Building on the Foundation

Since the invention of the Internet, innumerable calendars have popped up to challenge the Hebrew calendar, each one claiming to be the true calendar of the Bible. This includes numerous "sighted" calendars, that is, calendars that call for gazing up at the night sky and searching for the first visible crescent of the moon. This first visible crescent is said to be the "new moon" of the Bible and to mark the beginning of each month and, in turn, determine the dates of the holy days. First of all, if anyone can point to even one Bible verse that says we must look up at the sky and find the first visible crescent of the moon, I would love to see it. I have never found such a verse, nor have I ever seen anyone else point to such a verse. Secondly, the "new moon" doesn't appear in the Hebrew text of the Bible, as explained in this post . Neither is such a "new moon" defined; some define the new moon as the conjunction, when the moon is dark, and ...

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...

                                                      The first time we are introduced to the concept of the “New Moon” is in I Samuel 20:5 And David said to Jonathan, “Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, 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; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. V24. Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the f...