Hebrew Calender

Cheshvan 21 vs October 30

Today is the 21st day of the 8th month of the Hebrew calendar. The 8th month is called Cheshvan or Bul, as written in 1 Kings 6:38.  Its the 8th month from the 1st month, called Abib or Nisan, as written in Exodus 12:2 and Exodus 13:4. In Ester 3:7 the name of the 1st month is written as Nisan and the 12th month is called  Adar. Ester 9:1 also stated the name of the 12th month as Adar.

However it must be noted that the names of the month are secondary titles to the numeric position of the month.The months are numbered from 1 to 12. Also, only the 1st, 2nd, 7th and 8th month have pre-Babylon names. The 1st month is called Abib in Exodus 13:4. The 2nd month is called Ziw in 1 Kings 6:1, 37. The 7th month is called Eythanim and the 8th month is called Bul in 1 King 6:38. All the other names of the months were adopted from the captivity in  Babylon. There has been endless discussions about whether these foreign names should be retained. But as stated earlier, the names of the months were secondary titles to the numeric positions of the months.

So there is a calendar written in the Scripture. It is also written in the sky above according to Genesis 1:14. For the stars, the sun and the moon are for signs and appointed times, and for days and years. There are 12 major constellations, one for each month of the year. And Psalms 147:4 tells us that Yahweh Elohim numbered the stars and called them by names.

Based on the Gregorian calendar, this is the month of October, the 10th month of the year. But October got its name from the Latin "octo" which means eight. October used to be the 8th month of the old Roman calendar, which has 10 months in their year. The calendar was modified with the addition of 2 months, the month of January and February as the 1st and 2nd month of the year. So December became the 12th month although the name December was from the Latin "decem" which means ten. The month November became the 11th month although the name November was from the Latin "novem" which means ninth. And although the old Roman calendar was modified by pope Gregory XIII it is still very much a pagan calendar. The month of January was named after the pagan god "Janus" a 2-faced monster, with one face looking backwards and the other looking forward. So it is not so smart to have mid night watch on December 31st as that would be welcoming Janus. Anyway, the  New Year as written in the Scripture  is the 1st month of Abib, as written in Exodus 12:2 and Exodus 13:4

Since there is a calendar written in the Scripture, we might as well follow that calendar.  For the important life cycles are tied to the Scriptural calendar: the synagogue services to the day, the week to the Shabbat, the Rosh Chodesh to the month and the appointed times of Yahweh to the year.

Shalom Aleichem!