New Moon and the Sabbath

Question

Prior to about 705 BC all the civilizations with advanced astronomy (Israel, China, Mayan) had the Earth’s year at 360 days, consisting of 12 months of exactly 30 days each. (Quite a testimony of Divine Creation. It has been recently asserted that a large rogue planet pulled the earth further away from the sun about 705 BC causing the increased year. See Isaiah 13:13 and 2nd Kings 20:11)

My question is, prior to 705 BC, when the calendar and year was 360 days, as 1st Samuel 20:27 says that a New Moon Celebration is 2 days, how did this effect the weekly Sabbath? Was the day after the 2nd day of the New Moon always the Sabbath (did the New Moon always fall on the same days of the week, such as Thursday and Friday), or did the two day New Moon celebration sometimes fall “randomly” in the middle (or elsewhere) in the week, or was the New Moon always immediately before or after the weekly Sabbath to always have a “Three day weekend” once a month? (Feel free to send an image of a calendar showing how the New Moon and Sabbath worked on a 30 day month in a 360 day year.)

Thank You very much for your time and thoughts!

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    There is no evidence in the Jewish world of a solar calendar that followed a 360 day year. In truth, it would be a moot point because the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar that and it has a 354 day year. The New Moon follows the lunar cycle which is almost exactly 29 and a half days long. That is why the New Moon is sometimes two days long and sometimes one day long as the New Moon begins at the beginning of the day (in Judaism that is at nightfall) and was celebrated even though the actual “birth” off the new moon might only occur during the day. That also means that the New Moon is never on the same day month after month. Rather, the New Moon will always be the day after it was the month before.

    To your main question: According to Jewish Tradition, there is an unbroken chain of tradition that the first Sabbath of the Creation was on Saturday (the seventh day of the Creation), and the Jews have kept that day holy ever since. However, the Jewish days begin at nightfall, which means that the Sabbath actually begins on Friday at sunset, ending on Saturday night.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team