The language of Hebrew (both ancient and modern) tends to be rather
simplistic in its structure and use. This article discusses the names
(or rather the lack thereof in most cases) of the weekdays and the months.
Home Page Display of Dates
Aside from the normal secular date, we have added the
weekday name according to Hebrew custom (with Hebrew meaning and
pronunciation shown in red) and the current Hebrew date. The
Hebrew date will change to the next day at sundown for your
automatically-determined location. You will have to refresh the page
after sundown to see the new date. All of this is displayed
automatically. Between the secular and Hebrew dates is a "Makheetzah"
which is a dividing curtain or wall separating the holy from the secular (or
common). This Makhitzah also graphically displays in red the current
day of the week.
Hebrew Weekdays
Except for the Sabbath day, the individual days of the
week have no names, just numbers. The middle column in the table below
gives the actual transliterated pronunciation of the names. Yom is
pronounced "Yome". The "Kh" is a guttural sound often spelled as "Ch".
There is no "Ch" sound in Hebrew as there is in English. Modern
Hebrew, however, can create a "Ch" sound by putting an accent mark ( ´ ) in
front of the Hebrew letter "Khet" (or "Chet"). This is used only in
rare cases in order to properly pronounce such words or names as Church or
Churchill (referring to the person Winston Churchill.)
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Sunday |
Yom Reeshone
éåí øùåï |
First day |
Monday |
Yom Shaynee
éåí ùéðé |
Second day |
Tuesday |
Yom Shlee´shee
éåí ùìéùé |
Third day |
Wednesday |
Yom Revee´ee
éåí øáéòé |
Fourth day |
Thursday |
Yom Khah´mee´shee
éåí çîéùé |
Fifth day |
Friday |
Yom Shee´shee
éåí ùùé |
Sixth day |
Saturday |
Shabbat
ùáú |
Rest |
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Compare these to the origins and
meanings of the secular weekday names
Babylonian vs. Biblical
Calendars
This table is divided into two
sections because of the changes made in the calendar as a result of the
Babylonian exile. After the Jews were exiled from Judah to Babylonia
in 586 B.C.E., they adopted Babylonian names for the months of the year.
Nevertheless, they still have important meanings in whole scheme of things.
Not only do most of the names of the Babylonian months have appropriate
meanings, but there is also an important theme that applies to these months
(Babylonian or Biblical).
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1 |
Nisan ðéñï |
Their
flight |
Redemption,
Miracles |
Abib
àáéá |
Ripening of grain
[Barley, Wheat] |
Passover, Unleavened Bread,
Firstfruits |
2 |
Iyyar àééø |
(natural) healing |
Introspection,
Self improvement |
Ziv æå |
Splendor or
Radiance
[Flowers]
(Barley harvest) |
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3 |
Sivan ñéåï |
Bright
- their covering |
Giving of Torah |
3rd |
(Wheat harvest) |
Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) |
4 |
Tammuz úîåæ |
Hidden - giver of the
vine
(A Phoenician deity) |
Sin of the Golden Calf, guarding of the eyes |
4th |
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5 |
Av àá |
Father |
Av the Comforter |
5th |
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6 |
Elul àìåì |
A vain thing -
nothingness |
Repentance |
6th |
(Fruit harvest) |
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7 |
Tishri úùøé |
Beginning (from reishit) |
Month of the Strong or Month of the Ancients |
Ethanim
àéúðéí |
Ever-flowing streams |
Rosh HaShannah, Yom Kippur, Succot |
8 |
Kheshvan çùåï |
Eighth |
The Flood
(of Noach) |
Bul áåì |
Produce (in the sense of rain) |
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9 |
Kislev ëñìï |
Security, trust |
(Restful) Sleep |
9th |
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10 |
Tevet èáî |
Good (from "Tov") |
Divine Grace |
10th |
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11 |
Shevat ùáè |
meaning unknown |
Tree of Life |
11th |
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12 |
Adar àãø |
Strength |
Good Fortune |
12th |
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13 |
* Adar II àãø á |
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13th |
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* Additional month added during Leap Years.
About every 2nd or 3rd year. There are 7 leap years in a 19 year cycle.
Compare these to the origins and meanings
of the secular months of the year
Biblical References to the
Babylonian Months
NEH 2:1 - And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the
twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him; and I took
up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad before in his
presence.
EST 3:7 - In the first month, that is, the month Nisan,
in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot,
before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month,
that is, the month Adar.
EST 8:9 - Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third
month, that is, the month Sivan, on its twenty third day;
And it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and
to the satraps, and the governors and the princes of the provinces which are
from Hodu* to Kush**, one hundred twenty and seven provinces, to every
province according to its writing, and to every people in their own
language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their
language.
* India
** That is, the upper Nile region
NEH 6:15 - So the wall was finished in the twenty fifth day of the month
Elul, in fifty two days.
ZEC 7:1 - And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the
word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month,
which is Kislev;
NEH 1:1 - The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came
to pass in the month Kislev, in the twentieth year, when I
was in Shushan the capital,
EST 2:16 - So Esther was taken to king Ahasuerus to his royal palace in
the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh
year of his reign.
ZEC 1:7 - On the twenty fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month
Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to
Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying:
EST 3:7 - In the first month, that is, the month
Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the
lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth
month, that is, the month Adar.
EST 3:13 - And the letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s
provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, both young and
old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the
twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder
their goods.
EST 8:12 - On one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus,on the
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
EST 9:1 - And in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar,
on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s command and his decree
drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews
hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary, that
the Jews had rule over those who hated them;
EST 9:15-21 - For the Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together
also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and slew
three hundred men at Shushan; but on the plunder they did not lay their
hand.
16. But the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves
together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and
slew of their foes seventy five thousand, but they laid not their hands on
the plunder,
17. On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the
fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and
gladness.
18. But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth
day of the month, and on the fourteenth day; and on the fifteenth day of the
same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
19. Therefore the Jews of the villages, who lived in the unwalled towns,
make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness
and feasting, and a holiday, and of sending portions one to another.
20. And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews that
were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
21. To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day
of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same,
yearly,
EZRA 6:15 - And this house was finished on the third day of the month
Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
The Biblical Months
The Month of Abib
EXO 13:4 - This day came you out in the month Abib.
EXO 23:15 - You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; you shall eat
unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed in
the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt; and none
shall appear before me empty;
EXO 34:18 - The Feast of Unleavened Bread shall you keep. Seven days you
shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the time of the month
Abib; for in the month Abib you came out from
Egypt.
DEU 16:1 - Observe the month of Abib, and keep the
Passover to the Lord your God; for in the month of b the Lord your God
brought you out of Egypt by night.
The Month of Ziv
1KI 6:1 - And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth* year
after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year
of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is
the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
* Hebrew; Septuagint four hundred and
fortieth
1KI 6:37 - In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord
laid, in the month Ziv;
The Month of Ethanim
1KI 8:2 - And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to
king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is
the seventh month.
The Month of Bul
1KI 6:38 - And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul,
which is the eighth month, was the house finished in all its parts, and
according to all its specifications. And he was seven years in building it.
Scripture from the Soncino, Judaic Classics Collection
Here are some related links of interest:
Chabad.org -
www.chabad.org/library/~Why-Babylonian-Names-for-Jewish-Months
McGill School of Computer Science -
www.cs.mcgill.ca/~Hebrew_calendar.htm
By
YashaNet Staff
March, 2003 • Adar II, 5763 Updated: June 2019 • Sivan 5779
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