Tuesday, February 8, 2022

When Does a Biblical “Day” Begin?

Maria Merola אריאל 
© Copyright Double Portion Inheritance, February 2022
http://www.DoublePortionInheritance.com/ 

Many of my peers within the Hebraic Community (who once abandoned Ancient Mystery Babylonian heresies of pagan sun-god worship), have now begun to embrace it again without realizing it.

In their blind zeal for truth, (and their blatant rejection of all things Jewish), many have now begun to embrace the “Doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which our Messiah said that he hates (Revelation 2:15). 

What exactly is this doctrine, and why does our Messiah hate it? Why did the Apostle Shaul (Paul) refer to these as Doctrines of Devils in 1st Timothy 4:1-4? If you want to understand the complexity of the Essenes and their Gnosticism (which was rejected by our Messiah and his servant Paul), see my other blog: What Was Blotted Out in Colossians 2?

These doctrines that come from the Gnostic Essenes, are causing much division today within the household of faith, as to when a new “12-hour day” begins, versus when a new “calendar date” begins. 

This has also caused much confusion as to when we are commanded to keep Shabbat. My husband Gary & I have been keeping Shabbat (for over 20 years now), from “Friday” evening (at sundown), until “Saturday” evening (at sundown). 

Some people keep Shabbat from “Saturday” morning at sunrise, until “Sunday” morning at sunrise. Others keep only twelve hours of Shabbat on “Saturday” morning at sunrise, until “Saturday” evening at sundown. 

And then, there are Lunar Sabbatarians who keep Shabbat on a different day every month. See this blog: The Lunar Sabbath Controversy

The entire counsel of Scripture harmonizes as to when a new “CALENDAR DATE” begins, and when we should be reckoning the Sabbath. In this study, I am going to show seven witnesses from the Torah & Prophets that a biblical new day begins at evening or sundown.

For a deeper study on the restoration of the biblical calendar, see this other blog: Except Those Days Should Be Shortened

Before I present these seven witnesses from Scripture, I would like to drive home a few more important points. To those claiming that a new calendar date changes in the morning, let me show you why this notion goes against everything shown to us in the Torah. 

Not only does it contradict the Torah, but it also destroys all the prophetic pictures that we see with our Messiah resurrecting on the 7th day of the week---the Sabbath. 

Our Messiah told us that he would be Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, which is a precise amount of time equaling 72 hours (see Matthew 12:40). Knowing what the gospels say about him dying in the 9th hour of the day (3:00 p.m.), we know that he died as the evening was approaching. 

We are told that he had to be buried before sundown, because the Feast of Unleavened Bread (a high Sabbath) was approaching, and his body could not have remained on the cross once the sun went down. 

Yahuwchanon (John) 19:31 The Yahuwdiym (Jews) therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.  

*Explanation: The Feast of Unleavened Bread was fast approaching, and after sundown, they would not be able to bury him. Deuteronomy 21:23 says that the body of him who is hanged on the tree, must not remain all night long upon the tree. He must be buried before that same calendar date has ended.

Debariym (Deuteronomy) 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and you hang him on a tree: 

Debariym (Deuteronomy) 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of Elohiym;) that your land be not defiled, which YHWH your Elohiym gives you for an inheritance. 

*Explanation: Even though our Messiah never sinned (Hebrews 4:15, Scripture tells us that “He became sin for us, who knew no sin (2nd Corinthians 5:21).

Those who falsely teach that a new calendar date begins in the morning, falsely claim that he remained on the cross all through the night, and that was buried early in the morning before the sun rose.

This notion is completely faulty and it flies in the face of every prophetic picture that is painted for us in the Torah, regarding our Messiahs resurrection on the seventh day of the week (Sabbath) just before sundown. 

We also have other witnesses in the Book of Joshua, and the Book of Judges, showing that his body had to be taken down before  SUNDOWN on the SEVENTH DAY. 

See these blogs for more evidence:



Witness #1 The Creation Account tells us that a New Calendar Date Begins at Evening.

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 1:5 And Elohiym called the light [owr] Day [yowm], and the darkness [choshek] he called Night [layil]. And the EVENING [ereb, dusk, sundown] and the MORNING [boqer, dawn] were the first DAY [yowm]

*Explanation: There are six Hebrew words used in the above verse, to describe a 24-hour calendar date. But only four of those words are used to describe parts of a day (yowm): 

1.) Light = owr in Hebrew (illumination, bright, light).
2.) Darkness = choshek in Hebrew (darkness, obscurity, death, destruction).
3.) Night = layil in Hebrew (away from the light, adversity).
4.) Evening = ereb in Hebrew (dusk, twilight, sundown).
5.) Morning = boqer in Hebrew (dawn, sunrise).
6.) Evening & Morning combined = yowm in Hebrew (day).

This is very important to understand. Elohiym called the light “day.” However, at the end of the verse, he also called the entire 24-hour period “day” as well! Elohiym calls both “The evening and the morning” combination “yowm” (day)!

Do you see? In Hebrew, YaHuWaH calls the light “day” (yowm), but he also calls the entire 24-hour period of both evening & morning (combined) “day” (yowm).

Therefore, it can be confusing, because the light, is called “day,” but the evening & morning combo is also called “day. Why? Because even at night, there is still “some light provided by the moon and the stars!

You see, even the slightest bit of light that is visible when the sun is going down, is still part of the “yowm” (day). It is not until the sun completely disappears below the horizon line, that the “owr” (light of the sun) goes away. At that point, it becomes “layil” (night). However, there is still some light available at night:

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 1:16 And Elohiym made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 

This means that all four of these periods are part of the “yowm” (day): 

1.) Morning (boqer).
2.) Evening (ereb).
3.) Night (layil).
4.) Evening, morning, and night (yowm).

During that transitional period, (when the sun is going down), this period is called “ereb” (evening, dusk), but because there is still “some light visible,” it is still part of the “day” (yowm). 

Lets examine this word “day” from the Hebrew Concordance:

#H3117 yowm yome from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), daily, evening, presently, season, age, year.

As you can see, this word has a wide variety of applications. However, the most common use of the word “day” can mean “From sunrise to sunset,” as in “Twelve hours of daylight.” But it can also mean a 24-hour calendar date “From sunset to sunset.” It also means “To be hot,” as in “The twelve daylight hours.” 

An excellent explanation can be found at this link for how light existed on the first day, even though the sun had not been placed inside the firmament until the fourth day: Did Elohiym Create Light Before the Sun?

There is no Hebrew word for “calendar date,” only “yowm,” which can mean either “A 24-hour calendar date,” or “12-hours of daylight.” 

Yahuwchanon (John) 11:9 Yahuwshuwa answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walks in the day, he stumbles not, because he sees the light of this world. 

Thus, when Genesis 1:5 tells us that “The evening and the morning were the first day,” it is expressing two 12-hour periods of “Night & Day,” totaling 24 hours. 

12 hours of “Night” begins at sundown. 
12 hours of “Day” begins at sunrise. 

12 + 12 = 24 hours. 

Witness #2 Messiah Died before “Sundown,” just like the Abrahamic Covenant. 

There is a prophetic reason why our Messiah died “between the evenings,” as it says in the Hebrew of Exodus 12:6. The English translation uses the term “in the evening,” for when the Passover Lamb was to be killed. However, our Messiah died “between two evenings,” of the 14th of Abib, and the 15th of Abib. 

The reason why, has to do with the very same reason why YaHuWaH instructed Abraham to “divide in half,” the animal pieces. It is because, in the future, Abrahams descendants would become “The divided house of Yisrael.” This also explains why he died “between two thieves,” (Matthew 27:28 & Mark 15:27). It also explains why Messiah died “in the midst,” of Daniel’s 70th Week (Daniel 9:27), after his ministry of 3.5 years (Luke 4:25). 

To learn more, see my other two blogs:



Between the two evenings of Passover & Unleavened Bread, our Messiah fulfilled all three animal sacrifices that were used to seal the Abrahamic Covenant.

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 

*Note: the pigeon and the turtledove were not divided in half, because they represent the wicked people who are outside the covenant, and will eaten by birds in Revelation 19:17-21.

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 15:12 And when THE SUN WAS GOING DOWN, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 

Bereshiyth (Genesis) 15:17 And it came to pass, that, WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. 

What time of day did our Messiah die, and was buried? It was “In the evening!”

Shemoth (Exodus) 12:6 And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Yisra’el shall kill it in the evening. 

To learn more about our Messiah becoming the Passover Lamb, see my other blog: Did Messiah Eat the Passover Before He Died? 

Witness #3 The Animals Used in the Abrahamic Covenant Prove Messiah’s Sabbath Resurrection, just Before Sundown. 

The three-year-old heifer in Numbers 19 & Deuteronomy 21 is for when the nation of Yisra’el was guilty of shedding innocent blood. When the kingdom of Yahuwdah (Judah) shouted, “Crucify him,” the whole nation therefore, became guilty of innocent blood. 

This means that their altar became defiled when they sacrificed the Passover Lamb that year, rendering the sacrifice as disqualified before the Father in heaven. However, since our Messiah fulfilled the pattern of the “Red Heifer,” he cleansed and sanctified the altar, thus, making it acceptable to Yah!

That’s why Yahuwshuwa had to be escorted “Outside the city limits of Jerusalem,” (which is at the base of the Mount of Olives).

Therefore, our Messiah fulfilled the same animal sacrifices from the Abrahamic Covenant in one fell swoop: 

1.) The 3-year-old Red Heifer for Ephrayim (Hosea 10:11), for those who were “Outside the covenant.”

2.) The 3-year-old she-goat for Yom Kippur, for the guilty bride (symbolic of Rachel), because her name means “Lamb.” Rachel’s body was buried in Ephrath (The Kingdom of Judah); but Leah’s body was buried with her husband Ya’aqob (Jacob), for she represents the bride that is buried with Messiah in baptism (Romans 6:4). 

3.) The 3-year-old ram which is for “The firstborn son” (Isaac). YaHuWaH called the nation of Yisrael “My firstborn son” in Exodus 4:22. A 3-year-old male ram, is the same thing as a mature adult male lamb. 

These three sacrifices represent Passover & The Day of Atonement: 

The 3-year-old ram is to redeem the firstborn sons for Passover (Genesis 22:13; Exodus 12:5). 

The 3-year-old heifer is to sanctify the High Priest for Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:6, Isaiah 15:5, Jeremiah 38:34). 

The 3-year-old she-goat is to atone for the nation of Yisrael to be “accepted” on Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:5 & 9). 

Our Messiah had to fulfill the ordinance of the Red Heifer, so that the altar in the Temple could be cleansed, and thus their Passover Lamb that year would not have been disqualified! 

The men who took down his body from the cross, were Joseph of Arimathea & Nicodemus, both from the Tribe of Levi, sons of Aaron, righteous men who believed his gospel. See my other blog: The Red Heifer Ordinance Fulfilled in Messiah

They would have been considered “unclean,” and unfit to keep the Passover that year, except for the fact that he sanctified the altar by becoming the Red Heifer! 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 19:11-12 He that touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it ON THE THIRD DAY, and ON THE SEVENTH DAY, he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. 

Our Messiah died on “THE FOURTH DAY OF THE WEEK” (what we today call Wednesday). It was on the 14th of Abib, Passover. 

He was buried “ON THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD,” on the 15th of Abib. 

He was “THREE DAYS & THREE NIGHTS IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH,” (Matthew 12:40), therefore, he resurrected on the “THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK, SHABBATH,” which was on the 17th of Abib. This means 72 hours after his death on the tree (6-12 hour cycles of night and day), he rose again, just before sundown on the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK---SHABBAT! 


Therefore, he called himself “The Master of Shabbath!” It is because Yahuwshuwa himself is the Creator, who “Rested on the seventh day” (Genesis 2:2). But he also conquered death, Sheol (Hell), and the grave on Shabbath! 

Chazown (Revelation) 1:18 I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Awmane; and have the keys of Sheol (hell) and of death. 

He did the same thing, when he empowered Yisra’el to take down the Walls of Jericho on “The Seventh Day of the Week, on Shabbath! (Joshua 6:1-27).

Witness #4 The Counting of the Weeks, Leading up to the Fiftieth Day of Shabuwoth (Pentecost), Proves Our Messiah Resurrected on Shabbath before Sundown. 

The counting of the “weeks,” leading up to Shabuwoth (Pentecost) begins at sundown on the “WEEKLY SHABBATH,” not on the annual Shabbath of Unleavened Bread!

How do we know this? Because the Hebrew word for the “Weekly Shabbath” is #H7676 in the Hebrew Concordance, which literally means “The Weekly Shabbath.” However, the Hebrew word for the “Annual Shabbath,” is #H7677 “A Shabbatown,” which means “A special holiday.” 

Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:15 And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath [Shabbath], from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering SEVEN SHABBATHS [SEVEN WEEKLY SABBATHS] shall be complete. 

If YaHuWaH was commanding us to keep “Seven Shabbathown” or “Seven Unleavened Breads,” we would only be able to celebrate “The Feast of Weeks” (Pentecost) every seventh year! 

If the count for the “SEVEN SHABBATHS” leading up to the “THE FIFTIETH DAY,” was supposed to begin on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we would have to count “SEVEN YEARS,” before we could keep THE FEAST OF WEEKS,” aka Pentecost! 

Witness #5 The Ordinance of the Red Heifer Proves our Messiah Resurrected on the Seventh Day of the Week, just before Sundown. 

For those that keep Shabbat from “sunrise to sunrise,” (or if you keep the Lunar Sabbath reckoning), it does not match up with the Red Heifer ordinance: 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 19:12 He shall purify himself with it ON THE THIRD DAY, and ON THE SEVENTH DAY, he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. 

*Messiah died on the FOURTH DAY OF THE WEEK before sundown (evening). 

*On the THIRD DAY [after his Passover sacrifice], he rose again, ON THE SEVENTH DAY (before sundown or evening), thus, he sanctified his people. 

This perfectly lines up with the Red Heifer Ordinance! If our Messiah resurrected on “Sunday morning,” the prophetic picture of him as the Red Heifer is disqualified. For the “third day,” and the “seventh day,” are one and the same, thus landing on the weekly Shabbat.


These two links contain evidence that our Messiah was crucified at the base of the Mount of Olives, because of a verse found in the Book of Hebrews:



Witness #6 The Day of Atonement Proves Our Messiah Covered His Mouth from Evening unto Evening. 

What does it mean when Scripture declares that our Messiah “Opened not his mouth?” What significance does this have? There times, we are told in Scripture that he “Opened not his mouth.”

Yeshayahuw (Isaiah) 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was AFFLICTED [anah], yet HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is DUMB, so HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH. 

Acts 8:32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so OPENED HE NOT HIS MOUTH. 

*Explanation: The Hebrew word for “afflicted” is “anah,” which means “To cover the mouth!” This has to do with “FASTING!” We are to be reminded on Yom Kippur that the original sin in the garden was “EATING” from the forbidden tree.

Isaiah 58:5 describes fasting/afflicting ourselves for Yom Kippur! Our Messiah was “afflicted” and “Opened not his mouth,” to reverse the curses that came upon humanity because of “EATING” of The Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil.

Therefore, we fast (afflict our souls) to be reminded of our Messiah’s affliction for us. See this other blog to learn more: Are We Commanded to Fast on Yom Kippur? 

Do you realize that the last time our Messiah ate food was the night before he died? Do you realize that he was actually fulfilling both, the Yom Kippur Twin Goats and the Passover Lamb at the same time? Yes, that’s right, he was FASTING all day on Passover “from evening unto evening” right before he died!

Many do not see this, but our Messiah had to fulfill both the Yom Kippur Twin Goats, as well as the Passover Lamb all in one sacrifice! The account of Barabbas (Bar Abba) proves that he was fulfilling the Yom Kippur scapegoat, as well as the Yom Kippur sacrificial goat. 

Bar Abba means “Son of the Father,” and his first name was “Yahuwshuwa” (Joshua), just like our Messiah! This means that Barabbas & Yahuwshuwa were like “Twin goats!” 

The literal definition for “scapegoat” means “The innocent party who takes the place of the guilty party!” Barabbas was guilty of insurrection, but he went free. Our Messiah was falsely accused of insurrection, but he died in place of Barabbas, who represented the guilty nation of Yisra’el!

Also, (at his baptism), he was fulfilling the pattern of the sacrificial goat that would later be killed. 

His cousin John (as a High Priest of the Sons of Aaron) selected the lamb by proclaiming “Behold, the lamb which takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 & 36). 

Immediately after he washed himself in the Jordan (which is an ordinance of the High Priest for Yom Kippur), he was sent into the wilderness as the “scapegoat” for forty days, leading up to Yom Kippur.

To learn more, please see this blog: The Yom Kippur Twin Goats Fulfilled in Messiah

Witness #7 The Yom Kippur Shabbat of Afflicting Our Souls (Fasting) from Evening unto Evening Proves a New Day Begins at Evening. 

In Leviticus 23:27, we are told that the “TENTH DAY” of the “SEVENTH MONTH,” is The Day of Atonement, aka “Yom Kippur.” 

Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:27 Also on THE TENTH DAY of this SEVENTH MONTH there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and you shall afflict [anah, cover the mouth, fast] your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH. 

However, in the verse 32, we are told that the Day of Atonement begins “IN THE NINTH DAY OF THE MONTH, AT EVENING!” 

Why does verse 27 say it begins on the 10th day of the month, but verse 32 says it begins on the 9th day of the month? The answer is obvious! It is because the calendar date changes at SUNDOWN/EVENING! 

Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:32 It shall be unto you a SHABBATH of rest, and you shall AFFLICT YOUR SOULS [anah, cover the mouth, fast]: in the ninth day of the month at evening, FROM EVENING UNTO EVENING, shall you celebrate your SHABBATH

The Hebrew word for “afflict” means “To close the mouth.” This is a Euphemism for “fasting” from food. It is to remind us of the original sin in the garden, which came from “EATING FOOD! We “fast” (close the mouth) on Yom Kippur to be reminded of our Messiah who “reversed the curses” for EATING of the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. 

The First Visit to the Tomb in Matthew 28

Many people naturally assume that our Messiah resurrected on Sunday morning, because of this verse in Matthew 28:1 as it is written in the King James Version: 

Mattithyahuw (Matthew) 28:1 In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Miryam (Mary) Magdalene and the other Miryam (Mary) to see the sepulchre. 

To understand this verse properly, we must first look at the phrase “In the end” in the Greek Textus Receptus:

#3796. opse op-seh' from the same as 3694 (through the idea of backwardness); (adverbially) late in the day; by extension, after the close of the day:--(at) evening, in the end.

This word “opse” tells us it was late in the day, or at the close of the day, in the evening. This was not in the morning.

The next problem with Matthew 28:1 is that the word “dawn” is a poor translation. The Greek word there for “dawn” is the equivalent of a word in Hebrew that means “a mixture of light and dark.” Hence, the word should really be “dusk,” as the sun was going down. 

To illustrate this, I will show you the dictionary definition for the word dawn. As you can see by the graphic below, the word “dawn,” is not limited to the period we call morning or sunrise. It also means “The beginning or rise of anything.”

The Strong’s Hebrew Concordance reveals that at sundown, a new day is “dawning(beginning).
This means at twilight or dusk, is when a new calendar date changes. 

#H5399 nesheph neh’-shef from 5398; properly, a breeze, i.e. (by implication) dusk (when the evening breeze prevails):--dark, dawning of the day (morning), night, twilight

This Hebrew word “nesheph,” can be used to describe either dawn or dusk, as it expresses a mixture of darkness and light, which occurs at both sunrise, and at sunset.

The Greek words are as follows: 

#H2020. epiphosko ep-ee-foce'-ko a form of 2017; to begin to grow light:--begin to dawn, draw on. 

#H2017. epiphauo ep-ee-fow'-o a form of 2014; to illuminate (figuratively):--give light. 

You can see why the English translators thought that the word should be “dawn” as in early in the morning, just before sunrise. However, the word epiphosko can mean “....to draw on,” and it can mean “The beginning of something” as in the “The dawn of a new era.” In the context of Matthew 28:1, it means “The dawn of a new calendar date.” It is not expressing the early morning sunrise that has come to mean “dawn.”

Hence, for something to “dawn” meant that something new was approaching. The term “nesheph in Hebrew is much broader than the English word we use to describe “sunrise.” 

Murdock’s Translation on e-sword has it translated correctly:

Mattithyahuw (Matthew) 28:1 And in the evening of the Sabbath as it was dusk, as the first [day] of the week began to dawn, came Mary of Magdala and the other Mary, to view the sepulcher. 

You will notice that Murdock is calling this time of day “dusk,” but he is saying that the “week” (Sabbaton in Greek) was beginning to “dawn” or to “draw on.” 

In other words, it was not sunrise, but it was the end of the Sabbath at sundown, as the new week was approaching (dawning). The MRC Translation on e-sword translates it like this: 

Mattithyahuw (Matthew) 28:1 Now late on the Shabbat, as it began to draw toward the first of the week, Miryam of Magdala and the other Miriam went to look at the grave. 

Andrew Gabriel Roth who translated the English Aramaic New Testament (AENT) Peshitta also agrees with this interpretation. Here is what he says: 

“Aramaic literally reads ‘b’ramsha din b’shabata’ or ‘in the evening of the shabbat.’ What is true for dawning, is also true for setting in the sense of ‘conclusion’ as is meant here....Murdock and Etheridge also confirm this idiomatic reading in their translations.” 

Something that one must understand is that the calendar date changes at sunset each day--- not at midnight. It was Pope Gregory who made the date change at midnight in 1582 C.E., thus fulfilling the role of the Beast in Daniel 7:23-25, which says “The beast shall think to change times and laws...” 

The new day was “dawning” at sunset, and the word “day” in Matthew 28:1 is in italics in the King James Version. Whenever you see a word in italics in the KJV, it means the word was not there originally. 

The verse should read like this in the King James Version:

Mattithyahuw (Matthew) 28:1 In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to draw on toward the first of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 

Mattithyahuw (Matthew) 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the malak (angel) of YHWH descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 

Now, think about this logically. According to Genesis 1:5, a new calendar date begins at “evening,” not in the morning. Leviticus 23:27-32 corroborates this:

Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto YHWH.  

Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:32 It shall be unto you a Shabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at evening, from even unto evening, shall you celebrate your Shabbath

What is being expressed in these two passages (above) is that on the 10th day of the 7th Hebrew month of Ethaniym (Tishri) begins the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). However, in verse 32, it says that the 9th day at evening is when it begins. Is this a contradiction, or a mistake? No, it is not a mistake. YaHuWaH is showing us that a new calendar date begins at sundown or evening! He is telling us in verse 32, that the 9th day becomes the 10th day at sundown!

The Towrah establishes that a new calendar date begins at sundown, not at sunrise. Therefore, the women in Matthew 28:1 were going to the tomb at the “End of the Sabbath,” not on Sunday morning. The new “calendar date,” was “dawning,” (beginning). Consequently, the English Translators thought the word should be “dawn,” when in fact, the Hebrew word “nesheph,” (dusk) is what should be used in Matthew 28:1, just as it reads in the Aramaic Peshitta.

A Second Visit to the Tomb the Next Morning

At the first visit to the tomb, (Matthew 28:1-10), only two of the women went. It was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary was with her. In Matthew 28:11-15, the Roman Soldiers were paid a large sum of money by the chief priests to falsely testify that the disciples had stolen the body of Messiah from the tomb. Then, they rolled the stone back over the tomb again to cover up their negligence. 

However, in this next account, (Mark 16:1-11), three women went, for Salome was also with them this time. After the Sabbath had ended the women went to buy spices so that they could anoint the body. There is no mention of the women buying spices in Matthew 28:1, because the Sabbath had not ended yet, therefore, they could not buy anything until the stores opened again. 

This next account (Mark 16:1-11) was obviously the next morning on the first day of the week (what we today call Sunday). 

Mark 16:1 And when the Shabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.  

Mark 16:2 And very early in the morning, the first [day] of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.  

Mark 16:9 Now when Yahuwshuwa was risen, early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

*Explanation: In this second visit to the tomb, all three women were instructed to go and tell the other disciples that Yahuwshuwa had risen (verse 7), but in verse 8, it says that the women fled from the sepulchre, and told no man what they had witnessed. In verse 9, Mary Magdalene went back to the tomb again, but this time Yahuwshuwa appeared to her. In verse 10-11, she finally told the other disciples what she had witnessed, but they did not believe her.

*In Summary: The first visit to the tomb in Matthew 28:1, two of the women went at the end of Shabbat (in the evening), and Yahuwshuwa had already risen before the sun went down on the seventh day of the week (what we today call Saturday). The second visit was after Shabbat had passed, and this time, it was three women, but this time, they bought spices, intending to anoint his body.

*Conclusion: Yahuwshuwa resurrected on the seventh day of the week (Saturday evening) before sundown. By Sunday morning, three women went with spices, and found that he had already risen the evening before on the Sabbath.




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