s tropic revolution. Sosigenes, educated and up-to-date with the
astronomic revolutions of his time, definitely, knew that the tropic revolution was slightly
superior to the 365,25 days stipulated by him when changing the Roman calendar. Skillful
in the manipulation of numbers, politically and rationally, once more he emphasized
Romulo’s calendar in what it had of acceptable and kept, also making use of the best with
36
37
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
32
Numa’s calendar: the generic structure of the calendar. Julius Caesar, in turn, full of
prejudice and numerical superstitions, specially about even and odd numbers for the total
of months, that by the way had negatively influenced on systemic procedures of Numa’s
calendar, tried to conciliate and put together Sosigenes’ advice.38
It is known that Romulo’s calendar had ten months (Mars, Aprilis, Maius, Junius,
Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December) and that the initial
Numa Pompilio’s calendar had the same months as Romulo’s plus two months
(Januarius and Februarius) and an intercalated month (Mercedonius). It has been
asserted that the Julian calendar had the following month configuration: 1º Januarius
(31 days), 2º Februarius (twenty-nine days), 3º Martius or Mars (31 days), 4º Aprilis
(thirty days), 5º Maius (31 days), 6º Junius (thirty days), 7º Quintilis (31 days), 8º
Sextilis (thirty days), 9º September (thirty days), 10º October (31 days), 11º
November (thirty days) and 12º December (31 days). It is known that Numa
introduced the months Januarius and Februarius at the end of the year. It is also
known that the collocation of Januarius as the first month and Februarius as being the
second month of the year was not something that Numa implemented, but the Roman
legislators in 153 b.CE (CHERMAN, 2008, p.67). Hence, the configuration of the
months above for the Julian calendar does not express what was best in Numa and
Romulo’s calendars. From the year 450 to 153 b.CE, the civil year started in Martius.
That way, there is inconsistency in Roberto Accioli’s assertion in saying that Julius
Caesar had ordained that “the civil year, which until then started on March 1st, would
start in the beginning of the political year (…) in January’s calendas.” Well, what
happened was the exact opposite, i.e., Julius Caesar ordained that the political year,
that started in January’s calendas, went back to happening in March 1st (Barsa
Encyclopedia confirms that the Roman year started in March). That way, the best in
Numa and Romulo’s calendar was, certainly, the order established by Romulo with the
two extra months introduced by Numa, the non-utilization of the Mercedonian month
and distribution of days in months in such a way to add up 365 and 366 days every four
years. As for the seasons of the year, it is known that Romans denominated them
flower season (spring), seeding season (summer), harvesting season (autumn) and dead
season (winter). But according to the magazine Ciência Hoje (Science Today) the
denomination of seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) happened in the Roman
Empire – from centuries I to IV. These denominations come from the Latin Primo Vere
(beginning of summer); Veranum, Autumno and Hybernus.39 According to a
dictionary, winter [from lat. Hibernu, i.e., tempus hibernum, hibernal time. Autumn
[from lat. Autumnu, time to harvest. Spring [from lat. Primo Vere, at the beginning of
spring. Summer [from lat. Veranum, veranum tempus.
As discussed before, the Bible defined the following seasons: spring, summer and
winter. It does not have the word autumn. In the Bible, this season is called harvest.
Note that the dictionary has the meaning to the word autumn, i.e., time to harvest.
38
39
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
See <http://www.cienciahoje.uol.com.br> (Science Today magazine)
33
Therefore, Romans gave a name only to the season autumn and not the others, because
the Bible had already named the seasons spring, summer and winter. Romans’
denomination of seasons done between centuries I and IV after the Christian Era
happened when they were using the Julian calendar. So that this would start being used
with all its seasons (flower season, seeding season, harvesting season and dead season)
temporally adjusted with solar year, it was needed to establish an intermediary period
in order to equation the previous system with what was being implemented. This
period became known as Confusion Year. That happened due to the introduction of
two months (a 33-days one and a 34-days one) in a 355-day year which had a 23-day
intercalated month, adding up, that way, 445 days. These days were added between the
months of November and December so that the calendar would be implemented from
the first of Martius or Mars (March). As for the configuration of this calendar, Accioli
informs us that it started in January; and Bailey tells us that months quintilis and
sextilis were respectively substituted by Iulius/July and Augustus/August; and the
Nova Enciclopédia Barsa (New Barsa Encyclopedia) let us know that the twelve
months had “29,30 or 31 days”. And more: the month of August was introduced in
reverence to emperor Augustus and should have the number of days from the month of
July, which was named that in reverence to Julius Caesar” (BARSA, 2000, p.309). The
change that Julius Caesar made was to give two more days to the month of Januarius,
from twenty-nine to thirty-one days, like the month of Mars (31 days) which marked
the beginning of the calendar; he also changed five months (April, June, September,
November and December) from twenty-nine days to thirty; maintained the 31-days
months (March, May, Quintilis – Iulius = July and October) and transformed the month
sextilis (twenty-nine days) in August of 31 days; the month of February had twentyeight days and started having twenty-nine, passing to thirty days in the bissextile year.
About the configuration of this calendar, the year began in March and had its
configuration such as on table 9.
The Julian calendar was established by Julius Caesar in the year 46 b.CE and
persisted for 1.628 years. Such calendar was based in a solar years of 365 days, like the
Egyptian calendar, divided in twelve months of twenty-nine, thirty and thirty-one days.
Preceding to the study of months in the Julian calendar, it has one month of twentynine days, five months of 30 days (150 days) and six months of thirty-one days (186
days). That way, such calendar constitutes a 365-day solar year without the existence
of an intercalated month like it was in the Roman’s Numa Pompilio’s restored
calendar. The new that Julius Caesar introduced was the bissextile year every four
years and the introduction of ten/eleven days to get to the solar year. According to
Bailey, such introduction was incorporated of an Egyptian calendar adopted in the year
238 b.CE. That way, the Egyptians must have improved the Greek ideas about the fifth
year, coming to the bissextile year. This introduction made it possible, according to the
Nova Enciclopédia Barsa (New Barsa Encyclopedia), the advance of equinox’s
precession. The matter of equinox’s precession also received Isaac Newton’s attention.
He developed a mathematic analysis to the precession calculus and found the same
result as Hipparchus of Nicaea, i.e., 26000 years (ÁLVARES, 1986, p.225-6).
34
Table 9: Initial Julian calendar (46 b.CE or 706 of Roma’s Foundation)
Although Newton explained the precession of Earth’s orbital axis in scientific
terms, we know, now, that the determination of the referred fact, in ancient times,
relates to the incorporation of some days in the calendar, i.e., the substitution of the
lunar calendar to a 365-day lunisolar one. Nevertheless, many civilizations continued
using the lunar calendar. The news introduced by Julius Caesar (bissextile year every
four years) made it possible, according to Enciclopédia Barsa (Barsa Encyclopedia),
the advance of equinox’s precession in the year 20.200 a.CE (BARSA, 2000, p.309).
However, such introduction already expressed itself as an improvement of the
Athenians calendar, i.e., the substitution of the fifth year by a bissextile year every four
years.40 As the tropic year (solar year ou season year) is 5h 48min and 46s bigger than
the 365-day civil year, the people who elaborated the Gregorian calendar, to legitimate
the substitution of Julian calendar which had been used from 46 b.CE to 1.582 a.CE,
they took refuge on assertions of astronomers and thinkers, such as Roger Bacon, that
the Julian calendar exceeded by 11 minutes the tropic year (CHERMAN, 2008, p.87).
Actually, the Julian calendar added 36h 22min and 28s to the tropic year. That in long
term would create a big problem. On one hand, there would be a big anticipation of
equinox’s dates and, on the other hand, the alteration of Passover’s date because of the
disarrangement of the lunation cycles with the solar year (BARSA, 2000, p.309). It is
known that the Julian calendar had 366 days and in the bissextile year it had 367. That
way, the 36h 22min and 28s represent, in terms of the 365-day calendar, the
anticipation in one and a half days the beginning of seasons in relation to the civil year.
Therefore, this difference was not of ten days as the astronomers affirmed in pope
Gregorian XIII’s time. In such time it was asserted that,
40
A year is bissextile when it is divisible by four and does not end in two zeros; in case it ends in two
zeros, it must be divisible by 400.
35
Around year 1.582, the equinox instead of being in March 25th was on the 11th of that same
month. To remediate that, pope Gregorian XIII, following the Calabrian astronomer
Aloisio Lilio’s advice, determined what 10 days of the year 1582 were suppressed
considering October 5th as being the 15th of that month, so that the spring equinox’s would
go back to March 21st, as happened in the year 325, when Nicaea’s council had a meeting.
That’s why our present calendar is denominated “Gregorian”.41
The solution for these problems occurred when the monks united in 1563 a.CE, at
Trento’s Council, asked the pope to correct the Julian calendar. Twelve years were
necessary to reformulate the Julian calendar. And in 1582 a.CE, the pope Gregorian
XIII, under assistance of many astronomers – especially Luigi Lilio’s, obtained an
agreement from the high clerical group and, through the bull Inter gravíssimas, from
February 24, the Julian calendar’s reform was decreed. The reformed calendar received
the name Gregorian, thus denominated in honor to the pope Gregorian XIII. However,
the new calendar was unanimously accepted. And that non-accepting was based in
politics and religious reasons.42 For example, English and the colonies followed the
Julian calendar because the year invariably started in March 25th.43 England’s refusal to
accept the Gregorian calendar assures us of a fact: the Julian calendar started in the
month of March, in the beginning of spring. And that calendar was introduced in
England in 43 a.CE when the Roman Empire annexed Britain’s south (FORMAN,
1982, p.51). And in the year 1752 a.CE, England adopted the Gregorian calendar.
Other nations did that some time afterwards: Japan (1783), Russia (1918), Turkey
(1917), China (1911) and Egypt (1873 for civil effects).44 According to specialists, the
Gregorian calendar will take a long time to be revised, because it adds 0,2425 of day
per year, i.e., 5h 49min and 12s. Such cipher represents an error of 0,003 per year45 or
43min and 12s. The Julian calendar adds 42 hours (see discussion ahead), while the
Gregorian calendar adds a short time, because the difference from this one to the tropic
is 0,003. The tropic year has 365 days and around a quarter of day longer than the civil
year. Therefore, the Gregorian calendar must have added around a quarter of day. But
it is not available in encyclopedias the way through which that was done. What is
known is that this calendar introduced a twenty-eight-day month, seven 31-day months,
four thirty day months and every four years a bissextile year of twenty-nine days.
By comparing the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar, two things can be
observed. First: the Julian calendar introduces a lot of time in the difference between
the tropic and the civil year. The Julian bissextile year was in the month of February.
That way, this month would have thirty days and the year, 367 days. Second: the
Gregorian calendar created a 31-day month, having more 31-day months than the
Julian and lowered the number of months with thirty days. So far, the difference is
minimal and it would not explain the extraordinary doing of the Gregorian calendar in
41
See <http://www.alternex.com.br>
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
43
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
44
See <www.calendario.cnt.br> (calendar)
45
Enciclopédia compacta de conhecimentos gerais (Compact encyclopedia of general knowledge) Rio de Janeiro: Editora Três,
1995, p.7.
42
36
lowering the difference in relation to the tropic year. The ‘smart-move’ from the
Gregorians was the creation of a twenty-eight day month that unmade the impression
that the Julian calendar added 36 hours than the tropic year. Both calendars have
bissextile years. But the difference is that the Gregorian bissextile year has twenty-nine
days in the month of February, while the Julian has the thirty-day bissextile year in
February. In these terms, the Julian bissextile year would add 42 hours longer than the
tropic year. But the Gregorian calendar, by creating the twenty-eight day month caused
the retrocession of difference between the civil and the tropic year to 18 hours, that is,
the Gregorian calendar suppressed the twenty-ninth day of February Julian. By doing
that, the Gregorian calendar postponed the occurrence of equinox’s precession. Let’s
see!
As for the equinox’s precession from the referred calendars, it is needed to do some
calculations. Each bissextile year introduces 18h 11min and 14 s in the solar year
(365d 5h 48min and 46s). Each century has twenty-four bissextile years. These
bissextile years introduce 436h 29min and 36s. For one to have the approximate
number of hours of the anticipation in six months of the beginning of seasons
spring/autumn, one needs to multiply the number of hours in bissextile years in a
century for a certain number (10 x 436 hours = 4360 hours). That being done, it is
needed to determine the number of centuries with bissextile years necessary to the
anticipation of equinox’s (10 x 24 = 240 centuries). Knowing the necessary number of
centuries, it is possible to calculate the time in which the anticipation will occur (240 x
100 = 24.000). In the year 24000 a.CE, the Gregorian calendar will anticipate the
beginning of equinoxes. But in relation on the Julian calendar, each bissextile year
introduces 42h 29min and 14s in the solar year. Each century has twenty-four bissextile
years. These bissextile years introduce 1.012h 29min and 36s. To have the approximate
number of hours from equinox’s anticipation in six months, it is necessary to multiply
the number of hours from the bissextile year in a century to a determined number (5 x
1.012 hours = 5.060 hours). After that, it is necessary to determine the number of
necessary bissextile centuries to anticipate seasons spring/autumn (5 x 24 = 120
centuries). Knowing the number of bissextile centuries, it is possible to calculate the
time in which the anticipation will occur (120 x 100 = 12000). In the year 12000 a.CE,
the Julian calendar would anticipate in six months the beginning of equinoxes.
37
Table 10: Initial Gregorian Calendar (1582 a.CE)
It is known that pope Gregorian XIII and his helpers were not interested in
projecting forward the equinox’s precession. It is also known that the difference
between season beginning and the civil calendar was not of ten days, but of one and a
half days. Therefore, what would explain the change processed by the Gregorians? The
change expressed itself as a strategy to detach facts of Christ’s life with the Julius
Caesar’s Roman calendar. This calendar began in spring like the biblical calendar.
Table 11: Number of Months in all three calendars
Table 12: Numa’s, Julian and Gregorian calendars in a compared perspective
38
In the Gregorian calendar, the year began in the winter. Both the biblical calendar
and Julius Caesar’s Roman calendar give us foundation ou fundaments to understand
the day of lie. Until the year 1582 a.CE, it was, probably, accepted by the ones that were
really familiar with the bible calendar that Jesus Christ was born in the 1st day of the
second month (ziv) from biblical calendar, as, in terms of Roman calendar, such event
happened in the 1st day of the second month (April). This correspondence was inlaid in
an implicit way, once that it adopted December 25th for the day Christ was born. The
substitution of the Julian calendar by the Gregorian calendar broke such
correspondence. That way, the implicit acceptance was disqualified when April 1st was
called the day of lie.46 Besides that unlevel, it is needed to clarify how the biblical
calendar incorporates the entire time that Earth spends to do a complete lap around the
Sun.
As said before, the tropic year (season’s year) is about six hours longer than the civil
year of 365 days. The non-incorporation of these hours to the Western calendar brought
the need to create the bissextile year. However, the bissextile year introduces 18h 11min
and 46 s. On the other hand, the biblical calendar established a 365-day year that
incorporates the extra hours on the tropic year. How was that possible? In equinoxes
(autumn and spring), the duration of days and nights is the same (with the exception of
Polar Regions). In the solstices (summer and winter), the duration of days and nights is
different. In summer, days are longer and nights are shorter. In the winter, days are
shorter and nights are longer. There are two moments in a year when both days and
nights are longer. This enlargement of day and night happens in the solstice of summer
and winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, summer starts on December 22nd. On that date,
the day is the longest of the year, while in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter. On this
one, the night is the longest of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, winter starts on
June 21st. On this date, the night is the longest of all year, as in the Northern
Hemisphere it is summer. On this one, the day is the longest of the year. Therefore, the
additional hours (5h 48min and 46s) necessary for the Earth to complete a lap around
the Sun are calculated, in the biblical calendar, by the structuring of a 29-day month,
five thirty-day months and six thirty-one day months.
46
In Western’s historiography there are other explanations to April 1st. It is accounted that the French were celebrating the
beginning of the year in March 25th. This date marked the beginning of spring and it was commemorated in April 1st. But the change
of calendars, on 1564, established the beginning of the year in January 1st. Many French resisted that change by preferring the old
calendar to the new one. Therefore, some people started mocking some French that used the old calendar to give weird gifts and
giving out invitations to inexistent events. In spite of that, the day of lie was known in Italy and France as “pesce d’aprile” and
“poisson d’avril” respectively, which means “April’s fish”. Here, the correspondence with a Christian symbol emerges. Therefore,
April 1st can also be related to the birth of Christ. See <http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dia_da_mentira>. On the other side, the terror
that Friday 13th brings in people can also be associated to the Bible. Jesus Christ was crucified on the 13th, Friday, of the nisã month
of year 28 a.CE. In that day, the resurrection of the dead who believed in God happened and they started walking around Jerusalem
(Mt 27:52-54; Heb 11:35-38). In Western’s historiography, there are also several other explanations to Friday 13th. It is accounted
that terrible horrors happened when the Templar’s Order was extinguished on Friday, October 13th of 1307 a.CE. It is also asserted
that the beliefs about the invitation to a dinner with 13 people brings disgraces has its origin in a Nordic legend. It is said that 12
gods were invited to have dinner. During the meal, without being invited, Loki (the god of evil) showed up. That started a fight that
ended in Baldur’s death, the protected of the gods. Another Nordic legend about Friday 13th says that Frigg, the goddess of beauty
and love, was transformed in a witch when the Nordics accepted Christianism. To revenge that, Frigg gathers 11 other witches and
the demon in order to curse all human-beings. About Friday 13th, see: <http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexta_Feira_13>
39
The hour in Hebrew (shã΄â) is a period of twelve parts from sunrise to sunset (Jn
11:9). J.D. Douglas asserts that hours were, in fact, computed from sunrise to sunset
(DOUGLAS, 1995, p.723). Douglas also asserts that the night time was computed from
sunrise to sunset. According to Douglas (1995, p.723), the night period in the Old
Testament was counted in three night-watches (Judaic system) and in the New
Testament in four night-watches (Roman system). And more: Douglas asserts the term
“hour” is used in the Bible to denote, on one side, a precise meaning and, on the other,
a general sense. In the precise meaning, the term “hour” represents twelve parts of
sunlight. And in the general sense, the word “hour” means a moment or instant “welldefined of time”. According to Douglas, the precise meaning would have been created
after the general sense. Let’s see! Since Adam, the Hebrews knew, through divine
revelation, that the day is formed by periods of time: day (Ge 1:5), night (Ge 1:5),
evening (Ge 1:5) and morning (Ge 1:5). The day is a period of time comprehended
between dawn and the twilight of the afternoon (Ex 12:6; Lev 23:32; Ne 4:21; Jer 6:4;
Jn 9:4). And the day is divided in three moments: evening, morning and midday (Ps
55:17). Afternoon is a part of the day comprehended between midday and sunset or
twilight of the afternoon (Ge 1:5; Ex 16:8,12,13; 29:39,41; 30:8; Jdg 19:8,9,11,14,16; 1
Ki 18:36; Jer 6:4; Da 9:21; Mk 1:32). Charles Ryrie asserts that the Jews observed two
evenings: one during the evening sacrifice (15 hours) and the other at sunset (The Ryrie
Study Bible, p.1205). Ryrie asserts that due to the translation of the word “afternoon”
from Ex 12:6 meaning “between afternoons”. But Ex 12:6 informs: “twilight”. Maybe
the referred translation refers to the sacrifices that were offered during the afternoon. In
fact, there are two ceremonies in the evening: the evening sacrifice at 3 p.m. (Da 9:21)
and the twilight offer at 6 p.m. (Ex 29:39,41). And on the Passover, there were evening
sacrifices at 3 p.m. and the offer of the lamb at 6 p.m. (Ex 12:6; Dt 16:6). Because of
these offers, Ex 12:6 is translated as “between afternoons”, that is, two offers between
the two offers. Therefore, there are not two afternoons, but two offers between two
different periods of time, being the 3 p.m. offer done in the middle of the afternoon and
the other one at the end of it. Morning is a period of six hours comprehended between
dawn and midday (Ge 1:5; 44:3; Ex 14:27; 19:16; 34:25; Jos 6:15; Jdg 19:25,26; 2 Sa
23:4; Job 11:17; Pr 4:18; Da 6:19; Jnh 4:7,8). Midday is a time (hour) that marks half
of the day or the instant in which sunlight is brighter (Ge 18:1; 1 Ki 18:26,27,29;
20:16; 2 Sa 4:5; Ne 8:3; Job 11:17; Ps 37:6; 55:17; Jer 6:4). Summing up, the day is a
period of twelve parts of sunlight divided in evening, morning and midday.
The night is also an interval of time of twelve parts from sunset to sunrise (Ge 1:5;
Ex 11:4; 12:29; 14:24,27; 34:25; Jdg 7:19; 16:2,3; 19:5-11, 13-16,20,25,27; 1 Sa 9:26;
11:9,11; 29:10,11; Ne 4:21,22; Job 34:20; Ps 30:5; 63:6; 104:20; Isa 21:11,12; Lam
2:19; Mt 14:25; Mk 6:48; Lu 12:38; 21:37,38; Jn 6:48; 8:2; 9:4; 11:9; Rm 13:12). Even
when illuminated by sun light reflected on the moon (Job 25:5; 31:26), the night is a
period of time dominated by darkness (Ge 1:16-18; Job 24:16,17; Ps 104:20; 1 Ts 5:5;
Jn 9:4; 11:10); The Hebrews divided night in three periods or watches: the night watch
(Ps 63:6) comprehended the time from 6 to 10 p.m.; the middle watch (Jdg 7:19) went
from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.; and the morning watch (Ex 14:24; 1 Sa 11:9,11) was
comprehended from 2 to 6 a.m. In addition to that, the Hebrews also knew the exact
moment in which half of the night or midnight occurred (Ex 11:4; 12:29; Job 34:20,25;
40
36:20; Ru 3:8; Ps 119:62). That way, the Hebrews knew how to count the hours of
night and day. Just as they were counting in a written way the days of the week and
months in the most perfect calendar on Earth (Ge 8; Ex 12:1,2; Est 3:7), they also
counted the hours in a written way. The Hebrews distinguished the hour as having a
precious sense (Ge 24:11; Nu 9:3,7,13; 1 Sa 9:16; 20:12; 2 Ki 7:1,18; 19:3; 20:11; 1
Ch 9:25; Ezr 9:5; Ps 19:6; 104:19; 113:3; Isa 38:8; Da 9:21; Mt 14:15; 24:36; 26:45;
Mk 6:35; 13:11,32; 14:35,37,41) when having general sense (Da 5:5). The Hebrews
counted the hours that the Sun takes to go its way (Ps 19:6; 104:19; 113:3), i.e., time
the Earth takes to spin around its axis, and counted the hours of the night in which
there was no sun light. That way, the Hebrews the day had (and has) 24 hours. That is
proved by the Hebrews knowledge about the time to eat: time of lunch (Ge 18:1-8;
37:25; 43:16; Ru 2:14) and of offer (Ge 19:1-3; Jdg 19:16-21; Ru 3:7,8). Beyond that,
the Hebrews used the term “time” to designate precise time (Ge 17:21; 18:10,14;
19:29; 21:2; Ex 9:5,18; 2 Ki 4:16,17). The Hebrews also used the term “hour” to
designate a moment or a “well-defined instant of time”: Nu 4:20; Da 3:5,8; 5:5.
Therefore, the Hebrews counted the time47 and knew that the day has 24 hours much
before Abraham’s time (Ge 24:11). And on the contrary of what Douglas said, the
precise meaning of the term “hour” did not emerge after its general sense. This came
from that. This is proved by the reckoning of the 12 night hours in three watches in the
Old Testament, and by the reckoning of 12 night hours in four watches (Mt 14:25; Mk
6:48; 13:35; Lu 22:61) in the New Testament. As well as the 12 day hours were
divided in twelve parts in the New Testament (Mt 20:1-12), the 12 day hours were
divided in twelve parts in the Old Testament. It is very probable that the Hebrews
emphasized time as morning (the first five hours of a day), midday and evening (the six
other hours of the day). This classification is not presented to us in an explicit way in
the Old Testament. Likewise, the two biblical calendars were not presented in an
explicit way. Therefore, the classification of hours in the Old Testament can be
visualized in three different ways: (1º) classification of the first five morning hours,
midday and the 6 evening hours; (2º) classification of hours in twelve hours such as
mentioned in Mt 20:1-12 and Jn 11:9; (3º) classification of day and night in 24 hours (1
Ch 24:7-18; 25:9-31; 27:1), the day being marked from first to twelfth hour and night
from thirteenth to twenty-fourth hour, such as delineated in 1 Ch 12:25; 24:1-27:15.
But Douglas affirms that, because of the variation from sunrise and sunset during
the year, the Hebrew hours do not correspond to the chronometer hours in the modern
world (DOUGLAS, 1995, p.723). Well, the sunrise and sunset, in the modern world,
also vary through the year. Conventionally, the days in the modern world have 24
hours. The Hebrews also counted days as having 24 hours. As the Hebrew day was
counted from one evening to the other (Ge 1:5,8,13,19,23,31; Lev 23:32; Mt 20:1-12),
47
Biblical passages in which the term “hour” is written: Ge 24:11; 29:7; Jos 11:6; Ru 2:14; 1 Sa 4:20; 9:13; 1 Ki 18:29, 36; 2 Ki
3:20; Ezr 9:5; Ps 104:19; Isa 21:3; 26:17; Da 3:6, 15; 4:33; 5:5; 9:21; Mt 8:13; 9:22; 10:19; 14:15; 15:28; 17:18; 18:1; 20:3,
5,6,912; 24:36,44,50; 25:13; 26:40,45,55; 27:45,46; Mk 6:35; 13:11,32; 14:35,37,41; 15:15:25,33,34; Lu 1:10; 2:38; 7:21; 8:13;
10:21; 12:12,39,40,46; 13:31; 14:17; 20:19; 22:14,53,59; 23:44; 24:33; Jn 1:39; 2:4; 4:6,21,23,52,53; 5:25,28; 7:30; 8:20;
12:23,27; 13:1; 16:2,4,21,25,32; 17:1; 19:14,27; Ac 2:15; 3:1; 10:3,9,30; 16:18,33; 22:13; 23:23; Ro 13:11; 1 Co 4:11; 15:30; Gl
2:5; 1 Jn 2:18; Rv 3:3,10; 8:1; 9:15; 11:13; 14:7,15; 17:12; 18:10,16,19
41
the hours in advance that the Earth needs to complete its orbital motion were added to
the long solstice summer day, in the long solstice winter day and in the first hours of
clarity before the sun rising in summer’s solstice and winter’s solstice. The clarity that
dissipates night’s darkness is called dawn (period of clarity prior to the sun rising,
when this one is already illuminating the part that is still in the shadow). This clarity is
denominated in the Bible “day break”.48 Therefore, the hours of clarity at day break
were observed in watches in the New and Old Testaments. That way, the 365,02422
days were incorporated in the biblical calendar of 365 days. That did not occur with the
Western calendar, because the introduction of bissextile year emerged as a strategy to
vary the days of the months in days of the week. The reduction in the Western calendar
of the days in February, of the months with thirty days (four against five in the Bible)
allowed the creation of a calendar that made possible to vary the days of the months in
the days of the week through the establishment of bissextile year.
Table 13: Hours in the Western and in the Bible
The variation of days of the months in days of the week is a positive point to the
western calendar, because it broke the rigidness of the biblical calendar (the nonvariation of days in the week). On the other hand, the introduction of bissextile year, in
the Julian and the Gregorian calendar, brought up a negative point. Both calendars will
anticipate the beginning of seasons (spring/autumn). In other words, the Western
people paid for the variation of days of the months in days of the week with the
anticipation of equinoxes in a far future. The discovery of biblical calendars and
biblical chronology showed that the Bible presents factual knowledge about the time.
That way, it is possible to assure categorically that the Bible is an authentic, credible,
historic and prophetic book. Every person that interprets it without taking into account
48
See Ex 14:21-27; Jos 6:15; Jdg 19:25-27; 2 Sa 2:29; Ne 4:21; 8:3; Job 3:9; 7:4; 38:13,14; Pr 4:18; SS 6:10; Mt 28:1; Mk
16:2,9; Lu 24:1; Jn 20:1; Ac 27:29,33,39
42
such attributes fall into grotesque historical, of exegesis and hermeneutic mistakes.
Now, the discovery of biblical chronology and biblical calendars does not allow only to
visualize and to fit the biblical events throughout history, but also to clarify biblical
knowledge about the issue of beginning and end of the world and human life. But
before we discuss the end of creation, it is needed to investigate the beginning of
creation in science and in the Bible, because to have an end it is needed to have a birth
or an origin (Ec 3:2) of the Universe and the Earth.
43
Bibliography
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BAILEY, Cynil. El legado de Roma. (Rome’s Legacy) Madrid: Ediciones Pegaso,
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CHERMAN, Alexandre. O tempo que o tempo tem: por que o ano tem 12 meses e
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have 12 months and other curiosities about calendar) Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Ed.,
2008.
DOUGLAS, J. D. (org.). The New Bible Dictionary.
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Dicionário
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SAGAN, Carl. As ligações Cósmicas: Uma perspectiva extraterrestre. (Cosmic
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