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| Between the Two Evenings (Beyn HaArbayim)
30 March 2008
There appear to be eleven instances of the term “beyn ha’arbayim”, or “between the two evenings” in scripture. All are in the books Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It seems evident that their inclusion lacks relevance unless it defines a specific period of time during the day. All are listed below, with two additional scriptures containing the word “erev”, singular, “evening”.
Listings in scripture of “beyn ha’arbayim”, and a couple of “erev”s. Transliterated Hebrew is for those to whom it may be of interest. It may be noted there are 5 instances related to Passover, and 6 that deal with other events. All can help us understand the meaning of “beyn ha’arbayim”.
(1) Ex 12:6 “…and they shall slaughter it, the entire congregation of the assembly of Israel between the two evenings.” …w’shachatu otho col k’hal adhath Israel beyn ha’arbayim. This refers to the time of the slaughter of the passover sacrifice.
(2) Ex 16:12 “Speak to them, saying, “between the two evenings you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be satisfied with bread…” Daber ‘aleyhem leymor, “beyn ha’arbayim toch’lu basar, uvaboker tisb’u-lechem… This is the time when Yahweh promised the Israelites that they would eat flesh. It has been suggested that the time between sunset and dark would not have been enough time to catch the birds, prepare and cook them, and eat them too. This may not present a problem, as the birds were given as a result of the unfaithful lusting of Israel. There is every possibility that the least patient of the lusters dispensed with the niceties of cleaning and cooking, and merely ate the flesh raw. Sushi quail. Fast food, wilderness style. Could eating it raw, perhaps with the blood, have been the reason that Yahweh so immediately struck the lusters in his anger? Also, it may be that the quail actually arrived a while before sunset, giving extra time.
(3,4) Ex 29:39, 41 “And the second lamb you shall offer between the two evenings.” (not passover) w’eth haceves hasheni ta’aseh beyn ha’arbayim (daily continual offering)
Ditto for :41. These refer to the time of the evening daily ascending offering.
(5) Ex 30:8 “And with Aaron lighting the lamps between the two evenings…” Aaron lighting lamps. There was a logical time to light lamps. uvha’aloth Aharon eth-haneyroth beyn ha’arbayim
(6) Lev 23:5 Bachodhesh harishon b’arba’ah asar lachodhesh beyn ha’arbayim pesach layahweh (14th!!!) “In the first month, in the 14th, between the two evenings, Pesach to Yahweh…”
(7,8,9) Num 9:3, 5, 11 B’arba’ah asar-yom bachodhesh hazeh beyn ha’arbayim ta’asu otho. (year 2) “In the 14th day in this month, between the two evenings, you shall do it…” (passover memorial observance)
Wayya’asu eth-hapesach barishon b’arba’ah asar yom lachodhesh beyn ha’arbayim, (year 2) “And they did the Pesach in the First, in the 14th day of the month, between the two evenings…”
Bachodhesh hasheni b’arba’ah asar yom, beyn ha’arbayim, ya’asu otho (second passover) “In the second month, in the 14th day, between the two evenings, they did it (passover, second) …”
(10,11) Num 28:4, 8 As with Exodus 29:39.41, this deals with the continual daily sacrifice. It is usually considered that they were commanded to be offered at certain times of the day. “And the second lamb you shall do between the two evenings.” …w’eth haceves hasheni ta’aseh beyn ha’arbayim
W’eth haceves hasheni ta’aseh beyn ha’arbayim c’minchath haboker… “And the second lamb you shall do between the two evenings according to the offering of the morning.”
Does this imply that they (the two lambs of the daily continual offering) were not done at the same time? It may be noted that in this point of instruction, the order of the events of the day appear to be inverted. Whereas normally, the evening is counted first, then the morning, as in Genesis one, here it appears to be listed in the order events would be encountered in the normal course of a working day. One gets up early in the morning, works through the day, and retires at night after the work is done. One normal waking period of work would include both the morning and evening offerings, in that order. This should not cause a problem with interpretation.
(A) De 16:6 “There you shall slaughter the passover in the evening, as the sun goes in, the appointed time of your exit from Egypt.” (…eth-hapesach, ba’arev, c’voh hashemesh, …) It should be noted here that the passover slaughter time is not the going DOWN of the sun, but it’s going IN. This is important, as the Rabbinical interpretation (Pharisaic) depends on the first evening being defined as the initial decline of the sun from it’s zenith, when in fact decline is irrelevant, only it’s “going in” (to the horizion) is material in defining the “first of the two evenings”. Sequentially, the second of the “two evenings” can be defined as the time when sufficient darkness is attained to permit visibility of the stars.
(B) Yoshua 5:10 “… and they did the passover in the 14th day of the month in the evening in the plains of Jericho…” (…wayya’asu eth hapesach b’arba’ah asar yom lachodhesh baerev …)
Comments in question:
It has been suggested that “between the two evenings” can mean the time between an evening, and the evening of the next day. If “between the two evenings” includes the entire 24 hour period of a day, why is it then the time for lighting of lamps? And why is it a special time for the other daily lamb offering?
If the passover is not only the offering, and the killing of the offering, but also the act of the angel “passing over”, is there an explicit reference to these events taking place on any other day than the 14th in the scriptural record?
In the daily offerings, the morning and evening offering, why would the one be offered at a definite time (morning), and the other offered at any time with in the 24 hour period of the day?
If the phrase “between the two evenings” actually means an entire scriptural day, why would the scripture not just say “anytime during the day”, or just give the date, without specific qualification as to the hour, instead of saying “between the two evenings”? Usually we consider the Scriptures to be a book of concise, well chosen speech, and it seems unusual to encounter a phrase without a clear purpose.
It has been suggested that the time between sunset and dark is insufficient for the Levites to have processed lambs for all Israel. Perhaps the answer is in Ex12:6, “…the entire congregation…shall slaughter it…”? The answer to this one may have been in wiser delegation, and sharing the burden around.
Does this verse, Ex12:6, also preclude the extension of “between the two evenings” beyond twilight? The lamb was to be for examination “until” the 14th day. Can this indicate that once the 14th day arrived, it was no longer a time for the examination?
And in conclusion, (and of course we use the term “loosely”) on what night did the death angel go through Egypt? If “beyn ha’arbayim” is twilight, it was the 14th. If “beyn ha’arbayim” is afternoon, it was the 15th. But if “beyn ha’arbayim is the entire day, was the death of the firstborn on the 14th or the 15th? What direction in the Scripture would we go to find the answer?
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Night of Vigils (anticipation?)
Ex 12:42 night of vigils Coming soon!
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