Biblical “New Year’s Day”

March 18, Wednesday at sunset through March 19, Thursday at sunset [Nisan (Abib) 1] is Biblical “New Year’s Day” specified in Exodus 12:2, as the first day of the first month of the year to count the days to Passover.  (Traditional Judaism has this in the midyear point of their present year of 5784.)  It is the 14-day countdown to Passover from New Moon to Full Moon. Oddly, little is done to celebrate it any more than the monthly celebration of “Rosh Chodesh Nisan” (Head [First] of New Nisan).  It could be called Rosh HaShanah Torah [“Head of the Year of the Torah (Law of Moses)”].

The Seven Annual Jewish Holydays of Leviticus 23 –

1) The Passover – The Cross of Christ

April 1, Wednesday at sunset through April 2, Thursday at sunset is Passover’s First Day [Nisan (aka Abib) 15, with Passover Week Nisan 15-22 = April 1-9] (Leviticus 23:4-5), fulfilled prophetically in the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. 

2) Unleavened Bread -The Grave of Christ

April 2, Tuesday at sunset through April 3, Wednesday at sunset is Unleavened Bread [Nisan (aka Abib) 16] and on until April 8 (Leviticus 23:6-8), fulfilled prophetically by Jesus Christ in His burial.   

3) Day of First-Fruits – Resurrection Sunday

April 4 at sunset on Saturday through April 5 at sunset on Sunday the first day of the week is Day of First-fruits [this year Nisan (aka Abib)] (Leviticus 23:9-14, where verse 11 refers to the normal Weekly Sabbath that begins sunset on Friday, April 3, as it also does in Leviticus 23:15), This Day of First-fruits was fulfilled prophetically by Jesus Christ in His resurrection on the First Day of the Week, thus Palm Sunday of the Triumphal Entry would be on March 29 and Good Friday would then be on April 3 and Maundy Thursday would then be either on April 2, traditionally, or the first evening of Passover on April 1, to be more specific biblically.  Interestingly, this year April 5 will be celebrated, as Easter, in the Western Church, while in the Easter Orthodox Church Easter will be celebrated April 12, as “Pascha.”  Traditional Judaism will celebrate their Jewish First-fruits beginning at sunset on April 14, through sunset of Thursday, April 16, (with their 8th day of Passover beginning April 27 at sunset through April 28 at sunset).

4) The Holyday of Weeks, i.e., Pentecost – The Birthday of the Church

May 23 at sunset on Saturday through May 24 at sunset on Sunday the first day of the week [Sivan 10] is The Holyday of Weeks, i.e., Pentecost and“Shav‘ot” (Leviticus 23:15-22), fulfilled prophetically with the Church began in Acts 2.  Sunday of May 19 will be celebrated by the Western Church, as Pentecost Sunday.  However, the Sunday of June 23 will be celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church, as their Pentecost Sunday.  Traditional Judaism will celebrate their Jewish Pentecost beginning at sunset on Tuesday, June 11, through sunset of Thursday, June 13. 

5) The Holyday of Trumpets – The Call of Israel to the Land

September 11, Friday at sunset through September 12, Saturday at sunset [Tishrei 1] is The Holyday of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25), that will be fulfilled prophetically with the ingathering of Israelis at the beginning of the Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation.  [The Jewish Tradition is to begin their civil year on the date and call it Rosh HaShanah for the beginning of their year of 5786.]

6) Day of Atonement “Yom Kippur” – The Second Coming of Christ

September 20, Sunday at sunset through September 21, Monday at sunset [Tishrei 10] is Day of Atonement “Yom Kippur” (Leviticus 23:26-32), that will be fulfilled prophetically during the future Second Coming of Christ described in Revelation 19:11-21.  On the cross He atoned for man’s sin (v.13).  He will then complete His work about man’s sins by “setting the record straight” at Armageddon.

7) The Holyday of Tabernacles or Booths – The Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth

September 25, Friday at sunset through October 3, Saturday at sunset [Tishrei 15-21] is The Holyday of Tabernacles or Booths (or Ingathering) (Leviticus 23:33-44), that will be fulfilled prophetically at the Second Coming of Christ in the Millennial Messianic Kingdom.

The End of the Year

December 3, Friday at sunset through December 12, Saturday at sunset [Kislev 25 through Tevet 2] is Hanukkah which is an intertestamental event that is specifically mentioned in John 10:22.

Here are the Details:

The Passover is on the 15th of Nisan (Abib) through the 22nd and is called “Pesach” in Hebrew and “Pascha” in Aramaic and Greek.  It is described in Leviticus 23:4-5, “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.  ‘On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover.’” (Also, see further details in Exodus 12:1-20; 23:14-19; 34:18-26; Matthew 26:17-30 and Luke 22:13-20.) 

Though with the focus on the first day of Passover, the 7-day Passover festival continues to sunset on Nisan 21 for Reform and progressive Jews living inside Israel who follow the Biblical text. For Orthodox, Hasidic, and generally Jews outside Israel the festival lasts 8 days ending at sunset on Nisan 22.

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of Passover was prophetically fulfilled in the crucifixion and death of Yeshua HaMashiach (Hebrew for Jesus Christ) on the Cross, according to 1 Cor. 5:6-8, “Clean out the old yeast, in order that you might be a new lump, accordingly as you are yeast-free; for Christ, our Passover, was slain for us.  So then let us keep the festival not with the old yeast nor with the yeast of evil and wickedness but with the yeast-free things of sincerity and truth.”

Unleavened Bread is 15th of Nisan (aka Abib) and is called “Matzah” in Hebrew, the day following Passover.  It is described in Leviticus 23:6-8, “6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.  7On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.  8But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.”   This is explained historically in Exodus 12:14-20, “15'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses…. 16'On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you…. 20'You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.” 

The messianic significance of Holyday of Unleavened Bread was prophetically fulfilled by Yeshua HaMashiach in His burial in the borrowed tomb for three days and nights, according to 1 Corinthians 5:6-8.  Yeshua is pictured, as the Yachatz (or Afikoman) in the Passover Seder.  The Afikoman is “the One of the Three” hidden in the box or bag. 

The Day of First-Fruits begins at sunset of the following weekly Sabbath to sunset of Yom Rishon [Sunday], the first day of the week and is called “Yom HaBikkurim” in Hebrew.  Thus, its calendar-date varies from year to year. It is described in Leviticus 23:9-14, “9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,  10‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.  12And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD.  13Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.  14You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”  Here in verse 11 Moses was referring to the normal, weekly Sabbath, as did in Leviticus 23:15 counting the weeks to Pentecost: “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.”  Hence, both the Day of First-Fruits and Pentecost each year would both be on the first day of the week, Sunday (“first day of the week.”)  This festival is the reason for Sunday-observance in Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 and the basis of Revelation 1:10.   

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of First-Fruits was prophetically fulfilled by Yeshua HaMashiach in His resurrection on the first day of the week, according to 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead—He became the first-fruits of the ones having fallen asleep.  For, since death came through a man, even the resurrection of the dead came through a man. For just as all men die in Adam, thus even all men will be made alive in Christ.  But each one in his own order:  first-fruits Christ, then the ones of Christ at His return.”  Paul explained the Holy Spirit’s part in Yeshua’s resurrection and ours in Romans 8:11, “but if the Spirit of the One raising Jesus out of the dead dwell in you, the one raising Christ out of the dead will make alive even your moral bodies because of his indwelling Spirit in you.” Then he explained the Spirit’s part in us, as His “first-fruits” in Romans 8:23, “and not only this but also they themselves having the first-fruits of the Spirit and we ourselves groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body.”. 

Notably, the Karaite Jewish communities and some Messianic congregations do celebrate First-Fruits on the “First Day of the Week” Yom Rishon [Sunday] during Passover, i.e. the Yom Rishon [Sunday] during the week-long celebration of Passover.  However, Rabbinic Judaism and many in Messianic Judaism annually celebrate First-Fruits on the 16th of Nisan (Abib), the first day of Passover. 

So then, “Palm Sunday” of the Triumphal Entry would be on the Sunday before First-fruits and Good Friday would then be on the Friday before and Maundy Thursday would then be on the first evening of Passover. 

The Eastern Orthodox Church connects Easter, which they call “Pascha” (Greek for Passover) to Passover and First-Fruits and celebrates Orthodox Easter on the Sunday after the Saturday after Passover, in what could be called “Passover Sunday” or “Paschal Sunday.” 

The Holyday of Weeks is exactly seven weeks after First-Fruits at the close of the seventh subsequent Sabbath at sunset through Yom Rishon [Sunday] (the first day of the week) at sunset The Hebrew word for “weeks” is “Shavu’ot,” so it is a “Week of Weeks.”  It is described in Leviticus 23:15-21, “15And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.  16Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD.  17You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the first-fruits to the LORD.  …  20The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first-fruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.  21 'And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”   “Week of Weeks” means seven times seven days, specifically 49 days, where the next day would be 50 days, hence the Greek word for “50,” “Pentecost,” is used in Acts 2:1, “And with the arrival of the day of Pentecost, they all were of like-feeling in the same place.”  So, First-Fruits and Pentecost are always on Yom Rishon [Sunday] (“the first day of the week”). Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 reflect this idea of this Sunday-observance which is the basis of Revelation 1:10. For more details see Exodus 34:22 and Numbers 28:26-31 and Deuteronomy 16:9, 10. 

The Messianic significance of the Holyday of Weeks was prophetically fulfilled by the Age of Israel being brought to a temporal close, where the Church began in Acts 2 at Pentecost Sunday, as the Birthday of the Church, with a special working of the Holy Spirit in the Church. 

Since the Holyday of Weeks is 50 days [7 weeks plus 1 inclusive day] after First-Fruits on a Sunday, it would end up being the 7th Sunday after Passover begins. Interestingly, this is the timing of the celebration of the Holyday of Weeks by the Karaite Jewish community and some Messianic congregations.

On the other hand, Rabbinic Judaism and most of Messianic Judaism celebrate their Pentecost (their Shavu’ot) always on Sivan 6, that is, 50 days after the Holyday of First-Fruits (Bikkurim) always on Nisan 16.

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates their Orthodox Pentecost on the 7th Sunday after their “Pascha” [Easter], and the Western (Roman Catholic) Church celebrates their Pentecost on the 7th Sunday after Easter.

The Holyday of Trumpets is on the 1st of Tishrei (the 7th month) and is called “Yom HaTeruah” in Hebrew meaning a “day of blowing of a ram’s horn.”  It is described in Leviticus 23:23-25, “23Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.  25You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.”’”   This holyday is the first day of the seventh month, Tishrei, however Jewish tradition has taken this, as New Year’s Day, called “Rosh HaShannah” (“head of the year”) and celebrates for two days, 1st and 2nd of Tishrei.  It is mentioned in Nehemiah 8:2, 9-12, where Israel is back in their land and begins studying and heeding the Bible under Ezra.

The Messianic significance of The Holyday of Trumpets is that this prophetically signifies the trumpet call of the future Harpage (Rapture).  This event begins “HaYom Yahweh” – “The Day of LORD.”  In fact, all three of the fall Holydays, this and the next two, encompass “HaYom Yahweh” – “The Day of the LORD” in their prophetic fulfillment.

This trumpet call will signal a special ingathering of Israelis in a Jewish revival of Yeshua being their Mashiach at the beginning of the Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation in Revelation 6-19.  The prophecy in Zechariah 12:1-12 describes this very Seven-Year period of time: Zechariah 12:6-11 –  6 "In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place -- Jerusalem.  7 " The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah.  8 "In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them.  9 "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.  10 " And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.  11 "In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”   (This is why the Harpage (Rapture) will initiate the Tribulation, however the imminency requires that it may occur at any time and not just on the specific Holyday of Trumpets during the year that it occurs.)

The Day of Atonement is the 10th of Tishrei and is called “Yom Kippur” in Hebrew (“Yom HaKippurim” that means, “Day of the Coverings” literally).   It is described in Leviticus 23:26-32, “26And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:  ‘27Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.  28And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God.  29For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people.  30And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people.  31You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.  32It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.’” It is also described further in Leviticus 16:1-34 and Numbers 29:7-11.

The Messianic significance of The Day of Atonement will prophetically be fulfilled during the future Second Coming of Christ, as He comes dressed in a robe dipped in blood to the Battle of Armageddon, as prophesied in Revelation 19:11-21.  This understanding is particularly detailed out in Hebrews 9:24-28, “26He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  27And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

In regards to the Battle of Armageddon and the Millennial Kingdom of the Earth, Jesus called it The Regeneration in Matthew 19:28, “Truly I say to you that you who follow Me, in The Regeneration when the Son of man might sit upon the throne of his glory, you yourselves also will sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Yeshua will bring the ultimate fulfillment of God’s Plan of Atonement that began on the Cross, thus fulfilling Romans 11:26, “And thus all Israel will be saved; accordingly as it stands written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.’” This is all prophesied in Zechariah 13:1-14:15.

On the Cross with the Passover, Jesus propitiated and atoned for the personal sins of the whole of humanity.  At the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus will finish His Atoning Work by Setting the Record Straight about Sin and its Consequences in the world throughout all of human history.   In the second half of the 7-year Tribulation, the worldwide sin of humanity will reach its height…its depth…as no other time in history, and the wrath of God’s Judgment, as the first part of The Day of Yahweh, will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon, when Jesus will single-handedly fight and defeat all of the unbelieving and ungodly descendants of sinful humanity through the ages, depicted in Babel on through Babylon the Harlot.

The Holydays of Tabernacles (or Booths or Ingathering) is on the 15th through the 21st of Tishrei and is called “Sukkot” in Hebrew.  It is described in Leviticus 23:33, 39-44, “33Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 34‘Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the LORD. 35On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it… 39Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. 40And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days… 42You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”’”  It is described in Neh. 8; Zech. 14:1-19. 

The Messianic significance of The Holydays of Tabernacles will prophetically be fulfilled at the Second Coming of Yeshua, at the close of the future Jewish Seven-Year Tribulation, as described in Rev.19:11-21, when He comes and “tabernacles” among men for 1,000 years in His Messianic Millennial Kingdom in Zechariah 14:16-18, “16And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. 17And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.  18If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”  This will fulfill John 1:14 again, “14And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the one-of-a-kind from the Father, full of grace and truth.”   Yeshua taught during this Holyday in John 7 of its future spirituality in verses37-39, “37On the last day, that great day of the feast [of Tabernacles], Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’  39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” [in His resurrection].  Joel had prophesied about this Millennial Kingdom in Joel 2:27-32, “27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.  28And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.  29And also on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.  30And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.  32And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”

In addition to these major Seven Annual Jewish Holydays of Leviticus 23, the three following are notable and somewhat popular:

Biblical “New Year’s Day” is “The Mishkan ’Ohel Mo‘ed Anniversary” (The Anniversary of the Tabernacle) - The on March 29 at sunset and specifically is the 1st of Nisan (aka Abib), “the first month of the year”, as explained in Exodus 12:2, hence New Year’s Day. (This date is always the first full day after the first New Moon after the first day of Spring, called “The Paschal Moon.”)  It is the 14-day “countdown” to Passover from New Moon to Full Moon.)  This was the date of the beginning of the Tabernacle in Exodus 40:2ff. 

In the future Millennial Messianic Kingdom there will be four feasts celebrated, as prophesied in Ezekiel 45:18-25, where the first one in v. 18-19 will be “In the first day of the first month” involving a sacrifice of a young bull at the Temple each year. It could technically be called Rosh HaShannah Torah [“Head of the Year of the Torah (Law of Moses)”].

This is not to be confused with the traditional date of Rosh HaShannah, popularly called the Jewish New Year’s Day (of the civil calendar). This date for Rosh HaShannah is really the first day of the Seventh Month in the Bible and is called The Holyday of Trumpets.  Oddly, little attention is given to this day each year by most Jews.

Purim is March 13-14, as Adar 14-15 and commemorates the story of Esther with God’s Providence incognito.  In the canonical text there is no reference to “God” nor “LORD/Yahweh” nor “prayer.” The Jews in Persia were distant from God in their religion of “Judaism” (somewhat, as Judaism is today), though they were unknowingly protected by Him.  Interestingly, the Hebrew verb-form for Judaism is used Esther 8:17, “became Jews” means “were judaized”. The most interesting thing to note in Esther is how it is somewhat a picture of Judaism in a preview of it during the future Church Age which we are presently in.

  The description of the Jews appears to foreshadow what Paul describes in 2 Cor. 3:14-15: “But until this day, when (any book of) Moses is read, a veil is laid on their hearts; but, whenever one might turn to Christ, the veil is taken away.” 

Esther also pictures post-exilic Israel being protected and preserved until the future 7-year Tribulation.  If God had not worked providentially here and through the centuries this same way, then without a present and future Israel the literal prophecies of Rev. 6-19 could not be fulfilled, and John would be considered a false prophet.

The details of this commemoration are found in Esther 9:23-28, “23…the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them,  24because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them…  26So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur.…27that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year… 28that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.” Purim offers a picture of Antisemitism that has laid a dark shadow over the past 25 centuries of world history, especially on into the Age of the Church from Acts 2 through Revelation 3. 

Hanukkah on Kislev 25 through Tevet 2 is an intertestamental event in 1 Maccabees 4:36-39, 54-56; 5:1; 2 Maccabees 10:1-8, that was prophesied in Daniel 8:13; 9:27; 11:21 and mentioned in John 10:22, “And it was the holiday of the Rededication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.”  It is also interesting to note that the earliest historical reference to Hanukkah in any and all ancient literature is in the New Testament here in the Gospel of John (perhaps written, as early as 40 AD). Other descriptions of Hanukkah are all found later in the writings of Josephus after 70 AD and in the Talmud written after 200 AD, but John 10:22 is the earliest.