All quoted Bible texts come from the King James Authorized Version out of the Online Bible computer program. Any notations in the form "[pg. nn]" denote the page from "The True Bible Sabbath" from which I have drawn specific information. A chart of this calendar can be found here.

The Biblical year starts with a Sabbath on the Vernal Equinox, and is made up of twelve 30-day months. The moon was never intended to govern the months. The sun driven calendar provides a consistent, logical calendar for any year, providing for a double Sabbath at Pentecost to take up the "extra" day to make the year a whole number of seven-day weeks, and with a double Sabbath on leap years to keep the first day of the year a Sabbath.

See also: Importance of keeping the Sabath. 

The first important verses regarding the calendar are at Genesis 1:14-15:

Genesis 1:
14* ¶ And God said, Let there be lights <03974> in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons <04150>, and for days, and years <08141>:
15* And let them be for lights <03974> in the firmament of the heaven to give light <0215> upon the earth: and it was so.
16* And God made two great lights <03974>; the greater light <03974> to rule <04475> the day, and the lesser light <03974> to rule <04475> the night: he made the stars also.
17* And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light <0215> upon the earth,
18* And to rule <04910> over the day and over the night, and to divide the light <0216> from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The "lights" <03974> are that which produce light: lamps or luminaries, not the light <0215> that proceeds from them; these "lights in the firmament" must be producers of light, not merely reflections of it. Next note that <04150> usually means "congregations" or "assemblies", as opposed to the seasons of the year. Notice that "years" <08141> derives from <08138> which can mean "to repeat, do again, to fold, to duplicate"; implying that years are duplicates of prior years, and maybe "foldable" or made of a two repeated parts. So prehaps a more literal rendering would be:

(a bit more literal) Genesis 1:
14* ¶ And God said, Let there be luminaries <03974> in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for assemblies <04150>, and for days, and years (and dividing of years) <08141>:
15* And let them be for luminaries <03974> in the firmament of the heaven to give light <0215> upon the earth: and it was so.
16* And God made two great luminaries <03974>; the greater luminary <03974> to rule <04475> the day, and the lesser luminary <03974> to rule <04475> the night: he made the stars also.

These luminaries are in the heavens which preclude Earthly signs for starting the year. Note that these luminaries are not identified by name (except the stars), so their identities must be discerned from subsequent Scripture. (The Sun is first explicitly mentioned at Genesis 15:12, and the moon is first mentioned all the way at Genesis 37:9.) These luminaries in the heavens are used for signs and mark the years, which implies they must be the sun or stars in some yearly recuring orientations. The moon cannot mark the years as its motions are not in sychronization with the Earth's orbit and when utilized provide an irregular guide at best. Additionally, it does not produce light but reflects it. (This parallels the Biblical position of a wife to her husband, does it not? She - as the moon - reflects his "light"?) The greater luminary would be the Sun. The lesser luminary(ies), would include the stars (the text "he made" at the end of verse 16 is not in the Hebrew but is an interpolation). I believe the lesser luminar(ies) to be all the heavenly display: comets, supernova, etc. to be for signs.

See also: Lunacy - Using the Moon for a Calendar

The Biblical Day starts at Sundown

The Biblical day is measured from sundown to sundown, being in order of evening (night) then morning (daylight), with noon being in the midst of the light part of the day.

This is also seen in the history of the first Passover and flight from Egypt that the night of the eating of the passover lamb and the following day were the same Biblical day:

Exodus 12:51* And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

That the Biblical day begins with night is confirmed in the book of Nehemiah, where the gates are closed at the coming of nightfall and the next day, a Sabbath:

The pattern for a day being night followed by daylight is followed in Psalm 55:

The error of dividing the day at noon: As Ron Bierer points out [pg. 50], this division of days by sundown is practical being that most work is done by daylight for which Sabbaths give workers a full work period to rest. A day divided at noon, which some claim is where the sun is 'even' between the rising and setting horizons, would cause workers to work every daylight period - half days before and after Sabbath - not giving them a full day's rest.

Again, 'even' or 'evening', from the Hebrew word "ereb" (Strong's #06153) meaning "dusk" or "sundown" [pg. 51], is some time near night-fall when shadows are long, not at midday (on the theory that the sun is "even" between the eastern and western horizons):

Again, the tribes of Israel on the move would camp when the sun was on the western horizon (Ex 16:13), not at midday; also, people work during the light of whole day, not half days (Ex 18:14):

Exodus 16:13* ¶ And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
Exodus 18:14* And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?

Noon:

Noon or noonday from tsohar <06672> is when the sun is highest and brightest in the sky, the Hebrew word first used in Genesis 6 in reference to a window in the roof of Noah's ark.

Genesis 6:16* A window <06672> shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

Many references can be found alluding to a "blindness" which would cause people to grope in the clear light of the noonday sun as if in darkness or the waning light of dusk <05399>:

Dueteronomy 28:
28* The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
29* And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
Job 5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
Isaiah 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday <06672> as in the night <05399>; we are in desolate places as dead men.

Also allusions to the purity and clarity of righteousness being as the brightness of the noonday:

Job 11:17* And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
Psalm 37:6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Jeremiah 6 is obviously directed toward people who have trouble getting things done in time; first looking forward to attacking in the full light of the noon day sun, then lamenting that the day has wasted away to evening, then deciding they will attack under cover of night. But this lets us discern the times of 'noon' and 'evening.'

Jeremiah 6:
4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

---

Some who assert that "evening" really means (our) noon interpret phrase "the shadows of the evening are stretched out" in the above fourth verse to mean that the shadows are begun to be stretched out starting at noon. But then what do they interpret "noon" as? The stretched out shadows are of the evening, not of the midday.

---

Looking forward to the crucifixion of Christ, God declares the clear midday sun will be made dark, a momentus event (a solar eclipse).

Amos 8:9* And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: (See Amos 5:8.)

'Noon' is clearly as we recognize it today, in the middle of the light of the daytime, when the sun is highest in the sky. And also 'evening' is seen as when the sun is low on the horizon and begining to set. (Of the exact moment I, myself, am unsure.) (Also, if the reader is tempted to reckon 'noon' at any time other than when the sun is highest in the sky, keep Isaiah 5:20 in mind.)

Month Names

Before the Babylonian captivity, only four months had names; usually they were designated by number [pg. 60]:

1^st - "Abib"

2^nd - "Zif"

7^th - "Ethanim"

8^th - "Bul"

After Israel went into captivity, the Babylonian names were incorporated into Hebrew. [pg. 60.]

The Commanded Sabbaths

There are many specific commanded Sabbaths [pg. 14].

Abib 1 [pg. 66,67,80]:

Abib 8 [pg. 67]:

Abib 15 [pg. 68]:

Abib 21 [pg. 69,70]:

Leviticus 23:7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8) But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

Abib 22, Abib 29, Zif 6, Zif 13, Zif 20, Zif 27, Sivan 4 & 5 [pg. 70]:

From the Passover / First day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, there are seven sabbaths counted (making 50 days!). This confirms that the

Ethanim 1:

Ethanim 10 [pg. 77]

Ethanim: 15 [pg. 78]

Ethanim 22 [pg. 79]

The Commanded Work Days

Abib 10 and Abib 14 commanded work days [pg. 39]:

Abib 16 is a commanded work day, the wave offering [pg.41]:

The tribes of Israel crossed the Jordan river into the promised land on the tenth day of the first month, and on the fourteenth day kept the passover. On the following day, the fifteenth, their first Sabbath in the new land, they ate the last of their old corn, and the day after that, the sixteenth, the manna ceased whereupon they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan. This day, the sixteenth, would then be confirmed as the day to "bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest" to the priest for a wave offering.

How long is a Sabbath?

"There is nothing septenary (meaning to do with the seventh day) about the meaning of the word "Sabbath" or the Hebrew word from with it is translated (Strong's #07676). The Hebrew word "Shabbath" is "cessation or rest." There is nothing about the word to determine its length." The same word is used in the Bible to describe Sabbaths of varied lengths [pg. 95]:

A day:           Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, et al.
Two days:        Leviticus 23:15-21 et al.
One year:        Leviticus 25:4-8 et al.
Two years:       Leviticus 25:8-11 et al.
Seventy years:   2 Chronicles 36:21

All years must be uniform

The calendar begins anew each year driven by the celestial event of the vernal equinox, setting in motion the cascade of feasts, Sabbaths, work days and other requirements.  The fixed Sabbaths and work days preclude a "slipping" Sabbath as is the case with today's civil calendar.  Comparing these two verses below demonstrates again the year to year uniformity of the calendar [pg. 80]:

The current civil calendar with years of 52 7-day weeks and a day cannot fulfill the requirements of the Biblical calendar. The week days of the civil calendar shift with regard to the vernal equinox. It is therefore evident that anyone who wants to keep the Sabbath cannot simply claim one of the days of our modern week as the Sabbath. There would only be some times when one would be in agreement with the true Sabbaths, but usually one will be at work on a true Sabbath, or one may be resting on a commanded work day.

It may be of interest to note, according to Ron Bierer, the Romans and Greeks kept an eight day week at the time of Christ [pg. 19,21], in contrast to our current 7 day week.

Twelve Months in a Year

There are twelve months in a Biblcal sun-based year, not twelve or thirteen as per a lunar calendar. The moon has a period of 29 1/2 days which would yield moon-months of 29 or 30 days alternately. The Jewish moon-month calendar year is accordingly made up of 12 or 13 moon-months depending on the year of their "mutanic" cycle. Every seven out of 19 years have thirteen months, i.e. the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th. [pg. 45] Several Bible verse show the fact of a twelve month year [pgs. 48-49]:

Thirty Days in a Month

The Biblical month is made up of thirty days, sometimes with extras days to fill out the seasons, as will be seen in a later section.

The tale of the flood in Genesis 7 and 8 lets us know that a month had 30 days, by telling us that the waters prevailed 150 days from the 17th day of the 2nd month to the 17th day of the 7th month; 150 days divided by 5 months equals 30 days in a month: [pg. 48]

It may be so that a year in Noah's time had exactly twelve 30-day months, for 360 days in a full year, in contrast to our present 365.25 day year. (It is quite possible that in the time of Peleg (when the Earth was divided), the length of the year also changed requiring new rules. I don't have a good explanation for that, nor for how the year length might have been affected the time when Joshua asked that the sun and moon stand still in the sky (Joshua 10:12-13).) But that the 30 day month is the guide is proven out by comparing certain scriptures [pg 48]:

By comparing these prophecies we see that 3 1/2 years (a time, times and an half) is equal to 42 months is equal to 1260 days. 1260 days divided by 42 months is 30, confirming 30 days in a month. That 42 months is also 3 1/2 12-month years confirms the twelve month year.

Another proof of the 30-day month can be seen by looking the story of the return from captivity in Babylon and the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. They enetered Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, and were there three days, the first, second and third.

Ezra 7:9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.

Nehemiah 2:11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

Nehemiah then examined the city walls on the night of the fourth of the month. He was able to ride an animal, presumably a horse (or donkey), to do this, and yet noone was able to see where he went. If he carried torches to light his way he would have been easily detected. Without light, the horse would likely have stumbled. I think this suggests there was sufficient moonlight to light his way.

Nehemiah 2:12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

Nehemiah 2:16* And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

Nehemiah 2:18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Then they started (that day, probably now morning) to rebuild the wall:

Nehemiah 4:1* ¶ Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.

The wall was finished 52 days later on the 25th day of the next month (Elul, the 6th month).

Nehemiah 6:15* So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.

For there to be 52 days counted from the 4th day of the fifth month until the 25th day of the sixth month, there must have been 30 days in the fifth month. (Remember the first day counts as one of the 52, so one day is subtracted after adding the 52 to the 4. 4+52-1 = 55; to make the last day the 25th, the previous month must have had 30 days.) Some might argue that this could have been one of the 30-day moon-months, but since moon months start with the new moon and Nehemiah arose at night and spent a fair amount of time surveying the city walls, the explanation of a four day old moon (which would have set about three hours after sunset) providing light for his nighttime survey is not plausible.

(And that the people were so alarmed that they immediately set about repairing the breach in the wall shows me that they were not used to seeing people navigate the ruins by torch light. Another possibility is that the returning Israel people were keeping the Babylonian lunar calendar, having been there in captivity so long, but that it started with a full moon.)

See also: Christ Kept the Passover.

The Moon cannot be used to mark the months

The moon based calendar is mathematically ill-suited to govern the months and the years.

The word "month" comes from the Hebrew word "codesh" with Strong's #02330. It is translated 242 times in the Old Testament to mean "month", and wrongly rendered "moon" 19 times. The proper Hebrew word for "moon" is "yareach" with Strong's #03394 which is always translated "moon" - 26 times - and never "month" Every time the English "new moon" or "new moons" is found, it is an erroneous translation of month (chodesh). [pg. 47.] Therefore, there should never be "new moon" in the English, but instead "new month", or "first (day) of the month", or "beginning of the month". [pg. 48.] So any assertions about the moon marking the months must be checked in this matter.

The moon is a femine object which should never rule Israel, as is seen from Genesis 37. (See also the moon referred to as the "Queen of Heaven" in Jer. 7:18 and Jer. 44:17-25. [pg. 57.]):

52 weeks in a year & the Double Sabbath at Pentecost

See also: The Day of Passover.

To maintain a uniform calendar from year to year, with feasts and work days falling on the same 'day of the week', (not the modern week), there would need to be 52 weeks in a year. But 52*7 = 364 days, a year is approximately 365.25 days. What about the left over, extra day, much less the portion of a day? The 365th day is handled by God at Pentecost [pg. 72]. The approximately quarter day I believe is handled by leap years, to be explained later.

At the Feast of Weeks the "extra day" of the year forms a double Sabbath as the fiftieth day from the day of the wave offering. This extra day becomes part of a double Sabbath, causing 52 weeks to make up a year, with no left over days.

The command is to count off seven full weeks, even fifty days; this includes the fiftieth day as part of one of the weeks. (God is God, and gets to make the rules. :) ) It is clear that the Sabbath of the fourty-ninth day is continued on the fiftieth day, creating a two day, or double, Sabbath. Otherwise the fiftieth day would be the start of the eighth week which would violate the given statute.  This is a perpetual statute:

The pattern of the fourty-ninth and fiftieth days after the sheaf of wave offering being a single, "double" Sabbath, is repeated for the fiftieth yearly Sabbath Year called jubile commanded in Leviticus 25:

And just as when counting yearly Sabbaths, the first year comes after the fiftieth year, the jubile, so the next Sabbath after the double Sabbath of Pentecost must be seven days afterwards. [pg. 99.]

The book of Enoch has this to say about the year [pg. 92]: "all the days belonging to each year of the five years, when completed, amount to 364;" (chapter 73:11). "In verse 13 we find a year has 364 days, three years have 1092 days; five years have 1820 days and eight years 2912 days. These are all multiples of 364 days." [pg. 92.] If we accept the book of Enoch as authoritative, we would have to conclude that a double Sabbath, despite being two sunset-to-sunset days, is only counted as one day. This would no doubt apply to the extra day of leap years also.

The Year Divided into Seasons

The sun and stars are to divide the day from the night and are for signs, seasons, days, and years.

It is the sun which rules the day, the stars rule the night; the sun and stars divide the seasons and years; the moon never divides the day, only sometimes shines in the night, and never marks the "seasons" and years.

The Hebrew word for year is shaneh (Strong's #8141) which comes from shawnaw (Strong's #8138) which means "to fold, i.e. duplicate, to transmute, do again, double, repeat, do the second time." To illustrate this "folded" year, here is a comparison of the two halves [pg. 52.]:

First day of first month a commanded Sabbath	First day of seventh month a commanded Sabbath
First six months has two seasons: Spring and Summer	Second six months has two seasons: Fall and Winter
1st, 8th , 15th, and 22nd of first month commanded Sabbaths	1st, 15th, and 22nd of seventh month commanded Sabbaths
On 10th day of first month get lamb for feast	On 10th day of seventh month a day of Atonement
Fifteenth day of first month is Passover	Fifteenth day of seventh month is Feast of Tabernacles
Then follows a seven day feast	Then follows a seven day feast
First half year has six months, 26 weeks and 26 Sabbaths	Second half year has six months, 26 weeks, 26 Sabbaths

This symmetry would be impossible with a moon-ruled year of either 12 or 13 months.

The Biblical Year starts with a regular, weekly Sabbath on the Vernal Equinox

There is no direct statement I can find which says "the first day of the first month is the first Sabbath of the year," but there is sufficient evidence to show that it is anyway. First, one must understand that the day of preparation for the passover was the fourteenth day of the first month, Abib 14, that the passover is to be eaten quickly at evening later that same day, and that nightfall brought the next day, Abib 15; see The Day of Passover. That the day of the wave offering is Abib 16 has been shown above, and that it cannot be Abib 22 is highlighted by the notes below.

Abib 15 is a Sabbath as declared in Leviticus 23:6 followed by seven commanded Sabbaths at seven day intervals. Leviticus 23:15,16 (see Joshua 5:10-12). (Read this next passage carefully several times.)

Leviticus 23:
15* ¶ And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath [Abib 15], from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering [Abib 16]; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16* Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

A fiftieth day is counted "unto the morrow," or the day following, after the seventh sabbath, and fills out seven complete sabbaths or weeks. These seven Sabbaths days must be the weekly Sabbaths, and for this feast, an additional day is added to the seventh week, requiring the fiftieth day to be a continuation of the Sabbath of the fourty-ninth day (otherwise it would start a new week). That the fourty-ninth day is a weekly, "regular" Sabbath pins the placement of the weekly Sabbaths, so we can reckon backwards to confirm that Abib 16, is the first day of the "week," and falls naturally after the Sabbath of Abib 15 (the night of eating the Passover). So this proves that Abib 15, while also being a special holy day (holiday), is also a normal, weekly Sabbath. Reckoning backwards further, we see that Abib 8 and Abib 1 must also be weekly Sabbaths. And that the Passover with attendant Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks are always on the same calendar days with the same days of Sabbaths, so the Biblical calendar must be reckoned to start every year (Abib 1) with a weekly Sabbath.

These two requirements, one) the year starting on the day containing the vernal equinox, and two) a double sabbath at Pentecost, are part of the procedure for keeping the Biblical calendar that the "Sunday only" and "Saturday only" crowd ignore, causing them to keep the wrong day on most years. This also requires that if the VE is delayed (a "leap year") that the "leap day" be included in the same sabbath of Abib 1 - another double sabbath, patterned after the 49th and 50th day of the Feast of Weeks.

(Notes: * These seven weeks and a following additional, fiftieth day, making seven sabbaths, span three months and show that weekly sabbaths happen independently from the start of the months, though they are tied to the start of the year. * The day of the wave offering, being "after the Sabbath," must be the day after the sabbath of Abib 15 and not after the sepcial sabbath on the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on Abib 21 - otherwise, Abib 21, 14, 7, and the last day of the previous year would be weekly sabbaths; the problem / "confusion" being that Abib 14 is a work day for preparing the passover "between the evens," and can therefore never be a sabbath.)

As recorded in the New Testament, at the time approaching the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the day of preparation, the 14th, was the day before the sabbath, the passover, on the 15th. This suggests a confirmation of Abib 1 being the first weekly sabbath in a year, with the 8th, 15th, 22nd and so on being successive weekly sabbaths.

Mark 15:42* ¶ And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

The first day of the seventh month is declared to be a Sabbath in Numbers 29:1. If one asserts the second half of the year mimics the first half, the first day of the first month will be a Sabbath also.

The year is divided into seasons, ruled by the sun.

In Egypt before the exodus, God declared the month of Abib to be the first month (one wonders what it may have been before that):

As the year is divided into seasons and months, this month must have also been the first month of a season. As for exactly when the season starts, noone disagrees that seasons start with solar celestial events, equinoxes and solstices. The Spring season starts with the day that contains the vernal equinox, and so does the year with Abib 1.

The Sabbath day is marked by a sacrifice.

In Genesis 8, when Noah went out from the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, he offered a sacrifice. This suggests the date marked a Sabbath. Using the six-days-work-then-Sabbath rule, backing up eight weeks there would also have been a Sabbath on the first day of the first month.

It is of interest that at Zechariah 7, that men were sent into the house of God to pray on the fourth day of the ninth month. Would this have been done during a work day or on a Sabbath? Using the reckoning presented in this article, that day is a weekly Sabbath.

Zecharaiah 7:
1* ¶ And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
2* When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
3* And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
4* Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
5* Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

Laying out the calendar for the seasons

These two half years are now pinned in place; the extra five days fill in the holes. Three days are needed to pad the end of the sixth month until the next weekly Sabbath when the seventh month starts. The last two days go at the end of the year, the end of the twelfth month, to pad until the vernal equinox occurs when the next year starts [pg. 80].

Leap Years

[In this matter I disagree with Ron Bierer, who places leap days as February 29^th [pg. 52].]

There being no reason to conclude that the period of Earth's revolution around the Sun (approximately 365.25 days) is matched to be a whole number of Earth rotations, any calendar has to account for an extra day every so often to fill out the year. The year starts on the day containing the vernal equinox, the long-accepted start of Spring. By definition, the vernal equinox is the instant the Sun is over the equator in passing from south to north. The interval between sucessive vernal equinoxes is call the "tropical year"; this time varies because of orbital effects and precession.

The civil calendar (the one we're all used to) inserts the extra day as February 29^th every four years (with exceptions). But what about the Biblical calendar? I believe it must be based on observing the actual vernal equinox, not a computed average.

When following the patterns laid out, one will notice that the last day of a (normal) year will be a sixth day of the week; it being natural that the following day would be a Sabbath, as Abib 1, the first day of the first month, must be. Since we must wait for the day of the vernal equinox to start the year, with a leap year, the day that normally would have been Abib 1 is an extra day because the vernal equinox will not have yet occured, but the day is still a weekly Sabbath. When the vernal equinox occurs on the next day, another Sabbath occurs. These two back-to-back, mandatory Sabbaths form a double Sabbath after the pattern given for Pentecost. Again, there is no rule that a Sabbath must be only a day long. Fulfilling both the command for a weekly Sabbath and that the first day of the year (Abib 1) be a Sabbath, the double Sabbath to span leap years fits in perfectly.

Notice from the following table, taken from the United States Naval Observatory internet site, that there are 366 Biblical days from the vernal equinox of 1993 to that of 1994, constituting a leap year. Another leap year occurs for the 1997-1998 and 2001-2002 periods. The times are Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) for the Greenwich or the prime/0^th meridian passing through the naval observatory at Greenwich, England. Notice that after accounting for where you are located - your longitude (or 'time zone') - one sees that the year will start in the same 24-hour 'day', but the leap year may fall in differing periods.

Also notice that there would be no Biblical leap year at Greenwich, England for the year 2000, though the civil calendar has one. There is no reason to expect the Biblical and civil calendars to 'leap' in the same years. Indeed, even in different parts of the world the leap years according to the Biblical calendar will fall in different years; but regardless of location the years will always start in the same 24-hour period.

0215 'owr {ore}
a primitive root; TWOT - 52; v
AV - light 19, shine 14, enlighten 5, break of day 1, fire 1, give 1, glorious 1, kindle 1; 43
1) to be or become light, shine
   1a) (Qal)
      1a1) to become light (day)
      1a2) to shine (of the sun)
      1a3) to become bright
   1b) (Niphal)
      1b1) to be illuminated
      1b2) to become lighted up
   1c) (Hiphil)
      1c1) to give light, shine (of sun, moon, and stars)
      1c2) to illumine, light up, cause to shine, shine
      1c3) to kindle, light (candle, wood)
      1c4) lighten (of the eyes, his law, etc)
      1c5) to make shine (of the face)

0216 'owr {ore}
from 0215; TWOT - 52a; n f
AV - light(s) 114, day 2, bright 1, clear 1, flood 1, herbs 1, lightning 1, morning 1, sun 1; 123
1) light
   1a) light of day
   1b) light of heavenly luminaries (moon, sun, stars)
   1c) day-break, dawn, morning light
   1d) daylight
   1e) lightning
   1f) light of lamp
   1g) light of life
   1h) light of prosperity
   1i) light of instruction
   1j) light of face (fig.)
   1k) Jehovah as Israel's light

05399 nesheph {neh'-shef}
from 05398; TWOT - 1434a; n m
AV - twilight 6, night 3, dark 1, dawning of the morning, dawning of the day 1; 12
1) twilight
   1a) evening twilight
   1b) morning twilight

06256 `eth {ayth}
from 05703; TWOT - 1650b; n f
AV - time 257, season 16, when 7, always 4, eveningtide + 06153 2, misc 10; 296
1) time
   1a) time (of an event)
   1b) time (usual)
   1c) experiences, fortunes
   1d) occurrence, occasion

02320 vdx chodesh kho' -desh - from Online Bible
from 02318; TWOT-613b; n m
AV-month 254, new moon 20, monthly 1, another 1; 276
1) the new moon, month, monthly
   1a) the first day of the month [Erroneous translation]
   1b) the lunar month

03394 xry yareach yaw-ray' -akh - from Online Bible
from the same as 03391; TWOT-913a; n m
AV-moon 26; 26
1) moon

03974 ma'owr {maw-ore'} or ma'or {maw-ore'} also (in pl.) - from Online Bible
fem. m@'owrah {meh-o-raw'} or m@orah {meh-o-raw'}
from 0215; TWOT - 52f; n m
AV - light 18, bright 1; 19
1) light, luminary 

0935 bow' {bo}
a primitive root; TWOT - 212; v
AV - come 1435, bring 487, ... in 233, enter 125, go 123, carry 17, ...down 23, pass 13, ...out 12, misc 109; 2577
1) to go in, enter, come, go, come in
   1a) (Qal)
      1a1) to enter, come in
      1a2) to come
         1a2a) to come with
         1a2b) to come upon, fall or light upon, attack (enemy)
         1a2c) to come to pass
      1a3) to attain to
      1a4) to be enumerated
      1a5) to go
   1b) (Hiphil)
      1b1) to lead in
      1b2) to carry in
      1b3) to bring in, cause to come in, gather, cause to come, bring near, bring against, bring upon
      1b4) to bring to pass
   1c) (Hophal)
      1c1) to be brought, brought in
      1c2) to be introduced, be put

03996 mabow' {maw-bo'}
from 0935; TWOT - 212b; n m
AV - going down 6, entry 5, come 3, entrance 3, enter 2, in 2, west 1, westward 1, variant 1; 24
1) entrance, a coming in, entering
2) sunset
   2a) sunset
   2b) sunset, west

04150 mow`ed {mo-ade'} or mo`ed {mo-ade'} or (fem.) mow`adah
(2 Chr 8:13) {mo-aw-daw'}
from 03259; TWOT - 878b; n m
AV - congregation 150, feast 23, season 13, appointed 12, time 12, assembly 4, solemnity 4, solemn 2, days 1, sign 1, synagogues 1; 223
1) appointed place, appointed time, meeting
   1a) appointed time
      1a1) appointed time (general)
      1a2) sacred season, set feast, appointed season
   1b) appointed meeting
   1c) appointed place
   1d) appointed sign or signal
   1e) tent of meeting

04474 mimshal {mim-shawl'}
from 04910; TWOT - 1259b; n m
AV - dominion 2, ruled 1; 3
1) dominion, ruler
   1a) dominion
   1b) ruler

04475 memshalah {mem-shaw-law'}
from 04474; TWOT - 1259c; n f
AV - dominion 10, rule 4, dominion + 03027 1, government 1, power 1; 17
1) rule, dominion, realm
   1a) rule, dominion, realm, domain
   1b) rule
   1c) rule, dominion (of God)

04910 mashal {maw-shal'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 1259; v
AV - rule 38, ruler 19, reign 8, dominion 7, governor 4, ruled over 2, power 2, indeed 1; 81
1) to rule, have dominion, reign
   1a) (Qal) to rule, have dominion
   1b) (Hiphil)
      1b1) to cause to rule
      1b2) to exercise dominion

05399 nesheph {neh'-shef}
from 05398; TWOT - 1434a; n m
AV - twilight 6, night 3, dark 1, dawning of the morning, dawning of the day 1; 12
1) twilight
   1a) evening twilight
   1b) morning twilight

06150 bre `arab aw-rab' - from Online Bible
a primitive root [identical with 06148 through the idea of covering with a texture]; TWOT-1689; v
AV-evening 2, darkened 1; 3
1) to become evening, grow dark
   1a) (Qal) to become evening, grow dark
   1b) (Hiphil) to spend the evening, do at evening

06153 bre `ereb eh' -reb - from Online Bible
from 06150; TWOT-1689a; n m
AV-even 72, evening 47, night 4, mingled 2, people 2, eventide 2, eveningtide+06256 2, Arabia 1, days 1, even+0996 1 evening+03117 1, evening+06256 1, eventide+06256 1; 137
1) evening, night, sunset
   1a) evening, sunset
   1b) night

06213 `asah {aw-saw'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 1708,1709; v
AV - do 1333, make 653, wrought 52, deal 52, commit 49, offer 49, execute 48, keep 48, shew 43, prepare 37, work 29, do so 21, perform 18, get 14, dress 13, maker 13, maintain 7, misc 154; 2633
1) to do, fashion, accomplish, make
   1a) (Qal)
      1a1) to do, work, make, produce
         1a1a) to do
         1a1b) to work
         1a1c) to deal (with)
         1a1d) to act, act with effect, effect
      1a2) to make
         1a2a) to make
         1a2b) to produce
         1a2c) to prepare
         1a2d) to make (an offering)
         1a2e) to attend to, put in order
         1a2f) to observe, celebrate
         1a2g) to acquire (property)
         1a2h) to appoint, ordain, institute
         1a2i) to bring about
         1a2j) to use
         1a2k) to spend, pass
   1b) (Niphal)
      1b1) to be done
      1b2) to be made
      1b3) to be produced
      1b4) to be offered
      1b5) to be observed
      1b6) to be used
   1c) (Pual) to be made
2) (Piel) to press, squeeze

06672 tsohar {tso'-har}
from 06671; TWOT - 1883a,1883b
AV - noon 11, noonday 9, day 1, midday 1, noontide + 06256 1, window 1; 24
n m
1) noon, midday
   1a) noon (as specific time of day)
   1b) noon (in simile as bright of happiness, blessing) n f
2) roof
   2a) meaning dubious

06751 llu tsalal tsaw-lal' - from Online Bible

a primitive root [identical with 06749 through the idea of hovering over (compare 06754)]; TWOT-1921; v
AV-began to be dark 1, shadowing 1; 2
1) to be or become or grow dark
   1a) (Qal) to become or grow dark
   1b) (Hiphil) to shadow

08138 hnv shanah shaw-naw' - from Online Bible
a primitive root; TWOT-2421; v
AV-change 7, second time 3, again 3, diverse 2, alter 1, disguise 1, doubled 1, pervert 1, preferred 1, repeateth 1, misc 1; 22
1) to repeat, do again, change, alter
   1a) (Qal) to change
   1b) (Niphal) to be repeated
   1c) (Piel) to change, alter
   1d) (Hithpael) to disguise oneself

From older version Strong's:

Strong's #08138: to fold, to duplicate, to transmute, do (speak, strike) again, alter, double, (be given to) change, disguise, (be) diverse, pervert, prefer, repeat, return, do the second time, a year, a revolution of time, whole year, year old, year long.

Gesenius: to repeat, to do the second time, to be other, diverse from anything, to be changed, those who change opinion, changeable, unfaithful subjects, rebels; who sometimes take one side, sometimes another; to transfer to another place, to deform, to dissimulate, to disfigure, to change oneself, to vary

08141 hnv shaneh (in pl. only), shaw-neh' or (fem.) hnv shanah shaw-naw' - from Online Bible
from 08138; TWOT-2419a; n f
AV-year 797, not translated 55, yearly 3, yearly+08141 2, year+01121 1, live+02416 1, old+02416 +03117 1, misc 4; 875
1) year
   1a) as division of time
   1b) as measure of time
   1c) as indication of age
   1d) a lifetime (of years of life)

From older version Strong's:

Strong's #08141: - years (fem)

Gesenius: An iteration, a circle, sometimes two years of time

07673 tbv shabath shaw-bath'
a primitive root; TWOT-2323, 2323c; v
AV-cease 47, rest 11, away 3, fail 2, celebrate 1, misc 7; 71
1) to cease, desist, rest
   1a) (Qal)
      1a1) to cease
      1a2) to rest, desist (from labour)
   1b) (Niphal) to cease
   1c) (Hiphil)
      1c1) to cause to cease, put an end to
      1c2) to exterminate, destroy
      1c3) to cause to desist from
      1c4) to remove
      1c5) to cause to fail
2) (Qal) to keep or observe the sabbath

07676 tbv shabbath shab-bawth'
intensive from 07673, Greek 4521 sabbaton; TWOT-2323b; n f/m
AV-sabbath 107, another 1; 108
1) Sabbath
   1a) sabbath
   1b) day of atonement
   1c) sabbath year
   1d) week
   1e) produce (in sabbath year)

Misc.

Isaiah 49:12 "Sinim" = Australia

Ninth month is in winter:
Jeremiah 36:22* Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.