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This page was last updated on 25 July, 2017.

Conjunction

How was the new moon determined in ancient days? Sighting, calculation or otherwise? Is the new moon a tiny crescent or the total darkness of a conjunction? This article answers all those questions.

I’m fully aware this another topic that will likely be debated until He Himself explains it to us…  Everybody has his own proof and reasons to reject the proof of others. The Bible mentions the new moon but never really explains the topic directly. That leaves a lot of wriggling room for everybody. Therefore I’m sure this page won’t convince most people. I would just like to advise to read it in conjunction :-) with the rest of the site. Other topics on this site are backed up with lots of verses. And those bits of proof do support this page. For example regardless on how you think the new month should be determined it’s sure the new moon day exists, it’s also sure the count of the weekdays is reset every month. Knowing that is great filter because any extraBiblical writing that contradicts those facts can’t be trusted with the remaining facts because verses always trump the doctrine of man.



Ps 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.


chodesh

BDB Definition:

1) the new moon, month, monthly

1a) the first day of the month

1b) the lunar month



That’s a fairly neutral definition because it doesn’t state how new looks like. Is it a conjunction. The first crescent? Or perhaps the all the way to the first quarter? Just like when you buy a new car, you call it new for at least several weeks. Not just for, say, 5 seconds after you bought it.

So let’s see how Scripture defines new.


First a statement from absence. Nowhere in Scripture it’s stated that the month starts with a first crescent. Likewise nowhere it states conjunction or dark moon. At least not directly.


Isa 48:6 You have heard, see all this; and will not you declare it? I have showed you new things (cadash) from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them.

Isa 48:7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when you heard them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them.

New is linked to hidden and unknown



Isa 42:9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things (cadash) do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

New is before they spring forth. A crescent surely is a form of ‘spring forth’.


Former things are old things. Old moon. When the old moon is gone the new moon starts. The old moon dies and the new moon is born during the conjunction.


The conjunction is an astronomical event not depending on the clock on earth. It’s the same for each and every location on earth. But when the month starts depends on where you live. Simply because the month starts exactly at sunrise/dawn. And that’s different for everyone on earth. Ranging from almost instantly to almost a full 24 hours after conjunction.


With that understanding we can fully understand what Philo means with the red part. He’s referring to the day that starts several hours after the conjunction. It’s in no way a reference to the first crescent that is also after the conjunction.

Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets them down. The first is that which any one will perhaps be astonished to hear called a festival. This festival is every day. The second festival is the seventh day, which the Hebrews in their native language call the sabbath. The third is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month. The fourth is that of the Passover which is called the Pascha. The fifth is the first fruits of the com-- the sacred sheaf. The sixth is the feast of unleavened bread, after which that festival is celebrated, which is really the seventh day of seventh days. The eighth is the festival of the sacred moon, or the feast of trumpets. The ninth is the fast. The tenth is the feast of tabernacles, which is the last of all the annual festivals, ending so as to make the perfect number of ten. We must now begin with the first festival.
Philo: The Special Laws 2:41

Conclusion: Conjunction announces that the month starts at the next sunrise.


The crescent has a bad reputation

The word crescent is used only times and as you see it never refers to the starting of the month. It always refers to something bad; to paganism.


Isa 3:18 In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, and the cauls, and the crescents;

Isa 3:19 the pendants, and the bracelets, and the mufflers;

Isa 3:20 the headtires, and the ankle chains, and the sashes, and the perfume-boxes, and the amulets;

Isa 3:21 the rings, and the nose-jewels;

God will take all sorts of things including crescents. He would never take away holy symbols because He wants His people follow His commands.


Judg 8:19 And he said, They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Jehovah lives, if ye had saved them alive, I would not kill you.

Judg 8:20 And he said to Jether his firstborn, Up, and kill them. But the youth did not draw his sword, for he feared because he was yet a youth.

Judg 8:21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels' necks.

Judg 8:22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also, for thou have saved us out of the hand of Midian.

Judg 8:23 And Gideon said to them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you. Jehovah shall rule over you.

Judg 8:24 And Gideon said to them, I would make a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his spoil. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)

Judg 8:25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and cast in it every man the earrings of his spoil.

Judg 8:26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescents, and the pendants, and the purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were about their camels' necks.


Obviously Midian wasn’t good in the above verses but it became much worse as a prophet arose from that country and proclaimed islam; which as you know has a crescent on top of every mosque and many flags. They use 100% lunar calendar. The crescent symbol dates all the way back to Nimrod. Possibly even to Cain. Not the best credentials…



"…there is one principle of reason by which the moon waxes and wanes in equal intervals, both as it increases and diminishes in illumination; the seven lambs because it receives the perfect shapes in periods of seven days-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."
Special Laws I, 35 (178), p. 550


On the fifteenth day, at full moon, the feast which is called "the feast of booths" is celebrated for which the supplies of the sacrifices are more numerous. (The Special Laws, 1:189)

The full moon is linked to the 15th of the month.


Speak to all the people, that I say this month, at fullness of the moon, to sacrifice a Paschal lamb to God, and touch the doors with blood before the fall of night, so that the awful angel might pass by the sign. And you must feast that night on roasted meat.

Ezekiel the Tragedian, 1:156-160, from The Pseudepigrapha (English), Translated by Craig E. Evans, assisted by Danny Zacharias, Matt Walsh, and Scott Kohler. Copyright © 2008 Craig A. Evans.)

The Passover lamb is linked to the full moon.



For, since there are two equinoctial segments --the Vernal and the Autumnal --and since they are equal to one another, and since the Passover is appointed to be on the fourteenth ay of the month, after sundown, the moon will be in position across from and opposite to the position of the sun, just as it possible to see it at the times of a full moon. The one --the sun --will be in the Vernal equinoctial segment, while the other --the moon --must necessarily be in the Autumnal equinoctial (segment). (Fragments of Aristobulus 1 :2- 3 , from The Pseudepigrapha (English), Translated by Craig E. Evans, assisted by Danny Zacharias, Matt Walsh, and S cott Kohler. Copyright © 2008 Craig A. Evans.)

During the full moon the sun and moon are total opposites. When the sun is in the first sign of the zodiac counting from the spring equinox, then the moon is in the first sign of the zodiac counting from the fall equinox. That’s a very complicated way of saying that Passover is during full moon. And that full moon is the fourteenth of the month.


I want to stress again both the moon must be full and the date must be fourteenth. And that can only happen when the month starts at the correct time.


Samaritan calendar

Modern Samaritans still use the conjunction as the start of the month.


To determine a leap year:


So instead of the 1 Nisan after equinox, this calculation uses 1 Nisan >5 days after the spring equinox.



















What is a lunar conjunction?

The moon itself radiates no light. The moonlight we see is a reflection of sunlight. The earth spins around its axis once every day. The moon spins around the earth once every lunar month. If someone would stand on the same spot a whole month he or she will see the moon move trough the sky. The size/shape of the moon constantly appears to  to change. Obviously the moon doesn’t change at all; it’s just that different amounts of sunlight are reflected by the moon. When the sun is able to light 100% of the moon’s surface we call it a full moon. Those are the often brightly lit nights. After the moon was 100% lit it gets lit less and less until it’s 0% lit; the conjunction.
When the moon isn’t 100% full the earth is blocking some of the sunlight; a part of the moon is in the shadow of the earth.


Near Jerusalem the time between the last and first crescent is 1.5-3.5 days. That means there is no visible moon in the night sky for 2 or 3 nights. The conjunction was halfway those days. It was unknown to the ancients like Moses and David when exactly the conjunction took place.
Neither did they know when the new moon would appear in the sky. It was not until 1930 the new moon could be predicted.


The conjunction is invisible to the human eye because it’s lost in the sun’s glare. It’s really in our sky but we just can’t see it.

Usually the first crescent is seen about 30 hours after the conjunction.
The last crescent usually is seen about 30 hours before conjunction.
The first crescent is seen 17-42 hours after conjunction.





A brief explanation of both methods:

First crescent sighting (green):

* = It’s whatever day of the 6+1 cycle happens to fall on the first of the month.


Conjunction (blue):

  1. Shortly after sunrise of the 29th watch the sky.
  1. Celebrate new moon day.
  2. Watch the sky 30 minutes after sunset.


Both methods use a sighted moon to declare a new month.
Both methods sight the new moon; but for different purposes.


Lost track of time

Assume you wake up from a coma of an unknown duration and you are all alone. You look at the night sky and see a full moon. Do you know when the next Sabbath will be?

The method promoted on this site:


The crescent + endless 6+1 cycle method:


Another example is that if for some reason something went wrong with counting days. Lets say during days of war or exile there is no way to fix the error in the 6+1 cycle. The Luni-Solar calendar corrects itself at the start of the next month.
The above examples may look unrealistic but it still shows the Luni-Solar calendar has it’s practical advantages.


1 Enoch 72:7 And in that fourth portal, from which the sun comes forth in the first month, there are twelve window openings, from which a flame proceeds when they are opened in their time.
1 Enoch 72:72:8 When the sun rises from the heavens he comes out of that fourth portal thirty
1 Enoch 72:72:9 mornings, and descends directly into the fourth western portal of heaven.
1 Enoch 72:72:9 And in those days the day is daily lengthened, and the nights nightly shortened to the thirtieth

→Equinox description → 1st of month after equinox

→ In Qumran solar calendar the first day of the first month always fell on a Wednesday.

→ The Jews then and today let 15th Nisan fall after equinox, not 1 Nisan as the Qumrantairians.