The Triennial Cycle Connection

By Adon Micah ben Hillel

There is a long-forgotten tradition that has recently become known and studied by a much larger segment of society than just the academic world. The Triennial Cycle was a division of the Torah which spanned more than 3 years and over 150+ separate readings. This division is recorded to have lived at least from the second temple period all the way to the 13^th century¹, although one could argue that it predated even the first temple period. The Triennial Cycle hasn't been practiced by the majority of Jews for quite some time, replaced by the Annual Cycle. The replacement of the Triennial Cycle with the Annual Cycle presents many problems, not least of which is the great loss of knowledge of the Torah and Rabbinic literature when viewed from an Annual Cycle perspective.

The “Gospels”, as they are referred to by most Christians today, is another lost treasure in rabbinic Judaism. The lessons taught in the “Gospels”, and the historical perspective presented by them, are an important part of Judaism which have until recently been left to stagnate and be forgotten by their true owners. The Rabbis who wrote the “Gospels” could never have imagined that their words would have been so misinterpreted and misrepresented and be used to spawn religions which completely disagree with Judaism. It is divine providence, I believe, since the preservation of the Triennial Cycle and the subsequent knowledge derived from the Nazarean Codicil using the Triennial Cycle was absolutely dependent on this theft of these Rabbinic works.

The purpose of this essay is to provide an understanding of some of the relationships that the Triennial Cycle has with the “Gospels”, why the “Gospels” exist, and just how long the Triennial Cycle lasts.

Some terms need defining first before we move on. What is normally called the New Testament is called the Nazarean Codicil in this essay. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are referred to as Matityahu, Marqos, Luqas and Yochanan respectively to identify them by their proper Hebrew names.

The relationship between the Triennial Torah Cycle and the so-called “Gospels”

The relationship between the Triennial Cycle and the Nazarean Codicil is a complex web of mutual benefaction that is a must-study subject for anybody that wishes to truly understand where these “Gospels” are coming from. The Triennial Cycle reveals things about the “Gospels” and the rest of the Nazarean Codicil and the Nazarean Codicil reveals things about the Triennial Cycle. This relationship will become clear by the end of this essay.

When the “Gospels” were written, Jews in Israel practiced the Triennial Cycle readings². Traditionally, the Jews read the weekly Torah Seder completely from Monday to Thursday, and then they read it a second time all the way through on Shabbat at the morning service – reading and studying the Torah Seder was an integral part of life.

The Triennial Cycle was a vital way for the Rabbis to teach the Torah to the people. Instead of reading 4-6 chapters of the Torah every week (once during the week and once on Shabbat) like with the Annual Cycle used today, the people were given 1-2 chapters a week to digest and study. This allows them to take “smaller bites” from the Torah seder and it allowed the Rabbis to go more in-depth with each seder. Consequently, people can be much more educated about Torah using the Triennial Cycle than with the Annual Cycle since there is a much lower amount of reading material each week, giving more time to go into detailed study. For a Nazarean Rabbi (follower of Yeshuah), using this tool for learning and teaching is vital due to the audience the Rabbi is likely to be teaching (converts or potential converts).

Matityahu, out of all the other “Gospels”, is most closely linked to the Torah sederim. There are rules to dividing the Torah into the 150+ sederim, and Matityahu most closely follows those rules -- in all likelihood Matityahu had the expressed purpose to comment on the Torah sederim. One of the more important rules for dividing the Torah is the rule of verbal tally³. When dividing the Torah into sederim and linking them to Haftarot (and to Matityahu), one does not link them using a thematic tally, but rather a verbal tally. A classic example of a verbal tally is the verbal tally between Matityahu 1:1 and Bereshit 2:4 (Genesis). The word “generations” or Toldot in Hebrew occurs in both Matityahu 1:1 and Bereshit 2:4. This is apparently a logical contradiction, since it would make more sense for Matityahu to start his commentary at the beginning like Marqos, Luqas and Yochanan do. Bereshit 1:1 and Marqos, Luqas and Yochanan 1:1 have a verbal tally with the word “beginning”, “Bereshit” in Hebrew. Instead, Matityahu ends his book with a verbal tally between Matityahu 28:18 and Bereshit 1:1 with the words “heaven” and “earth”. Although it does not make sense at first for Matityahu to do things this way, it becomes clearer when you consider the genre of literature Matityahu is. It is more than likely that Matityahu is Midrash, the Jewish genre of literature for kings and rulers. Starting with a list of the generations of Yeshuah so as to show is connection to the kingly line of Israel makes much more sense when one puts the genre of literature into context.

Although the “Gospels” have been referred to as a commentary on the Torah seder, they are in fact much more than mere commentaries. This will become more apparent shortly.

The reason for the existence of the so-called “Gospels”

The authors of the “Gospels” had a specific purpose for writing their books, it was not a spontaneous occurrence. Marqos reveals this purpose most effectively with the introduction to the book of Marqos (Mark) in 1:1-3

“The beginning (chief part) of the Gospel (Masorah, Oral Torah) of Yeshuah HaMashiach, the Son of God, as it is written in the Prophets, Behold, I send my messenger, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

The “way”, Halakh, from the same root as Halakha, needs preparing. The initializing of the codification of the Oral Torah is what Yeshuah came for. The primary purpose for the authoring of the “Gospels” was the codification of the Oral Torah. This codification was and is important for the Talmudizing of the gentiles, the command that Yeshuah gave to his disciples at the end of Matityahu, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations ... teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you...” The Nazarean Codicil has been misinterpreted for a long time, but recently there has been a movement to properly interpret the Nazarean Codicil with Jewish rules and logic applied and to use the Nazarean Codicil for its original purpose. The relationship between the Triennial Cycle and the Nazarean Codicil is instrumental to this end, since it clearly shows the Jewishness of the texts and it also endorses, and provides the required knowledge to practice, the Triennial Cycle and make use of its many advantages.

It is my own personal opinion that the Nazarean Codicil has been left in its current state, up until very recently, to allow the preservation of the knowledge contained within it. Divine preservation of the Triennial Cycle and the Nazarean Codicil, both which complement each other and help to reinforce each other, would be something akin to hiding the Messiah behind scandalous family history (incest of Lot, Judah's encounter with a Tamar, David's uncertain status, Ruth's status as a Moabitess, to name a few) so as to allow this knowledge to come to light when it is proper for it to do so.

3 years? Or 3½ years?

There is some debate as to whether the Triennial Cycle has a duration of 3 years or 3½ years. Ben Zion Wacholder points out that the Triennial Cycle had 154 sedarim, plus an estimated 21 sedarim added due to the Festival Cycle displacing the Triennial Cycle for a period of about 6 weeks. Other Christian researchers, A. Guilding commenting on the structure of the Gospel of John, and Harald Tomesch commenting on the structure of Matityahu, both come to the conclusion that both gospels are constructed for a 3½ year lectionary of readings. Mendell Lewittes points out that, “Soferim 16:10 speaks of 175 sections, or sidras, into which the Pentateuch was divided, which indicates that the reading cycle was completed once in 3 and a half years, or twice in a Shmitah cycle of seven years.”⁴ Another interesting sponsor of a 3½ year cycle is Matityahu. Harald Tomesch advances that the Codex Vaticanus manuscripts record 170 readings of Matityahu, approximately 3½ years’ worth of readings. This is important to note since it shows a distinct attempt by Matityahu to follow the Triennial Cycle.

A full, precise list of the 170 Vaticanus readings for Matthew is not widely published in standard reference works or online. Most critical editions and scholarly works mention the number and general system, but do not print the full list of section breaks. This is because the divisions are marked in the manuscript itself, and the exact verse boundaries can be ambiguous or vary slightly in interpretation.

Here is the closest available scholarly reconstruction based on the work of F.H.A. Scrivener, C.R. Gregory, and the marginalia of Codex Vaticanus itself.

Please note: The following list is a best scholarly approximation, reconstructed from the marginal numbers in Vaticanus and cross-referenced with the work of Gregory (Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, vol. 3, p. 1022ff) and Scrivener (Plain Introduction, vol. 1, p. 120).

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The 170 Readings of Matthew in Codex Vaticanus

Below is a list of the section breaks (approximate verse ranges) for the 170 readings in Matthew, as reconstructed from the manuscript and scholarly sources.

For exact marginal numbers, consult the Vaticanus facsimile.

Section	Matthew	Section	Matthew	Section	Matthew	Section	Matthew
1	1:1–17	44	12:1–8	87	20:1–16	130	25:1–13
2	1:18–25	45	12:9–14	88	20:17–19	131	25:14–30
3	2:1–12	46	12:15–21	89	20:20–28	132	25:31–46
4	2:13–23	47	12:22–32	90	20:29–34	133	26:1–5
5	3:1–6	48	12:33–37	91	21:1–11	134	26:6–13
6	3:7–12	49	12:38–45	92	21:12–17	135	26:14–16
7	3:13–17	50	12:46–50	93	21:18–22	136	26:17–25
8	4:1–11	51	13:1–9	94	21:23–27	137	26:26–29
9	4:12–17	52	13:10–17	95	21:28–32	138	26:30–35
10	4:18–22	53	13:18–23	96	21:33–46	139	26:36–46
11	4:23–25	54	13:24–30	97	22:1–14	140	26:47–56
12	5:1–12	55	13:31–35	98	22:15–22	141	26:57–68
13	5:13–16	56	13:36–43	99	22:23–33	142	26:69–75
14	5:17–20	57	13:44–46	100	22:34–40	143	27:1–2
15	5:21–26	58	13:47–52	101	22:41–46	144	27:3–10
16	5:27–32	59	13:53–58	102	23:1–12	145	27:11–14
17	5:33–37	60	14:1–12	103	23:13–22	146	27:15–26
18	5:38–42	61	14:13–21	104	23:23–28	147	27:27–31
19	5:43–48	62	14:22–33	105	23:29–36	148	27:32–44
20	6:1–4	63	14:34–36	106	23:37–39	149	27:45–56
21	6:5–15	64	15:1–9	107	24:1–2	150	27:57–61
22	6:16–18	65	15:10–20	108	24:3–14	151	27:62–66
23	6:19–24	66	15:21–28	109	24:15–28	152	28:1–7
24	6:25–34	67	15:29–31	110	24:29–31	153	28:8–10
25	7:1–5	68	15:32–39	111	24:32–35	154	28:11–15
26	7:6–12	69	16:1–4	112	24:36–44	155	28:16–20
27	7:13–20	70	16:5–12	113	24:45–51	156
28	7:21–29	71	16:13–20	114	25:1–13	157
29	8:1–4	72	16:21–28	115	25:14–30	158
30	8:5–13	73	17:1–8	116	25:31–46	159
31	8:14–17	74	17:9–13	117	26:1–5	160
32	8:18–22	75	17:14–21	118	26:6–13	161
33	8:23–27	76	17:22–23	119	26:14–16	162
34	8:28–34	77	17:24–27	120	26:17–25	163
35	9:1–8	78	18:1–5	121	26:26–29	164
36	9:9–13	79	18:6–9	122	26:30–35	165
37	9:14–17	80	18:10–14	123	26:36–46	166
38	9:18–26	81	18:15–20	124	26:47–56	167
39	9:27–31	82	18:21–35	125	26:57–68	168
40	9:32–34	83	19:1–12	126	26:69–75	169
41	9:35–38	84	19:13–15	127	27:1–2	170
42	10:1–15	85	19:16–30	128	27:3–10
43	10:16–42	86	20:1–16	129	27:11–14

Note:

• The above is a best-approximation, as the Vaticanus marginalia are not always at modern verse breaks.
• For the exact section breaks, you would need to consult the Vaticanus facsimile and check the marginal numbers in the Gospel of Matthew.

If the Triennial Cycle lasted for 3 years, then its connection to the Shmita Cycle (every 7 years in the Hebrew calendar, there is a year called a Shmita year), and it would also have variable ending points in the calendar. With a 3½ year cycle, if the cycle starts on Nisan one year, it ends on Tishri 3½ years later, and 3½ years after that it is back at Nisan. It also fits well with the Jubilee Cycle. A Jubilee year occurs once every 50 years, and tradition has it that on the Jubilee year the Jews would read the entire Torah in one year (rather than 3 ½ years). In other words, 14 * 3.5 = 49, and then the Jubilee comes in with the Torah being read completely in 1 year. The Annual Cycle today is in fact the normal Jubilee Cycle reading, but it is being used every year rather than just once every 50 years.

Conclusion

The relationship between the Triennial Cycle and the “Gospels” (particularly Matityahu) seems to be more than mere coincidence. In the Codex Vaticanus, Matityahu uses the 3½ Triennial Torah Cycle, and Matityahu also obeys a very important rule in determining proper Triennial Cycle divisions today: it uses the verbal tally. Matityahu benefits from the Triennial Cycle because it exposes the Jewishness of the “Gospels” and the rest of the Nazarean Codicil, it provides a structure to the book of Matityahu and reveals concepts and knowledge that only using the Triennial Cycle can reveal. The Triennial Cycle benefits from Matityahu because Matityahu has preserved the Triennial Cycle in a way that only Matityahu could and the ability to reveal ideas and connections between the Torah seder and Matityahu using the Triennial Cycle that are not readily apparent using the Annual Cycle legitimizes the Triennial Cycle as a powerful tool for Rabbis to use as a teaching mechanism.

The amount of knowledge to be obtained in this area of study is plentiful and has gone largely untapped up until very recently. There is much to be learned about both the Triennial Cycle and the “Gospels”. Hopefully, this essay has given the reader an inspiration to look closer at this rich subject.

References

1. Owing to the hegemony of the Babylonian Gaonate over the Jewries of the Diaspora, the Palestinian ritual was discarded in preference to the Babylonian one, and consequently TC was ousted by AC, except in a few localities such as Fustat where the former was adhered to in the local Palestinian synagogue still in the 13th century. The full significance of TC and its development were thus only dimly known. (The Bible as Read and Preached In the Old Synagogue, by Prof. Jacob Mann)

2. The Triennial Cycle is recorded to have been in practice during the times of the Rambam, long after the Gospels were already written. See “A History of the Sabbatical Readings of Scripture for the “Triennial Cycle””, Ben Zion Wacholder

3. Ben Zion Wacholder says, “In this system [the Triennial Cycle] there is always a verbal link between the first, sometimes the second, verse of the Torah and the first verse of the Prophetic lesson.” [words in brackets were added]

4. Principles And Development of Jewish Law: Concepts and History of Rabbinic Jurisprudence from its Inception to Modern Times by Mendell Lewittes