Head of the Month
First Day of Each Month
Overview
The Head of the Month is the 1st day of each month on the Biblical Calendar.
This day would be observed by the blowing of silver trumpets to let the people know the new month had begun.
Occasionally, the Head of the Month specifically refers to the 1st day of the 1st month of each of the 4 seasons of the year (the 1st day of the 1st month, 4th month, 7th month and 10th month of each year).
Torah Requirements
General commandments:
- 2 silver trumpets are to be blown to announce the start of the new month
Required burnt offerings (`olah):
- 2 young male bulls without blemish
- 1 ram without blemish
- 7 male lambs, each 1 year old, without blemish
Required food offerings (minchah) for the burnt offerings (`olah):
- Flour mixed with oil (3/10 of an ephah for each of the 2 bulls, 2/10 of an ephah for the ram, 1/10 of an ephah for each of the 7 lambs)
- Strong drink (1/2 of a hin for each of the 2 bulls, 1/3 of a hin for the ram, 1/4 of a hin for each of the 7 lambs)
Required sin offerings (chatta’ah):
- 1 male goat
The Head of the Month in the Torah
Exodus 12:1 And YAHWEH said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
Exodus 12:2 This month shall be the head of months for you. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you.
Exodus 13:3 And Moses said to the people, Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slaves. For by the might of His hand YAHWEH brought you out from here. And no leaven shall be eaten.
Exodus 13:4 Today, in the month of the Aviv, you are going out.
Numbers 10:1 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,
Numbers 10:2 Make two trumpets of silver for yourself. You shall make them of hammered work, and they shall be to you for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:3 And when they blow with them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the tent of meeting.
Numbers 10:4 And if they blow with one, then the rulers, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall assemble to you.
Numbers 10:5 And when you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall then pull up stakes.
Numbers 10:6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall pull up stakes; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
Numbers 10:7 But when the assembly is gathered, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm.
Numbers 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets. And they shall be to you for a never ending statute throughout your generations.
Numbers 10:9 And when you go into battle in your land against the foe distressing you, then you shall blow with the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before YAHWEH your Elohim. And you shall be saved from your enemies.
Numbers 10:10 And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and in your new months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. And they shall be to you for a memorial before your Elohim. I am YAHWEH your Elohim.
Numbers 28:11 And in the beginning of your months you shall bring near a burnt offering to YAHWEH: two bulls, sons of the herd, and one ram, seven lambs, sons of a year, ones without blemish.
Numbers 28:12 and three tenth parts of flour, a food offering mixed with oil for the one bull; and two tenths parts of flour as a food offering mixed with oil for the one ram;
Numbers 28:13 and a tenth part of flour mixed with oil as a food offering for the one lamb; a burnt offering, a soothing fragrance, a fire offering to YAHWEH;
Numbers 28:14 and their drink offerings shall be a half of a hin to a bull, and a third of a hin to a ram, and a fourth of a hin to a lamb, of wine. This shall be the burnt offering of every month for the months of the year.
Numbers 28:15 And one kid of the goats for a sin offering to YAHWEH; it shall be prepared besides the continual burnt offering, and its drink offering.
Common Misconceptions
Misconception #1 – The New Moon Announces the Start of the New Month
The current Hillel II calendar, followed by most of the Jewish people around the world today, is based on a luni-solar orientation. Instead of simply marking the months according to the pattern given in the 1st Book of Enoch, the Jewish people mark the beginning of the month when the new moon is sighted over Israel.
This misconception is due to how the Hebrew word “chodesh” is translated and understood. This word appears nearly 200 times in the scriptures, and is almost always translated correctly as “month”. The few times that it is mistakenly translated as “moon” it is easy to see, from the context, that it is referring to the month and not the moon.
This misconception came about during the time the Jewish people were in exile in Babylon. The Babylonians were worshippers of a false moon god called Nanna (or Sin). As such, their calendar was based on 12 lunar months, and each month was started when a crescent moon was sighted. Unfortunately, the Babylonian way of observing time began to greatly influence the Jewish people during their time in Babylon.
Although the original calendar ordained by YHVH was still being used by most believers around the time of Yeshua Messiah (albeit with a few Babylonian name modifications), by the 4th century the Jewish people had abandoned that calendar and adopted the Hillel II calendar which, similar to the Babylonian calendar, relies on the sighting of the new moon to start each month, rather than the pattern given to us in the Book of 1st Enoch.