New Testament History

The Feast of Tabernacles of 31 AD until Passover 32 AD

Brentano thought that the visions received during the period Saturday 2 June 1821-Sunday 13 July 1823 (with the visions of Tuesday 29 April 1823-Sunday 13 July 1823 being repeated on Tuesday 21 October 1823-Sunday 4 January 1824) immediately preceded the visions of 29 July 1820[1]-29 March 1821[2] (which visions describe the period immediately before the crucifixion) and that there are only about 2 weeks missing, Monday 14 July (1823)-Friday 28 July (1820). In reality, there are 10 months and 8 days missing: Monday 9 July 31 AD-Friday 16 May 32 AD. John 7-10 describes several events that occurred during that period:[3] the Feast of Tabernacles of 31 AD (John 7:1-10:21) – including the passages of the adulteress woman (John 8) and the blind-born (John 9) – and the Festival of Hanukkah of 31 AD (John 10:22-39). These passages are absent from the visions. The gap in the visions explains, moreover, why nowhere a month of Adar II appears in the visions, while there should have been at least one in a period covering 2½ years (i.e. in the period that Brentano assigns to the ministry). The missing period 9 July 31 AD-16 May 32 AD contained an Adar II; the year 32 AD was a Jewish leap year.

Christ arrived in Jerusalem at the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:14). The Feast of Tabernacles lasts 7 days, with an extra, 8th day. The middle is the 4th day = 18 Tishri 31 AD = Sunday 23 September. Christ arrived after the Sabbath. On 22 Tishri (John 7:37) and 23 Tishri (John 8:2), Christ was teaching in the Temple. When He left (John 8:59), He healed a blind-born (John 9:1-7) on a Sabbath (John 9:14). The Sabbath began on the evening of Friday 28 September = at the start of 24 Tishri.

The Feast of Tabernacles fell at the middle of the ministry (if reckoned from the first Passover instead of from the baptism of Christ): Tishri 31 AD falls at the middle of the period Nisan 30 AD-Nisan 33 AD. This fact is highlighted in several ways:

·   The relevant feast is the only Feast of Tabernacles that John reports.

·   John 7:14 emphasises that Christ arrived at the middle of the feast (the Greek verb mesoô is a hapax legomenon in the entire LXX and NT), which alludes to the middle of the ministry.

·   Christ did not arrive with his brothers (John 7:8-10) – who attended the entire festival – because He wanted to arrive at the middle of the feast in order to highlight ‘the middle’.

·   The Gospel of John contains 21 chapters, with 10½ chapters as its half. Chapter 10 contains 42 verses, with 21 verses as its half. The middle of the Gospel of John is thus John 10:21. John 10:1-21 concludes the passage about the Feast of Tabernacles.

·   In the Gospel of John, Christ arrives at the festival in John 7:14. The first Passover of the ministry is mentioned in John 2:13 (also in John 2:23), the last Passover is mentioned for the first time in John 11:55. There are 235 verses from John 2:13 until John 7:14 (inclusively): 13 verses in John 2 (John 2:13-25) + 36 in John 3 + 54 in John 4 + 47 in John 5 + 71 in John 6 + 14 in John 7 (John 7:1-14). There are 236 verses between John 7:15 and John 11:55: 39 verses in John 7 (John 7:15-53) + 59 in John 8 + 41 in John 9 + 42 in John 10 + 55 in John 11 (John 11:1-55).

Following the Feast of Tabernacles of 31 AD, Christ was in Jerusalem during the Festival of Hanukkah of 31 AD as well (John 10:22-23).

In addition to the presence in Jerusalem during the Feasts of Tabernacles and Hanukkah (both described in John), a presence in Jerusalem during Passover (not described in John)[4] also occurred within the gap of Monday 9 July 31 AD-Friday 16 May 32 AD. Christ was 4 times in Jerusalem for Passover during His public ministry:[5] on 14 Nisan 30 AD (the vision of Wednesday 10 April 1822 and John 2:13, 23), on 14 Nisan 31 AD (the vision of Tuesday 1 April 1823 and John 6:4), on 14 Nisan 32 AD, and on 14 Nisan 33 AD (the vision of Friday 30 March 1821 and John 11:55; 12:1; 13:1; 18:28, 39; 19:14). The Festival of Passover 32 AD appears neither in the visions, nor in the Gospels.