What is Abib?

Abib is also written as Aviv, Aviyv, HaAbib, HaAviv, HaAviyv, or in Hebrew HaAviv is written as הָאָבִ֔יב in Deuteronomy 16:1. Aviv is pronounced "ah-veev". In the Bible, HaAviv is the name given in the Hebrew language for the first Biblical month of every Biblical year. The first Biblical month can be declared to be expected to begin the following month when the barley crop in Israel, generally speaking, shows enough evidence to estimate correctly, with enough buffer time for error, that the barley in the walking vicinity of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) will be ready in time for Biblical harvesting requirements of the day of first fruits in Leviticus 2:14, Leviticus 23:10-11 and Deuteronomy 16:9. This doesn't necessarily mean the barley around Yerushalayim itself must be in a specific stage before the first of the year, only that by the time of the wave sheaf offering, we expect it to be at least in what's known as the "soft dough" stage (highlighted in Yellow below) by the time of the wave sheaf offering (not by the first of the year, necessarily, though it may be).

From a modern day agricultural perspective, this means it may be somewhat debatable how to take a guess at what stage the barley needs to be in around the first of the Biblical year to be sufficient for such a prediction. Some will say, it's ready now, others will say, no, it's not ready yet, we need to account for more room for potential error in case the barley specifically around Yerushalayim doesn't develop as fast as others say it could - but we conclude that the correct predictions are ones which most accurately result in the barley around Yerushalayim being at least "soft dough" by the day of the wave sheaf offering, not necessarily by the first. Without follow-up inspections done by all barley search individuals on the actual day of first-fruits near Yerushalayim to counter any claims of incorrect predictions, there is no real way for us to verify 100% for certain whose reports are correct in all cases. We just do the best we can.

It seems the determination all comes down to your personal convictions on the Scriptures, and the room for error you permit in your estimations, etc.. This is why you will find different conclusions for barley findings from different sources. Keep in mind, however, if one is familiar with agriculture and the Israel landscape and climate, etc., they may be able to make accurate predictions earlier on, if they build in enough buffer time to account for potential error, in some cases, even considering if the barley being relied upon is not directly surrounding Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). For this reason, we cannot be overly skeptical in all cases if someone seems to declare the new year will start earlier then we would think the barley is sufficiently developed to conclude yet. The month may be called "Aviv" because perhaps the majority of crops come into a certain stage of development within the month known as the "Aviv" stage, but that doesn't necessarily mean all crops must be in a certain condition by the first or for the whole month. It's subject to one's views and opinions on various factors. Just remember - HaAviv = 1st Biblical Month. Yahushua (Christ) died on the 14th day of this 1st Biblical Month known as HaAviv.

Literal Meaning of Abib

Hebrew experts may have different opinions sometimes, but our belief is an acceptable translation of HaAviv could be "The Green Grain". "Abib" would mean "Green Grain" and "Ha" would mean "The" - combined - HaAviv means "The Green Grain". It is not simply the color of the barley being green that matters, but that there is an edible grain inside of that barley also. If the barley is not sufficiently developed, then it may have nothing inside to eat, or only a milky white substance that evaporates upon cooking, leaving you with nothing you can actually eat. Why would you begin harvest when there's no food? You wouldn't. However, if you let the barley continue to grow and mature, it will become soft and doughy before it gets hard. In this soft dough stage, that's the earliest that we can be sure the barley is ready for the wave sheaf offering required in Leviticus 23:10-11.

Why Do We Use Barley At All?

All crops are important because we are supposed to give Yahweh the first fruits of all our crops (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, Leviticus 2:12-14, Leviticus 23:10, Proverbs 3:9, and many others).

Exodus 23:19 Bring the first of the first-fruits of your land into the House of Yahweh your Elohiym. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk. Exodus 34:26 Bring the first of the first-fruits of your land to the House of Yahweh your Elohiym. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

Yahweh is the King and He deserves the best, so we give him the first of all crops. Also, we are supposed to be thankful for Yahweh bringing the rain and giving us the Harvest. By giving Yahweh the first of the first-fruits in the Aviv soft-dough stage of development, this is one of many ways in which we give thanks to Yahweh!

Leviticus 23:14 And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohiym - a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The reason we talk about barley in relationship to the beginning of the year is because barley is the earliest big crop that is part of the offerings to Yahweh. In Leviticus 23:10-11 a priest is waving a sheaf of the barley before Yahweh. Until that is done, the barley harvest cannot begin and the new barley crop cannot yet be eaten. The time we put the sickle to the grain to start the Harvest is when the count begins (Deuteronomy 16:9). The time the count begins is the morrow after the weekly Sabbath (Leviticus 23:11). Therefore, the barley harvest can't start until that happens first.

Leviticus 2:14 And if you bring a grain offering of your first-fruits to Yahweh, bring for the grain offering of your first-fruits green heads of grain parched on the fire, crushed heads of new grain.

Leviticus 2:14 shows that first-fruits to Yahweh should be "Aviv". This says to bring for the first-fruits "green heads of grain parched on the fire". This phrase "green heads of grain" literally says "aviv" in the Hebrew. The roasting or parching of the grain on the fire being mentioned in Leviticus 2:14 is evidence that Aviv grain that qualifies for the first-fruits would still have more moisture content, such as would be found during the soft dough stage or within a few weeks after that probably. This same word for "parched" in Leviticus 2:14 is the same word for "parched" in Joshua 5:11 in the Hebrew, showing evidence that Joshua 5:11 on the 15th is when they ate the parched Aviv grain and started the count on the first day of the week.

How Do We Know Leviticus 23:11 Means The Weekly Sabbath?

We know the Sabbath of Leviticus 23:11 is the weekly Sabbath that occurs between the 14th and 20th of HaAviv which will always make the first day of the 50 day count start on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread based upon the following:

Leviticus 23:16 says that the morrow after the 7th Sabbath equals 50 days. The only way to get to 50 days on the day after a Sabbath is if the count always starts on the first day of the week.
Joshua 5:11 shows they ate parched grain (which is evidence it was fresh grain in the stage of Aviv growth) on the 15th of HaAviv, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Yahushua was resurrected on the 17th of HaAviv and he is the first fruits according to 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

The literal meaning of "first fruits" is shown in the Joshua 5:11 example, and that is a shadow of the spiritual meaning of "first fruits" shown by the resurrection of Yahushua also. Both of these "first fruits" examples in Scriptures are on different calendar days - one on the 15th in Joshua 5:11 and one on the 17th when Yahushua was resurrected - which shows that the day of the first fruits of the Barley Harvest when the count began was the first day of the week every year after a weekly Sabbath. Joshua 5:11 confirms that the count should always begin during the Feast of Unleavened Bread and not after.

Does The Equinox Start The Year?

No. The equinox is not a reliable method to start the year because sometimes the barley will be ready for the wave sheaf offering before the equinox. While the equinox is usually around the time of the wave sheaf offering or earlier, that doesn't mean that the first of the month will be before the equinox; so the equinox cannot be relied upon to identify the beginning of the first month. Remember, the first fruits of the barley are not offered until the Feast of Unleavened Bread which is two weeks after the month began. If you wait for the equinox in ancient Israel to start the month, that would result in you, as a farmer, losing some barley crops in some years because you would not be permitted to harvest them until after the wave sheaf offering during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Also, barley only grows for a short time. Once it's in the soft dough stage, if you wait six weeks to harvest (four weeks for another month plus two weeks to the Feast of Unleavened Bread), some crops may be lost. Even if a crop wasn't lost, it certainly would not be in the stage of Aviv mentioned in Leviticus 2:14. However, it's likely those crops would be lost.

Furthermore, Yahushua specifies in Mark 4:26-29 that the sickle was used immediately - meaning as soon as possible - when the crop became ready. So to wait would be contrary to this. It appears based upon Psalms 65:9-13 that part of Yahweh crowning the year with His goodness (verse 11) is providing the grain (verse 9).

Can Harvest Come Too Early?

No. Harvest itself is the way we know when the year starts, so to say it "came early" would be to imply there is another way to tell the year can begin other than the harvest, which is not true. The Harvest can't "come early" because Yahweh himself is the one who makes the harvest come. One example of verses supporting that view are things such as Amos 4:7. It is clear that when rain comes, Yahweh brings it, and if it is withheld, Yahweh is in control of that also. The harvest can't come unless Yahweh brought it, and it can't be delayed unless Yahweh delayed it, so the harvest is always "on time" no matter when it comes, because Yahweh is the one making it come when He wants.

Aren't Lights For Years According To Genesis 1:14?

Yes, and the lights are also for the land and the harvest as well. Genesis 1:15 teaches the light is for the land. The Hebrews and Israelites all knew the light of the sun brought the heat and led to the changes in seasons and the growth of the crops for the harvest (Genesis 8:22). In Leviticus 23, the Harvests are the Appointed Times, and in Genesis 1:14, it says that lights are for Appointed Times, so the lights are therefore for the Harvest. In the Bible there are only two seasons in the Hebrew language: winter and summer. As the light comes down on the land, it brings heat and leads to the seasons changing from winter to summer when the new year begins and thus, the Barley Harvest. Year after year, this cycle continues, and it makes it easy to count the years so that the ancient Israelites could figure out the years of tithing (Deuteronomy 26:12), the year of the land Sabbaths (Exodus 23:11, Leviticus 25:4), and the year of Jubilee also known as the year of release (Leviticus 25:10, Deuteronomy 15:9). So yes, the lights are for years. The light brings heat which changes winter to summer year, after year, after year, and we can count the years to know when the year of tithing happens, and other important years, etc.. However, the lights are also for the Appointed Times of the Harvest and First Fruits and the lights are for the land according to Genesis 1:15. There is nothing in the Bible that indicates the lights being for years has to do with a calculated equinox. It is easy to see how lights are linked to years because of the link to the land and the Appointed Times of Harvest.

Does Equinox Have A Spiritual Meaning?

No. The equinox does not have a spiritual meaning as far as we know. However, the Harvest does have a spiritual meaning. The Harvest represents the end of the age (Matthew 13:39).

Have You Heard of the Parable With The Equinox?

No. Yahushua never gave a single parable where the equinox was a teaching tool used to show it was a shadow of something spiritual. However, the Messiah did use the Harvest as an illustration, as a teaching tool, because the Harvest is an Appointed Time which is a shadow of things to come. Can you think of all the spiritual meanings of the Harvest in the parables found in the Bible? Yes - the Harvest has very deep spiritual meaning. Therefore, we cannot ignore the Harvest. The equinox, on the other hand, has no apparent spiritual meaning or significance from a Biblical perspective. This is similar to how the conjunction is when there is no light, and therefore is just a calculated time of an event used in modern day study of the moon, but because it lacks light it cannot qualify as meeting requirements of Genesis 1:14. While the equinox is a calculated time of an event that occurs near the start of the Biblical year, it is not reliable as a method to figure out which new moon is the first Biblical new moon of the Biblical new year. It is simply a calculated time of an event, but it has no bearing on how to figure out the start of a year, just like the conjunction does not determine the start of the month.

What Is The Soft Dough Stage?

On Zadok's scale, there are various stages of crop development. In these stages listed below, we have highlighted the "Soft Dough" stage 85 in yellow.

Zadok's Scale

Week 1 of Growth (Approximately)

0 - Germination
- 00 - Dry seed / kernel
- 01 - Start of imbibition (water absorption)
- 03 - Seed fully swollen
- 05 - Radicle emerged (first root emerged from seed)
- 07 - Coleoptile emerged from seed
- 09 - First green leaf just at tip of coleoptile
1 - Seedling growth / development
- 10 - First leaf through coleoptile
- 11 - First leaf at least 50% emerged

Week 2 of Growth (Approximately)

1 - Seedling growth / development
- 12 - Second leaf at least 50% emerged

Week 3 of Growth (Approximately)

1 - Seedling growth / development
- 13 - Third leaf at 50% emerged

Week 4 of Growth (Approximately)

1 - Seedling growth / development
- 14 - Fourth leaf at least 50% emerged
- 15 - Fifth leaf at least 50% emerged
- 16 - Six leaves emerged
- 17 - Seven leaves emerged
- 18 - Eight leaves emerged
- 19 - Nine or more leaves emerged
2 - Tillering
- 20 - Main stem / shoot only
- 21 - Main stem / shoot and one tiller visible
- 22 - Main stem / shoot and two tillers

Week 5 of Growth (Approximately)

2 - Tillering
- 23 - Main stem / shoot and three tillers

Week 6 of Growth (Approximately)

2 - Tillering
- 24 - Main stem / shoot and four tillers
- 25 - Main stem / shoot and five tillers
- 26 - Main stem / shoot and six tillers
- 27 - Main stem / shoot and seven tillers
- 28 - Main stem / shoot and eight tillers
- 29 - Main stem / shoot and nine or more tillers
3 - Stem elongation
- 30 - Pseudostem (youngest leaf sheath erection)
- 31 - First node detectable

Week 7 of Growth (Approximately)

3 - Stem elongation
- Still in Stage 31 - First node detectable

Week 8 of Growth (Approximately)

3 - Stem elongation
- 32 - Second node detectable
- 33 - Third node detectable
- 34 - Fourth node detectable
- 35 - Fifth node detectable
- 36 - Sixth node detectable
- 37 - Flag leaf just visible
- 39 - Flag leaf ligule / collar just visible
4 - Booting / Boot
- 41 - Flag leaf sheath extending
- 43 - Boot just visible swollen/beginning to swell
- 45 - Boot swollen

Week 9 of Growth (Approximately)

4 - Booting / Boot
- 47 - Flag leaf sheath opening
- 49 - First awns visible

Week 10 of Growth (Approximately)

5 - Ear emergence from boot / Head emergence
- 51 - Tip of ear / First spikelet of head just visible
- 53 - Ear quarter / one-fourth of head emerged
- 55 - Ear half / one-half of head emerged
- 57 - Ear three quarters / three-fourths of head emerged
- 59 - Ear / Head emergence complete
6 - Anthesis (flowering) / Flowering (not readily visible in barley)
- 61 - Beginning of anthesis / flowering (few anthers at middle of ear)
- 65 - Anthesis half-way / Half of florets have flowered (anthers occurring half way to tip and base of ear)

Week 11 of Growth (Approximately)

6 - Anthesis (flowering) / Flowering (not readily visible in barley)
- 69 - Anthesis / Flowering complete

Week 12 of Growth (Approximately)

7 - Milk development in kernel
- 71 - Kernel watery ripe (no starch)
- 73 - Early milk
- 75 - Medium milk
- 77 - Late milk
8 - Dough development in kernel
- 83 - Early dough

Week 13 of Growth (Approximately)

8 - Dough development in kernel
- 85 - Soft dough

Week 14 & 15 of Growth (Approximately)

8 - Dough development in kernel
- 87 - Hard dough, head losing green color

Week 16 & 17 of Growth (Approximately)

9 - Ripening
- 91 - Grain / kernel hard, difficult to divide

Beyond Week 17 (Approximately)

9 - Ripening
- 92 - Grain / kernel hard, not dented by thumbnail
- 93 - Grain loosening in daytime
- 94 - Over-ripe straw dead and collapsing
- 95 - Seed dormant
- 96 - Viable seed giving 50% germination
- 97 - Seed not dormant
- 98 - Secondary dormancy induced
- 99 - Secondary dormancy lost