The "Two Torah" advocates, those who believe there is a WRITTEN Torah and an ORAL Torah (primarily from Orthodox Judaism and some from Messianic Judaism), call attention to the Abib/Aviv calendar controversy as being one of the reasons the Karaites "hypocritically" condemn the Oral Torah of Judaism on one hand while depending on the Oral Torah on the other. They claim the WRITTEN doesn't explicitly describe what or how the month of Abib is determined except for what is recorded in Oral Tradition. But is this indeed the case?
R. Jannai [gave the following example of the law in operation], quoting from R. Simeon b. Gamaliel's [letter to the Communities]: 'We beg to inform you that the doves are still tender and the lambs still young, and the grain has not yet ripened. I have considered the matter and thought it advisable to add thirty days to the year (from Babylonian Talmud: Sanhedrin 11b).
The basis for this dispute seems to stem from a non-Hebrew and/or English view of verses where Aviv is mentioned, as follows:
Deuteronomy 16:1 (KJV) "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night."
Deuteronomy 16:1 (NASB) "Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night."
In a more accurate Hebrew translation of this verse, it would read:
Deuteronomy 16:1 ""Keep the month of the Abib and make the Pesach [sacrifice] to יהוה your Elohim at night, because in the month of the Abib יהוה your Elohim took you out of Egypt."
Deuteronomy 16:1 שׁמור את־חדשׁ האביב ועשׂית פסח ליהוה אלהיך כי בחדשׁ האביב הוציאך יהוה אלהיך ממצרים לילה׃
In the Hebrew of the above verse, you'll see the letter ה (hey - meaning "the") in front of the word Abib (אביב) in both instances. The Israelites, being semi-nomadic agriculturalists, knew without any doubt what the word "Abib" meant and thus knew which month was the month of "the" Abib. They didn't need and we don't need the Oral Torah to help us determine what or when it is.
The following was taken from The Karaite Korner - What is the Abib? which is referencing Exodus 9:31-32:
Abib indicates a stage in the development of the barley crops. This is clear from Ex 9,31-32 which describes the devastation caused by the plague of hail:
"And the flax and the barley were smitten, because the barley was Abib and the flax was Giv'ol. And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten because they were dark (Afilot)."
The above passage relates that the barley crops were destroyed by the hail while the wheat and spelt were not damaged. To understand the reason for this we must look at how grain develops. When grains are early in their development they are flexible and have a dark green color. As they become ripe they take on a light yellowish hue and become more brittle. The reason that the barley was destroyed and the wheat was not is that the barley had reached the stage in its development called Abib and as a result had become brittle enough to be damaged by the hail. In contrast, the wheat and spelt were still early enough in their development, at a stage when they were flexible and not susceptible to being damaged by hail. The description of the wheat and spelt as "dark" (Afilot) indicates that they were still in the stage when they were deep green and had not yet begun to lighten into the light yellowish hue which characterizes ripe grains. In contrast, the barley had reached the stage of Abib at which time it was no longer "dark" and at this point it probably had begun to develop golden streaks.
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