Summer.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
Calendars are designed as a reliable means of recording history and determining dates in advance for social, civic and religious anniversaries, and for economic planning.
Comparatively little is known of the calendar of the early Israelites from the patriarchs to the exile, but a critical study of the biblical records and archaeological discoveries is worthwhile.
During the biblical period, time was recognized only by astronomical observations. The early Chaldean and Egyptian astrologers became highly educated in the movements of the astronomical bodies.
His discoveries, as well as those of his Near Eastern neighbors, made their impact on the Jewish calendar. From the most ancient times, the sun and the moon were determiners of periods: days, months and years.
( 1 ) The days in the biblical record of time begin with the creation account. While the Babylonian day began at sunrise, the Bible recognizes the 24-hour span from sunset to the next sunset (Deu 23:11; compare Neh 4:21; Gen 1:5, Gen 1:8, et al). The days of the week did not have names, but were designated by ordinal numbers. The sabbath was not the name of the seventh day but a sacred designation. Israel had ways of regulating time (Isa 39:8; compare 2Ki 20:9-10). The crucifixion account mentions the third, sixth, and ninth hours (Mar 15:25, Mar 15:33-34; compare Joh 11:9), referring to 9 a.m., noon, and 3 a.m. afternoon. The early Hebrews divided the night into three watches (Exo 14:24; Jdg 7:19; Lam 2:19). The Romans divided the night into four watches (Mar 13:35).
( 2 ) The seven-day week is of Semitic origin. Although God placed special emphasis on the seventh day at the time of creation (Gen 2:2-3), the first recorded instance of Sabbath observance was when the Israelites were gathering manna in the desert (Exo 16:23 ).
When Moses transmitted to Israel the fourth commandment in the Decalogue (Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, Exo 20:8), it was intended as a perpetual memorial sign of the covenant between God and his chosen people. It became a distinctive day with successive commandments for its observance, describing the manner of doing so and the punishments for its desecration (Exo 23:12; Exo 35:2-3). The early Christian Jews made a habit of meeting together on the first day of the week to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus (Luk 24:1); thus, the first day, instead of the seventh, became the day of worship and rest in Christendom.
( 3 ) The Hebrew month began with the new moon. The early Israelites designated their months by names they borrowed from the Canaanites or Phoenicians. These names had seasonal connotations; p. eg, Abib (Exo 13:4; Deu 16:1) corresponded to Nisan in the later calendar, meaning “month of seasoned ears.” Near the end of the kingdom period, the calendar was reformed, substituting ordinal numbers for the old month names and changing the beginning of the year from fall to spring (compare 1Ki 6:1; 1Ki 8:2; Haggai 1:1). ; 2;1, 10).
The post-exilic names of the months, as confirmed by the Talmud, were adopted from the Babylonian calendar, but they did not use them for civil and historical purposes.
( 4 years. The OT calendar contained two concurrent years: the sacred year, beginning in the spring with the month Nisan, and the civil year, beginning in the fall with Tishri. The sacred year was instituted by Moses after the exodus, while the civil year claims to be recognized from creation.
Feasts and fasts were intricately woven into the lunar-solar sacred year.
Three great historical festivals were instituted by Moses: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Feast, and the Harvest Feast (Exo 23:14-16), the first two corresponding approx. to Easter and Pentecost. There were also numerous minor parties.
( 5 ) Cycles. From the sanctification by God of the seventh day, a special character of the sacred emerged in relation to the number seven. The seven-day Sabbath, Pentecost (at the end of seven weeks after Passover), and the Feast of Trumpets (introducing the seventh holy month), were all appointed assemblies (mo†™adhim) of the Lord. The sabbatical year was one of solemn rest for lords, slaves, beasts of burden and of the land, and of freedom for Hebrew slaves (Exo 23:10-11; Lev 25:3-7). The Jubilee, every fiftieth year, following the seven weeks of years, was a consecrated year whose observance included family reunions, canceled mortgages, and the return of land to its original owners (Lev 25:8-17).
(6) Eras in the Bible calendar constitute the entire space of time from the creation of the world to the consummation of the ages. Great events are terminal marks. These mountain peaks of time, in chronological sequence, are creation, flood, Abraham, exodus, exile, and the birth of Jesus. Consequently, the eras can be designated antediluvian, postdiluvian, patriarchal, Israelite, Jewish, and Christian. (compare Mat 1:2-17; Luk 3:23-38).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
The reckoning of time by the ancient Hebrews, as by other peoples, took into account units such as the day, the week, the month and the year. The day, with its succession of darkness and light, is the most obvious divider. Next in importance is the year with its recurring sequences of seasons. The month, initially calculated by the phases of the moon, and the week, a period of seven days ending with a Saturday, are the intermediate periods of time.
The methods for calculating the path of a year and adapting it to a fixed calendar are very complex. Some peoples calculated their years based on the course of the moon. The months vary between 29 and 30 days, and 12 of them (a lunar year) give a total of approximately 354 days – a discrepancy of about 7 days with the solar year. This lunar year, still used by Muslims, is arranged in such a way that every 33 years, the beginning of the year is delayed through all the seasons.
Another method of calculating the months adopted, as the unit of time, 30 days arbitrarily and calculated 12 months -360 days per year. Five additional days, not related to any of the months, were added to complete the 365-day solar year.
The Hebrews basically used the lunar year which normally comprised 354 days. The difference between this and the solar year of 365 ¼ days is harmonized by adding a full month to the end of the year at the 30th, 60th, 80th, 110th, 140th, 170th, and 190th years of the 19-year cycle. The added month (Adar Sheni, or second Adar) comes just before the new moon of Tishri (September-October), the beginning of a new year. However, a certain amount of variation is possible, because of the rules concerning certain Jewish religious observances. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) must not fall on a Friday or Sunday and the 7th day of the Feast of Tabernacles must not fall on a Saturday. Thus, non-leap years can be 353, 354 or 355 days; leap years, 383, 384 or 385 days.
The calendar currently in use for Jewish religious purposes is thought to have been introduced by Patriarch Hillel II (330-365 AD). Before that time it was necessary to inform the Sanhedrin by witnesses, the appearance of the new moon every month. The various communities of Israel were then informed of the arrival of the new moon by signal fires, or later, by messengers. Because of uncertainties concerning important dates, Jews outside the holy land observed some of the festivals on two successive days.
Hebrew Name Babylonian Name Duration Months of Our Calendar
1 Nisan Nisanmu 30 days Mar-Apr.
2 Iyar Ayaru 29 days Apr.-May.
3 Siván Simanu 30 days May.-Jun.
4 Tammuz Du†™uzu 29 days Jun.-Jul.
5 Ab Abu 30 days Jul.-Aug.
6 Elul Ululu 29 days Aug.-Sep.
7 Tishri Tashretu 30 days Sept.-Oct.
8 Cheshvan Arakshamna 29 or 30 days Oct.-Nov.
9 Kislev Kislimu 29 or 30 days Nov.-Dec.
10 Teveth Tabetu 29 days Dec.-Jan.
11 Shevat Shabatu 30 days Jan.-Feb.
12 Adar Addaru 29 days Feb.-Mar.
Since the Babylonian exile, the months have taken Babylonian names. The calendar now used by the Jews is arranged as follows:
The months are counted from Nisan, the month in which the Passover observance takes place. This, according to Ex. 12:2, was to be reckoned as “the first month of the year.” In later usage, the new year was reckoned from the new moon of Tisri, September-October according to Western reckoning.
The Babylonians soon discovered that their year of 12 lunar months differed considerably from the solar year of 365 ¼ days. To make the lunar and solar years coincide, they periodically added an intermediate month which was known as the Second Adar.
Before the adaptation of Babylonian month names, presumably Canaanite names were used. Four of these are mentioned in Scripture:
Abib (Ex. 13:4) – “the month of the ripening of the ears”.
This was the month during which the passover took place.
Ziph (1 Kings 6:1) – “the month of flowers”
Ethanim (1 Kings 8:2) – “the month of perennial springs”.
Bul (1 Kings 6:38) – “the month of rain”.
According to the oldest calendar of the Hebrews, which regarded the year as beginning in the spring, these are, respectively, the 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 8th months. The latter 2 are mentioned in Semitic inscriptions from Cyprus and Sidon. These names seem to have fallen into disuse during the time of the exile, because the custom of designating the months by numbers prevailed (see 1 Kings 12:32; 1 Chron. 12:15; Jer. 1:3; 28:17). In the post-exilic period the Babylonian names of the present Jewish calendar were in use (see Neh. 2:1; Ezra 3:7; 6:15). The Israelites frequently indicated the time of year by means of the agricultural season rather than the number or name of the month. We read of “the time of the first grapes” (Num. 13:20) and “at the beginning of the barley harvest” (Rt. 1:22).
The years were frequently related to important events. Isaiah speaks of his call which took place † œin the year King Uzziah died † (Isa. 6:1) and Amos received the prophetic vision from him † œtwo years before the earthquake † (Am. 1:1) . Another method of dating events was by the years of a king’s reign. The point of reference may be the kings of Israel and Judah (see 1 Kings 6:1; 14:25; 15:1) or of foreign kings such as Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer. 25:1) or Cyrus (see Ezra 1 :1).
The fixed Hebrew calendar in use since the fourth century ad. de JC numbers his years…