📖 Foundation: Creation Pattern
Genesis 1:5
"And the evening and the morning were the first day."
✅ Evening comes FIRST, then morning. This sets the pattern for all biblical days.
Genesis 1:8
"And the evening and the morning were the second day."
✅ Pattern repeated - evening always precedes morning.
Genesis 1:13
"And the evening and the morning were the third day."
Genesis 1:19
"And the evening and the morning were the fourth day."
Genesis 1:23
"And the evening and the morning were the fifth day."
Genesis 1:31
"And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
Genesis 2:2-3
"And on the seventh day Elohim ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day..."
✅ The seventh day follows the same evening-to-evening pattern.
⚖️ Direct Commands: Evening to Evening
Leviticus 23:32
"It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath."
⚠️ EXPLICIT COMMAND: From evening to evening! This destroys dawn-to-dawn doctrine.
Exodus 12:18
"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even."
✅ Feast days also begin and end at evening.
Deuteronomy 16:6
"But at the place which Yahuah thy Elohim shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun..."
✅ "At even" is defined as "going down of the sun" - sunset!
🌅 Historical Practice: Evening Start
Nehemiah 13:19
"And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut..."
⚠️ CRITICAL: Sabbath began when it "began to be dark" - at sunset, not dawn!
2 Chronicles 18:34
"And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the time of the sun going down he died."
✅ Evening = sun going down
Joshua 8:29
"And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down..."
✅ New day began at sundown - body had to be removed before the new day.
Joshua 10:26-27
"And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded..."
Judges 14:12,18
"And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast... And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down..."
✅ They had to answer before sunset because that's when the seventh day ended!
🕊️ New Testament Confirmation
Mark 1:32
"And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased..."
✅ They waited until sunset (Sabbath ended) to bring the sick for healing.
Luke 4:40
"Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him..."
✅ Parallel account - confirms Sabbath ended at sunset.
Mark 15:42
"And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath..."
✅ Evening marked the beginning of preparation day.
Luke 23:54
"And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on."
✅ Sabbath was approaching as evening came.
John 19:31
"The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day..."
✅ Bodies had to be removed before sunset when Sabbath began.
📜 Ceremonial Laws: Evening Timing
Leviticus 11:24-25
"And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even."
✅ Uncleanness lasted until evening - the start of a new day.
Leviticus 11:27-28
"And whatsoever goeth upon his paws... he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even."
Leviticus 11:31-32
"These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even."
Leviticus 11:39-40
"And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even."
Leviticus 14:46
"Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even."
Leviticus 15:5-11
"And whosoever toucheth his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even."
✅ This phrase appears 7 times in this chapter alone!
Leviticus 15:16-23
"...shall be unclean until the even."
✅ Repeated 8 more times in these verses!
Leviticus 17:15
"And every soul that eateth that which died of itself... he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean."
Leviticus 22:6
"The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water."
Numbers 19:7-22
"...shall be unclean until the even."
✅ This phrase appears 8 times in this chapter!
Deuteronomy 23:11
"But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again."
✅ Evening = sun going down = new day begins
⏰ Daily Sacrifice Times
Exodus 29:39,41
"The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even... And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even..."
✅ Evening sacrifice marked the day's transition.
Numbers 28:4,8
"The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even... And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even..."
2 Chronicles 13:11
"And they burn unto Yahuah every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices..."
Ezra 3:3
"...and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto Yahuah, even burnt offerings morning and evening."
Daniel 8:14,26
"And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days [evening-mornings in Hebrew]... And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true..."
✅ Hebrew: "erev boker" - evening-morning, maintaining Creation order.
🌙 Additional Evening References
Psalm 55:17
"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray..."
✅ Evening listed first in the day's prayer times.
Psalm 104:23
"Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening."
✅ Work day ends at evening.
Proverbs 7:9
"In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:"
✅ Evening leads into night, not morning.
Jeremiah 6:4
"...Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out."
✅ Evening shadows mark day's end.
Zechariah 14:7
"But it shall be one day which shall be known to Yahuah, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light."
Acts 28:23
"And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of Yahuah, persuading them concerning Yahusha, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening."
✅ Day's activities: morning to evening.
⚠️ Not ONE Verse Supports Dawn-to-Dawn!
Search the entire Bible - you will NOT find:
- ❌ "From dawn unto dawn"
- ❌ "From morning unto morning"
- ❌ "The morning and the evening were the first day"
- ❌ "At sunrise the Sabbath begins"
- ❌ "When dawn breaks, keep the Sabbath"
The dawn-to-dawn doctrine is completely absent from Scripture!