The Hillel II calendar bares mention of Babylonian month names that were used by Zachariah, Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah in the bible, but there are a number of differences between the Adar month of the current Jewish calendar and the Adar mentioned by Ezra or the Sivan month of the Rabbinic calendar and the Sivan mentioned by Esther. It is important to note that just because there remains the use of these ancient names of these months by modern day Israel and the synagogue, this does not mean that they represent a continuation of not just the original calendar of scripture, but even the original calendar of ancient Babylon from where their month names derive.
- These names are only of biblical significance in that they show compatibility with the original month numbers
It seems as though many who seek the God of Israel and His calendar use the Babylonian names of months thinking that these names have come from our creator. This just isn’t true, because of the old saying ‘not everything in the bible is biblical’. The book of Job is a good example where it has passages of bad advice and incorrect judgement from his friends. It’s scripture in a way, but also understand that it is not scriptural. Interpretation needs wisdom and so too with the Babylonian month names mentioned in scripture.
Zec 7:1 “And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu.”
Est 2:16. “So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.”
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 unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad 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.
There is no doubt that originally the Babylonian months were basically identical with the Hebrew reckoning of months and so in using the vernacular descriptions of the months of the empire, people like Nehemiah would say that Babylonian months lined up with the biblical months that were originally just numbered. This is certainly no rubber stamp that the names the Babylonians gave are of divine importance, they are not, however this didn’t stop those of the rabbinic calendar to seek special meaning from Babylonian names.
One such example is in the attempt of the rabbis to make the seventh month the beginning of a new year despite Exodus 12:2 saying that the head of the months is the first month of the year. To legitimise changing the new year, the rabbis have said that the name of the seventh month speaks of the creation of the world being on that day. Of course they are referring to the Babylonian month name of Tishri and say that if you scramble the letters of בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית (Hebrew for ‘in the beginning’) you can get ‘first of Tishri’ in Hebrew.
This is just a word game, but it gives the illusion that Babylonian month names like Tishri have divine importance. The names have zero importance in this regard, but they have exceptional value in showing that the Babylonian way of deriving months was congruent with Israel’s way.
Another way of demonstrating the lack of inspiration in the month names of the Babylonians lies in month Tammuz. In Ezekiel 8:14, we see women ‘weeping for Tammuz’ and are rebuked for their spiritually adulterous behaviour. I doubt the creator therefore has inspired the fourth month to be called ‘Tammuz’.
- The original Babylonian months were derived by the sighting of the moon
The rabbis themselves state that the original calendar was derived from the sighting of the crescent new moon. Thus, sadly even if there was another ‘new year’ at the beginning of Tishri, still it does not correspond with the original Babylonian month of Tishri. It would correspond in name only. The ‘astronomical diaries’ of Chaldean astronomers have proven that the original Babylonian months were based on the sighting of the new moon. The descriptions of the new moon being ‘faint’, or ‘bright’ and the descriptions of ‘cloud’ and ‘haze’ preventing observation, demonstrate that there was genuine need to see the new moon crescent. Also the descriptions of the lag time between sunset and moonset point to the crescent and not full moon or any other ideas of different moon sightings. Finally with the use of NASA and careful calculations, experts have pinpointed to the day where the moon was at; all of which points to the ancient practice of sighting the new moon.
A great paper to read on the data that has come forward from ‘the astronomical diaries’ is Sacha Stern’s article: https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2008JHA….39…19S
- The original Babylonian months were not governed by calculation
The original Babylonian months like Sivan and Chislev were not governed by pure mathematics as is the case with the Hillel II calendar. One of the major differences between the Hillel II calendar and the original biblical calendar (with congruent Babylonian months) is that the mathematics which oversees the Hillel II calendar was first put forward in 432 BCE (beginning in Greece) and therefore cannot be the original way of determining months. The Metonic cycle of 19 years with its leap months is the genius work of the mathematician Meton of Athens, but although with precision it can fix the lunar cycle within the solar cycle, this may be great in a sense of prediction for the day of sighting, but could never be the original method of sighting.
One can perhaps understand why the rabbis turned to mathematics when the Jewish people were in exile and unable to see the moon in Israel, but for some reason the mathematics used does not determine the first day for observing the crescent, but is rather concerning what is called molad which is to do the conjunction (fully dark) of the moon instead. Thus, a Hillel II Tishri (seventh month) can often be 2 days earlier than the original Tishri (month seven). This was seen in 2021, when the new moon of the Hillel II calendar began 2 days before the moon could be sighted.
- The months never had predetermined lengths
‘The astronomical diaries’ show that at the end of day 29 after sunset, the people would look to the western horizon to see or not see the crescent moon. If not seen they would pronounce the month as full or complete and the thirtieth day would be added and the next night would begin the new month. If it was sighted they would call the month hollow or rejected and the new month would start that evening. Thus, every month had the potential of being 29 or 30 days long and this is yet another important distinction between the months of the Hillel II calendar and that of the Babylonian months used by Zechariah and Esther. The original Babylonian months could be either 29 or 30 days whereas the rabbis have fixed most of the months in the Hillel II calendar with specified month lengths. Elul is always 29 days and Tishri is 30 (from what I recall). Yet another difference.
- Zachariah and others could have related the Hebrew months to the names of other foreign nations
Some may be shocked that Zachariah and Nehemiah would use the names of other cultures to describe the biblical months. In the same way some say that saying ‘April’ means that you are supporting the worship of that spring goddess or saying ‘Sunday’ means you are supporting sun worship. However, it seems ‘guilt by association’ was not something that ancient Israel cared too much for and would speak in the terminology of other nations even though the calendars of these foreigners were most certainly connected to astrology and idolatry. Centuries before Zachariah, Nehemiah, Ezra and Esther would record the synergy of the biblical calendar and the Babylonian one, King Solomon did the same thing.
1Ki 6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
1Ki 6:38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.
1Ki 8:2 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
I am with the camp of scholars who believe that Solomon was linking the original calendar descriptions of numbered months to that of Canaanite and Phoenician months. This doesn’t mean that there was some hidden meaning in Ethanim, nor that Israel was being won over by some pagan lunar goddess. Solomon would offer rosh chodesh (head of the month) offerings that lined up with these foreign months and we see that the temple rituals instituted were pleasing in God’s eyes. Thus, just as the Hillel II calendar describes the 7th month as Tishri, Solomon would say that similarly, Ethanim of the Phoenicians was also synonymous, but these all point to the original biblical description of months being set according to the crescent moon as was the practice of ancient peoples.
For many coming to the roots of their faith, I would like to encourage you to support the work of those in Israel who are returning to the original Tishri month and biblical seventh month by sighting or not sighting the moon. This practice is most ancient and was across all of the cultures of the ancient near east. It is good to discern that some things in the Hillel II calendar bear the same name, but moved away from the original definitions. As we look forward to the next 7th month, may He reveal the newness of light that we need to return to the ancient paths of our fathers.
Article written by Andrew Hodkinson
