Why are New Moons not listed in Leviticus 23?

Question: Why are New Moons not listed with the other “holy convocations” given in Leviticus 23?

Answer: This is a good question, deserving of a specific answer.  Unfortunately, as with many long-lost truths that are only now being rediscovered, it is a question that cannot be answered with a single, definitive Bible text.  It is necessary for the individual truth seeker to gather information and, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, make a conclusion from the evidence available.

It is undeniable that New Moons were an integral part of the Biblical luni-solar calendar.

Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh Hodesh), both periodically recurring in the course of the year.  The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle.  Both date back to the nomadic period of Israel.  Originally the New Moon was celebrated in the same way as the Sabbath; gradually it became less important while the Sabbath became more and more a day of religion and humanity, of religious meditation and instruction, of peace and delight of the soul.¹

 

In the time of the earliest prophets, the New Moon stood in the same line with another lunar observance, the Sabbath.  Ezekiel, who curiously enough frequently dates his prophecies on the New Moon … describes the gate of the inner court of the (new) temple looking eastward as kept shut for the six working days, but opened on the Sabbath and the New Moon.² 

It is also an inarguable fact that New Moons were important in a religious sense.  The sacrifices that Yahuwah specified were to be offered on New Moons were greater than the sacrifices that were offered on the seventh-day Sabbath!

The four quarters of the moon supply an obvious division of the month...it is most significant that in the older parts of the Hebrew scriptures the new moon and the Sabbath are almost invariably mentioned together.  The [lunar] month is beyond question an old sacred division of time common to all the Semites; even the Arabs, who received the week at quite a late period from the Syrians, greeted the New Moon with religious acclamations. …  We cannot tell [exactly] when the Sabbath became disassociated from the month.³ 

Leviticus 23 is a listing of the weekly and annual convocations that were to be observed throughout the year, only one of which, Feast of Trumpets, fell on a New Moon.  Feast of Trumpets was the most important New Moon of the year because it heralded the approach of the most solemn religious observance of all: Day of Atonement.  The sacrifices to be offered on Feast of Tabernacles was double that offered on the New Moons throughout the rest of the year.

Because months on the Biblical calendar always started on New Moon days, it is probable that the reason New Moons were not listed with the weekly and annual convocations in Leviticus 23 was simply that it was assumed knowledge.  For example, each nation today has a list of public holidays.  Three of the most well known national holidays in the United States are Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Independence Day always falls on July 4 and Christmas, of course, is always December 25.  Thanksgiving is a little different in that it is always the fourth Thursday of November.  This sometimes is the last Thursday of the month.  Other years, it is the next to last Thursday of the month.  Likewise, Labor Day is always the first Monday of September, so the date of Labor Day varies from year to year. 

Anytime someone discusses getting together with friends or family on Thanksgiving or Labor Day, no explanation is given for how the Gregorian calendar works or how Thanksgiving or Labor Day are calculated.  This is assumed knowledge.

Leviticus 23 is a listing of the weekly and annual religious observances:

Weekly

 

Seventh-day Sabbath

 

Annual

 

Abib 14 = Passover
Abib 15 = Feast of Unleavened Bread (lasts seven days)
Abib 16 = Wave Sheaf
[Fourth Month] day 28 or 29 = Feast of Weeks
Tishrei 1 = Feast of Trumpets
Tishrei 10 = Day of Atonement
Tishrei 15 = Feast of Tabernacles (lasts seven days)

These holidays as well as the weekly Sabbaths could only be calculated from New Moons, because New Moons were always the point in time at which the new month began.  Thus, observation of the New Moons was assumed.  It is likely for this reason Moses did not feel it necessary to list them with the dates of the annual holidays given in Leviticus 23.

Scripture is full of examples of assumed knowledge, stories that make no sense to the modern mind.  This is why Biblical scholars have found it necessary to explain the culture of the ancient Middle East.  Without the knowledge to understand what the writers assumed everyone knew, some stories are confusing to the modern mind.  Following are just a few examples of many:

• When Er’s widow, Tamar, became pregnant by her father-in-law, Judah, most modern readers of Genesis are confused by Judah’s statement: “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.”  (Genesis 38:26)  It is assumed the reader understands the ancient laws of inheritance.  Another example of the writer assuming the reader understands inheritance law is the story of Ruth uncovering Boaz’ feet while he was sleeping.

• The word “Abib” occurs six times in Scripture.  It is the name of the first month of the year.  Nehemiah refers to the month of “Nisan.”  Nisan was the Babylonian name for the first month of the year.  While the book of Esther explains that Nisan is the first month of the year, Nehemiah assumes his reader already knows that.

• The story of Yahuwah confirming His covenant with Abram by “passing through” the bodies of dead animals that have been cut into pieces assumes the reader understands that this was the ancient method of ratifying covenants.  This seems strange to modern readers who, today, ratify covenants with their signatures.

Moses clearly did not feel it was necessary to list New Moons in Leviticus 23 since the observation of New Moons was fundamentally necessary to calculate both the weekly Sabbaths and the annual holidays.  It was assumed the reader already understood the calendar in use at the time.