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WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?: M. M. NINAN<br />
Note that the number of days between Nissan and Tishri is always the<br />
same. Because of this, the time from the first major festival (Passover<br />
in Nissan) to the last major festival (Sukkot in Tishri) is always the<br />
same.<br />
The northern Kingdom of Israel counted years using the ecclesiastical<br />
new year starting on 1 Aviv (Nisan), while the southern Kingdom of<br />
Judah counted years using the civil new year starting on 1 Tishrei. By<br />
the time of <strong>Jesus</strong>, the Kingdom of Israel <strong>was</strong> gone and hence the only<br />
calendar used by the temple <strong>was</strong> the Civil Calendar starting 1 Tishrei.<br />
It started with the ending of the sins of the last year at the Day of<br />
Atonement.<br />
"New Year" is 1 Tishrei, which actually begins in the seventh month of<br />
the ecclesiastical year. On that day the formal New Year festival, Rosh<br />
Hashanah ("Head of the Year") is observed. (see Ezekiel 40:1, which<br />
uses the phrase "beginning of the year".) This is the civil new year, and<br />
the date on which the year number advances.<br />
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