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Bible Calendar & Timeline
Learn how calendar dates and year counts work, with clear assumptions beside every result.
Gregorian ↔ Hebrew date comparison
Start with a Hebrew date
Month names come from the calendar. A leap year offers Adar I and Adar II separately. Reverse lookup returns the daytime civil date, with the Hebrew date beginning the prior evening.
Festival starting dates
| Festival | Hebrew date | Daytime civil date | Begins the evening of |
|---|
This is a starting-date reference, not a full observance schedule. Passover is seven days in Israel and eight outside; Shavuot is one day in Israel and two outside. Sukkot lasts seven days, followed by separate observances. Scripture references for study: Leviticus 23; Exodus 12. The modern name Rosh Hashanah is associated with the first-of-seventh-month observance.
BCE / CE year interval
Compare the same point within two years. BCE and CE have no year zero: 1 BCE to 1 CE is one year. Unknown months or days can change an exact elapsed age.
Build a study timeline
Enter one event per line: year | BCE or CE | event label. Use dates from your own source. This tool sorts your chosen dates and shows year gaps; it does not endorse a chronology.
Calendar lessons & questions
Why do festival dates move on my calendar?
The Hebrew calendar uses lunar months and adds a leap month in some years to stay aligned with seasons. The Gregorian calendar tracks a solar year, so matching dates shift from year to year.
Why do Nisan and Tishri both matter?
Month numbering in biblical passages begins with the spring month associated with Nisan. The modern Hebrew year number changes at Tishri in autumn. Different starting points explain why “first month” and “new year” need context.
Can this reconstruct the calendar of a scroll?
No. Use the specific manuscript and scholarly edition. A 364-day schematic year, for example, is a different model from the modern fixed Hebrew calendar. Adding 364 days to a date does not establish a historical feast date.
How is a year gap calculated?
Within one era, subtract the years and take the absolute value. Across BCE and CE, add the two year numbers and subtract one. Thus 10 BCE to 10 CE is 19 years.
What should I do first?
- Identify which calendar your source uses.
- Record the year and month assumptions.
- Use date comparison for modern Hebrew dates.
- Check festival details with an observance calendar for your location.
- Keep disputed ancient dates labeled as estimates in your timeline.
Sources
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