Philo on Pentecost

Two passages from Philo on Pentecost are often quoted as evidence that the timing of Pentecost on the Lunar Sabbath Calendar is correct. The two passages can be read from two different perspectives and subsequently interpreted two different ways.

Philo and the Seventh Festival

Philo writes in The Special Laws (“The Seventh Festival”):

The solemn assembly on the occasion of the festival of the sheaf having such great privileges, is the prelude to another festival of still greater importance; for from this day the fiftieth day is reckoned, making up the sacred number of seven sevens, with the addition of a unit as a seal to the whole; and this festival, being that of the first fruits of the corn, has derived its name of Pentecost from the number of fifty...

Read from a traditional perspective, Philo seems to be saying that the timing of Pentecost is reckoned from the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering. Note the following remarks:

1. The Wave Sheaf Offering (i.e. the “festival of the sheaf”) is called the “solemn assembly”
2. The Wave Sheaf Offering is the prelude to another festival of still greater importance
3. From the day of the Wave Sheaf offering the fiftieth day is reckoned
4. The fifty days make up the sacred number of seven sevens plus one day (i.e. seven weeks plus one day are included in the count of fifty)
5. The latter festival derives its name “Pentecost” from the number of fifty

However, it is also possible that Philo is referring to three different events: the Wave Sheaf Offering, a “festival of greater importance” that occurs after the seven weeks, and then Pentecost which is reckoned after counting fifty additional days. Here are the remarks from this second perspective:

1. The Wave Sheaf Offering (i.e. the “festival of the sheaf”) is called the “solemn assembly”
2. The Wave Sheaf Offering is the prelude to another “festival of still greater importance”
3. The fifty days to Pentecost are reckoned from the “festival of still greater importance”
4. The festival occurring after the count of fifty days from the "festival of still greater importance" is Pentecost

The difficulty in accepting the second point of view comes from the phrase “for from this day the fiftieth day is reckoned, making up the sacred number of seven sevens”. Philo was enamored with the number seven, reserving forty of the seventy-two sections of his work Opificio Mundi to discussing the many aspects of the number seven. It is within this context that this passage in The Special Laws must be interpreted. The words “making up the sacred number of seven sevens” indicates that the fifty days counted “from this day” (the Festival of the Sheaf) are made up of seven sevens plus one day. The point that he is trying to make is that Pentecost is a festival of “greater importance” than the Wave Sheaf Offering because the timing is determined by the “sacred number” of seven sevens plus one.

The second point of view cannot explain how the count of fifty is made up of seven sevens plus one.

Philo and the Assembly after Seven Weeks

Philo also mentions Pentecost in his writing “On a Contemplative Life”, saying:

In the first place, these men assemble at the end of seven weeks, venerating not only the simple week of seven days, but also its multiplied power, for they know it to be pure and always virgin; and it is a prelude and a kind of forefeast of the greatest feast, which is assigned to the number fifty...

Again, this paragraph can be read in two different ways. From a traditional perspective, we observe that:

1. There is an assembly after seven weeks
2. They venerate the week of seven days (by observing the Sabbath)
3. They also venerate the day of the Sabbath's “multiplied power”, i.e. seven days times seven weeks
4. It (the Sabbath) is a “prelude” and a kind of “forefeast” of the “greatest” feast (Pentecost)
5. Pentecost is assigned the number fifty

However the paragraph can also be read as follows:

1. There is an assembly after seven weeks
2. They venerate the week of seven days (by observing the Sabbath)
3. They also venerate the day of the Sabbath's “multiplied power”, i.e. seven days times seven weeks
4. The assembly at the end of the seven weeks (an unnamed feast is a “prelude” and a kind of “forefeast” of the “greatest” feast (Pentecost)
5. Pentecost is assigned the number fifty

In other words, the assembly at the end of seven weeks is not Pentecost but a different assembly that is held between the count of seven weeks and the count of fifty days.

Unfortunately, neither the Bible nor Lunar Sabbath doctrine mentions what this "assembly" after seven weeks is, or how to observe it. If Philo does indeed call it a "festival of greater importance" than the Wave Sheaf Offering, and that it is "venerated", then one would think that it is important enough to assemble on that day for some reason. However the Bible makes no mention of any festival to be observed between the Wave Sheaf Offering and Pentecost, such as in the list of convocations in Leviticus 23. So the second interpretation of Philo's writing is not supported by any Biblical evidence.

See Also

Philo

Philo's View of God