When Does the Biblical Year Really Begin?

Shalom friends,

Today marks something significant in the biblical calendar. Join us as we explore the question of "When does the Biblical year actually start?"

This question is not as straightforward as you might think, because there are many views among both Jewish and Christian scholars and theologians, while the Bible itself presents more than one way of reckoning the year.

To start off, the primary biblical foundation for determining the New Year appears in Exodus 12:2, where God tells Moses and Aaron in Egypt:

This comes just before the first Passover and the Exodus from Egypt. The month being referenced later came to be known as Nisan. It falls in the spring, typically around March or April in the modern Gregorian calendar. The Hebrew calendar follows a luni-solar cycle, combining lunar months with the solar year. Most years in the Hebrew calendar have 12 months with 353, 354, or 355 days, while leap years contain an extra month, the month of Adar, and can last 383, 384, or 385 days.

In the current Gregorian calendar year of 2026, Nisan 1 begins at sunset on the evening of March 18th and continues until sunset the following day, March 19th.

This is why the Jewish holidays, including Passover and Sukkot, fall on different days on the Gregorian calendar, which can be confusing for those who aren’t familiar with the Jewish calendar.

Because of this verse, many conclude that the Biblical New Year begins in the spring, on the first day of Nisan, (this year on March 19, 2026). The month of Nisan is very important because, on the 14th of Nisan, the Passover (Pesach) is observed, commemorating Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt.

Candidates for the Jewish New Year

Although this verse marks the beginning of the Hebrew calendar year, there are other ways of reckoning a year that matter in Jewish philosophy. It also matters that although this day is the first day of the year, there is no commandment to celebrate it, as there is a commandment to celebrate other mo’adim (appointed times). This gives Jewish people latitude to mark other days as the first day of the new year.

One of the other candidates is Rosh Hashanah, which is known as the “Feast of Trumpets”. In Leviticus 23:23-25, God commands us to celebrate the first day of the seventh month of Tishri. Over the centuries, this was enhanced to be called in Jewish tradition Rosh Hashanah (Head of the Year).

Already in the Second Century AD, when the Mishnah was being compiled, Jewish tradition had incorporated at least these two different new year’s days, but in later centuries, Rosh Hashanah became more widely accepted because it was tied to Rabbinic teachings. It also coincided with the time of agricultural harvest, just before the rainy season in Israel usually begins.

With time, other things cemented this tradition, including financial and taxation systems, academic and social calendars, etc. There were also theological reasons for it, as Jewish tradition increasingly emphasized judgment and God’s role as King of the universe. Also, the Gregorian calendar became normative in Western countries and later all over the world.

Diaspora Communities Adopt Different Traditions

This is a good place to mention that Jewish communities living in the Diaspora outside the land of Israel, following the Babylonian Exile and following the expulsion by the Romans, were heavily influenced by their host cultures. Most ancient Near East cultures used more than one calendar to keep track of agricultural cycles, the reign of the current king, and other important issues. Sometimes, even the vocabulary changed. For instance, both Nisan and Tishri are names that the Jewish people borrowed from the Babylonians while in exile there.

There is a school of thought that says that if God commanded that the first day of the New Year would be on Nisan 1st, then that’s far more important than harvest times or any other considerations that arose centuries later. But as we have seen, in Rabbinic Judaism, there are many discussions that begin with what God says, but they don’t always end with that.

What is Shabbat HaChodesh?

Shabbat HaChodesh is the Sabbath day that comes just before the first day of Nisan (Rosh Chodesh), marking the beginning of the month of Passover. This year, that day is March 19! When this happens, there is an additional Torah portion read, Exodus 12:1-20.

This passage also includes instructions regarding the establishment of the Hebrew calendar, the first Mitzvah given to the Jewish people and the laws about the Passover offering.

The purpose of all this is to spiritually prepare the community to celebrate the festival of Passover. It reminds everyone about the foundations of Jewish national identity and the need to renew it every year, and once again, it also brings attention to the first, foundational mitzvah of Judaism, the establishment of the Jewish calendar.

It is important for Christian supporters of Israel and the Jewish people to be familiar with these cultural and liturgical traditions to avoid misunderstandings and prejudice.

We hope that you enjoyed this teaching about one aspect of Jewish tradition, and if you want to learn more, we encourage you to read the weekly Torah portion every Shabbat, so that you’ll know what your Jewish neighbors are thinking about from week to week.


Shabbat Shalom!

Your friends at Vision for Israel