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The Omer Count and God's

Weekly Cycle

John D. Keyser

The Old Testament Feast of Weeks or Shavuot is more commonly known as "Pentecost" --
a Greek word from the New Testament which means "fiftieth." This term "fiftieth," or Pentecost,
refers to the counting of days from a specific point in time to the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. This
counting of days is called, by the Jews, the omer count, and links the day of Pentecost to the Passo-
ver season. In fact, Pentecost is considered a continuum of the Passover season.

To find where Pentecost appears on the calendar, the English translators of the Old Testa-
ment outline a method of counting which is, to say the least, a little unclear. For example, it says in
Leviticus 23:15 to count from the "morrow after the sabbath," speaking of a Sabbath within the
Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15 to Nisan 22). However, it doesn't clearly indicate WHICH
sabbath it's talking about. As a result of this uncertainty, there has been a controversy among schol-
ars and religious groups as to which "day after the sabbath" to begin the omer count from. This
controversy has raged for millennia! The various theories that have been promulgated include
counting from the day after the first day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 16), counting from the day af-
ter the last high Sabbath of that festival (both of which are lunar related), to counting from the re-
spective Sundays following each of the above!

A careful study of all the options clearly shows that the tradition of counting the omer from
the second day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 16) is the correct one. Both Josephus and Philo sup-
port this, as do many others --

Instructions for this festival are found at Leviticus 23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31 and
Deuteronomy 16:9-12. It was meant to be celebrated on the 50th day (Pentecost means
"Fiftieth [day] from NISAN 16, the day that the barley sheaf was offered (Leviticus
23:15, 16). In the Jewish calendar it falls on SIVAN 6. It was after the barley harvest and
the beginning of the harvest of wheat, which ripened later than the barley. -- Exodus 9:31,
32. (Insight On the Scriptures, p. 598. Article, "Pentecost.").

Further, we read in The Temple: Its Ministry and Services As They Were At the Time of
Christ:

Full seven weeks after the Paschal [Passover] day, counting from the presentation of the
omer on the 16th of Nisan, or exactly on the fiftieth day, was the Feast of Weeks, or Pen
tecost, 'a holy convocation,' in which 'no servile work' was to be done, when 'all males'
were to 'appear before Jehovah' in His sanctuary, and the appointed sacrifices and offer
ings to be brought. -- Alfred Edersheim. Pp. 261-262.

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