If you believe that keeping our Creator's Sabbaths and feasts are important then it is critical that you have the best information available to make an informed decision about when these appointed times occur. The majority of people opt to follow the tradition of Pharisee Rabbinic Jews; however, Yeshua warned us to be careful about this sect. I'm putting this post together as a follow up to my post True Biblical New Moon is the Full Moon because I want to compare and contrast the best evidence I could find for the sliver moon.
| First Visible Sliver | Full Moon |
|---|---|
| Book of Enoch 78 | Ecclesiasticus 43:6-8 |
| Philo - The Special Laws | Psalm 82:2-4 |
| Pharisee Oral Tradition | Chinese Records |
| Isaiah 66:22-23 | |
| Josephus' Fast on Lunar Eclipse |
The quotes from the sources above are provided below, but the first thing that should stand out is that the First Visible Sliver has no support from non Pharisee sources nor any direct biblical support. Meanwhile, the Full Moon has potential support from multiple books and independent records from China and Josephus. It was surprisingly difficult to find early sources that document the first visible sliver. Such a critical doctrine I would have expected ample evidence from scripture.
The Book of Enoch calls for a 364 day calendar (not Lunar) and was clearly not written by Enoch and therefore it cannot be trusted as authoritative.
The last source, Philo, clearly supports a Lunar Sabbath (in contradiction to Pharisee Tradition). This means the first visible sliver is supported by three sources that don't agree on fundamental calendar principles.
| Source | Doctrine |
|---|---|
| Book of Enoch | 364 day Solar Calendar, Non-Lunar Months, First Visible Sliver |
| Philo | Lunar Sabbath, Lunar Months, First Visible Sliver |
| Pharisees | Continuous Weeks, Lunar Months, First Visible Sliver |
Yeshua said to the Pharisees, "Thus you nullify the word of Elohim by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." - Mark 7:13
On the other hand, the Full Moon sources don't appear to contradict each other in such obvious ways.
Evidence for First Visible Sliver / Crescent Moon
Enoch 78
The following quotes from Enoch suggest a sliver moon.
And when the moon rises one-fourteenth part appears in the heaven: [the light becomes full in her]: on the fourteenth day she accomplishes her light. And fifteen parts of light are transferred to her till the fifteenth day (when) her light is accomplished, according to the sign of the year, and she becomes fifteen parts, and the moon grows by (the addition of) fourteenth parts. And in her waning (the moon) decreases on the first day to fourteen parts of her light, on the second to thirteen parts of light, on the third to twelve, on the fourth to eleven, on the fifth to ten, on the sixth to nine, on the seventh to eight, on the eighth to seven, on the ninth to six, on the tenth to five, on the eleventh to four, on the twelfth to three, on the thirteenth to two, on the fourteenth to the half of a seventh, and all her remaining light disappears wholly on the fifteenth.
The preceding quote describes the cycle of the moon starting from dark going to full and back to dark. It should be noted that the moon never "rises" 1/14th part because it is only visible at sunset.
And on the first day she is called the new moon, for on that day the light rises upon her. She becomes full moon exactly on the day when the sun sets in the west, and from the east she rises at night, and the moon shines the whole night through till the sun rises over against her and the moon is seen over against the sun.
This part of the quote appears to connect the New Moon to the Full Moon. Notice the light rises upon her is followed by the moon rising from the east at night.
Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 2:6
This text, from the Jewish Oral Law / Mishnah describes how those who testify to the sighting of the moon are tested. This suggests a sliver because they are looking toward the sun and discussing the direction of its tilt.
How do they examine the witnesses who come to testify about the new moon? They deal with them in order, as the pair of witnesses that arrives first they examine first. They bring in the greater of the two witnesses, and they say to him: Say how you saw the moon. Was it in front of the sun or behind the sun? To its north or to its south? How high was the moon over the horizon, and in which direction did it tilt? And how wide was it?
Philo's Testimony about Crescent Moon
The following quotes from Philo: The Special Laws II show how this Pharisee scholar understood the feasts and the beginning of the month.
Paragraph XI. The third [festival] is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month.
Paragraph XXVI (141): Thirdly, because at that period the more powerful and important body gives a portion of necessary assistance to the less important and weaker body; for, at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses
The following is from Philo: The Special Laws I.
the half-moon in the first seven day period after its conjunction with the sun, full moon in the second; and when it makes its return again, the first is to half-moon, then it ceases at its conjunction with the sun.
Evidence for A full Moon
Psalm 82:2-4
You shall blow with the New Moon in the full moon, for our festival sacrifice. For it is a statue for Israel, an ordinance of the Elohim of Jacob - Psalm 81:2-4
This verse has been interpreted many different ways due to dispute over whether "full" means "covered" and about whether the full moon is associated with the New Moon or the feast day. However, if "full" means "covered" then there is a major problem for first visible sliver perspective because the moon isn't completely covered. From what I can tell this verse is most compatible with a full moon interpretation because a dark moon interpretation is incompatible with the Sabbath's falling on the first half, dark, and second half phases of the moon.
Ecclesiasticus 43:6-8
‘He made the moon also to serve in her season (moed) for a declaration of times, and a sign of the world. ‘From the moon is the sign of feasts, a light that decreases in her perfection. The month is called after her name…” SIRACH (ECCLESIASTICUS) 43:6-8 את CEPHER
This verse appears to describe the month being called after a light that decreases in her perfection.
Isaiah 66:22-23
Isaiah 66:22-23 has been heavily mistranslated. It should read:
"For according as the heavens, the New Moons, and the earth: The New Moon that I fashioned and placed in order for My chief cornerstone. And it shall come to pass from its abundant-New Moon [full moon phase] by New Moon from its abundance Sabbath by Sabbath you shall keep. It shall lead all flesh to prostrate in worship, according to My chief corner [stone]," declares Yehovah.
The above text has highlighted the word for "New Moon" (חֹדֶשׁ) in yellow and the word before it, which is connected with a hyphen( מִֽדֵּי־) got translated as "from" in most texts, but if you paste that same word into Google translate it can mean "more than enough" or "abundant". It can also be translated as "every" or "all". Note that the "root" is from and completely ignores the letter 'מִֽ'. The hyphen really connects it as a description of the New Moon instead of the word "from".
Now I don't know much Hebrew, but this looks like a plausible interpretation of these verses and therefore plausible evidence in favor of a full moon as the New Moon.
Josephus's Fast on an Eclipse
There is a curious mystery where Flavius Josephus records that the night before the day the Jews observed as a fast there was an eclipse of the moon. An eclipse of the moon can only occur on a full moon.
Now it happened, that during the time of the high priesthood of this Matthias, there was another person made high priest for a single day, that very day which the Jews observed as a fast. The occasion was this: This Matthias the high priest, on the night before that day when the fast was to be celebrated, seemed, in a dream, 1 to have conversation with his wife; and because he could not officiate himself on that account, Joseph, the son of Ellemus, his kinsman, assisted him in that sacred office. But Herod deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with his companions, alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon.
I searched every possible day of fasting that I could as listed in List of Fast-Days in the Jewish Encyclopedia and there are over 25 fasts recorded but none of them are listed as either the 1st or the 15th of the month. There is one minor fast on the 29th of Iyyar (April/May), when Samuel the prophet died.
This particular Lunar eclipse is tied to the days leading up to the death of Herod the Great and people place it Jan 10th, 1 BC. The other date considered is March 13th 4BC. This greatly narrows down the potential fasts to those in the winter months.
While the Talmud prohibits fasting on New Moon days, others believe that fasting is what was practiced based upon the fact that there were no manna provisions for New Moon Day. Furthermore there is an interpretation of 1 Samuel 20 which suggests that from sunrise to sunset on New Moon Day there was a fast which was surrounded by two commemorative meals the night before and night after the daylight fasting.
Chinese Records
This evidence from China is unique because it comes from cosmological sources which are beyond any human control and also ancient Chinese classics which have been verified by the atheist Chinese government as reliable history. It is also from a country far distant from Israel and from the same time Jesus lived.
What is remarkable about these records is that they record the events occurring on the last day of the Chinese month which we know started with a dark moon, and because Passover is in the middle of the month it means the Hebrew month must have started on a Full Moon.
These records are also from the year 31 AD which is consistent with my best estimate of when Yeshua died.
Chinese records say:
在那月最後一日癸亥日，有日蝕發生，皇帝在寢宮避免出門，停止兵事，也不過問朝事共有五天，他宣布「是因我德行淺薄導致這災害，使得日月無光，我恐懼戰競，我怎麼說呢？任何人向我上書不得稱聖字，因為我感到不配.”
In English:
“In the day of Gui Hai, the last day of the month, there was a solar eclipse. (The emperor) avoided the throne room, suspended all military activities and did not handle official business for five days. He proclaimed that “My poor character has caused this calamity, so that the sun and the moon were veiled. I am fearful and trembling. What can I say. Anyone who presents a memorial is not allowed to mention the word holy.” - History of Latter Han Dynasty, Vol. 1, Chronicles of Emperor Guang Wu, 7th year
Another Chinese document says:
“夏四月壬午,詔曰: ‘比陰陽錯謬,日月薄食. 百姓有過,在予一人,大赦天下’.” (後漢書 光武帝第七年)
“Summer, fourth month [of the year], on the day of Ren Wu, the imperial edict reads, “Yin and Yang have mistakenly switched, and the sun and moon were eclipsed. The sins of all the people are now on one man. Pardon is proclaimed to all under heaven.” - History of Latter Han Dynasty, Volume 1, Chronicles of Emperor Guang Wu, 7th year
Yet another:
“癸亥日蚀, 天人崩.” (後漢書 志第十八)
“Eclipse on the day of Gui Hai, Man from Heaven died”. History of Latter Han, Annals, No. 18, Gui Hai.
Conclusion
On the balance I have to side with the Full Moon being the start of the Hebrew month. It appears that all other cultures started their month on the first visible crescent or dark conjunction and this is supported by the Chinese month starting in the dark phase. Islam is widely associated with crescent moon and star which appears to have its origin in the Ottoman Empire of the Turks. The Star is often associated with one of the planetary "gods" and Turkey is where the Altar of Zeus (Throne of Satan) was located.
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood,
Futility, and there is nothing profitable in them.” - Jeremiah 16:19
I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts,
They have become a burden to Me;
I am tired of bearing them. Isaiah 1:14
“Assyria and Babylonia—The twelvefold division of the zodiac was evidently suggested by the occurrence of twelve full moons in successive parts of it in the course of each year. This approximate relation was first systematically developed [or maintained] by the early inhabitants of Mesopotamia and formed the starting point for all other divisions of time… [Later] The idea of tracing the sun’s path among the “stars” [by daylight] was when it occurred to Chaldaean astronomers, an original and, relatively to their means, a recondite [difficult, abstruse] one. We owe to its realization by them the constitution and nomenclature of the [modern] twelve signs of the zodiac.” 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica – Zodiac, p. 993, Lenormant, Orgines de l’Histoire, Vol. 1, p. 236.