22 Beyn Ha Arbayim as understood in New Testament times, during Christ’s walk on earth

One final consideration – Matthew knew of the meaning of between the evenings (beyn ha arbayim).

Between the evenings (beyn ha arbayim) never meant twilight. Now let us let the Word of God teach us the truth.

Read Matthew 14:15: “And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves victuals.”

Read also Mark 6:35-36. “And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came to him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.”

In Matthew 14:15 we read, “it was evening.”

In Mark 6:35 we read, "the day was now far spent." Both phrases express to us the fact that the day was coming to an end.

From these narratives, we can also understand that it was getting close to “dinnertime.” As we read, the disciples told Jesus to send the multitude away in order for them to go buy something to eat. It was evening, close to dinnertime.

From the narrative in Matthew 14:15-23, we can conclude the sun was still in the sky above the western horizon.

As the narrative explains, instead of sending the multitude away, Jesus proceeded to “work the miracle” of feeding the 5000 (plus) (perhaps as many as15,000 counting women and children Matthew 14:21) people.

Christ fed them dinner. This feeding took some time, obviously. The people had to be arranged in groups (by ranks of 100’s and 50’s Mark 6:40); there certainly was an orderly presentation. Then the food (fish and bread) was handed out and then eaten. After everyone had eaten, the fragments that remained were collected. Logically, some length of time transpired.

Read Matthew 14:15-23 to understand the narrative flow.

Now read verse 23, again. “And when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into the mountain apart to pray and when evening was come, he was there alone.”

Interesting! Read verses 15 and 23 again.

Notice! There are two different “evenings” mentioned here. Of this fact, we cannot deny.

Verse 15: “And when it was evening, his disciples came to him....”

Verse 23: “...he went up unto the mountain apart to pray, and when evening was come, he was there alone.” Mark 6:46 and 47 states: And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea and he was alone on the land.

Here we read of two evenings … of the same day.

What exactly are these two evenings?

These two evenings are - the New Testament Scriptural definition of the phrase between the evenings or as also called in Hebrew beyn ha arbayim.

The first evening occurred about an hour or two, three at the most, before the sun got near to the western horizon (as evident by all the activity performed) and second evening occurred as the sun was at or perhaps below the western horizon. You can review specifically Mark 6:35-47 and John 6:5-17 as to their narratives of this event.

Continuing the narrative in Matthew 14:24-32, Mark 6:48-52 and John 6:15-21. Jesus was in the mountain alone, praying, when the second evening came. Then by the fourth watch (equivalent to the morning hours of 4:00 am to 6:00 am) or when it was dark, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. (The rest is another story.)

Matthew certainly knew that the term between the evenings was relevant and legitimate to mean a period of time that lasts for about two to three hours prior to the commencement of the sunset/twilight and the darkness.

Evening, whether it be erev or ba erev; opsios or hespera, does not occur at the exact moment in time of the sun setting (dropping) below the western horizon. Evening does not indicate an exact moment in time activity.

Evening is not an event that commences after the sun is below the horizon, either.

The evening can be two or three hours prior to the time when the sun falls below the western horizon. The evening is evident, most certainly, before the sun sets below the horizon.

Obvious in the Matthew 14 narrative is the fact that there is no mention of sunset.

In all the gospel accounts, the evening is the dominant word in reference to the ending of a day. Rare and only in one or two NT scriptures is the phrase sunset (Greek Duo Helios) ever mentioned. But its mention has nothing to do with defining the end of the day.

The disciples and the populace of Judah understood that beyn ha arbayim involved the recognition of two evenings occurring as the (same) day was nearing an end. For the first evening to occur around 3:00 in the afternoon, that understanding was no problem for the disciples and the Jews to accept.

In Bible times, the first evening of the day occurred around 3:00 in the afternoon, mid-afternoon (called the 9th hour), which was the time of the evening prayers and the evening sacrifice. The second evening occurred as the sun set. These two evenings define beyn ha arbayim.