The timing of a Rabbinic Pentecost, or Shavuot is different from the timing of a Sunday Pentecost. This is because the count of fifty days always begins the day after the First Day of Unleavened Bread.
Method of Calculation
The reckoning of the date of Pentecost is only found in one place in the Bible, which is Leviticus 23:15-16 :
- And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
- Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto YHVH.
The "sabbath" referred to in verse 25 is interpreted by mainstream Judaism as the First Day of Unleavened Bread, upon which no work is to be done. Therefore the "morrow after the sabbath" is two days after Passover (the 16th), which is the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering and the first day of the Counting of the Omer.
History of the Rabbinic Debate
The interpretation of the phrase "the morrow after the sabbath" has been the subject of debate for thousands of years. The Talmud and the Mishnah, written by Pharisees, oppose the opinion of the "Boethusians" (Sadducees) who observed the Wave Sheaf Offering the day after the weekly Sabbath (Sunday). The Pharisees instead reckoned the "sabbath" of Lev 23:11 to be the First Day of Unleavened Bread. This controversy is explained well by Alfred Edersheim, a Jewish author who converted to Christianity and is here defending the "Day after the 15th" method of reckoning:
The expression, 'the morrow after the Sabbath' (Lev 23:11), has sometimes been misunderstood as implying that the presentation of the so-called 'first sheaf' was to be always made on the day following the weekly Sabbath of the Passover-week. This view, adopted by the 'Boethusians' and the Sadducees in the time of Christ, and by the Karaite Jews and certain modern interpreters, rests on a misinterpretation of the word 'Sabbath' (Lev 23:24,32,39). As in analogous allusions to other feasts in the same chapter, it means not the weekly Sabbath, but the day of the festival. The testimony of Josephus (Antiq. iii. 10, 5, 6), or Philo (Op. ii. 294), and of Jewish tradition, leaves no room to doubt that in this instance we are to understand by the 'Sabbath' the 15th of Nisan, on whatever day of the week it might fall.
Today, Rabbinic Judaism continues to abide by the Pharisaic interpretation of Lev 23:11, while Karaite Jews and Israelite Samaritans continue to interpret it as the day after the weekly Sabbath.
Objection #1: The First Day of Unleavened Bread as a Sabbath
The First Day of Unleavened Bread is never referred to as "Sabbaths" in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for Sabbath is shabbath (שַׁבָּת), Strong's Number H7676. The Hebrew word translated as "sabbath" in Lev 23:39 is shabbathon (שַׁבָּתוֹן), Strong's number H7677. Shabbathon is usually translated as "rest", and is sometimes used together with shabbath to describe the Sabbath. For a typical example, consider this verse:
Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath (shabbath) of rest (shabbathon), holy to YHVH: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath (shabbath) day, he shall surely be put to death. (Exo 31:15)
Often times the word shabbath is used alone to describe the Sabbath day, but the word shabbathon is never used alone to describe the Sabbath day. Rather, shabbathon is used alone to describe other Holy Days which are days of rest:
Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto YHVH seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath (shabbathon), and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath (shabbathon). (Lev 23:39)
Therefore, although the first day of the Days of Unleavened Bread (the 15th) and the Last Great Day (the 21st) are days of rest, they are never referred to as Sabbaths.
The Pharisees who wrote the Talmud and the Mishnah point to the usage of "Sabbath" in Leviticus 25 to justify calling the 15th a "Sabbath", however the context of that chapter is Sabbath rests for the land and not Holy Days. There's not a clear example in Scripture where a Holy Day is directly called a Sabbath, except for the Day of Atonement which is called a "Shabbath Shabbathon" or "Sabbath of rest", as the day is not a "festival" but a day of affliction.
Objection #2: The Counting of Sabbaths
If the definition of Rabbinical Judaism is accepted, and the First Day of Unleavened Bread should be considered a "Sabbath", then the Last Day of Unleavened Bread should also be counted as a Sabbath. Consider the descriptions of both:
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. (Lev 23:7-8)
In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto YHVH seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. (Lev 23:7-8) And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work. (Num 28:25)
If the first day is a Sabbath, and both the first and seventh days of Unleavened bread are described the same way ("no servile work"), then by extension the seventh day should be considered a Sabbath as well. However, when counting the Omer to Pentecost, the Rabbinic Pentecost calendar does not include the seventh day of Unleavened Bread as one of the seven Sabbath to be counted. This is because the count of "seven sabbaths" would then not equal the fifty days required by Leviticus 23:16. So the first day of the festival is counted as a Sabbath, but the seventh day is not.
Objection #3: Seven Complete Sabbaths
By starting the Counting of the Omer on the 16th of the month and not on the first day of the week, there is often a partial week at the beginning of the count and another partial week at the end of the count. This does not align with the literal requirement of Leviticus 23:15 :
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: (Lev 23:15)
- Jaubert, The Date of the Last Supper, pg23
- Hagiga 2,4
- Menahot 10,3
- Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, Ch 13
- Leviticus 16:31 and 23:32