"Rosh HaShanah"
(ro'sh:H7218)(shaneh:H8141)
or
"Memorial of Clamor"
(zikrown:H2146) (terw'ah:H8643)?
From
The Universal
Jewish Encyclopedia, on pages 630-633, article "CALENDAR":
{3.
The Jewish
Religious Calendar The chief holidays of the Jewish religious year
are: Rosh
Hashanah, Tishri 1; Yom Kippur, Tishri 10; Sukkoth, Tishri
15 to 21; Shemini Atzereth, Tishri 22; Passover, Nisan 15 to 21; Shabuoth, Sivan
6. These days are observed by Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Jews alike.}
Rosh
HaShanah
comes from the Hebrew words "ro'sh"
and "shaneh".
[Please try to
keep in mind that the sign ":--"
when used in all these definitions simply means that the words following it is
other words that the translators of the KJV used (whether correctly or
incorrectly) to translate the referred to word. For serious researchers, it is
more important to see the definitions of the word to be translated rather than
just accepting the words that unbelieving translators choose to use.]
Strongs
H7218. ro'sh,
roshe; from an unused root appar. mean. to shake; the head
(as most easily
shaken), whether lit. or fig. (in many applications, of place, time, rank,
etc.):--
NASC
H7218. rosh,
[910c]; a prim. root; head:--
According
to the above definitions, the "ro'sh"
of the year would be the "head"
of the year. Just when is the "ro'sh"
or "head of a year"?
Because Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament goes further in
defining "Ro'sh" (word #
H7218), we can easily find the answer there.
Gesenius'
Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament H7218 (I) a head (II)
whatever is highest or supreme ... (III) sum, amount ... (IV) what is
first and foremost, the beginning,
commencement ...
The
head of the year is in first
and foremost, the beginning,
or the commencement of the year. For
an example of the correct translation of (ro'sh
hashanah) in the scriptures, let us look at Ezekiel 40:1.
Eze.
40 (I) In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in
the beginning [ro'sh]
of the [ha]
year [shaneh],
in the tenth day of the month, in the
fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of
YAHWEH
was upon me, and brought me thither. (2)
In the visions of Elohim
brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by
which was as the frame of a city on
the south.
Ezekiel
was simply saying that he was taken, in vision, to Israel in the 10th day of the
month in the beginning (ro'sh) of the
25th year (shaneh) of their
captivity, which was the 14th year (shaneh)
after Jerusalem was smitten.
It
is very clear that Rosh Hashanah
(Head or beginning of the year, also called the Jewish New Year), is
incorrectly celebrated on
Tishri 1. (Tishri 1
coincides with YAHWEH’S
7th month, 1st day, as does Tishri 10 with HIS 7th month, 10th day; Tishri 15
coincides with HIS 7th month, 15th day; and Tishri 21 with HIS 7th month, 21st
day.)
YAHWEH
commanded the following concerning the mo'ed (appointed time) on the
1st day of the 7th month:
Lev.
23 (24) Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In
the seventh month, in the first day of
the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a
memorial *[zikrown-H2146]
of blowing of trumpets ["Clamor" **teruw'ah:H8643],
a holy convocation.
*Strongs
H2146. zikrown, zik-rone';
from H2142; a memento (or
memorable thing, day or writing):--
**Strongs
H8643. teruw'ah, ter-oo-aw';
from H7321; clamor, i.e. acclamation
of joy or a battle-cry; espec. clangor of
trumpets, as an alarum:--
As
you can see above, Lev. 23:24 does not command or even suggest a celebration of
a "head" or "beginning of the YEAR." It does not read, "Speak unto
the children of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, in the first day of the
month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial [zikrown-H2146]
of the beginning [ro'sh:H7218]
of
the year [shaneh: H8141], an holy convocation."
Replacing
or adding to that command in Leviticus 23:24 by celebrating Rosh
HaShanah, the
Head of the Year, the
Beginning of a Year, or the
Jewish New Year is not that which YAHWEH
ordained for the first day of the 7th month, and it would be a clear violation of these two scriptures.
Deu.
4 (2) Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish ought from
it, that ye may keep the commandments of YAHWEH
your Elohim which I command you.
Deu.
12 (32) What thing soever I command you, observe to
do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Another
forbidden thing that is associated with the Rosh HaShanah celebration, found on pages 630-631 of The
Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, is
the manipulating of the calendar to prevent the "zikrown:H2146 teruw'ah:H8643" and the
Day of Atonement from falling on the day before or after
the weekly Sabbath..
"The
Jewish calendar has to take into consideration two additional factors: the
period from one new moon to the next (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds)
and the provision that neither Rosh Hashanah nor Yom Kippur may fall on the day
before or the day after the Sabbath. To provide for all these contingencies the
Jewish calendar contains six different types of years, numbering 353, 354, 355,
383, 384 and 385 days, respectively. As in the case of all other calendars, the Jewish
calendar as now observed is the product of a long historical development."
Also,
on page 44 of The Encyclopedia Judaica,
under the title "CALENDAR,"
it is stated similarly..
Fixing
Rosh HaShanah
(New Year's Day). The year begins on Tishri 1, which is rarely the day of the
molad, as there are four obstacles or considerations, called dehiyyot, in fixing
the first day of the month (rosh hodesh). Each dehiyyah defers Rosh Ha-Shanah by
a day, and combined dehiyyot may cause a postponement of two days: (1) mainly in
order to prevent the Day of Atonement (Tishri 10) from falling on Friday or
Sunday, and Hoshana Rabba (the seventh day of Sukkot; Tishri 21) from falling on
Saturday, but in part also serving an astronomical purpose (see below). Rosh Ha-Shanah
never falls on Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday...
Concerning
Rosh HaShanah and various YAHWEH-given
Holy Days, we find on page 633 of The
Universal Jewish Encyclopedia more violations of the same scriptures
already quoted above.
"Conservative and Orthodox Jews, however, observe a second day of
Rosh Hashanah and Shabuoth, and observe the second day of Passover and Sukkoth
as well as the first; similarly, both Nisan 21 and Nisan 22 are observed as the
last day of Passover, and Tishri 21 and Tishri 23 are observed as Hoshanah
Rabbah and Simhath Torah, respectively."
Obviously,
it was the Jewish people and not
YAHWEH
who named the Festival of the 1st day of the 7th month "Rosh
HaShanah." However, YAHWEH
told the Israelites in no uncertain terms exactly when Rosh Ha Shaneh for
them was
to start.
Exo.
12 (2) This month shall
be unto you the beginning of months [ro'sh:H7218 .
chodesh:H2320]:
it shall be the first month [ri'shown:H7223
chodesh:H2320] of the year [
ha shaneh:H8141] to
you. … Exo. 13 (4)
This day came ye out in the month Abib.
Obviously
the Jewish people made the 1st day of YAHWEH’S
7th month become their 1st day of their 1st month of their year anyway. Before
looking at why the Jewish people thought to have their year begin in the Fall as
did most of the gentiles nations think to have their year begin in the winter,
it might be wise to consider this:
Isa.
55 (8) For MY thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways MY ways, saith YAHWEH.
(9)
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
MY ways higher than your ways, and MY
thoughts than your thoughts.
So
just where did the Jewish people get their ideas from for them to decide to have
their year begin in the Fall? Again, The
Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, page 631 and under the article CALENDAR
reveals this:
"The
year of the Israelites began in the Fall, since the festival of ingathering
(Sukkoth) is said to take place "at the end of the year" (Exodus
23:16).
Rosh
HaShanah
["In the beginning (rosh) of the
year (shaneh)"] is exactly the opposite of "in
the end of the year" which is found in the main scripture that they use
as the basis of their thinking to begin their New Year in the Fall rather than
the time specified by YAHWEH.
The main scripture that they use is Exo. 23:14-16.
Exo.
23 (14) Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto ME
in the year. (15) Thou shalt keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread: (thou shalt eat
unleavened bread seven days, as I
commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest
out from Egypt: and none shall appear before ME empty:) (16)
And the Feast of Harvest, the Firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown
in the field: and the Feast of Ingathering, which
is in the end
[yatsa'
H3318 and NOT 'achariyth H319)] of the year [shaneh],
when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
The
Jewish thought and reasoning is that .
yatsa':H3318 . . shaneh:H8141 is properly translated as
"the end of the year". They reason they if a year ends, a new one
must start, so they make the 1st day of the 7th month their Tishri 1 and then
begin a New Year. Just how can the feast of
ingathering (Feast of Tabernacles) which
starts 15 days later still be "in the end of the year" that they just
started? They are contradicting their own interpretation of the main verse
that they use to base their own thoughts to start a New Year in the Fall on the
1st day of the 7th month! They start
their New Year 15 days before their old year ends! Absolutely amazing!
To
properly translate that which was translated as "in the end of the year" in Exodus 23:14-16, let us look a the
word #H3318 (yatsa').
Strongs
H3318. yatsa', yaw-tsaw'; a prim.
root; to go (causat.
bring) out, in
a great variety of applications, lit. and fig., direct and proxim.:--
Therefore,
in Exo. 23:16, the phrase "the end
of the year" should be translated "in the going out of the year". The year starts going
out (or outgoing as "The Sacred Scriptures" translates *it,)
immediately after the middle of the year has been reached, and the Feast of
Tabernacles is 15 days past the middle of YAHWEH’S
year.
*Exodus
23:16: And the Festival of the Harvest, the firstfruits of your labours which
you have sown in the field; and the Festival of
the Ingathering at the outgoing of the year, when you have gathered in the
fruit of your labours from the field.
There
is neither any authority here to void YAHWEH’S
calendar by starting another new year on the 1st day of the 7th month nor
is there any authority implied.
Now
let us look at the other three places where the phrase "in
the end of the year" occurs in the scriptures, starting with Deu.
11:12. (The point that I want to make is what "in the end of the year"
means and what it does not mean. We need to understand the different Hebrew
words that were translated as "in
the end of the year".)
Deu.
11 (12) A land which YAHWEH thy Elohim careth for: the eyes of YAHWEH
thy Elohim
are always upon it, from the beginning
[re'shiyth,
= first] of
the year even unto the end [achariyth
= last or end] of
the year [shaneh].
Strongs
H7225. re'shiyth, ray-sheeth';
from the same as H7218; the first,
in place, time, order or rank (spec. a firstfruit):--
Strongs
H319. 'achariyth, akh-ar-eeth';
from H310; the last or
end, hence the future; also posterity:--
Now
let us look at the 3rd place in the Bible where "in the end of the year" appears. [the definitions from Strongs
will follow it. The same word
(tequwphah) is also translated in Exo. 34:22 as "at
the year's end".]
II
Chr. 24 (23)
And it came to pass at the end [tequwphah
H8622 and NOT 'achariyth H319] of
the year, that the host of Syria came
up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the
princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto
the king of Damascus.
Strongs
H8622. tequwphah, tek-oo-faw';
or tequphah, tek-oo-faw'; from H5362; a revolution, i.e. (of the sun)
course, (of time) lapse:--circuit, come about, end.
That
phrase should have read "in the
course of the year" or "in
the circuit of the year" in both II Chr. 24:23 and Exo. 34:22.
Let
us look at another verse which contains "at the end of every seven years". The definition to the word
for "end" (qets)
and the word that "qets"
was taken from will follow this verse.
Deu.
31 (10) And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end [qets H7093] of
every seven years, in the solemnity [mo'ed H4150, appointed
time]
of the year [shaneh-H8141]
of release,
in the Feast [chag:H2282] of
Tabernacles, (11)
When all Israel is come to appear before YAHWEH
thy Elohim
in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel
in their hearing.
Strongs
H7093. qets,
kates; contr. from H7112; an extremity;
adv. (with prep. pref.) after:--
Strongs
H7112. qatsats, kaw-tsats'; a
prim. root; to chop off (lit.
or fig.):--
The
"qets" (extremity
or chopping off) of seven years would be the extremity
or chopping off of the 7th year.
What that scripture says is that during the appointed 7th year (a year of
release), at the Feast of Tabernacles, they were supposed to read YAHWEH’S law. It in no way said or
implied that the year of release was to begin there.
Some will say that my interpretation and use of the Hebrew words "Achariyth," "yatsa," "tequwphah" and "qets" is incorrect. YAHWEH will judge. Under no circumstance, does the YAHWEH-given Rosh HaShanah come fifteen days before the Feast of Ingathering in the 7th month of the year.
[Revised
7/29/15]
The reader may also want to read the directly related article "Memorial
of Clamor" written by the same author.
T.A.H.