Appendix B: The Hebrew Religious Calendar
Equivalents of the Julian Calendar
Julian Calendar |
Babylonian-Jewish Calendar |
Mar/Apr |
Nisan; preexilic Hebrew name ʾAbib (Ex. 12:2) |
Apr/May |
Iyyar, preexilic Hebrew name Ziw (1 Kings 6:1) |
May/June |
Sivan |
June/July |
Tammuz |
July/Aug |
Ab |
Aug/Sept |
Elul |
Sept/Oct |
Tishri; preexilic Hebrew name ʾEtanim (1 Kings 8:2) |
Oct/Nov |
Marhesvan; preexilic Hebrew name Bul (1 Kings 6:38) |
Nov/Dec |
Kislev |
Dec/Jan |
Tebeth |
Jan/Feb |
Shebat |
Feb/Mar |
Adar |
Jewish Religious Calendar: Festivals Month
Month |
Date |
|
Festival |
Nisan |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 10:10) |
10 |
|
Selection of Passover lamb (Ex. 12:3) |
|
14 |
|
Passover lamb killed (Ex. 12:6); Passover begins (Num. 28:16) |
|
15 |
|
First day of Unleavened Bread (Num. 28:17) |
|
16 |
|
Firstfruits (Lev. 23:10) |
|
21 |
|
End of Passover and Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6) |
|
Iyyar |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
Sivan |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
6 |
|
Pentecost (50 days after Firstfruits); Feast of Weeks (Lev. 23:15–21) |
|
Tammuz |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
Ab |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
9 |
|
Day of mourning for destruction of temple |
|
Elul |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
Tishri |
1 |
|
New Moon, New Year, Feast of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24; Num. 29:1–2) |
|
Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:26–32; the fast in Acts 27:9) |
||
15–21 |
|
Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:33–43) |
|
Marhesvan |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
Kislev |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
25 |
|
Feast of Dedication of the temple (1 Macc. 4:52ff.), Hanukkah, or Feast of Lights, an 8-day festival (John 10:22) |
|
Tebeth |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
Shebat |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
Adar |
1 |
|
New Moon (Num. 1:18) |
14–15 |
|
Feast of Purim (Est. 9:21) |
Jewish years are counted according to the World Era, beginning with the creation of humanity (estimated to be the year 3761 B.C.). Thus Israel once again became a nation, an autonomous political state, after World War II in the year 5709 (or A.D. 1948). Rather than counting time from the birth of Christ, Jewish convention indicates the years before Christ as B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and the years following Christ’s birth as C.E. (The Common Era). On ancient calendars, see Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, rev. ed. (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1998). For an in-depth discussion of the development of the events comprising the Hebrew religious calendar, see Abraham P. Block, The Biblical and Historical Background of the Jewish Holy Days (New York: Ktav, 1978); and Peter S. Knobel, ed., Gates of the Seasons: A Guide to the Jewish Year (New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1983).