EVENING-END OF DAY / BETWEEN THE EVENINGS
Evening is the end of a day:
Levi 23:26 Yahweh said to Moses,
27 "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.”
Levi 23:32 (NIV) It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath."
So the beginning of the 10th day is scripturally described as from the evening of the 9th. If evening were at the beginning of a day, Levi 23:32 would force us to include all of the 9th day as part of the 10th day; therefore, evening must be a period at the end of a day. Hence, Scripture shows us that the evening of a day is always a time at the end of the day.
This seems to force a definition of “evening” as a period of the day before sunset, since the next day begins just after sunset. This also seems to force a definition of that beginning part of a day just after sunset as “morning” (even though is will be getting dark and then be dark until the sunrise).
Between The
Evenings:
Exodus 12:6 says to kill the Passover lamb on
the
14th day
of the 1st month between the
evenings.
"Between the evenings" in the Hebrew would be
said: "bain ha'haarbayim." Ancient writings on this subject, including
Josephus, explain that this use of the term was common in several
cultures and meant between noon and sunset; in fact, is was often
translated as "afternoon." Or, approximately 3:00 p.m.. Within the
temple the
day was divided into quarters. The quarter between 12:00 noon and 3:00
p.m. was
called the "Minor Evening Oblation," while that between 3:00 p.m. and
6:00 p.m.
was called the "Major Evening Oblation." Again,
"between the evenings" meant between those two
periods or 3:00 p.m.(1) The hours of the whole day were counted
from daylight
(approximately 6:00
a.m.) till sundown (approximately 6:00 p.m.).
The ninth hour of the day, when Yahshua was slain, would
therefore be 3 p.m..
So Messiah died "between the evenings"
the
same time that the lamb had been slain in Egypt (Exo 12:6) fulfilling
prophecy.
(1) "Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to Come" Hatikva Ministries 1989, Joseph Good.