Who Owns the Jewish Calendar?

We use calendars for planning, for making and keeping appointments. Governments use calendars to establish and mark specific due dates for taxes. We just take the fact we have and use the same calendar for granted. But what do sacred writings said about the calendar?

The Bible never comes out and describes a detailed formula for a calendar. Yes, there are names of months mentioned in the Bible, but those came from Babylonian root names. And the Jewish Calendar used today was concocted, 400 years after Christ. Even the recent Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah is not ever mentioned in the Bible. In fact, the Bible tells us the beginning of the year starts in the first month. Rosh Hashanah is in the seventh month of all places.

Two Israeli Scientists have been decoding fragments of Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts. Their findings highlight a 364 Day Year Calendar system. This system is a calculated calendar, not depending on man, determining the month, each time.

> Dead Sea Scrolls Calendar

The beauty of the Priestly - 364-day calendar, is it (1) pre-Babylonian and (2) it matches well with the 7-Day cycle laid out by God in the Hebrew scriptures. Also the cycle of 7 weeks, 7 months, 7 years, and 7 years of 7 call the Jubilee.

Professor Rachel Elior, at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Listen to her explains what happened, in this simple to the understanding presentation.

The History of the Jewish Calendar(s) over the years, the debates, and the fights between the Preistly-Sadducee Class and the Rabbinic-Pharisee Class is the material, that would make a great novel.

More on the subject > The Jewish Calendar In Jubilees