Apostolic Church Council in Jerusalem at Pentecost with Paul (Acts 20:16)

Statement of belief: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17 KJV)

Revised 5928± 01 12 2024 [2008-04-19]

The Pentecost Apostolic Church Council in Jerusalem

Per Paul’s Intentions Reflected in Acts 20:16

When exactly did it take place?

(A complete revision of a prior initial and similar study.)

Abstract:

After much prayer, searching, meandering, dead alleys, and some erroneous assumptions, under the guidance of my Creator I have finally been blessed with finding what I currently believe is the correct answer to the above question, and as well to the exact and correct dating of many other dated events provided within the Greek Textus Receptus text which is the basis for the New Testament document.

Below is a brief outline of the necessary bases for arriving at the answer to the above question. The outline below can probably be further simplified, for instance by eliminating the discussions relative to the lower time boundaries arrived at, i.e. those providing for us a point in time prior to that boundary which is established by Paul’s statement in the Epistle to the Galatians. However, for the time being, I shall leave those parts as is.

Suffice is to say that by progressively narrowing down my focus in time upon the answer to my above question I have been given by my Creator what I believe is the exact answer to the above question, which is:

Hag Ha-Shavout [i.e. the Feast of Weeks / Pentecost] occurred on the Seventh Day, Sivan 12, 44 CE [June 27, 44 CE.]

Confirmation that indeed Hag Ha-Shavout was being observed in New Testament times on the Seventh Day Shabbat and not on the First Day, i.e. in accord with the Torah instructions, is found also in Paul’s statement, made on the Sixth Day of the week, that twelve full days had passed since he went, together with other Jews, into the temple for his Hag Ha-Shavout observance.

In the original Greek text of Textus Receptus it is clear also from Acts 21:27 that Hag Ha-Shavout, i.e. Pentecost, was being observed on the Seventh Day of the week. The words in KJV, “seven days,” is a mistranslation, albeit grammatically correct. [The Greek word in Textus Receptus is in a format that is either acc.pl. or gen.sing.. Only circumstantial evidence either from the context or from real life determines which is the correct translation. Absent an exact calendar it may be very tempting for a translator to make the wrong choice, most especially if he is trained in a school of thought or in a religion influencing him not to accept anything not conforming to such teaching.]

A more complete study of the time references provided in Acts is made available to the interested seeker for Truth.

Considerations:

Paul’s intention to be, if possible, in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost is recorded in Acts 20:16 KJV.

My purpose is to clearly identify the time when this meeting took place. In order to do this I shall attempt to focus in upon this event step by step by establishing firm boundaries before and after, which progressively will narrow my search towards the ultimate solution.

The identity, and the characteristics, of the event itself are found in Acts chapters 19 through 25. In particular Acts 20:4-24:11 comprises a very narrow time span beginning within the Feast of Unleavened Bread and ending within nine weeks thereof, i.e. twelve days after Pentecost. Outside boundaries for these events are established by the first 20 chapters of Acts, by Galatians 1:17-2:1, by the four gospels, by outside historians, e.g. Josephus who lived and worked at this very time, by other historians referenced elsewhere in these studies of mine, as well as also astronomical tables, e.g. NASA’s Phases of the Moon tables and Gary W. Kronk, Cometography, A Catalog of Comets, (Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1999.)

The following names are recognized as touching closely upon the events of our focus. I shall attempt to establish first the pertinent time frames of whomever possible among these:

1. Claudius Lysias (cf. Acts 23:26; 24:7, 22,)

2. Felix (cf. Acts 23:24, 26; 24:3, 22, 24 25, 27; 25:14,)

3. Festus (cf. Acts 24:27; 25:1, 4, 9, 12-14, 22-25, 32,) and/or

4. Agrippa (cf. Acts 25:13, 22-26; 26:1, 2, 7, 19, 27, 28, 32)

1. Claudius Lysias

I find no reference to Claudius Lysias in the complete works of Josephus and have no references thus far as to Lysias’ exact years of reign. However, this may not be necessary.

2. Felix

Felix, is referenced by Josephus in his works Antiquities, XX:7:1. Felix’s years of reign as procurator of Judea began in the civil year ending with Tishri 1, 38 CE. It lasted until he was replaced by Festus, which replacement is recorded in Acts 24:27. Accordingly the events recorded in Acts 23:24 and onwards cannot possibly have occurred before Tishri 1, 37 CE.

3. Festus

When was Festus appointed successor to Felix? The answer to this question is not readily available by any direct statements I have found in Josephus or elsewhere. However, I have discovered that his successor, Albinus, is named as the current procurator over Judea at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in 46 CE, i.e. Tishri 15-21, 46 CE, at which time Albinus was in Jerusalem. Acts chapters 25-27 makes it clear that Festus was still the procurator in the fall when Paul was shipped as a prisoner to Rome - including the time of the Feast of Tabernacles of that year and beyond. Accordingly, the events preceding and including that which is recorded in Acts 24:27, including also our chief focus, cannot possibly have occurred later than [the Julian year] 45 CE. (The Pentecost within [the Julian year] 45 CE is within the civil year beginning Tishri 1, 44 CE.)

4. Agrippa Jr

Agrippa jr succeeded Herod’s (Agrippa I) kingship as governor starting in the year beginning with Tishri 1, 33 CE. Adding to his prior responsibilities (which apparently did not include Judea) Agrippa jr became responsible for “a certain part of Galilee, Tiberias, and Tarichae” in the year beginning Tishri 1, 39 CE, i.e. Nero’s 1^st year of reign. Accordingly, the events recorded in Acts 25:13 and following must have occurred no earlier than Tishri 1, 39 CE.

Based upon:

1. The obvious fact that Acts 20:4-24:11 relate events closely surrounding the time of that same Pentecost which is being referenced also in Acts 20:16;

2. Upon the specific time constraints found in the Greek text of Textus Receptus Acts 20:6-7 (and Acts 20:13-21:4) as further explained below;

3. Upon the above reference re Felix’s reign from some point subsequent to Tishri 1, 37 CE; and

4. Upon the above reference to Festus’ reign from some point in time no later than 45 CE:

I conclude that the extreme limits so far for the timing of the Pentecost Apostolic Church Council in Jerusalem are 38 CE and 45 CE, respectively. But we shall proceed to narrow this time span considerably…

What about the “after two years” referenced in Acts 24:27?

May these words be used for further narrowing down the focus of our attention, and if so, by how much? Reading Acts 24:27 (KJV) may be a little confusing: “But after two yearsPorcius Festus came into Felix' room:and Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.” Without giving any further details, this translation apparently introduces a two year time span between the Pentecost we are focusing upon and the coming of Festus. Will these words allow us to bring down the 45 CE time boundary, above referenced, another two years, say to 43 CE, or not? An important question to ask is whether or not time permits such a “two year” space of time. Another pertinent question: Is the KJV translation, in this particular, firmly supported by the Greek text of Textus Receptus?

Let’s first consider the Greek text:

1. Compare KJV with the Textus Receptus text:

Acts 24:27 But¹¹⁶¹ after two years^{4137, 1333}...

Acts 24:27 διετιας¹³³³^N-GSF δε¹¹⁶¹^CONJ πληρωθεισης⁴¹³⁷^V-APP-GSF...

2. Then consider the likely Hebrew language predecessor for the Textus Receptus text:

Acts 24:27 ...ולשׁנתים ימים

2Sa 13:23 And it came to pass¹⁹⁶¹ after two full years,^{8141, 3117}

2Sa 13:23 ...ויהי לשׁנתים ימים

2Ch 21:19 And it came to pass,¹⁹⁶¹… after the end^{6256, 3318, 7093} of two⁸¹⁴⁷ years,³¹¹⁷

2Ch 21:19 ...לימים שׁנים … ויהי

As I have shown elsewhere, biblical translations of the above Hebrew words, and of the corresponding Greek words originally translated from the Hebrew, are generally misunderstood by the translators and therefore mistranslated. What is consistently the case in these texts is that the time span translated “two years,” “two full years,” etc., do instead, when not qualified by an adjacent numerical word, reference any period of time over and above one year, but not more than two years, e.g. “within the second year,” “more than one year,” etc.. Depending upon whether the Greek format is a genitive or an accusative it may then be determined whether the word references an event “within a time span” (genitive,) or else “extent of time” (accusative.)

Based on these considerations alone it may appear as though the 45 CE boundary could be brought down by another year, albeit not by two years. However, suppose the Greek word translated “two years” is not giving reference to Paul’s imprisonment, but is instead giving reference to for instance the years of reign of one of the rulers over Judea, say Agrippa Jr, Felix, or the Emperor of Rome. The 2^nd year of reign of Agrippa Jr began Tishri 1, 35 CE, i.e. outside of our range of interest. The only Emperors to consider for the time span we have thus far arrived at are Claudius and Nero. The year beginning Tishri 37 CE is Claudius’ 12^th year of reign, thus the Greek word “διετιας” cannot very well reference Caesar Claudius. Nero’s 2^nd year is the civil year beginning Tishri 1, 40 CE. I see no word in the Greek text of Textus Receptus corresponding to the word “after” used by the KJV translators of Acts 24:27. Thus, I conclude that, should this Greek word be intended to reference Nero’s 2^nd year of reign, then it would mean that Festus replaced Felix in Nero’s 2^nd civil year of reign, i.e. in the year beginning Tishri 1, 40 CE. If so, then Felix would be replaced after Felix’s 2^nd civil year of reign, which civil year began Tishri 1, 39 CE. Thus we see that the Greek word “διετιας” could reference either Felix’s 2^nd year of reign or Nero’s 2^nd year of reign, and if the Pentecost of our focus occurred in the early summer of either of those years, i.e. 39 or 40 CE, then the Greek word “διετιας” , translated “two years,” may very well give reference to one of those rulers and not to any time span pertaining to Paul’s detainment. However, we can also conclude from these considerations, i.e. from the fact that none of the rulers at that time had their 2^nd year of reign at that time, that our upper time boundary could be brought down from 46 to 45 CE, provided there are no other time references to consider, and provided also that the Greek word “διετιας” means something more than one year. The Greek word “διετιας” is found only twice in all of the New Testament and its exact meaning may be subject to further considerations.

Can any of these years be excluded?

Using the NASA Phases of the Moon tables it is easy to determine when the Feast of Unleavened Bread and other biblical feast days occurred in a given year. Once the dates of one of those feasts are determined it is an easy matter to find out which days of the week they fall on. In Acts 20:6-7 (and Acts 20:13-21:4) Paul has provided us with some very useful information which may be used for excluding some of the years in our range of years:

Textus Receptus, Acts 20:6-7 (and Acts 20:13-21:4,) makes it clear that, in the year of the Pentecost that we are focusing upon in this study, the Seventh Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, i.e. Aviv 21, and the weekly Seventh-day Shabbat coincided:

Every KJV translation in the New Testament using the words “the first day of the week” is a mistranslation of the Greek words in the Textus Receptus which are specifying a very special day in the biblical calendar, namely the Seventh Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So also in Acts 20:7.

In contradistinction to the extra Shabbat called “the Seventh Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread” the weekly Shabbat is frequently referenced in the Greek New Testament by words meaning “Day Seven,” or “the Seventh Day.” So also at the end of Acts 20:6 where the Greek words of Textus Receptus may be grammatically translated as either “seven days,” as in KJV, or as “Day Seven,” i.e. “the Seventh Day.”

How is it that KJV and other translations have mistranslated these time references in the Greek text? Without knowing the details of the actual calendar in those years, or else without recognizing the further time constraints provided within the context of the Greek text given in the Textus Receptus text of Acts 20:6-7 (and Acts 20:13-21:4,) the translators would have no way of knowing which of the two grammatical translations to use. Evidently the KJV translators did not make the best choice when translating Acts 20:6.

In which years could the Seventh Day of the week and Aviv 21 coincide?

Studying each year from 36 CE through 50 CE and 57 CE, I have found that none of the years 37, 38, 41, 42, 45, 46, 48, or 49 CE, allow for a concurrent Seventh Day of the week and Aviv 21, i.e. 7^th Day of the Feast of Unleavened Breads. The only potential coinciding days within those years are as follows:

1. Saturday April 7^th 36 CE,

2. Saturday April 4^th39 CE,

3. Saturday April 23^rd 40 CE,

4. Saturday April 20, 43 CE,

5. Saturday May 9, 44 CE,

6. Saturday May 6, 47 CE

7. Saturday May 2, 50 CE, and

8. Saturday May 14, 57 CE.

How may we further narrow down our choices in order to arrive at the correct answer?

What years did Paul visit Jerusalem?

After his conversion and his visit with the brethren in Jerusalem (per Acts 9:26-30,)

1. Paul’s 1^st recorded visit to Jerusalem is found in Acts 11:28-30 and Acts 12:25;

2. Paul’s 2^nd Jerusalem visit is recorded in Acts 15:1-30;

3. Paul’s 3^rd Jerusalem visit is recorded in Acts 18:21-22; and

4. Paul’s 4^th Jerusalem visit is recorded in Acts 20:16-23:31.

A detailed study of Paul’s first three visits to Jerusalem, as above numbered, demonstrates that:

1. Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem was concluded between Aviv 21, 30 CE and the beginning of Tishri 1, 30 CE;

2. Paul’s 2^nd visit to Jerusalem took place in the civil year beginning Tishri 1, 39 CE;

3. Paul’s 3^rd visit to Jerusalem took place in the spring of 41 CE, most likely at Pentecost; and

Paul’s 4^th Jerusalem visit (Acts 20:16-23:31:)

Considering the above said leading up to Paul’s 3^rd visit to Jerusalem in the spring of 41 CE, and including also the 2 ½ years, at the minimum, between Paul’s 3^rd and 4^th visit to Jerusalem, it becomes obvious that Paul’s 4^th visit to Jerusalem could not have occurred in 43 CE, but did in fact occur in 44 CE.

Accordingly Paul’s 4^th visit to Jerusalem is confirmed as having occurred in 44 CE, which was, as I have shown elsewhere, Nero’s 5^th civil year of reign. Also my above claim may be considered confirmed, i.e. “that the Greek words in Textus Receptus, which are translated in KJV “a year” (Acts 18:11,) “two years” (Acts 19:10,) and “three years” (Acts 20:31,) are more correctly translated in terms of Caesar Nero’s “first,” “second,” and “third” civil years of reign, respectively.”

For an overview of all these data and more please review the Table entitled:

“The Timing of Paul's Visits to Jerusalem vs. the Years of the Roman Emperors and the Roman Procurators to Judea

(Including also the Years Permitting the Constellation of Events Identified by Textus Receptus, Acts 20:6-7 (and Acts 20:13-21:4)”

Final conclusion re the year of the Pentecost we are looking for:

All readily apparent options having now been considered, we are left with 44 CE as the one and only possible year for the Pentecost meeting which is our chief focus in this pursuit (cf. item #5. Saturday May 9, 44 CE, above.)

What is the exact date of the 44 CE Pentecost?

Given that Saturday May 9, 44 CE is the only possible date for the event recorded in Acts 20:7, we may now go on to conclude the exact date upon which Pentecost occurred:

Legend:

Blue digits correspond to dates in the Biblical/Jewish calendar.

Black digits correspond to dates in the Julian calendar.

Bold font digits in the Julian calendar correspond to the likely New Moon Day(s), i.e. the 1^st Day of each month. This day begins when the New Moon crescent is first seen shortly after sunset on the preceding Julian day.

Red bold font digits in the Biblical/Jewish calendar correspond to Feast days of particular interest to this study.

Adar I / Adar II

March 44 CE

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 2

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

10 11 12

29 30 31

Adar II / Aviv

April 44 CE

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

13 14 15 16

1 2 3 4

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

8 9 10 11 12

26 27 28 29 30

Aviv/Zif

May 44 CE

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

13 14

1 2

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 – Aviv 21^st is the First Day of the Omer &

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 the 7^th Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

22 24 25 26 27 28 29 – Aviv 29^th is the First Shabbat of the Omer.

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

30 1 2 3 4 5 6 – Zif 6^th is the Second Shabbat of the Omer.

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 – Zif 13^th is the Third Shabbat of the Omer.

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Zif/Sivan

June 44 CE

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

15 16 17 18 19 20 – Zif 20^th is the Fourth Shabbat of the Omer.

1 2 3 4 5 6

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 – Zif 27^th is the Fifth Shabbat of the Omer.

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

28 29 1 2 3 4 5 – Sivan 5^th is the Sixth Shabbat of the Omer.

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 – Sivan 12^th is Hag Ha-Shavout, Pentecost.

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

13 14 15

28 29 30

Final Conclusion and the answer to our initial question:

The Apostolic Church Meeting in Jerusalem, referenced in Acts 20:16 through Acts 24:26, occurred on the Seventh Day, Sivan 12, 44 CE [June 27, 44 CE.]

THE END OF THIS STUDY DETAIL

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