mishmar (a course or division), and named after the head of that particular family. Each course served for
one week in the first half of the year, and for another week in the second half of the year.
This was in addition to the weeks of Hag haMatzah (the Feast of Unleavened Bread of which Passover is
part of), Shavuot (the Feast of Pentecost), and Sukkoth (the Feast of Tabernacles). These are the three most
important festival periods when YHWH requires every Jewish male to be present in Jerusalem at the
Temple. During this time Jerusalem and the surrounding areas / villages / towns, etc.; i.e., Bethlehem, were
overcrowded with thousands of people coming from various places, and all accommodations were normally
fully booked.
During this Shalosh Regalim periods, all the Temple courses (divisions) were required to be present: ―Three
times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose
(Temple); in the feast of unleavened bread (Hag HaMatzah – Pesach), and in the feast of weeks
(Pentecost), and in the feast of tabernacles (Sukkoth): and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:‖
All males were compelled by the law of YHWH to draw up to Jerusalem (Positive Law 53: Exod 34:23 - On
appearing before God during the Festivals: Deut 16:16. Additionally: Exod 23:14-17, Positive Law 52:
Exod 23:14 - On the three annual Festival pilgrimages to the Temple.)
Under normal circumstances, the first course (division) served the first week of the year (Aviv / Nisan); the
second course the second week; then all the priest courses together in the third because it was Hag
haMatzah, and so on. 1 Chron 24:10 lists the course of Abijah (Abia) as the ̳eighth course‘ in the sequence
of the program, but it would literally fall on the ̳tenth week‘ of the first half of the year. Why, because of
allowing a week each for Hag haMatzah (Unleavened Bread – 14 th of Aviv / Nisan) and Shavuot (Pentecost –
7 weeks later). It is at this time in the tenth week, at Sivan, when Zacharias receives the prophecy of
Yochanan‘s birth. Let‘s now put the pieces together:
Month
NumberBabylonian
CalendarChronology of events Christian / Gregorian
calendar equivalent
1 Aviv (Nisan) April, May
2 Iyyar May, June
3 Sivan Late in Sivan – Elizabeth conceived Yochanan June, July
4 Tammuz July, August
5 Av August
6 Elul September
7 Tishri September, October
8 Cheshvan October, November
9 Kislev November, December
10 Tevet December, January
11 Shevat January, February
12 Adar February, MarchAt the time of Yochanan‘s birth, now nine months later (Adar – February / March), Miriam is three months
pregnant: Luke 1:35- 41 ―And the angel answered and said unto her (Miriam), The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (36) And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also
conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren ... (39) And
Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; (40) And
entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. (41) And it came to pass, that, when
Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb‖.
Six months following Elizabeth‘s conception, the angel Gabriel is sent to Miriam, the cousin of Elizabeth: