The New Moon Part 2

The “New Moon” in the Bible is erroneously thought to mean the first visible crescent of the waxing moon, the original Hebrew text, however, offers another option. 

The word that has been translated into English as “New Moon” is the Hebrew word חֹדֶש (chodesh) This word is used 276 times in the Bible and means “Month”

an example of this is Exodus 12:2: 

NKJV: “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.”  

Hebrew: הַחֹ֧דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֛ה לָכֶ֖ם רֹ֣אשׁ חֳדָשִׁ֑ים רִאשֹׁ֥ון הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם לְחָדְשֵׁ֖י הַשָּׁנָֽה                  

Literal translation: “This chodesh to you head chodeshim first he to you for chodeshei the year”

There is no reference to the moon here, nor in any of the other 224 verses in which this word is used.  

Look it up and see for yourself! you will be just as surprised to find this as I was. 

The word chodesh is # H2320 in the Strong’s Concordance. 

If this is true, then why do we find the term “New Moon” used 20 times in our English Bibles?

It is because of the context in many cases that clearly was in reference to the first day of the month, and not a month in its entirety. 

 An example of this is found in I Samuel 20:5

And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon,(Chodesh) and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening.

V6. If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked permission of me that he might run over to Bethlehem, his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.’

V18. Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon;(Chodesh) and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

V24. Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon (Chodesh) had come, the king sat down to eat the feast.

V25. Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.

V26. Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him; he is unclean, surely he is unclean.” 

V27. And it happened the next day, the second day of the month,(Chodesh) that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?”

 

It is apparent that the word “Chodesh” in verses 5, 18, and 24 is in reference to the first day of the month. This is because of context, not because a word was used that infers the moon. Interestingly enough, if you were to supplement “Chodesh” with “Month” in this passage it would still make sense, provided you have the understanding that it can mean specifically the first day of the month, as the context dictates. Such is the case in all of the other places this word is used.

Following are listed all of the places that “Chodesh” has been translated “New Moon” instead of “Month”: 

I Samuel 20:5; I Samuel 20:18; I Samuel 20:24; II Kings 4:23; I Chronicles 23:31; II Chronicles 2:4; Ezra 3:5; Nehemiah 10:33; Psalm 81:3; Isaiah 1:13; Isaiah 1:14; Isaiah 66:23; Ezekiel 45:17; Ezekiel 46:1; Ezekiel 46:3; Ezekiel 46:6; Hosea 2:11; and Amos 8:5

So why did the translators of the Bible insert the term “New Moon” whenever context referenced the first day of the month? The answer is simple: Talmudic bias.  

There are countless sources on the internet that claim with certainty that in Bible times the beginning of a month was determined by the physical observation of the first crescent of the waxing moon. The credentialed resources for this information are not from the Bible; they are quotations from people quoting other people who in turn quote other people that read the Talmud. This has been the case among scholars for centuries. Many assume that the Talmud is an accurate historical record and not merely a compilation of the discussions and arguments between medieval Rabis about the way things were done hundreds and thousands of years before them (this is another subject altogether)   

The fact is, that nowhere in the Hebrew text is the word “moon”- יָרֵחַ (yareach - Strong’s H3391/H3394), or לְבָנָה (levanah - Strong’s H3842) found together with “new” חָדָשׁ (chadash -Strong’s H2318)

If one wanted to say “New Moon” in Hebrew the phrase would be יָרֵחַ חָדָשׁ (yareach chadash- literally, moon new), not חֹדֶשׁ (chodesh - literally, month).                  

Another example of Talmudic bias being inserted into the translation is found in Psalms 81:3:

NKJV: “Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.” 

Hebrew: "תִּקְע֣וּ בַחֹ֣דֶשׁ שׁוֹפָ֑ר בַּ֝כֵּ֗סֶה לְי֣וֹם חַגֵּֽנוּ׃  

Literal translation: “Blow in the Chodesh Shofar in the covered for day our festival.”

It is apparent that the translator of this passage inserted words relating to the moon out of bias. Case in point: when the Hebrew says “In the covered” it gets translated as “full moon” 

If full moon was meant, this phrase would have been used: יָרֵחַ מָלֵא (yareach maleh - literally, moon full)

There is no moon phase at all mentioned in the Bible. 

 

In conclusion, we can see that the term “New Moon” is a gross mistranslation of the Hebrew Chodesh which actually means “Month.”

The “New Moon” is not Biblical; it is a term taken from the Talmud.