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| PentecostalTheology.com
by Saber Truth Tiger
In Exodus chapters 19 and 20 we read of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. Many believe this momentous event occurred during the first week of Sivan, the third month in the Hebrew calendar (see Exodus 19:1). Many Jewish scholars claim this event happened on Shavuot, the third annual feast day in the Jewish calendar. In today’s fixed Jewish calendar that is always Sivan 6 (and also Sivan 7 outside of Israel).
However, before the creation of the fixed calendar in the fourth century CE, the first day of the month began when observers appointed by the Sanhedrin spotted the thin crescent of the moon in the western sky as the sun was setting. This means that months could vary, either 29 or 30 days each. No months had 31 days because if the crescent still hadn’t been spotted on the evening of the 30th day, the new day would be declared the first day of the month.
A prelude to Shavuot was the feast of the Passover in the first month of the Jewish calendar. In the Jewish calendar, Passover fell on Abib 14 and the first feast day of the Passover fell on the next day. Rabbinical Judaism calls this feast day (Abib or Nisan 15) an annual Sabbath, of which there were seven every year. Current Jewish tradition holds the countdown toward Shavuot began with a 50-day countdown that began on the day after the annual Sabbath (Abib 16). If we assume that Abib had 30 days and Iyyar had 29 days, then Sivan 6 would be the 50th day since Abib 16, the day of the rabbinical waving of the Omer.
However, the Sadducees in the first century CE and the modern Karaites reckon the 50-day countdown differently than the Rabbis. They do not count down from the day after the annual Sabbath but the day after the weekly Sabbath. Hence, with Jewish inclusive counting, Shavuot would always fall on a Sunday. Under Sadducee’s and Karaite’s reckoning, there could be several days between the observance of the Passover meal and the first weekly Sabbath of the week-long Passover festival. Under their reckoning, Shavuot would always fall on a Sunday but it would also fall on a different day of the month of Sivan every year.
There are those who disagree with this and they have reasons why they disagree. Historian and author Daniel Gregg has written an article on the subject of Karaite’s belief that Shavuot always falls on Sunday. His article required a lot of study so I thought I would offer everyone a chance to see his reasons for rejecting the Karaite position. Gregg maintains that the first Shavuot ever fell on the weekly Sabbath in the year of the Exodus.
https://www.torahtimes.org/CalendarChaos.html
This is a little odd because he elsewhere claims the Omer is waved on the day after the annual Sabbath (Nisan 16) as the Pharisees did but he believes the seven Sabbath countdown toward Shavuot begins on the first weekly Sabbath after the waving of the Omer, as the Sadducees did. The difference between the two is Daniel Gregg believes the waving of the Omer comes after the first annual Sabbath and before the first weekly Sabbath. Therefore, the first weekly Sabbath in Gregg’s Passover week is the first of the seven Sabbath countdown toward Shavuot. Under the Sadducean and Karaite reckoning, however, the waving of the Omer occurs on the day after the first weekly Sabbath in the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the beginning of the seven Sabbath countdown towards Shavuot begins the following Sabbath.
It is claimed by some historians that during Jesus’ time on earth, the Pharisees controlled Temple Worship, and the Pharisees counting the seven weeks to Shavuot began the day after the "annual Sabbath" Then, the Jews would count the seven Sabbath (week) countdown from that same day. Hence, under their reckoning, they did not count seven Sabbaths, they instead counted seven WEEKS. They would count seven weeks, even if the countdown began on a Tuesday, they would count seven weeks (and not Sabbaths) and the fiftieth day would fall on Tuesday.
I discussed in another answer some of the reasons why I don’t believe the giving of the Law occurred on Shavuot. Here is the link to those reasons:
What is the correct date the Israelites arrived at Sinai?
Under Sadducean and Karaite reckoning Shavuot would fall on Sunday. Under Pharisee and rabbinical reckoning, Shavuot could fall on any day of the week, including the weekly Sabbath. Those who claim the giving of the Law fell on the weekly Sabbath must admit IF Shavuot fell on that day, then it was the rabbinical reckoning of the feasts that was in use and not the Sadducean. The argument fails however because Shavuot didn’t even exist at that time.
So my question is did the giving of the Law occur on Shavuot or did it not? Am I correct or not?
