Troy (@ CreationCalendar.com) always said if anyone could find a Scripture verse where a Shabbath did not land on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, or 29 he would stop teaching Lunar Shabbawth Theory. Well according to the following verses of Scripture there was a Shabbawth on the 23rd of the second month of the year.
{Shemoth [Exodus] 16:1}
And they set out from Ayleem, and all the Congregation of the children of Yishra-Ail came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Ayleem and Seenahee, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their going out of the land of Mitsrahyim .
{Shemoth [Exodus] 16:2-13}
Exo 16:2 And all the congregation of the children of Yishra-Ail grumbled against Moshay and Aharone in the wilderness.
Exo 16:3 And the children of Yishra-Ail said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of יהוה in the land of Mitsrahyim , when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to satisfaction! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to put all this Assembly to death with hunger.”
Exo 16:4 And יהוה said to Moshay, “See, I am raining bread from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a day’ portion every day, in order to try them, whether they walk in My Torah or not.
Exo 16:5 “And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
Exo 16:6 And Moshay and Aharone said to all the children of Yishra-Ail, “At evening you shall know that יהוה has brought you out of the land of Mitsrahyim.
Exo 16:7 “And in the morning you shall see the esteem of יהוה, for He hears your grumblings against יהוה. And what are we, that you grumble against us?”
Exo 16:8 And Moshay said, “In that יהוה gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfaction, for יהוה hears your grumblings which you make against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against יהוה.”
Exo 16:9 And Moshay said to Aharone, “Say to all the Congregation of the children of Yishra-Ail, ‘Come near before יהוה, for He has heard your grumblings.’ ”
Exo 16:10 And it came to be, as Aharone spoke to all the Congregation of the children of Yishra-Ail, that they looked toward the wilderness and see, the esteem of יהוה appeared in the cloud.
Exo 16:11 And יהוה spoke to Moshay, saying,
Exo 16:12 “I have heard the grumblings of the children of Yishra-Ail. Speak to them, saying, ‘Between the evenings you are to eat meat, and in the morning you are to be satisfied with bread. And you shall know that I am יהוה your Ailoheem.’ ”
Exo 16:13 And it came to be that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.
They (Yishra-Ail) arrived at “the Wilderness of Sin” on the 15th DAY (which Troy claims to be the daylight portion of 24 hrs). Then the next morning (which according to Troy' reckoning would be the sixteenth DAY of the month is when the manna would start to appear in the morning [sun-up]). Troy says a day starts at sun rise and manna was to appear six days and the next day (the seventh Day) was to be the Shabbawth. Well count 7 days starting the morning after the fifteenth (i.e. - the sixteenth) and you get the 23rd, not the 22nd day of the month. He can not say that the count was to start on the fifteenth because Yahuwah on the 15th day said that the manna was not to fall until the morning.
But Troy always said that every thing should be proven by the testimony of two witnesses, so here is another Scripture that shows that a Shabbawth did not fall on either the 8th, 15th, 22nd, or the 29.
{Bemidbar [Numbers] 10:11}
And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.
{Bemidbar [Numbers] 10:11}
And they departed from the mount of Yahuwah three days' journey: and the Ark of the Covenant of Yahuwah went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them.
These Scripture verses show that the Shabbawth would have landed on the 26th or 27th, but not the 29thDAY of the month. This is a second witness that not all RESTS took place on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, or 29th whereby destroying the Lunar Shabbawth Theory.
I will admit that many of the Scriptures seem to support such a THEORY, but in the presence of these two Scriptures the Lunar Shabbawth THEORY can not stand, awmane(?). It is also a given if these Shabbawths did not fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, or 29th then the ones which came before and the ones following did not either.
P.S. - When a man or woman are honestly mistaken and hears the truth, they will either stop being mistaken or cease to be honest.
will brinson: ferguson
The following was written by, Eliyahu @
http://www.eliyah.com/lunarsabbath.html Historical Data
Historical information can be helpful if we are trying to discern the truth of something that doesn't seem very clear to us from Scripture. Although I believe the scriptures speak clearly about the seventh day Shabbawth always occurring every seventh day, referencing historical works may be helpful for some who are not yet convinced.
Lunar Shabbawth keepers love to quote from a few Encyclopedic references which say that the week was originally tied to the lunar cycle. If we rely on such Encyclopedias to tell us about historical data, we might indeed wonder if the moon had something to do with setting the weeks.
But the truth is, most of those references are very old and are relying theories that have their basis in the idea that the bible was not authored and inspired by Yahuwah.
Rather, such articles are usually written by people who have the same historical data we do, but they generally don't even believe in the Scriptures, and view Yahuwah to be just another one of those "tribal war ailoheem." Because they don't believe in the Scriptures, they make statements like the Shabbawth was originally tied to the moon. This is due to an assumption that the children of Yishra-Ail picked up Shabbawth keeping from being in Babylon, or some other pagan culture that may have used the moon in setting monthly observances.
When researching this topic historically, we don't need to go any further in history than the time period that Yahu-Shuah The Anointed One was born into. We do know that He kept the Shabbawth day and we know that He kept it on the same day as the rest of the Yahu-Deem[Jews] in His day. For example:
Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Shabbawth day, and stood up to read.
The first century disciples also did the same:
Acts 17:2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Shabbawths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
So, for me the question is whether or not there are any first century eyewitnesses that may enlighten us as to whether the Yahu-Deem of that time kept the Shabbawth by the moon, or by a recurring seven day week.
Can we find a clear answer to this question? Absolutely.
To find a clear answer to this question, we will examine the Talmud, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus and various Roman Historians and writers of that period.
1. The Talmud
First of all, please understand that I do not believe in following the Talmud or looking at it as being authoritative for doctrine
I'm not going to be using it for the purposes of telling me how or when to keep the Shabbawth, except that I know the Anointed One was in agreement with the weekly Shabbawth of 1st century Yahu-Daism [Judaism]. Therefore, we will only use the Talmud to help us understand what views of 1st and 2nd century Yahu-Daism actually were.
The Talmud is a pretty good source because although it was compiled about 130 years after the destruction of the temple and Yerushalayim, parts of it act as a historical reference for things that were going on when the temple was still standing.
The Talmud is composed of three parts. There is the Mishnah, which is the central focal point of the whole Talmud. There is the Gemara, which is a commentary on the Mishnah. Then there is Rashi's commentary on both.
The Mishnah simply records the beliefs of 1st century Yahu-Daism. It speaks often about the views of two Yahu-Dish[Jewish] scholars called Shammai and Hillel. They were leaders of two (often opposing) schools of thought, called "houses." Hillel and Shammai lived from c. 50 BCE to 50 CE so they were alive during Yahu-Shuah' ministry on the earth.
The Talmud records some 300+ differences of opinion between both houses. In Yahu-Daism, the views of the house of Hillel (Beth Hillel) usually prevailed over the views of the house of Shammai (Beth Shammai).
As you will see, the Talmud is pretty clear that the Lunar Shabbawth was not observed by Beth Hillel, Beth Shammai, or any Yahu-Dish man living in the first century.
In our first example, we will examine a difference of opinion between Hillel and Shammai on what blessing needed to be recited if the "new moon falls on a Shabbawth."
"R. Zera replied: The New Moon is different from a festival - Since its mention is included in the benediction on the sanctity of the day in the morning and evening prayers it is also included in that of the additional prayer. But do Beth Shammai uphold the view that the mention of the New Moon is to be included? Was it not in fact taught: If a New Moon falls on a Shabbawth, Beth Shammai ruled: One recites in his additional prayer eight benedictions and Beth Hillel ruled: Seven? This is indeed a difficulty." Talmud - Mas. Eiruvin 40b
Of course, if they were keeping the Lunar Shabbawth, the New Moon can never fall on a Shabbawth because the Lunar Shabbawth is never on the first day of the month. This difference of opinion wouldn't have been recorded if they kept the Lunar Shabbawth.
Next, we will see that the Mishnah records what the first century temple priests did with the non-meat portions of the Passover Lamb:
"Mishnah. The bones, and the sinews, and the nothar of the paschal lamb are to be burnt on the sixteenth. If the sixteenth falls on the Shabbawth, they are to be burnt on the seventeenth, because they do not override either the Shabbawth or the festival." Talmud - Pesachim 83a
With the Lunar Shabbawth, there is no such thing as the sixteenth day of the month falling on the Shabbawth. These are not men who are trying to figure out how to fit a weekly Shabbawth into Babylonian life, it is a reference to the acts of first century priests who certainly did not keep the Lunar Shabbawth. These are the practices observed during the temple era when Yahu-Shuah and His disciples lived.
The Mishnah also recorded the following rule regarding the meal offerings:
"Mishnah. A man may offer a meal-offering consisting of sixty tenths and bring them in one vessel if a man said, I take upon myself to offer sixty tenths, he may bring them in one vessel. But if he said, I take upon myself to offer sixty-one tenths, he must bring sixty in one vessel and the one in another vessel; for since the congregation bring on the first day of the feast of tabernacles when it falls on a Shabbawth sixty-one tenths as a meal-offering, it is enough for an individual that his meal-offering be less by one tenth than that of the Congregation." Talmud - Menachoth 103b
Obviously, this is a record of what went on while the temple was still standing because after that time, there would be no place to take it. With a Lunar Shabbawth, there is never a time when the first day of the feast of Tabernacles falls on any day other than the Shabbawth (15th day of the seventh month).
Obviously, the recorded practices of first century Yahu-Daism while the temple still stood indicate that they did not keep a Lunar Shabbawth. They kept the Shabbawth on a recurring, seven day week just as it is given in Genesis chapter 1, independent of the moon cycle. Therefore, since Yahu-Shuah kept the Shabbawth along with the rest of the Yahu-Deem of that period, He did not participate in a Lunar Shabbawth, a doctrine that doesn't appear to exist in Yahu-Daism at that time.
I should also mention that if you ever read the Talmud in depth, you will come away with one clear impression: They debated about almost everything. Something as major as a change in when the Shabbawth is observed ought to have been at least debated somewhere. After all, they debated every little fine point of the law! The lack of such a debate speaks volumes.
2. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Josephus
The Dead Sea Scrolls are considered by scholars to be authored by the Essenes, a sect in first century Yahu-Daism. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there are a number of extra-biblical scrolls which appear to shed light on what this sect believed and practiced. Understanding what they believed can be helpful in determining whether or not the Lunar Shabbawth was being observed by mainstream Yahu-Daism of that time.
It is generally undisputed (even by Lunar Sabbatarians) that the authors of these scrolls did not keep a Lunar Shabbawth. Rather, the Calendrical scroll shows that they observed a recurring seven day weekly cycle, independent of the moon phases. I know of no one who disputes this. The Calendrical Scroll and the Songs of the Shabbawth Sacrifice confirms this.
Of course, Lunar Sabbatarians generally will teach that this Yahu-Dish sect was wrong about the Shabbawth.
But in the book of Josephus, he speaks much about the Essenes. Josephus was a first century Yahu-Dish historian who wrote much about life in Yahu-Dea during the first century. He goes into great detail as to how practices of the Essenes were different than others. He mentions everything from how the Essenes don't carry anything with them when they travel, to how they regard oil to be defilement. In Wars of the Jews 2:119-161, Josephus speaks of them in no less than 2000 words, describing over 100 characteristics of their way of life.
So did Josephus mention that they kept the Shabbawth on a day that was different than the rest of Yahu-Daism?
Wars of the Jews 2:147 ... Moreover, they are stricter than any other of the Yahu-Deem in resting from their labors on the seventh day; for they not only get their food ready the day before, that they may not be obliged to kindle a fire on that day, but they will not move any vessel out of its place, nor go to stool thereon.
In this, Josephus even goes so far as to say that the Essenes are "stricter than any other of the Yahu-Deem in resting from their labors on the seventh day." Does it sound like there was any disagreement as to when the Shabbawth was? Wouldn't it seem strange that Josephus would mention that the Essenes were stricter in their resting from labors on the Shabbawth but not bother to mention that the Essenes held the Shabbawth on a totally different day than the other Yahu-Deem of that period?
The fact is, if the Essenes were keeping a different day than the rest of Yahu-Daism, Josephus wouldn't have been able to say that they were even resting on the seventh day to begin with. He would have to say they were typically resting on some other day.
There is no record in the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Essenes disagreeing with other groups as to when the Shabbawth was. In fact, there is no historical record of any Yahu-Dish sects disagreeing with each other on when the Shabbawth was.
In another interesting note, Josephus speaks of one of the large towers that were built in Yerushalayim:
Wars of the Yahu-Deem 4:582 and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand with a trumpet, at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight, as also at the evening when that day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to stop work, and when they were to go to work again.
So his report is that a trumpet was blown at the beginning of every seventh day, to mark when the people should stop working, and begin working. As an interesting side note, archaeological finds concur with Josephus' comments about the place of trumpeting:
"When we excavated the beautifully paved Herodian street adjacent to the southern wall and near the southwestern corner of the Enclosure Wall, we found a particularly large ashlar block. On the inside was a niche where a man might stand, especially if the ashlar were joined to another which would enlarge the niche.
On the outside was a carefully and elegantly incised Hebrew inscription: LBYT HTKY ’H LHH [RYZ]; “To the place of Trumpeting to (declare).” If the restoration of the world “declare” is correct, the rest of the missing part of the inscription probably went on to tell us more about the declaring of the beginning and the end of the Shabbawth.
The stone had been toppled during the Roman destruction of the Temple onto the street below where it had lain for nearly two thousand years until we uncovered it.
It must have originally come from the pinnacle of the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount. From a spot on top of the Temple chambers a priest would blow a trumpet on Shabbawth Eve, to announce the arrival of the Shabbawth and the cessation of all labor, and to announce, on the following evening, the departure of the Shabbawth and the resumption of all labor.
The entire city was visible from this spot on the southwest corner of the Temple Mount; the clarion call of the trumpet would reach the farthest markets of the city. Such a scene is recounted by Josephus in his work, The Jewish War. (IV, 582)." Editor, H. S. 2004; 2004. BAR 06:04 (July/Aug 1980). Biblical Archaeology Society
Josephus also records that Agatharchides, a 2nd century BCE Greek Historian, wrote something quite interesting about Ptolemy's defeat of Yerushalayim:
Against Apion 1:208 "When Agatharchides had premised this story, and had jested upon Stratonice for her superstition, he gives a like example of what was reported concerning us, and writes thus:--
209 ``There are a people called Yahu-Deem, and dwell in a city the strongest of all other cities, which the inhabitants call Yerushalayim, and are accustomed to rest on every seventh day; on which times they make no use of their arms, nor meddle with husbandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread out their hands in their holy places, and pray till the evening.
210 Now it came to pass, that when Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, came into this city with his army, that these men, in observing this mad custom of theirs, instead of guarding the city, suffered their country to submit itself to a bitter lord; and their law was openly proven to have commanded a foolish practice"
Ptolemy was the General of Alexander the Great, who took over Yerushalayim in 332 BCE. We see that the Yahu-Deem would not defend themselves or take up arms on the Shabbawth, which was "every seventh day."
If I were to describe the Shabbawth keeping practices of Lunar Sabbatarians, I certainly wouldn't describe their Shabbawth keeping as something they did "every seventh day." Rather, I would mention that they only keep a Shabbawth on certain days of the month. Therefore, it's quite evident that Josephus was describing the practice laid out for us "in the beginning" when Ailoheem created the first week and that is to rest every seventh day, without moon interruptions.
3. Roman Historians and Writers
There seems to be a trend among Lunar Shabbawth keepers to refer to people like me who keep a recurring weekly Shabbawth as "Satyr-day keepers" -- as if we are following the a pagan Roman week rather than the week that they believe to be in the Scriptures.
The truth is that Yahu-Deem didn't want the holy Shabbawth to be associated with "Saturn," an idol that had nothing to do with Yahu-Daism. The name "Saturday/Day of Saturn" originated with the pagans, not with the Yahu-Deem. The Yahu-Deem repeatedly and unequivocally refer to the seventh day of the week as "the Shabbawth."
However, when it comes to determining whether or not the Yahu-Deem of the first century kept the Shabbawth using the Lunar Shabbawth or, as I believe, a recurring weekly Shabbawth, examining the records of Roman historians and other writers can be helpful. By the admission of Lunar Shabbawth keepers, and clear historical record, the Romans did not follow the moon phases when determining the weeks, or even the months for that matter.
For this reason, we can look into the writings of Roman historians and other writers to see if the Romans associated the Yahu-Dish Shabbawth with their "Saturday/Day of Saturn." If they did associate the Shabbawth with their Day of Saturn in the first century or before, this would be undeniable evidence that the Yahu-Dish week and the Roman week were both kept on the same recurring weekly cycle.
As we will see in this section, there is no doubt that Roman historians and other writers explicitly and repeatedly consider the timing of Yahu-Dish Shabbawth keeping to be linked with the seventh day of the Roman week, which was a repeating seven day cycle, independent of the moon phases.
70 - 84 CE (AD)
Frontinus, a Roman Soldier who lived from c. 40 CE to 103 CE, wrote book on military strategy called Strategematicon in 84 A.D. In it, he writes:
"The deified Augustus Vespasian attacked the Yahu-Deem on the day of Saturn, a day on which it is sinful for them to do any business." Frontinus Stratagem 2.1.17.
The original Latin version of this book has "Saturnis" for Saturn, confirming that the Romans associated the Shabbawth day with their "day of Saturn" which is on the seventh day of the week.
Since this book was written a mere 14 years after Vespasian's (Titus') destruction of Yerushalayim, this is this is obviously very strong historical evidence directly from a first century eyewitness, tying in the Shabbawth with the recurring seven day cycle of the Romans.
63 BCE - 229 CE
Cassius Dio, a Roman Historian who lived from ca. 155 to 229 CE, using the historical annals of the Roman empire, wrote about 3 battles which the Roman empire had with the Yahu-Deem.
The first battle was during a time when the Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, two brothers who were the offspring of the Maccabees, were engaged in a dispute over who would rule. The Romans, through the actions of Pompey, came in and settled the dispute, siding with Hyrcanus. While speaking of Pompey's battle, the Shabbawth is mentioned.
The setting is 63 BCE:
"Most of the city, to be sure, he took without any trouble, as he was received by the party of Hyrcanus; but the temple itself, which the other party had occupied, he captured only with difficulty.
For it was on high ground and was fortified by a wall of its own, and if they had continued defending it on all days alike, he could not have got possession of it.
As it was, they made an excavation of what are called the days of Saturn, and by doing no work at all on those days afforded the Romans an opportunity in this interval to batter down the wall.
The latter, on learning of this superstitious awe of theirs, made no serious attempts the rest of the time, but on those days, when they came round in succession, assaulted most vigorously.
Thus the defenders were captured on the day of Saturn, without making any defense, and all the wealth was plundered.
The kingdom was given to Hyrcanus, and Aristobulus was carried away." Cassius Dio Roman History 37.16.1-4
So the Romans took advantage of the fact that the Yahu-Deem would not work on the Shabbawth. When was the Shabbawth? Again, the weekly Shabbawth coincides with the Roman "days of Saturn."
The second battle listed by Cassius Dio occurred in 36 BCE, is the one that resulted in the very first King Herod coming to power:
"The Yahu-Deem, indeed, had done much injury to the Romans, but they suffered far more themselves.
The first of them to be captured were those who were fighting for the precinct of their Ail, and then the rest on the day even then called the day of Saturn.
And so excessive were they in their devotion to religion that the first set of prisoners, those who had been captured along with the temple, obtained leave from Sosius, when the day of Saturn came round again, and went up into the temple and there performed all the customary rites, together with the rest of the people.
These people Antony entrusted to a certain Herod to govern; but Antigonus he bound to a cross and flogged,— a punishment no other king had suffered at the hands of the Romans,— and afterwards slew him." Cassius Dio Roman History 49.22.4-6
Note that Cassius Dio reports the Yahu-Deem as keeping "customary rites" at the temple on "the day even then called Day of Saturn." This indicates that the Shabbawth wasn't only called the "Day of Saturn" during his lifetime, but it was called the "Day of Saturn" back in 36 BCE, well before Yahu-Shuah was born in Bethlehem.
Next, he records that the 70 CE Yerushalayim destruction was on the Shabbawth, which he once again calls the "day of Saturn:"
70 - 229 CE
Thus was Yerushalayim destroyed on the very day of Saturn, the day which even now the Yahu-Deem reverence most.
From that time forth it was ordered that the Yahu-Deem who continued to observe their ancestral customs should pay an annual tribute of two denarii to Jupiter Capitoline.
In consequence of this success both generals received the title of imperator, but neither got that of Yahu-Daïcus, although all the other honors that were fitting on the occasion of so magnificent a victory, including triumphal arches, were voted to them. Cassius Dio Roman History 65.7.2
So his report is that the Yahu-Deem kept the Shabbawth on the "day of Saturn" from 63 BCE up until his day, no later than 229 CE. His report also agrees with Frontinus' account of the 70 CE battle.
c. 100 CE
The Historian Cornelius Tacitus (ca. 56CE – ca. 117CE), after suggesting that Yahu-Deem kept the Shabbawth out of laziness, also associated the Shabbawth with the Roman idol, Saturn:
They are said to have devoted the seventh day to rest, because that day brought an end to their troubles. Later, finding idleness alluring, they gave up the seventh year as well to sloth.
Others maintain that they do this in honor of Saturn; either because their religious principles are derived from the Idaei, who are supposed to have been driven out with Saturn and become the ancestors of the Yahu-Dish people; or else because, of the seven constellations which govern the lives of men, the star of Saturn moves in the topmost orbit and exercises peculiar influence, and also because most of the heavenly bodies move round their courses in multiples of seven. From The Histories, Book V
Again, the fact that a pagan associated Shabbawth keeping with Saturn demonstrates that the Roman week's day of Saturn (Satur-day) was concurrent with what Yahuwah calls the Shabbawth day. Tacitus is an eyewitness from the first century who has no "axe to grind" in regards to when the Shabbawth should be observed. He wrote this a mere 30 years after the destruction of the temple in Yerushalayim.
28 BCE to 1 BCE
Tibullus, a Latin Poet who lived from 54 BCE - 19 BCE, references the Shabbawth in one of his Elegies. The Poet is quoted by J. Hugh Michael in his paper entitled "The Yahu-Dish Sabbath in the Latin Classical Writers." In this Journal article, he says:
"Tibullus, again, gives us a glimpse of the influence of the Shabbawwth on the Romans. The Poet, sick in a foreign land, complains of his loneliness; neither mother nor sister has he there to nurse him; nor is Delia with him--she who had inquired of all the ailoheem before permitting him to leave the city. Says Tibillus:
All promised a return; yet did nothing stay her from looking back in tears and terror on my journey. Yea, even I her comforter, after I had given my parting charge, sought still in my disquiet for reasons to linger and delay. Either birds or words of evil omen were my pretexts, or there was the holy day of Saturn to detain me. (Book I, Eleg. iii 13-18 in Postgate's translation in the Loeb Classics.)
The day of which the poet speaks is of course the Saturday, or, as Postgate puts it, "the Yahu-Dish Shabbawth, on which no work was to be undertaken," and the implication is clear that unwillingness to set off on a journey on the Shabbawth day was no unusual thing among the inhabitants of Rome, for Tibullus is enumerating the common reasons for the postponement of journeys of which he was only too ready to avail himself." The Yahu-Dish Shabbawth in the Latin Classical Writers. J. Hugh Michael Victoria College, Toronto, Canada. The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 40, No. 2. (Jan., 1924), pp. 117-124.
It is interesting that Roman's would have any concern at all about traveling on the Shabbawth. J. Hugh Michael references another writing by the Poet Ovid, who lived from 43 BCE to 17 CE:
Still more impressive is the witness of Ovid. In the Ars Amatoria he instructs the young Roman who is desirous of finding an object for his affections how he should set about his search.
The quest need not take him far a field: there is no lack of suitable damsels in Rome.
The poet even specifies the parts of Rome where the quest of the amorous youth is most likely to be crowned with success: he should not neglect '(Adonis lamented of Venus, or the seventh day observed as holy by the Syrian Yahu-D."
The first part of this direction can only mean that the youth should visit the Temple of Venus when her grief for Adonis was commemorated on the anniversary of his death.
Similarly the second part must mean that he should attend the Shabbawth services held in the Yahu-Dish synagogues.
Is it possible to attach any other meaning to the advice that the youth should not avoid the seventh day observed by the Syrian Yahu-D?
And what meaning is there in the counsel unless Roman maidens were wont to attend those services?
It is not easy to think that it was the poet's intention that the young Roman should become enamored of a Yahu-Dess! The Yahu-Dish Shabbawth in the Latin Classical Writers. J. Hugh Michael Victoria College, Toronto, Canada. The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 40, No. 2. (Jan., 1924), pp. 117-124
The work that J. Hugh Michael references, Ars Amatoria, was written in approximately 1 BCE. Thus, it is evident that even the Romans were associating the seventh day of their Roman week with the Shabbawth. But was Shabbawth keeping really this tied into their culture?
119 CE
The Shabbawth does appear to be closely entwined to the weekly cycle of the first century Romans. This is evidenced by the writings of Suetonius. Suetonius (ca. 69CE - 130CE) was a Roman historian who wrote "Lives of twelve Caesars" in 119 CE. While describing the life of Tiberius Caesar (14 - 37 CE), he wrote::
"The grammarian Diogenes, who used to lecture every Shabbawth at Rhodes, would not admit Tiberius when he came to hear him on a different day, but sent a message by a common slave of his, putting him off to the seventh day. When this man waited before the Emperor's door at Rome to pay his respects, Tiberius took no further revenge than to bid him return seven years later." Suetonius The Life of Tiberius 32.2
Rhodes was a major schooling center for Roman families. It's interesting that the seventh day is referred to as the "Shabbawth" (Latin: sabbatis) in Roman literature, especially when it is written by a pagan historian who was even the Roman Emperor' secretary for a time (Wikipedia entry on Suetonius).
It appears that J. Hugh Michael's references to the Roman poets, as well as this reference from Suetonius, is a strong indication that the seventh day Shabbawth had become more tied into Roman society than most people realize. Possibly this is one of the reasons Josephus said:
"The masses have long since shown a keen desire to adopt our religious observances; and there is not one city, Greek or barbarian, nor a single nation, to which our custom of abstaining from work on the seventh day has not spread and where our fasts and the lighting of lamps and many of our prohibitions in the matter of food are not observed. Apion 2:282-283
In consideration of these things, it appears to me that the Romans picked up the recurring seven day week from the Yahu-Deem, not the...
