Passover
Twilight is the time period between dawn and sunrise, or between sunset and dusk.
Both of these are relevant to Passover. Instead I chose to make a new blog.
Exodus 12:6
Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
This word Twilight actually says 'between the two evenings' "beyn ha’arbayim” (בין הערבים). That's a weird phrase. It confused everyone I ever met. I decided to make radical changes in my life. My wristwatch is set 6 hours back so that I tell time like all great and ancient civilizations that lived before me. In GPC we call it Sun Time. We also call it Ethiopian time because Ethiopia is the only modern nation to do this.
GPC does have one slight difference between Ethiopian Time. That is Ethiopia prefers 12hr format and GPC advocates 24hr format. In order to understand this one passage we have to use both.
The phrase between the two evenings should be taken as between the time when the sun is below the horizon and darkness. In other words between sunset and darkness. In one word dusk. This is half an hour or two fingers past the 12th hour. Note: when the sun is setting each finger is about 15 minutes. Observe the chart below.
| Civil | Ethiopian | GPC |
|---|---|---|
| 7am | 1 oclock morning | 1 Sierra |
| 6:30pm | 12:30 evening | 12:30 Sierra |
| 10pm | 4 oclock evening | 16 Sierra |
Talmudic differences
According to Josephus, the Jewish historian and general, the Passover lamb was slain between the two evenings, specifically between the 9th hour (3 pm) and the 11th hour (5 pm). This timing is mentioned in both “Antiquities of the Jews” (Book 2, Chapter 14, Section 6) and “Wars of the Jews” (Book 6, Chapter 9, Section 3).
Josephus is describing Rabbinic tradition. In the first century there were three different high priests. The timing Josephus describes was a crucial aspect of the ritual, ensuring that the sacrifice was completed before sunset and the start of the next day’s celebration. This interpretation makes sense only in the eyes of someone who keeps a lunar calendar and consequently starts their day in the evening. For someone who keeps a solar calendar it would not make sense.
As the actual Hebrew phrase suggests 'between the two evenings' really means the time when sundials cease to function. Think about it. Why this special phrase? Why not just say the 9th hour? Is the Torah trying to confuse us? Certainly not. The only logical explanation is that it has to be a period of time when sun dials don't work.
Passover and Yom Kipur both mention evening which suggests that the actual Torah calendar is solar and the day begins in the morning.
The Samaritans, who followed a different tradition, understood “between the two evenings” to mean dusk, between sunset and dark, as the time for the sacrifice. It seems the Samaritans have somehow preserved the truth on this matter. Of the three high priests the Pharisee and Saducee sect who shared the Second Temple of Ezra or King Cyrus were the odd ones. The Qumran High Priest most likely performed Passover in the same manner as the Samaritan High Priest though this is a logical deduction.
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