Things to Be Done by Sundown

While sunset marked the close of the daylight period among the Israelites, it marked the start of the new calendar day, which officially began at sunset, being counted from evening to evening. (Lev. 23:32) Because the day ended at sunset, the Mosaic Law required certain things to be done by sundown. A garment taken in pledge had to be returned to its owner “at the setting of the sun.” (Ex. 22:26, 27) Also, wages had to be paid to hired laborers (Deut. 24:15); and a person who had been ceremonially unclean must bathe himself, and, following sunset, be considered clean again. (Deut. 23:11) The sunset’s closing of one day and initiating a new one give added meaning to the apostle’s exhortation not to let “the sun . . . set with you in a provoked state.”—Eph. 4:26.