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Since creation, a day began when the preceding day closed, at sunset. The dark part of the day came first, then the light part. We read in the book of Genesis, “The evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5). Literally this verse means “evening was, morning was, day one.” This is repeated five more times in the first chapter of Genesis (vs. 8, 13, 19, 23, 31).

Also, the yearly feasts or sabbaths were kept “from even to even” (Leviticus 23:32). And the same truth that evening is sunset is presented in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses wrote, that “In the evening, at the going down of the sun …” (Deuteronomy 16:6).

In the Hebrew language, the word for “even” is “‘ereb”, or “עָרַב”, which by definition means “evening, night, sunset.” More information on that can be found by referring to the Strong’s Concordance, and seeing that reference to “even” as being from עָרַב (H6150):
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6153&t=KJV

Also, we read that the prophet Nehemiah after the Babylonian captivity ruled that the gates of the city were to be shut some time before the actual beginning of the Sabbath. In so doing, he purposed to protect the “fringes” of the sacred hours of God’s holy Sabbath. For it is a desecration of the spirit of the Sabbath to carry on secular pursuits to the last permissible moment. He wrote, “…So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath…” (Nehemiah 13:15-19).

Likewise, in the New Testament, the weekly Sabbath was kept when the sun becomes even with the horizon, which we call sunset. The apostle Mark documented, “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed” (ch. 1:32).

So, it is clear from both the Old and New Testaments that the Sabbath hours begin when the sun goes down on Friday evening.

In His service,

BibleAsk Team