The world celebrates birthdays in various ways, and this custom is steeped in age-old traditions. But, as servants of Yah, should we celebrate birthdays along with the world?
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This is Living Hebrew, Selah, where we present a brief Scriptural topic for you to ponder on.
In this episode, we consider:
“BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS”
In modern culture, celebrating a birthday is an essential part of life, and this stems from deep-rooted traditions that have their origin in various ancient cultures throughout the world. But as servants of Yah, are we to practice this custom, and is it according to Yah’s law? Even among secular scholars, the very first birthday celebration cited, is that of a Pharaoh, and it is recorded in the book of Genesis.
20On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
—Genesis 40:20
The truth is, all the birthday celebrations in Scripture surround a secular ruler or individuals given to idolatry. No servant of Yah is mentioned as celebrating a birthday in Scripture. And each birthday mentioned is fraught with danger and a negative outcome. But as to that first record of Pharaoh’s birthday, this is what the Huffington Post had to say:
Egyptians Started the Party
When pharaohs were crowned in ancient Egypt they were considered to have transformed into [deities]. This divine promotion made their coronation date much more important than their birth into the world. Scholars have pointed to the Bible’s reference of a Pharaoh’s birthday as the earliest known mention of a birthday celebration (around 3,000 B.C.E.), but Egyptologist Dr. James Hoffmeier believes this is referencing the subject’s coronation date, since that would have been the Pharaoh’s “birth” as a [deity].
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/history-of-birthdays_n_4227366
Borrowing from the Egyptians, celebrating birthdays became the standard practice of the nobility of various realms. In fact, for a time, only the nobility could afford to celebrate such a thing, but on occasion, they invited commoners like the townspeople to join in the celebration. In their research, some historians have found that the wearing of crowns at modern birthday parties originated with ancient celebration customs among the nobility. We even see this practice of nobles celebrating birthdays in the Messianic Writings, where Herod seizes an opportunity to put John the Immerser to death:
21But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
—Mark 6:21
Early Christians also viewed birthdays as a pagan custom and did not celebrate them. They would later adopt the custom around the 4th century, in hopes, as the Huffington Post writes, “of recruiting those already celebrating the Roman holiday of Saturnalia.”
The Greeks and Romans also influenced world culture in its celebration of birthdays. Beth Herman of Farmers’ Almanac writes:
History of Birthdays
“The Greeks later expanded upon the celebration theme by placing candles on moon-shaped honey cakes made for the lunar goddess Artemis. Lighted candles signaled a prayer was being sent…. As for blowing out the candles, the Greeks believed rising smoke took one’s prayers and wishes up to the sky, where the [deities] lived. In Europe, birthday candles were often kept burning all day both to celebrate and ward off evil spirits.”
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/history-birthdays-20088
This explains the custom of blowing out candles to this day. Sarah Bond, a former Forbes.com contributor, wrote this of ancient Roman birthday celebrations:
The History of the Birthday and The Roman Calendar
Like many civilizations, Romans enjoyed celebrating the start of things, called a dies natalis (birth day). Temples, cities, and people were often remembered for their days of birth. All this in a society where a baby living past a year old was quite an accomplishment. As Kathryn Argetsinger has written, the birthday in the Roman mindset was much closer to a cultic religious celebration than it is today, predominantly because each person had a genius (a tutelary spirit) that they sacrificed to on their day of birth. This deity protected an individual for the year, and thus there was a re-up of that protection annually through the performance of a sacrifice.
Sarah Bond goes on to say in the article that Birthday parties were a mix of religion and friendship that included animal sacrifices and the burning of incense. In addition, ritual cakes were baked and eaten, and white robes were worn by the party guests. At any rate, that word genius, which Sarah Bond said each Roman person believed they had, will surprise some of you. What genius meant in Roman times is not what it means today. The etymology of the word genius links it to ancient Latin, and means a “special guardian spirit.” Merriam-Webster’s Word Central online dictionary includes the following in its genius entry:
Word History
The ancient Romans believed in special beings or spirits that were not [deities] or humans but something in between. They believed that from birth each person had one of these spirits to act as a protector. The Latin name for this spirit was genius, which came from gignere, meaning “to be the father of, beget.” This sense came into English in the early 15th century. Part of such a genius’s role was to protect a person’s moral character. From this idea in the 16th century came the sense of genius meaning “an identifying character.” This led to the sense of “a marked aptitude.” In time genius came to mean “very great intellectual power” and to be applied to people who have such power.
http://wordcentral.com/cgi-bin/student?book=Student&va=genius
Simply wishing someone “happy birthday” was a way of ancient societies holding to superstitions, because the wish was meant to protect a person from evil spirits. The same is true for giving birthday bumps, pinches, and the like; these were meant to bring one good luck and send away the same bad spirits. As for loud party props, like horns, snappers, and the usual noisemakers, evil spirits supposedly didn’t care for those either. Essentially, birthday celebrations are deeply-rooted in paganism.
As time passed, each successive secular generation added to the customs of birthday celebrations, and in Germany, certain customs they adopted shaped the most modern ones throughout the world. It was the Germans who centered the celebration on their children, or “kinder,” to use the German designation, from which the word “kindergarten” is derived. German birthday parties saw children receiving gifts, and choosing menus, and a special butter and jam cake was presented, festooned with candles numbering the child’s age. Of course, as European immigrants traveled to America and other countries, they brought their customs and traditions with them, and so international cultures adopted these birthday practices. But in Hebrew culture, birthdays were not celebrated. In fact, one of our wisdom books records:
1A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.
—Ecclesiastes 7:1
Selah.
Keywords: clean animals, Levitical diet, chickens eat mealworms, clean fish eat unclean, liver, kidneys, burned on the altar, blood meal, bone meal, selah, living Hebrew, kingdom preppers, kp
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TESTIMONIALS
This video was right on time! I get a lot of criticism from my co-workers because I do not celebrate my (nor anyone else's) birthday. I have felt like this since I was a child, which is testament to Yah putting his laws in us. Just a couple of weeks ago during an office meeting, I was asked why is it that I don't celebrate birthdays. My reply was that I do not believe in self-worship nor vanity. Well, the room fell very silent after that. Thank you so much for your video. The Ruach was truly at work on this one as with all of your videos and messages. Todah!
—Laura G.
Shabbat Shalom! I've been hearing and learning not to celebrate birthdays as well. What do you suggest to do now that our children are used to doing things on their birthdays. We stopped cakes and candles a long time ago but we did let our children buy something or go somewhere. What do you suggest we do now to ne in right standing with Yah our Elohim?
—Keshia bat Yisra'el
My response to Keshia: The simple answer to your question: don't even acknowledge it. We were never supposed to. The replacement is doing as Yah commands, keeping the laws, statues, and commandments as recorded, one of which is clearly: "you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations." —Deuteronomy 18:9.
—Kingdom Prepper
Keshia responded by saying:
That makes a lot of sense. I really didn't care about it for myself because I grew up not being fortunate to have one anyhow, but I'm sure it will be an adjustment for my oldest daughter. My son is five and I'm sure it won't be a bother to him. Thank you for your reply. I want to follow what Yah requires of me, that's why I ask questions for understanding. I will definitely stop celebrating it. Todah Raba.
—Keshia bat Yisra'el
