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SABER TRUTH TIGER
I have seen many people over the years claim that the first Shavuot (Pentecost) happened the first year of Israel's departure from Egypt and that the Law was given on Pentecost. Here are some comments on this.
First, a quote from a popular website that makes this claim:
SABER TRUTH TIGER
The 15th “day of the moon” Gregg refers here to is a holy convocation that falls in the first month of the Hebrew calendar on the 15th day of the month. It is true that modern Judaism, dating back over two millennia and following rabbinic tradition, have observed this day as a Sabbath honoring the departure of Israel from bondage in Egypt.
DANIEL GREGG
The feast of Pentecost, called Shavuot in Hebrew for "sevens" is also kept in memory of a major historical event. This feast was held on the day that Yahweh met with the elders of Israel on Mt. Sinai.
SABER TRUTH TIGER
The Feast of Shavuot was not even in existence at the time of the departure from Egypt. It did not exist at the time of Yahweh’s meeting with the elders of Israel on Mt. Sinai. The Feast of Shavuot fell early in the month of Sivan, the third month of the Hebrew calendar. But it did not happen until the children of Israel entered the Promised Land. The event when Yahweh delivered the law to Moses and the children of Israel occurred the first year of Israel's departure from Egypt. This can be found by reading Exodus chapters 19-22. It is very likely that the giving of the Law to Moses occurred on a weekly Sabbath, while the Feast of Shavuot, which was first observed by the Hebrews the year when they entered the Promised Land, would have occurred on a Sunday late in the spring of that year, according to the reckoning then in use. Read Leviticus 23 carefully. Before you can have Shavuot, you need two things to happen. One: The waving of the Omer following the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Two: A seven Sabbath countdown to Shavuot. There was no seven Sabbath countdown to Shavuot the year Israel left Egypt because the Sabbath was not even revealed until the 15th day of the second month (Exodus 16). Therefore, the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai did not occur on Shavuot.
DANIEL GREGG
Disputes over when these events happened, and when they were supposed to be celebrated were bound to arise as Israel departed from the Biblical revelation into idolatry. The most subtle form of corruption is the suggestion that God's laws and times should be modified—just a little— mind you, to accommodate some pagan custom, or to allow Israel to honor some foreign god and yet still pay lip service to the God of Israel. In time people forget the pagan origin of various compromises and end up thinking they are serving the God of Israel by giving attention to the tradition.
SABER TRUTH TIGER
What Gregg says in the above paragraph is true. God’s Law was modified “just a little” mind you, by some Jews in the Second Temple period. Traditionally, the Jews had celebrated Shavuot (Pentecost) exactly 50 days after the first weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. A clear reading of the Hebrew Scriptures reveal this to be the case. In Leviticus 23:11 the waving of the Omer was to begin on the day AFTER the Sabbath. At the time this was written there was no such thing as an “”annual Sabbath” with the exception of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Yom Kippur was a holy convocation that fell in the seventh month as per Leviticus 23.
Here is the 1995 New American Standard translation of the pertinent verses in Leviticus 23:
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 If there is any [e]person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. 30 As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It is to be a SABBATH of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”
SABER TRUTH TIGER
The Jews celebrated the Sabbaths and the holy convocations for centuries before they were taken into captivity to Babylon. The captives were in Babylon for over a generation. No one knows for sure, but it was probably while they were in Babylon that the Jews began to celebrate the 15th of Abib as a Sabbath. First, they changed the name of the month from Abib to the Babylonian name Nisan. Every year they were in Babylon the Babylonians celebrated a Sabbath on Nisan 15. This coincided with the Jewish honoring of Abib 15 as a holy convocation. In time, the Jews began to celebrate Nisan 15 as a Sabbath too.
Then, sometime during the third century CE there were a number of Jews in Alexandria, Egypt that translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek and when they translated Leviticus 23:11 they changed the Hebrew “from the day after the SABBATH” to the Greek expression “from the day after the FIRST DAY” meaning the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread. The first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread was Nisan 15 so the day after that would be Nisan 16. In time, this would become the way most Jews following the rabbinical traditions would celebrate the waving of the Omer.
Not all Jews accepted this translation. It really isn’t even a translation, it is a interpretation. The Hebrew plainly calls it the day after the SABBATH and the Septuagint renders it the day after the FIRST DAY.
There was a big dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the late second Temple period and when Jesus walked the earth the two sects disagreed sharply over this. At one point the Sadducees controlled temple worship and conducted the sacrifices and the observance of the holy convocations as they saw fit. It is absolutely not known for certain when the Pharisees regained control of the Temple worship but we know sometime during the first century CE (possibly around 50 CE) the Pharisees regained control of the Temple and the common folk of Israel followed them in their application of the laws and the timing of the “annual” Sabbaths. The Sadducees were not very popular with the common Jew in Palestine because they were close to the Romans and were mostly aristocrats and the upper crust of Israel.
It was also some time late in the first century CE that the Pharisees and the rabbis applied the giving of the Law to Shavuot (Pentecost). The giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai was never aligned with Shavuot in all of the Hebrew Scriptures. It was over four centuries after the Hebrew Scriptures were completed that the Temple was destroyed and ceased to function as a focal point for those Jews who yearned to worship on the holy convocations. So Jewish leaders and the rabbis connected Shavuot to the giving of the Law so the Jews could celebrate the giving of the Law every year on Shavuot (Pentecost). It has been since a Jewish tradition for over two thousand years to celebrate Shavuot as the day the Law was given so there is likely to be no change in Jewish tradition soon.
Gregg argues that the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai was on a Saturday (the Sabbath) and I believe he is correct to do so. But, he takes this to mean that Shavuot did not fall on a Sunday that year but on a Saturday, hence, the Sadducees and the Karaites are incorrect in claiming Shavuot always fell on a Sunday. He argues if he can find one exception to the Sadducee belief that Shavuot always fell on a Sunday then he says that would disprove that belief. However, the giving of the Law fell on a Sabbath 40 years BEFORE the first Shavuot, so it does not disprove the Sadducee and Karaite teaching at all. Remember this: The Hebrew Scriptures NEVER claimed Shavuot celebrated the giving of the Law. And as far as the waving of the Omer is concerned, it was the Greek LXX that modified what Leviticus 23:11 said and changed the waving of the Omer from "the day after the Sabbath" to "the day after the first day" and it wasn't until late in the first century CE that the Jews (the Pharisees and the rabbis) tied the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai to Shavuot.
I am interested in the opinions of others. Some in this group no doubt hold to the Sunday Pentecost but there are probably others of Jewish descent who hold to the day of Pentecost as happening exactly 50 days after the Passover meal. And not just Jews. There are Christians who believe that the waving of the Omer happens every year on Nisan 16 and follow it up with the celebration of Shavuot fifty days later.
I have seen many people over the years claim that the first Shavuot (Pentecost) happened the first year of Israel's departure from Egypt and that the Law was given on Pentecost. Here are some comments on this.
First, a quote from a popular website that makes this claim:
Dealing with Karaite
Calendar Interpretations
Daniel Gregg
Dealing with Karaite Calendar Interpretations
The timings of Israel's feast days are fixed to the historical dates of God's creative acts and redemptive interventions in history. The Sabbath is celebrated every seventh day in honor of His completion of creation. The seventh day is celebrated in synchronization with the original seventh day. Also, the original Passover was sacrificed during the afternoon of the 14th day of the moon, and in the first month of the year. Therefore, Israel's annual celebration of the original Passover is at that time, and they eat it that night. The 15th day of the moon marks the beginning of Israel's Exodus from Egypt. Therefore, this day is kept as a special Sabbath in remembrance of the Exodus.Calendar Interpretations
Daniel Gregg
Dealing with Karaite Calendar Interpretations
SABER TRUTH TIGER
The 15th “day of the moon” Gregg refers here to is a holy convocation that falls in the first month of the Hebrew calendar on the 15th day of the month. It is true that modern Judaism, dating back over two millennia and following rabbinic tradition, have observed this day as a Sabbath honoring the departure of Israel from bondage in Egypt.
DANIEL GREGG
The feast of Pentecost, called Shavuot in Hebrew for "sevens" is also kept in memory of a major historical event. This feast was held on the day that Yahweh met with the elders of Israel on Mt. Sinai.
SABER TRUTH TIGER
The Feast of Shavuot was not even in existence at the time of the departure from Egypt. It did not exist at the time of Yahweh’s meeting with the elders of Israel on Mt. Sinai. The Feast of Shavuot fell early in the month of Sivan, the third month of the Hebrew calendar. But it did not happen until the children of Israel entered the Promised Land. The event when Yahweh delivered the law to Moses and the children of Israel occurred the first year of Israel's departure from Egypt. This can be found by reading Exodus chapters 19-22. It is very likely that the giving of the Law to Moses occurred on a weekly Sabbath, while the Feast of Shavuot, which was first observed by the Hebrews the year when they entered the Promised Land, would have occurred on a Sunday late in the spring of that year, according to the reckoning then in use. Read Leviticus 23 carefully. Before you can have Shavuot, you need two things to happen. One: The waving of the Omer following the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Two: A seven Sabbath countdown to Shavuot. There was no seven Sabbath countdown to Shavuot the year Israel left Egypt because the Sabbath was not even revealed until the 15th day of the second month (Exodus 16). Therefore, the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai did not occur on Shavuot.
DANIEL GREGG
Disputes over when these events happened, and when they were supposed to be celebrated were bound to arise as Israel departed from the Biblical revelation into idolatry. The most subtle form of corruption is the suggestion that God's laws and times should be modified—just a little— mind you, to accommodate some pagan custom, or to allow Israel to honor some foreign god and yet still pay lip service to the God of Israel. In time people forget the pagan origin of various compromises and end up thinking they are serving the God of Israel by giving attention to the tradition.
SABER TRUTH TIGER
What Gregg says in the above paragraph is true. God’s Law was modified “just a little” mind you, by some Jews in the Second Temple period. Traditionally, the Jews had celebrated Shavuot (Pentecost) exactly 50 days after the first weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. A clear reading of the Hebrew Scriptures reveal this to be the case. In Leviticus 23:11 the waving of the Omer was to begin on the day AFTER the Sabbath. At the time this was written there was no such thing as an “”annual Sabbath” with the exception of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Yom Kippur was a holy convocation that fell in the seventh month as per Leviticus 23.
Here is the 1995 New American Standard translation of the pertinent verses in Leviticus 23:
26 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble your souls and present an offering by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before the Lord your God. 29 If there is any [e]person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. 30 As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It is to be a SABBATH of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath.”
SABER TRUTH TIGER
The Jews celebrated the Sabbaths and the holy convocations for centuries before they were taken into captivity to Babylon. The captives were in Babylon for over a generation. No one knows for sure, but it was probably while they were in Babylon that the Jews began to celebrate the 15th of Abib as a Sabbath. First, they changed the name of the month from Abib to the Babylonian name Nisan. Every year they were in Babylon the Babylonians celebrated a Sabbath on Nisan 15. This coincided with the Jewish honoring of Abib 15 as a holy convocation. In time, the Jews began to celebrate Nisan 15 as a Sabbath too.
Then, sometime during the third century CE there were a number of Jews in Alexandria, Egypt that translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek and when they translated Leviticus 23:11 they changed the Hebrew “from the day after the SABBATH” to the Greek expression “from the day after the FIRST DAY” meaning the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread. The first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread was Nisan 15 so the day after that would be Nisan 16. In time, this would become the way most Jews following the rabbinical traditions would celebrate the waving of the Omer.
Not all Jews accepted this translation. It really isn’t even a translation, it is a interpretation. The Hebrew plainly calls it the day after the SABBATH and the Septuagint renders it the day after the FIRST DAY.
There was a big dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the late second Temple period and when Jesus walked the earth the two sects disagreed sharply over this. At one point the Sadducees controlled temple worship and conducted the sacrifices and the observance of the holy convocations as they saw fit. It is absolutely not known for certain when the Pharisees regained control of the Temple worship but we know sometime during the first century CE (possibly around 50 CE) the Pharisees regained control of the Temple and the common folk of Israel followed them in their application of the laws and the timing of the “annual” Sabbaths. The Sadducees were not very popular with the common Jew in Palestine because they were close to the Romans and were mostly aristocrats and the upper crust of Israel.
It was also some time late in the first century CE that the Pharisees and the rabbis applied the giving of the Law to Shavuot (Pentecost). The giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai was never aligned with Shavuot in all of the Hebrew Scriptures. It was over four centuries after the Hebrew Scriptures were completed that the Temple was destroyed and ceased to function as a focal point for those Jews who yearned to worship on the holy convocations. So Jewish leaders and the rabbis connected Shavuot to the giving of the Law so the Jews could celebrate the giving of the Law every year on Shavuot (Pentecost). It has been since a Jewish tradition for over two thousand years to celebrate Shavuot as the day the Law was given so there is likely to be no change in Jewish tradition soon.
Gregg argues that the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai was on a Saturday (the Sabbath) and I believe he is correct to do so. But, he takes this to mean that Shavuot did not fall on a Sunday that year but on a Saturday, hence, the Sadducees and the Karaites are incorrect in claiming Shavuot always fell on a Sunday. He argues if he can find one exception to the Sadducee belief that Shavuot always fell on a Sunday then he says that would disprove that belief. However, the giving of the Law fell on a Sabbath 40 years BEFORE the first Shavuot, so it does not disprove the Sadducee and Karaite teaching at all. Remember this: The Hebrew Scriptures NEVER claimed Shavuot celebrated the giving of the Law. And as far as the waving of the Omer is concerned, it was the Greek LXX that modified what Leviticus 23:11 said and changed the waving of the Omer from "the day after the Sabbath" to "the day after the first day" and it wasn't until late in the first century CE that the Jews (the Pharisees and the rabbis) tied the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai to Shavuot.
I am interested in the opinions of others. Some in this group no doubt hold to the Sunday Pentecost but there are probably others of Jewish descent who hold to the day of Pentecost as happening exactly 50 days after the Passover meal. And not just Jews. There are Christians who believe that the waving of the Omer happens every year on Nisan 16 and follow it up with the celebration of Shavuot fifty days later.
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