Counting the Omer Began at Harvest; Once Shabbat Was Instituted, It Started Sunday

Following the festival of Matzot,^[1] once harvest season begins, Deuteronomy commands counting seven weeks, after which the Israelites are to hold a harvest festival called Shavuot, “weeks,” ostensibly to thank YHWH for the bounty.

^{דברים טז:ט} שִׁבְעָה שָׁבֻעֹת תִּסְפָּר לָךְ מֵהָחֵל חֶרְמֵשׁ בַּקָּמָה תָּחֵל לִסְפֹּר שִׁבְעָה שָׁבֻעוֹת. ^טז:י וְעָשִׂיתָ חַג שָׁבֻעוֹת לַי־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ...

^{Deut 16:9} You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. ^16:10 Then you shall keep the Festival of Weeks to YHWH your God…

Like the other festivals in this chapter (Matzot and Sukkot), no date for Shavuot is given because it is determined only seasonally. Leviticus offers a similar law.

The Harvest Offerings in Leviticus

Right after the festival of Matzot, the Israelites are commanded to present the first sheaf (עֹמֶר, ʿomer) as a wave offering to YHWH after they have begun the harvest:

^{ויקרא כג:ט} וַיְדַבֵּר יְ־הוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר. ^כג:י דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם וּקְצַרְתֶּם אֶת קְצִירָהּ וַהֲבֵאתֶם אֶת עֹמֶר רֵאשִׁית קְצִירְכֶם אֶל הַכֹּהֵן. ^כג:יא וְהֵנִיף אֶת הָעֹמֶר לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה לִרְצֹנְכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת יְנִיפֶנּוּ הַכֹּהֵן.

^{Lev 23:9} YHWH spoke to Moses, ^23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ^23:11 He shall raise the sheaf before YHWH, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the Shabbat, the priest shall raise it.^[2]

The meaning of מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת “on the day after the Shabbat” is unclear. Considering that the sheaf offering follows Matzot (vv. 6–8), traditional interpretations connect this phrase with that festival. Different Jewish groups debate whether “shabbat” means the Sabbath or a festival day,^[3] and whether it means during or after the festival, leading to four positions:

1. The day following the first festival day of Matzot (Pharisees, rabbis)
2. The day following the last festival day of Matzot (Peshitta, Beta Israel)
3. The Sunday of Matzot (Karaites)
4. The Sunday after Matzot (Qumran, Samaritans, Sadducees?)

The passage continues with a requirement to count from the day of the sheaf offering for seven weeks/fifty days, when a grain offering is legislated:

^{ויקרא כג:טו} וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. ^כג:טז עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם מִנְחָה חֲדָשָׁה לַי־הוָה.

^{Lev 23:15} And from the day after the Shabbat, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count seven full weeks. ^23:16 You shall count until the day after the seventh Shabbat, fifty days then you shall bring an offering of new grain to YHWH.

After describing the nature of the offering and some accompanying offerings in detail (vv. 17–20),^[4] we are told that the fiftieth day is a festival:

^{ויקרא כג:כא} וּקְרָאתֶם בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ יִהְיֶה לָכֶם כָּל מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ חֻקַּת עוֹלָם בְּכָל מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם.

^{Lev 23:21} On that same day you shall hold a celebration; it shall be a sacred occasion for you; you shall not work at your occupations. This is a law for all time in all your settlements, throughout the ages.

The timing of the festival is determined by when the first sheaf is offered.

Shavuot Doesn’t Have a Set Date

The term “Shabbat” appears in v. 15 without reference to the Festival of Matzot and is tied to the cutting of the first grain. Furthermore, it is in its own section, sharply delineated by the intervening heading “when the Israelites enter the land.” There is no set date for the festival, since the onset of the harvest changes from year to year. The text suggests that the sheaf offering is to be brought on the first Sunday following the beginning of the harvest, whenever that occurs.^[5]

This law in Leviticus dates its festival the same time as Deuteronomy’s Shavuot. The parallel passage in Numbers, also lacking a date for Shavuot:

^{במדבר כח:כו} וּבְיוֹם הַבִּכּוּרִים בְּהַקְרִיבְכֶם מִנְחָה חֲדָשָׁה לַי־הוָה בְּשָׁבֻעֹתֵיכֶם מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ יִהְיֶה לָכֶם כָּל מְלֶאכֶת עֲבֹדָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ.

^{Num 28:26} On the day of the first fruits, your Feast of Weeks, when you bring an offering of new grain to YHWH, you shall observe a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.

In Number’s P text, the first cut, and thus the festival, need not be on a Sunday. This contrasts with the legislation of Leviticus, from the Holiness Collection (H), that it is on Sunday. Why does Leviticus limit this to a specific day of the week? Nowhere else do we find the grounding of any ritual in a specific day of the week (aside, of course, from Shabbat observance).

Turning an Individual Harvest Offering into a National Celebration

Building on the insights of H.L. Ginsberg and Jacob Milgrom (see appendix), I suggest that the original form of the law in Leviticus obligated each farmer to present the first sheaf of his reaping to the priest, to count seven weeks, and to then present the two baked loves as bikkurim (first produce) to the priest:

^{ויקרא כג:י} ...וּקְצַרְתֶּם אֶת קְצִירָהּ וַהֲבֵאתֶם אֶת עֹמֶר רֵאשִׁית קְצִירְכֶם אֶל הַכֹּהֵן. ^כג:יא וְהֵנִיף אֶת הָעֹמֶר לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה לִרְצֹנְכֶם [מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת] יְנִיפֶנּוּ הַכֹּהֵן.

^{Lev 23:10} … you shall reap its harvest and bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ^23:11 He shall raise the sheaf before YHWH; that you may find acceptance [on the day after the Shabbat] the priest shall raise it.

^{ויקרא כג:טו} וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם [מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת] מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. ^כג:טז [עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם] וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם מִנְחָה חֲדָשָׁה לַי־הוָה.

^{Lev 23:15} And you shall count [from the day after the Shabbat] from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering seven full weeks. ^23:16 [You shall count until the day after the seventh Shabbat, fifty days] then you shall bring an offering of new grain to YHWH.

The original text—without the bolded words in brackets— spoke of counting seven weeks (=seven-day units), namely forty-nine days. The following day, day fifty, when the new grain offering was presented, was not part of the count, again paralleling Deuteronomy 16:9 (quoted above), which also indicates a counting of seven seven-day units alone followed by the festival of Shavuot.^[6] This process was not commemorated in a public ceremony or national festival. Its timing diverged year to year, and in any given year from farmer to farmer.

Individual First Fruits and Shemitah

This ritual was thus similar to the individual farmer’s presentation of the first-produce in Deuteronomy, which makes no mention of the national holiday of Shavuot:

^{דברים כו:א} וְהָיָה כִּי תָבוֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה וִירִשְׁתָּהּ וְיָשַׁבְתָּ בָּהּ. ^כו:ב וְלָקַחְתָּ מֵרֵאשִׁית כָּל פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר תָּבִיא מֵאַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ וְשַׂמְתָּ בַטֶּנֶא וְהָלַכְתָּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם.

^{Deut 26:1} When you enter the land that YHWH your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, ^26:2 you shall take some of every first produce of the soil, which you harvest from the land that YHWH your God is giving you, put it in a basket and go to the place where YHWH your God will choose to establish His name.

Even though Shavuot is mentioned earlier in Deuteronomy 16, this passage does not make the connection between this ritual and that festival, as Numbers 28:26 (quoted above) does.^[7]

Other biblical laws allowed calendrical flexibility. For example, as argued by Julius Wellhausen, the law which requires that fields be left for the poor and the wild animals to feed on every seventh year (Exodus 23:10–11) was likely distinct for each farmer and each field—that way every year the poor would have access to several fields. Only in Leviticus (25:1–7) is the counting toward seven clearly made uniform throughout the country.^[8]

Nationalizing the Offering

The original form of law in Leviticus 23—the presentation of the sheaf, and the start of the countdown toward the harvest festival—was not defined as taking place on a Sunday. The editor of Leviticus 23 used an early law as the basis for his new construction of Shavuot as one of the national מקראי קודש “sacred occasions,” when communal animal sacrifices were to be offered at the Temple, and laborious work is prohibited nation-wide (cf. Num 28:26–31).^[9]

A common starting point for the presentation of the first sheaf and the initiation of the counting of weeks was a prerequisite for making the festival communal. Differences in agricultural conditions from year to year made a calendrical date impractical, but they could establish a fixed day in whatever turned out to be the first week of the harvest that year, thus allowing for a nationally synchronized offering. Doing so, however, created the tension in the text between “the day of the first cut,” which implies whenever the field is ready, and “the day after Shabbat.”

But why was the day after Shabbat chosen as the common starting point rather than another day of the week?

The Shabbat Week Replaces the Seven-Day Unit

The significance in choosing specifically “the day after Shabbat” of all days to start the count, is connected to the Holiness editors’ new introduction of the concept of the Sabbath week. This appears with the use of the word shabbat in Leviticus 23:15b to designate “week” (“seven complete Sabbaths” must refer to weeks), which is unusual, found elsewhere only in Leviticus 25:8 (also an H text). The original form of the verse prescribed the counting of שבע שבעת, “seven weeks,” like Deuteronomy 16:9, rather than שבע שבתת, seven Shabbats; the difference between “week” (שבע) and “sabbath” (שבת) is a single consonant.

The early form of the ritual did not have a conception of the Sabbath-week, beginning on Sunday and ending on the Shabbat. In fact, it did not have any conception of “the week” in terms of a commonly recognized unit of time within which the public organized its life-activities. The month and the year are grounded in widely observed natural phenomena, but the week is not. Rather, the biblical shavua was an ad-hoc unit of seven days.^[10]

Seven-Day Unit, Not a Week

Most biblical mentions of a seven-day unit are oblivious to the concept of the week culminating in Shabbat. For example, the time of impurity a mother goes through after the birth of a boy שִׁבְעַת יָמִים “seven days” (Lev 12:2) and a girl שְׁבֻעַיִם “two weeks” (Lev 12:5). The latter refers to two units of seven days, beginning with the birth of the child and ending fourteen days later, and has nothing to do with the week as determined by the Shabbat.

Similarly, the book of Joshua relates that the Israelites and priests encircled the city of Jericho together with the ark for six days, and encircled it seven times on the seventh day, when the shofars were blown and the walls collapsed. Both the Sabbath-day and its derivative, the week, are ignored or unknown here.^[11] Shabbat did not take on paramount legal and theological significance, or command broad social recognition, until relatively late times.^[12]

In keeping with this, the original, pre-H form of the grain-harvest ritual of Leviticus 23, beginning with the cutting of the first sheaf, initiated a counting of seven seven-day units, during which time the farmers continued their harvesting work without any interruption until it culminated in the presentation of the “new offering” of oven-baked bread.

Theoretically, the cutting of the first sheaf, and the oven-baking of the two loaves could fall on a Shabbat; the original law was unmindful of any Shabbat prohibition throughout this period. The same situation is reflected in the Deuteronomic law, which similarly lacks reference to the Shabbat-week.^[13]

Shabbat in the Holiness Collection

Shabbat observance, however, is a central tenet of the Holiness Collection (Leviticus 19:3, 30; 24:8; 26:2),^[14] and of the H stratum of the Pentateuch more broadly.^[15] The H editor’s supplementation of the words “the day after the Shabbat” and his alteration of the words שבע שבעת in verse 15b to שבע שבתת, came to rectify the potential problem of the first harvest^[16] and the presentation of the two freshly baked loaves falling on Shabbat.^[17]

In its new form, the passage insists that the seven-day units between the two grain offerings coincide with the Shabbat-week, indicating that neither the first cut and its sheaf offering nor the new offering, now fifty days later, could be brought on a Shabbat-day.^[18] Similarly, each week of harvest work in between these points is interrupted by the resting on Shabbat.

Adding Shabbat to the Festivals

The editorial concern of H writers to highlight the importance of Shabbat rest is similarly visible in other passages. The opening section of Leviticus 23 highlights the importance of Shabbat in H, as it begins by presenting the seventh day of the workweek as the Shabbat, and putting it first in a list about festivals. As many scholars have observed, however, Shabbat is secondary here,^[19] as is clear from the resumptive repetition (Wiederaufnahme) between verses 2 and 4 (bolded words):

^{ויקרא כג:א} וַיְדַבֵּר יְ־הוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר. ^כג:ב דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם מוֹעֲדֵי יְ־הוָה אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֵלֶּה הֵם מוֹעֲדָי.

^{Lev 23:1} YHWH spoke to Moses, saying: ^23:2 Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are My fixed times, the fixed times of YHWH, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions.

^כג:ג שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ כָּל מְלָאכָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ שַׁבָּת הִוא לַי־הוָה בְּכֹל מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם.

^23:3 On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, a sacred occasion. You shall do no work; it shall be a sabbath of YHWH throughout your settlements.^[20]

^כג:ד אֵלֶּה מוֹעֲדֵי יְ־הוָה מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם בְּמוֹעֲדָם.

^23:4 These are the fixed times of the sacred occasions, which you shall proclaim each at its appointed time:

Shabbat is not really a festival: It occurs automatically, recurrently, and frequently; it is not an annual, one-time calendar-event, that needs special proclamation like the festivals. Indeed, Shabbat and מועד, “appointed time,” are consistently distinguished in the Hebrew Bible.[21]

Notably, the redactor did not turn Shabbat into a festival in the ending of the chapter, where it appears among the sacrificial occasions not listed in the chapter:

^{ויקרא כג:לז} אֵלֶּה מוֹעֲדֵי יְ־הוָה אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ לְהַקְרִיב אִשֶּׁה לַי־הוָה עֹלָה וּמִנְחָה זֶבַח וּנְסָכִים דְּבַר יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ. ^כג:לח מִלְּבַד שַׁבְּתֹת יְּ־הוָה וּמִלְּבַד מַתְּנוֹתֵיכֶם וּמִלְּבַד כָּל נִדְרֵיכֶם וּמִלְּבַד כָּל נִדְבוֹתֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר תִּתְּנוּ לַי־הוָה.

^{Lev 23:37} Those are the set times of YHWH that you shall celebrate as sacred occasions, bringing offerings by fire to YHWH—burnt offerings, meal offerings, sacrifices, and libations, on each day what is proper to it—^23:38 apart from the Shabbats of YHWH, and apart from your gifts and from all your votive offerings and from all your freewill offerings that you give to YHWH.

The Shabbat sacrifices here have not been included in the chapter’s list of sacrifices offered on the “festival days” because they are not deemed to belong to this category of occasions, contradicting the addition of vv. 3–4 at the opening of the chapter.^[22]

Israel Knohl of Hebrew University argues that the purpose of adding Shabbat to the festivals in this chapter was to introduce the theme of the work-prohibition of Shabbat into an earlier Priestly context in which it did not pertain.^[23] Leviticus 23:38, which recognizes Shabbat as a day with its own special sacrifices, but not a day when labor was prohibited, is apparently reflective of the earlier context. The idea of Shabbat as a day when labor was prohibited was added by the H-stratum editor.^[24]

Keeping Shabbat Even When Building the Tabernacle or Harvesting Grain

The same concern of H-stratum editors to introduce the work-prohibition of the Sabbath day in an earlier text where it was not recognized is found the section about Sabbath observance in Exodus 31. These editors introduce the Shabbat immediately after the instructions to build the Tabernacle:

^{שמות לא:יב} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר. ^לא:יג וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אַךְ אֶת שַׁבְּתֹתַי תִּשְׁמֹרוּ כִּי אוֹת הִוא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי יְ־הוָה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם. ^לא:יד וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת כִּי קֹדֶשׁ הִוא לָכֶם...

^{Exod 31:12} And YHWH said to Moses: ^31:13 Speak to the Israelite people and say: Nevertheless, you must keep My Shabbats, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I YHWH have consecrated you. ^31:14 You shall keep the Shabbat, for it is holy for you….

A brief iteration of the law appears again, before the Tabernacle and its accoutrements are put together:

^{שמות לה:א} וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה אֶת כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְ־הוָה לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם. ^לה:ב שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יִהְיֶה לָכֶם קֹדֶשׁ שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן לַיהוָה כָּל הָעֹשֶׂה בוֹ מְלָאכָה יוּמָת. ^לה:ג לֹא תְבַעֲרוּ אֵשׁ בְּכֹל מֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת.

^{Exod 35:1} Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that YHWH has commanded you to do: ^35:2 On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Shabbat of complete rest, holy to YHWH; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. ^35:3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the sabbath day.

The Holiness editors were distressed that the Priestly texts concerning the construction of the Tabernacle could be read as implying that construction work on the Tabernacle continued on Shabbat. These editors thus added these two brief sections to show that the observance of the Shabbat was paramount.^[25]

Not “Shavuot”

The earlier form of the Priestly text, which stands behind the revised Holiness version of Leviticus 23, assumed that work in the fields would cease only when the counting of seven weeks was over. The new form of the text, therefore, pointed directly to the Shabbat law that they introduced in the opening verses, ensuring the cessation of all work on the Shabbats which fall out during the harvest.

It is striking, though, that the name Shavuot does not appear in Leviticus 23 even though it appears elsewhere in its likely sources. The chapter jettisoned the festival-name Shavuot “Weeks,” since the name could potentially undermine the concern to highlight the centrality of Shabbat by emphasizing the notion that weeks need not be determined by Shabbat. Rather than rename the festival “Shabbatot,” the editors simply left it unnamed.^[26]

Appendix

The Redaction of Leviticus 23 to Include the Day After Shabbat

The argument that the first sheaf rule in Leviticus 23 is a redactional addition goes back to H. L. Ginsberg (1903–1990) of the Jewish Theological Seminary, who noted that our pericope uses the word שַׁבָּת “Shabbat” in two different senses:^[27]

1. Shabbat Day—The phrase מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת “after the Shabbat” appears three times (vv. 11, 15, 16), explaining when to offer the first sheaf, when to start counting, and when to celebrate the festival. In the first two uses, it likely refers to the day after the Sabbath, i.e., Sunday. (This may also be the meaning of the third.)^[28]
2. Shabbat Week—In the phrase שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת “full Shabbats,” the word shabbat is a synonym for “week,” not just in the sense of seven days, but in the sense of Sunday through Saturday, a proper week. (The phrase “after the seventh shabbat,” the third usage of מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת, could also mean week.)

Ginsberg argues that the use of the same term with two different meanings in a single context is unnatural. This suggests that the phrase “the day after the Shabbat,” must be a secondary addition:

^{ויקרא כג:י} ...וּקְצַרְתֶּם אֶת קְצִירָהּ וַהֲבֵאתֶם אֶת עֹמֶר רֵאשִׁית קְצִירְכֶם אֶל הַכֹּהֵן. ^כג:יא וְהֵנִיף אֶת הָעֹמֶר לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה לִרְצֹנְכֶם [מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת] יְנִיפֶנּוּ הַכֹּהֵן.

^{Lev 23:10} … you shall reap its harvest and bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ^23:11 He shall raise the sheaf before YHWH; that you may find acceptance [on the day after the Shabbat] the priest shall raise it.

^{ויקרא כג:טו} וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם [מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת] מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. ^כג:טז עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּסְפְּרוּ חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם...

^{Lev 23:15} And you shall count [from the day after the Shabbat] from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, seven full weeks. ^23:16 You shall count until the day after the seventh week, fifty days… ^[29]

Even so, Ginsberg argued that the original formulation of the text already implied that the counting toward Shavuot would begin on a Sunday, since the law insists on a counting of seven full שבתות, that is, “Shabbat-weeks,” which begin on Sunday, and end on Saturday. The scribe who added the glosses simply wished to make this implied requirement explicit from the outset.

Yet this is a weak explanation, given that the glosses would be unnecessary. Moreover, Ginsberg’s reconstruction begs the question of why the law wanted the people to count Shabbat-weeks in the first place, as opposed to just seven regular weeks (i.e., seven-day periods) as we find in Deuteronomy, on whatever day the harvest starts.

From Individual to Regional to National: Jacob Milgrom

Jacob Milgrom (1923–2010) proposed a different unfolding process for the Leviticus 23:9–21:

1. Individual—Originally, the law required each individual farmer to offer first sheaf, count fifty days, and then bring the “new offering” to his local priest at the neighborhood “high-place” (bamah). In this early stage, the text says nothing about Shabbat or counting weeks:

^{ויקרא כג:טו} וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם [מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת] מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה [שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה. ^כג:טז עַד מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת הַשְּׁבִיעִת תִּסְפְּרוּ] חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם...

^{Lev 23:15} And you shall count [from the day after the Shabbat] from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering [seven full weeks. ^23:16 You shall count until the day after the seventh week,] fifty days…

Different farmers would present their first sheaf offerings and the “new offering” fifty days later at different times, depending on when they started harvesting.^[30]

2. Regional—The stipulation that both offerings must be brought on a Sunday was added to have the farmers of broad agricultural regions bring their private grain offerings to a common, regional temple at the same time so that they might celebrate in unison. The Sunday celebrations would vary in date from region to region, but the Sunday requirement would allow for a variety of “mini-festivals” throughout Israel.^[31]

3. National—With the centralization of worship at a single national Temple in Jerusalem, the offerings of the first sheaf and the two loaves were now conceived of as single, communal offering, and the day of the presentation of the two loaves became identified as a national festival on which laborious work was to be prohibited “in all your dwelling places.”^[32]

Milgrom’s assertion that an earlier form of our text spoke of the required offerings of private farmers to the priests unconnected to any national holiday is logical, and the point was adopted in my reconstruction above. While there is little evidence for Milgrom’s middle stage of regional festivals, the transition of the farmer’s private offering and counting into a joint, communal counting and ritual procedure were likely part and parcel of the transition to a national holiday.

Nevertheless, given the parallel text of Deuteronomy’s seven-week count, Milgrom’s suggestion that the earliest counting was one of fifty days, with no connection to the seven-day unit, is unlikely. It would be overly fortuitous that the fifty-day counting translates so nicely into the highly symmetric unit of seven times seven (plus one), which is why I suggested above that the text started with counting seven weeks and that the fiftieth day was added to ensure that the festival would not fall out on Shabbat.