Beyin Ha'Arbayim- when is Pesach done?
The term בין הערביים –Beyin Ha'Arbayim is temporal word used to describe a specific time of day, and found in several places in the Bible. One of the most important places it is used is in connection to the time of the Pessach sacrifice as ascribed in Exodus 12:6. There are two problem we find with this term which had led many to be confused on when the Pessach is to be done. The first problem is that the verses which deal with the time seem to not be clear what day the Pessach is to be done, is it the 14th or the 15th. The second problem is that during the second temple, a new interpretation was created. Due to the large amounts of people showing for the feast, it was impossible to do everything at the short time ascribed (I will get to it in a moment). Because of this new interpretation many people are confused about this term.
The word is a dual form used in Semitic languages to indicate two of something. It is also used for the plural of some words that usually come in twos, but it can be used for the regular plural. The word ערב-Erev means in Modern Hebrew "evening", but in Biblical Hebrew it means Sunset. In Akkadian the word Arbu means to enter- meaning the sun enters its resting place. The word בין is a preposition that means between, hence this term means "Between the evenings".
The new interpretation used in the second temple attempted to interpret the word Erev as having the meaning of "Evening" which means that it is not the sun setting, but rather the sun moving to the west. This meant that the time was of several hours and lasts from midday to the evening. This interpretation enabled the large number of celebrates to do a very long service which was not limited to just slaughtering the animals. The Mishnah and Talmud in Pessachim 5 describes singing the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) and a complex sacrifice which needs to be manipulated in different stages. This practices created a need to expand the time frame of the sacrifice to mid day.
What are the two evenings? The answer is the two settings of light. The first setting is of the actual sun, and the second of the light. This means that the time of Bein Ha'Arbayim is modernly known as "Dusk". This is the common meaning in Semitic languages, and is the most accurate meaning based on the etymology.
The issue they were having in the second temple was that dusk lasts in the land of Israel for about 15-25min, not enough time for the whole ritual they created (see Mishnah Pesachim Chapter 5). The problem is that the Torah does not say you need to be done with everything in this time frame, only that you need to start. In a time when people slaughtered for them self's, this could have been done in minutes. The Torah does not say anywhere that a Kohen has to do it, nor does it say that they (i.e the Kohanim) are to collect the blood, or even throw it. Chronicles 30:16 is an interesting case where we hear of a presumed long ceremony which includes more sacrifices than ascribed in the Torah. It is not unusual for Chronicles to express a common practice of its time and try to harmonize Biblical texts, and throwing back on times of the past. Chronicles is trying to harmonize the description of animals in Exodus 12 and Deuteronomy 15:2 which adds cattle, and creates a complex service to accommodate a contradiction in the text by introducing "Kodashim" sacrifices(to expand on this see the work of Sara Japhet and commentators). What we actually learn form this is that in early 2nd Temple they had already stumbled a problem in the commandment, and they shifted to a different practice which was expanded in later rabbinic rulings.
The other part to the confusion is what part of the day does the time frame belong to? Exodus 12:18 clearly connects the feast of unleavened bread to the doing of the Pessach, but the text also says the it is the 14th in the evening. If we remember that the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy have a "day starts at sunset" concept, the confusion becomes evident: if it is the 14th in the evening, then it is the end of the 13th day after sunset.
Some have tried to explain that the day begins at sunrise based on Leviticus and Genesis (De Vaux, Milgrom and more), and claim that the day has not ended and it is still the 14th. These arguments ignore the difference between Leviticus, which is temple centered where services are only during the day, and the rest of the bible which is not (the Genesis argument is to long to explain here, and we might deal with it at another time). On top of this, the Pessach is unusual because it is an individuals responsibility and is done by the owner regardless of the Kohanim, and therefor is actually different than usual temple practice. It also is done at a time which is when usual temple services are not done.
The reason the text uses such difficult language is because of the ambiguity of this time of day. On the one hand it is still light time, but on the other the sun is not out. It is also the split second change between one part of time and the other, leaving it in a problematic state in time recognition. To avoid any confusion the text created a link in chapter 12 to the feast of unleavened bread which is on the 15th, making it clear that this time is connected to the next day, and is to be done at the end of the 14th leading to the 15th day. One can notice a slight roughness in the transition between verses 14 and 15 where the text shifts from the Pessach to the feast. The subject of the whole chapter is the Pessach, and this section from v.15 to 20 is "out of place". However everything is by design, and the text adds a later subject here to connect the two parts of the feast, and by doing that also gives us clarification in regards to the when of the first part.
In conclusion, the term is used for indicating a time that belongs to the end of light time of the day when the sun sets, but there is still light. This time of day is in limbo and creates a difficult time reference which has created confusion. It is the time between two times, and exists both in the previose day and the next.
