σαββασι, η τη προ ταύτης παρασκευή, από της ώρας εννάτης. “ On the sabbath-day, or on the preparation-day before it, from the ninth hour." The first three evangelists also use the plural caffara, to denote the sabbath-day. (Matt. xii. 5-11. Mark i. 21. and ii. 23. Luke iv. 16. &c.) Whereas John, to avoid ambiguity, appropriates the singular dafarov to the sabbath-day, and the plural saccara to the week. (John. v. 9-16. vii. 22. &c. xx. 1.)

The second sabbath after the first (Luke vi. 1.), deursgorgwtov, or rather the second prime sabbath, concerning which commentators have been so greatly divided, appears to have been the first sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread or of the passover week. Besides weeks of days the Jews had weeks of seven years (the seventh of which was called the sabbatical year); and weeks of seven times seven years, or of forty-nine years which were reckoned from one jubilee to another. The fiftieth or jubilee year was celebrated with singular festivity and solemnity.2

IV. The Hebrews had their MONTHS, which like those of all other antient nations were lunar ones, being measured by the revolutions of the moon, and consisting alternately of twenty-nine and thirty days. While the Jews continued in the land of Canaan, the commencement of their months and years was not settled by any astronomical rules or calculations, but by the phasis or actual appearance of the moon. As soon as they saw the moon, they began the month. Persons were therefore appointed to watch on the tops of the mountains for the first appearance of the moon after the change: as soon as they saw it, they informed the Sanhedrin, and public notice was given, first, by the sounding of trumpets, to which there is an allusion in Psal. lxxxi. 3.; and afterwards lighting beacons throughout the land; though (as the mishnical rabbins tell us) after they had frequently been deceived by the Samaritans who kindled false fires, they used to announce the appearance by sending messengers. As however they had no months longer than thirty days, if they did not see the new moon the night following the thirtieth day, they concluded that the appearance was obstructed by the clouds; and, without watching any longer, made the next day the first day of the following month. But, on the dispersion of the Jews throughout all nations, having no opportunities of being informed of the appearance of the new moons, they were obliged to have recourse to astronomical calculations and cycles, in order to fix the beginning of their months and years. At first, they employed a cycle of eighty-four years: but this being discovered to be defective, they had recourse to the Metonic cycle of nineteen years; which was established by the authority of rabbi Hillel, prince of the Sanhedrin, about the year 360 of the Christian æra. This they still use, and say that it is to be observed untill the coming of the Messiah. In the compass of this

cycle there are twelve common years, consisting of twelve months, and seven intercalary years, consisting of thirteen months.1

Originally, the Jews had no particular names for their months, but called them the first, second, &c. Thus, the Deluge began in the second month, and came to its height in the seventh month, at the end of 150 days (Gen. vii. 11-24. viii. 4.); and decreased until the tenth month, when the tops of the mountains were seen. (viii. 5.) Afterwards they acquired distinct names: thus, Moses named the first month of the year Abib (Exod. xii. 2. xiii. 4.); signifying green, from the green ears of corn at that season; for it began about the vernal equinox. The second month was named Zif, signifying in Chaldee glory, or splendour; in which the foundation of Solomon's temple was laid. (1 Kings vi. 1.) The seventh month was styled Ethanim, which is interpreted harvests, by the Syriac version. (1 Kings viii. 2.) The eighth month, Bul; from the fall of the leaf. (I Kings viii. 2.) But concerning the origin of these appellations critics are by no means agreed on their return from the Babylonish captivity, they introduced the names which they had found among the Chaldæans and Persians. Thus, the first month was also called Nisan, signifying flight; because in that month the Israelites were thrust out of Egypt (Exod. xii. 39.; the third month, Sivan, signifying a bramble (Esth. iii. 7. Nehem. ii. 1.); and the sixth month, Elul, signifying mourning, probably because it was the time of preparation for the great day of atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month. (Neh. vi. 15.) The ninth month was called Chisleu, signifying chilled; when the cold weather sets in, and fires are lighted. (Zech. vii. 1. Jer. xxxvi. 22.) The tenth month was called Tebeth, signifying miry. (Esth. ii. 16.) The eleventh, Shebet, signifying a staff, or a sceptre. (Zech. i. 7.) And the twelfth Adar, signifying a magnificent mantle, probably from the profusion of flowers and plants with which the earth then begins to be clothed in warm climates. (Ezra vi. 15. Esther iii. 7.) It is said to be a Syriac term. (2 Mac. xvi. 36.)2

V. The Jews had four sorts of YEARS, one for plants, another for beast, a third for sacred purposes, and the fourth was civil and common to all the inhabitants of Palestine.

1. The Year of Plants was reckoned from the month corresponding with our January; because they paid tithe-fruits of the trees which budded at that time.

2. The second year was that of Beasts; for when they tithed their lambs, the owner drove all the flock under a rod, and they marked the tenth, which was given to the Levites. They could,

1 Dr. A. Clarke, at the end of his commentary on Deuteronomy, has given six elaborately constructed tables explanatory of the Jewish calendar. Mr. Allen has also given six tables; which, though less extensive than the preceding, are well calculated to afford a clear idea of the constructions and variations of the Jewish calendar. See Modern Judaism, pp. 369–377.

2 Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. i. p. 127.

however, only take those which fell in the year, and this year began at the month Elul, or the beginning of our August.

But the two years which are the most known are the Civil and Ecclesiastical Years.

3. The Civil Year commenced on the fifteenth of our September, because it was an old tradition that the world was created at that time. From this year the Jews computed their jubilees, dated all contracts, and noted the birth of children, and the reign of kings. It is said also, that this month was appointed for making war; because, the great heats being past, they then went into the field. In 2 Sam. xi. 1. we read that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel, to destroy the Ammonites, at the return of the year (marginal rendering), at the time when kings go forth to battle, that is, in the month of September. The annexed table exhibits the months of the Jewish civil year with the corresponding months of our computation :

April and May.

May and June.

June and July.
July and August.
August and September.

Some of the preceding names are still in use in Persia.

4. The Ecclesiatical or Sacred Year began in March, or on the first day of the month Nisan, because at that time they departed out of Egypt. From that month they computed their feasts, and the prophets also occasionally dated their oracles and visions. Thus Zechariah (vii. 1.) says that the word of the Lord came unto him in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; which answers to our November, whence it is evident that he adopted the ecclesiastical year, which commenced in March. The month Nisan is noted in the old Testament for the overflowings of Jordan (Josh. iii. 15. 1 Chron. xii. 15.); which were common at that season, the river being swollen by the melted snows that poured in torrents from Mount Lebanon. The following table presents the months of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, compared with our months:

1. Nisan or Abib

}

(Neh. ii. 1. Esth. iii. 7.) answers to part of March and April.

April and May.
May and June.
June and July.
July and August.
August and September.
September and October.
October and November.

The Jewish months being regulated by the phases or appearances of the moon, their years were consequently lunar years, consisting of twelve lunations, or 354 days and 8 hours; but as the Jewish festivals were held not only on certain fixed days of the month, but also at certain seasons of the year, consequently great confusion would, in process of time, arise by this method of calculating: the spring month sometimes falling in the middle of winter, it became necessary to accommodate the lunar to solar years, in order that their months, and consequently their festivals, might always fall at the same season. For this purpose, the Jews added a whole month to the year, as often as it was necessary; which occurred commonly once in three years, and sometimes once in two years. This intercalary month was added at the end of the ecclesiastical year after the month Adar, and was therefore called Ve-Adar or the second Adar.

As agriculture constituted the principal employment of the Jews, they also divided their natural year into seasons with reference to their rural work. These, we have seen, were six in number, each of two months' duration, including one whole month and the halves of two others. See an account of them in pp. 28-34 of this volume, under the Climate and Seasons of the Holy Land.

To this natural division of the year there are several allusions in the sacred writings: as in Jer. xxxvi. 22. where king Jehoiakim is said to be sitting in the winter-house in the ninth sacred month Chisleu, the latter half of which fell in the winter or rainy season; so, in Ezra x. 13. it is said that the congregation of the people, which had been convened on the twentieth day of the same month, were not able to stand out in the open air, because it was "a time of much rain." The knowledge of this mode of dividing the year illustrates John x. 22, 23. and accounts for our Lord's walking in the portico of the temple at the feast of dedication, which was celebrated towards the close of the same month.

Further, the Jews divided their solar year into four parts, called by them Tekuphat (that is, revolutions of time), or quarters, which they distinguished by the names of the months with which they commenced: thus, the vernal equinox is termed Tekuphat Nisan; the autumnal equinox, Tekuphat Tisri; the winter solstice, Tekuphat Tebeth; and the summer solstice, Tekuphat Thammuz. Some critics have conjectured that our Lord refers to the intervening space of four months, from the conclusion of seed-time to the commencement of the harvest, in John iv. 35.

The following CALENDAR will present to the reader a view of the entire JEWISH YEAR. It is abridged from father Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus,' with additions from the Calendar printed by Calmet, at the 1 Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus, vol. i. p. 155. et seq.

end of his Dictionary of the Bible. In it are inserted the festivals and fasts celebrated by the Jews; including not only those enacted by the law of Moses, and which are described in a subsequent part of this work, but likewise those which were not established until after the destruction of the temple, and those which are observed by the Jews to the present time. The lessons also are introduced which they were accustomed to read in the synagogues.-Those days, on which no festival or fast was celebrated, are designedly omitted.

1. TISRI, FORMERLY CALLED ETHANIM.

The FIRST month of the civil year, the SEVENTH month of the ecclesiastical year; it has thirty days, and corresponds with part of our September and October.

1. Rosch Haschana, the beginning of the civil year. The feast of trumpets, commanded in Leviticus. (Lev. xxiii. 24, 25. Num. xxix. 1. Jer. xli. 2.)

3. The fast of Gedaliah; because Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, and all the Jews that were with him, were slain at Mizpah. (2 Kings xxv. 25.) This is the fast that Zechariah calls the fast of the seventh month. (Zech. viii. 19.)

5. A fast. Twenty Israelites were killed: Rabbi Akiba, the son of Joseph, was loaded with irons and died in prison.

7. A fast, appointed on account of the golden calf. (Exod. xxxii. 6, 7, 8.)

The lessons for this day were Deut. xxvi. 1. to Deut. xxix. and the Ixth chapter of Isaiah.

10. The fast of expiation. (Lev. xxiii. 27.)

14. The lessons for this day were from Deut. xxix. 10. to Deut. xxxi. 1. when the year had most Sabbaths; and when fewest, the book was finished on this day. And from Isa. lxi. 1. to Isa. Ixiii. 10.

15. The feast of tabernacles. (Lev. xxiii. 34, 35.) It lasted seven days, exclusive of the octave, or eighth day.

21. Hosanna Rabba, the seventh day of the feast of tabernacles; or, the feast of branches.

The lessons for this day were from Gen. i. 1. to Gen. vi. 9. and from Isa. xlii. 5. to Isa. xliii. 11.

22. The octave of the feast of tabernacles. (Lev. xxiii. 36.)

23. The solemnity of the law, in memory of the covenant and death of Moses. On this day Solomon's dedication was finished. (1 Kings viii. 65.)

28. The lessons were from Gen. vi. 9. to Gen. xii. 1. and from Isa. liv. 1. to Isa. lv. 5.

30. On this day the lessons were from Gen. xii. 1. to Gen. xviii. 1. and from Isa. xl. 27. to Isa. xli. 17. This day is the fast held in commemoration of the murder of Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar made governor of Judæa, after he had destroyed Jerusalem, according to Dr. Prideaux.)1

2. MARCHESVAN.

The SECOND month of the civil year, the EIGHTH month of the ecclesiastical year; it has only twenty-nine days, and corresponds with part of our October and November.

1. The new moon. (Calmet observes (in the Jewish Calendar, at the end of his dictionary of the Bible) that the Jews always made two new moons for every 1 Connection, part i. book i. under the year 588.