THE PASSOVER MONTH IN AD31 The Sabbath research Center of Westfield Indiana, the SDA writer Mervin Maxwell, Harold Hemenway and others say that in the year of Jesus death AD31, the Passover was in April and not in March. Perhaps Maxwell says it was April because the Hebrew calendar fits closer to the Friday crucifixion theory of Ellen White than when using March, and Hemenway because he believes that the year should begin after the equinox.
Aristobulus of Paneas (200-150BC) is recorded as saying that the Passover followed the equinox, he did not say that the new year followed the equinox.
Josephus writing in about AD94 agreed with this, saying that the Passover was kept “when the sun is in Aries” (Ant 3:10:5) Josephus finished writing his book in AD94 when the equinox was actually on Saturday March 22 (O/S).
Pliny the Elder (AD23-79) said the equinox was on March 25 and that it was “at the eighth degree of Aries” (Natural History 2:17) or on the eighth day, meaning Aries began on March 18, using the actual day of the equinox would make this March 15, so either of these may have also been in the reckoning followed by the Sanhedrin which Josephus describes which would support the Passover being in March rather than April. This system shows that the dating of the Passover was not according to the Babylonian calendar in which the first month could begin as late as a lunar month, about 30 days after the equinox or about April 22 and would result in the Passover falling in Taurus instead of Aries. Solinsky thinks the Jews in the time of Jesus followed the Babylonian calendar and he refers to an archaeological discovery in Libya that shows that in the “55th year” of Actium which was from August 29 in AD24 to August 28 in AD25, the Feast of Booths was late in October so the calendar used by the Jews had had a 13th month added to it in the previous year as in the Babylonian calendar in AD25 but the Feast of Booths in the 55th year was not in AD25 but was in AD24 following a leap year as it was in the “Aries” calendar of Josephus, not in the Babylonian calendar.
Following the method used by Josephus for the year AD31, when the mean equinox fell on Friday March 23 (O/S), results in the Passover in Aries being on about Tuesday March 27 or if it was postponed a day, to Wednesday the 28th. This method explained by Josephus was not a biblical command that could never be changed later, as some of the writers in the 3th century AD show.
Peter of Alexandria wrote “the ancients celebrated the Passover according to the divine command after the equinox, whereas the men of the present day now celebrate it before the equinox.” (Fragments of Peter, A-N Vol 6, p281)
Anatolius of Alexandria said “they – have added three days before the equinox in which they hold that the Passover may be celebrated.” (Ch 9) “the lamb was sacrificed by the Jews after the equinox was past.” (Ch 10) (A-N Vol 6, p148-9) There is no “divine command” to keep the Passover after the Equinox and these writers show that the passing of the equinox was not of overriding importance in the Jewish calendar for the date for the Passover and the bible nowhere says that it should be. It was the participants of the false church who like the writer of the Ecclesiastical Canons, (A-N Vol 7 p500) who said “If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon shall celebrate the holiday of the passover before the vernal equinox with the Jews, let him be deprived.” (47:8) That the Hebrew calendar began the year before the equinox and not after it can be seen from the decision of the Council of Nicea in AD325 to make Easter which followed the Passover to be held on the first Sunday following the full moon after the equinox. If the Hebrew calendar had begun Nisan after the equinox then Easter would have often fallen after the second full moon following the equinox. Herb Solinsky on page 93 of his calendar notes gives the list of dates for Nisan 15 when the equinox was falling on March 20 (O/S) between AD328 to AD343 from p122 of “Christliche und Judische Ostertafein” by Eduard Schwartz, which all began in March, the earliest one being on March 2 in AD337 (O/S) which means the month of Nisan began on February 16th (O/S).
In the time of Justinians rule from AD527 to 565, Procopius shows in The Secret History, 28:11 (Penguin p182) that the Passover sometimes fell after Easter. This probably occurred as a result of the introduction of the fixed Hebrew calendar leap-year cycle which would sometimes cause the first Hebrew month of Nisan to begin the new year from the first new moon after the Equinox.
AD31 During the 3 1/2 year ministry there would have been at least one leap year. Some believe the Sanhedrin used or based their calculations upon the Babylonian calendar during the time of Jesus.
Herman Hoeh, O’Neil (p90) and others have said that AD31 was the embolistic year having a thirteenth or intercalery month. On the Babylonian calendar which followed the 19 year calendar cycle, the 17th year which was a leap year ended in about March of AD31 and although the extra month would have been added after Elul, or about Sept in AD30 the added month of Adar II would not have been added to the Sanhedrins calendar until the end of the Hebrew year, around March and April of AD31.The old Babylonian cycle is not the same 19 year cycle as currently used in the modern Hebrew system of AD801 which was a later innovation and is the same 19 year cycle used in the Karaite calendar that makes the Hebrew year from Saturday the 16th of September in AD30 to Tuesday the 4th of September (O/S) in AD31 to have been the 10th year of the 200th cycle from September in 3761BC and so would not have made the year ending in AD31 to have been a leap year.
Following the method given by Josephus for determining the time of Passover being “when the sun is in Aries” requires a different 19 year cycle again and a reconstruction of this system results in the embolistic month being added in AD29 while AD31 was probably the 13th year of this 19 year cycle and so AD31 may not have been a leap year, but this creates an additional uncertainty which Solinsky mentions in his Mosaic Calendar (p63) which is that four days before the passover Matt 21:19 says, “And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only.”, Mark 11:13 adds, “And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.” The Equinox was on Friday the 23rd of March in AD31.
The offering of the firstfruits of figs was done at Pentecost which falls in May or June, and because the fig tree was in leaf this would ordinarily indicate that perhaps this took place in April rather than March although it seems a bit curious that Jesus would have been unaware that it would be too early in the year to expect to find any edible “figs” as Mark 11:13 suggests.
Christie thinks Jesus was hoping to find the small edible knobs that the Arabs call “taqsh” which accompany the leaves and fall off before the figs are formed and that this event was an omen. (Bruce, The NT Documents, p74)
The Bible Cyclopaedia by A.Fausset under Fig says, “Figs usually ripened in August; earlier ones in June.” – the leaves on the `one’ fig tree, when all others were bare, caught Jesus’ eye `afar off’; as the fruit precedes the leaves, naturally He might have expected, for satisfying His hunger, figs from a tree with such a precocious show of leaf, even though the season of figs was not yet come. It was the unseasonable display of leaves which led Him to come and see `if haply (if as might naturally be expected) He might find anything
thereon.’ – in a sheltered spot figs of an early kind may occasionally be found ripe as soon as the beginning of April,-” Do the fig trees near Bethany have enough leaves on the day after the equinox to require a search for figs? This event appears similar to the parable of the “fig tree planted in his vineyard;” (Luke 13:6-9) “Behold, these THREE YEARS I come seeking fruit on this fig tree.-” (v7) which was also possibly an indication of Jesus’ ministry covering the first three Passovers of AD28, AD29 and AD30.
SDA’s FRIDAY AD31 Seventh Day Adventists such as Samuele Bacchiocchi and Mervyn Maxwell hold onto the teachings of Ellen White who claimed in her book called “The Desire of Ages” in the chapter called “Why Weepest Thou ?”, that Jesus died on the sixth day of the week and being so convinced of a Friday “crucifixion” they are prepared to agree with her notion that the Passover could have fallen on a Friday in AD31, this can be found in The Time of the Crucifixion by Samuele Bacchiocchi and in The Message of Daniel by Mervyn Maxwell. (Vol 1, p263) Bacchiocchi does not say which month he thinks Jesus died in, but Maxwell says that it was in April.
Some who seem unwilling to accept that Jesus died on a Wednesday in AD31 fill the two day gap by fudging the calender by one day making Nisan 14 a Thursday, then they say that Jesus died on the 15th instead of the 14th. Matt 26:5 says “Not on the feast, lest there be an uproar -“.
The rule that the Passover on the 14th of Nisan was to follow the equinox is thought to have been established by Aristobulus of Paneas before 150BC which Maxwell acknowledges on page 225 but assumes that it did not occur that way. The equinox in AD31 was on Friday March 23 (O/S) The conjunction in that month had fallen on Sunday March 11 (O/S) at about 11.26pm or just before midnight, a week after perigee, (when the moons movement is at its fastest) the first sighting of the new moon could have possibly, but is unlikely to have been sometime later within about the next 19 hours before the moon set at 6.41pm on Monday evening, this would result in the Passover being Monday March 26. If the moon was seen on the next evening before it set at 7.39pm on Tuesday March 13 (O/S) then it would result in the Passover falling on Tuesday March 27 which was the date of the astronomical full moon, and is the date of the 14th of the previous lunar month in the Babylonian calendar of Parker and Dubberstein, but if the Sanhedrin delayed or “postponed” the beginning of the month until the following evening as they are shown to have sometimes done perhaps due to cloudy weather or the failure of reports by the witnesses of the new moon, then this delay would make the Passover to have been on Wednesday March 28 (O/S) as indicated by 3 days and 3 nights, the Gospel of Peter and Anatolius etc. If Nisan began in the following month of April as Maxwell, the Sabbath Research Center and others say then as the conjunction in April of AD31 was on Tuesday the 10th (O/S) at 1.08am, and as the moon set at 4.37 in the afternoon, five days before apogee then the new moon would not have been visible on the same Tuesday evening and is unlikely to have been seen on the following evening as the moon set at 5.40pm but it was probably seen the next evening as the moon set at 6.41pm. The Astronomical full moon was on Wednesday April 25 (O/S) and according to the Babylonian calendar the Passover would have also been on Wednesday April 25 (O/S) this was over a month after the date of the equinox and was probably the second Hebrew month of Iyar. Even if the beginning of this month was delayed, the Passover would have only been on Thursday at the very latest and as there could only be a maximum of 30 days in a lunar month and not 31 days, it appears quite obvious that it was impossible for Jesus to have died on a Friday in AD31 as they believe.
THE LAST SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER John 12:1 seems to invite us to take a closer look at the last six days before the Passover on which Jesus was killed. John shows Jesus traveled from the other side of Jericho to near Jerusalem “six days before passover”, but THREE DAYS BEFORE (on the 4th day of the six days), Matthew and Mark say that it was “two days” before the Passover, which would have made Thursday 5 days, not 6 days before the passover. Probably John is writing from the point of view of it being early on the sixth day, while Matthew and Mark are writing near the evening THREE DAYS BEFORE the Passover (on the 4th of the six days), meaning that there was only 2 days left to go. Bullinger in the Companion Bible thought the 6th day before the Passover meant the 9th of Nisan, a Friday and this is the dating followed by Garner Ted Armstrong, (The Passover p30 and his tape “The Eyewitnesses” 3-Apr-99) but if one day before the Passover was Tuesday Nisan 13 then 6 days before would have been Thursday Nisan 8 and this is the dating followed by the Sabbath Research Center. (The Events of Nisan 8th-18th) and W.Dankenbring, (New Bombshell Explodes-p36). Would Jesus have ridden the donkey on the Sabbath as it would have been according to Bullingers reckoning when the fourth commandment requires that animals are to rest (Deut 5:14) ? Some speculate that there were two separate “donkey” rides on two different days, others think there were two separate incidents with the fig tree on two different days, others, that Jesus’ trial went on for two days, – but this is rubbish as the chronology of the last 6 days shows that there was insufficient time for these imagined theories to have occurred on two extra days. This also shows that the donkey ride 5 days before the Passover was not on “Palm Sunday” but was on “Palm” Friday after which he “began” to cast out the moneychangers and also overturned their tables again the next morning while they were working in the temple, which was on the sabbath day.
THE LAST SIX DAYS (* critical verses)
MATTHEW MARK LUKE JOHN
6
THURSDAY MARCH 22ND NISAN 8 At Simon the lepers
In Bethany (26:6)
Ointment v7-9
Judas goes v14 Simon the lepers house at Bethany
Ointment 14:3 Judas went 14:10 Entered Jericho v1
Zaccheras (19:2)
Near Jerusalem v11 Six days beforePassover * Bethany (12:1) supper, Ointment, Mary, Judas
5
FRIDAY MARCH 23RD NISAN 9
Near Jerusalem 21:1
Bethphage
Mount of Olives
DONKEY RIDE
Entered temple v12 overturned tables of MONEYCHANGERS
Healing Hosanna
At Bethany 21:17 Near Jerusalem 11:1
Bethphage,
Bethany
Mount of Olives
DONKEY RIDE v17
Entered Jerusalem into the temple as it was already late 11:11
eventide at Bethany
Bethphage v29
and Bethany
Mount of Olives
DONKEY RIDE down Mt of
Olives 19:37
entered temple v45
BEGAN to cast out THOSE WHO SOL The next day v12 *
DONKEY RIDE 12:12
4
SATURDAY
MARCH 24TH NISAN 10 In the morning v18 *
Saw FIG TREE v19
On the morrow 11:12 *
FIG TREE v13-14
Came to Jerusalem
entered temple v15
MONEYCHANGERS
carry no vessel v16 Lamb put aside?
3
SUNDAY MARCH 25TH NISAN 11
into temple v23
WHAT AUTHORITY?
Johns baptism
vineyard, stone,
tried to arrest him v 46
Caesar 22:17
Davids son
Moses seat
Out of temple
buildings Ch24-25
Olivet prophecy
Passover in 2 days 26:2 * In the morning v20 *
Fig tree withered
to Jerusalem v27
BY WHAT AUTHORITY?
Johns baptism v30
vineyard, stone,
tried to arrest him 12:12
Caesar v14
Davids
Widow v42
Out of temple Ch13
magnificent buildings
Olivet prophecy
now 2 days before Passover and U.B. 14:1
WHAT AUTHORITY?
Johns baptism v4
vineyard, v 13, stone,
tried to lay hands v22
Caesar v 22
Davids son v41
Poor Widow 21:2
noble stones
Olivet prophecy
2
MONDAY MARCH 26TH NISAN 12 no questions 22:46 did hide 12:36.
1
TUESDAY MARCH 27TH NISAN 13
1st day of U/B v17
EVENING 26:20 1st day of U/B v12
jar,
EVENING 14:17 U/B, lamb sacrificed v7
jar v10,
THE HOUR
PASSOVER – WEDNESDAY MARCH 28TH ( NISAN 14)
