Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>]

Hi Yitzhak,

thanks for the reply. I read Isaiah in context as you suggested. This  
is what the further context said:

New moon and sabbath, the calling of a convention?I cannot put up with  
the uncanny power along with the solemn assembly. Your new moons and  
your festal seasons my soul has hated. To me they have become a  
burden; I have become tired of bearing them. And when you spread out  
your palms, I hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many  
prayers, I am not listening; with bloodshed your very hands have  
become filled.

The context only seems to further connect new moons with sabbath days  
by further parallel to other holy days such as the Jewish feasts. So  
this got me thinking a little bit further. If we assume a month to be  
28-30 days and the first day of the month to be a new moon, then,

1)  1st of a month is a sabbath, start counting the days of the week  
from there.
2)  2nd of the month = first day of week 1
3)  7th of the month = preparation day of week 1
4)  8th of the month = sabbath (7th day of week 1, usually also a half moon)
5)  9th of the month = first day of week 2
6)  14th of the month = preparation day of week 2(night of Jesus  
arrest and day of Jesus execution. Is this coincidence?)
7)  15th of the month = sabbath (7th day of week 2, usually also a full moon)

8)  16th of the month = first day of week 3
9)  21st of the month = preparation day of week 3
10) 22nd of the month = sabbath (7th day of week 3, usually a half moon)
11) 23rd of the month = first day of week 4)
12) 28th of the month = preparation of week 4
13) 29th of the month = sabbath (7th day of week 4, more often than  
not the last lunar day)
14) 30th of the month = optional intercallary day (did the Jews work  
on this day or not? No indication can be found)

Apart from the similarities in the way Babylonians celebrated their  
month I called to mind Collosians 2:16

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of  
an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days

This would seem to show not pre Christian days of Isaiah but also at  
the beginning of Christianity the Jewish Christians (who wrote this  
letter) see a definite connection between:

1) Feast days
2) New moons
3) Seventh day sabbaths

Any thoughts?

James Christian

Quoting Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>:

> On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 12:50 AM, James Read  wrote:
> > Hi brothers,
> >
> > further to observations I have already made my various wandering made
> > me stumble on this quote from the prophets as I was reading Barnabas
> > epistle:
> >
> > What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me, saith the Lord? I am
> > full of burnt-offerings, and desire not the fat of lambs, and the
> > blood of bulls and goats, not when ye come to appear before
> > 138
> > Me: for who hath required these things at your hands? Tread no more My
> > courts, not though ye bring with you fine flour. Incense is a vain
> > abomination unto Me, and your new moons and sabbaths I cannot endure
> >
> > What I couldn't help but noticing, in light of the observations I have
> > already made and theories I have put forward, is that 'sabbaths and
> > new moons' seem to be used in a parallel sense just as 'burnt
> > offering, fat of lambs and blood of bulls' are used in parallel
> > sacrificial sense earlier on in the quote.
> >
> > Any thoughts?
>
> The above is a quote of Isaiah 1:11.   Even if you recognize it is a quote
> from the prophets (perhaps because this is what it says in Barnabas),
> it is best to go and find the original source.
> 1) Your message will be more on topic.
> 2) You will see a different more complete version of the parallelism.
>
> Yitzhak Sapir
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