From the time of the institution of the ^Mosaic law downward the month appears to have been a lunar one. The cycle of religious feasts, commencing with the Pass- over, depended not simply on the month, but on the moon (Josephus, Ant. iii, 10, 5); the 14th of Abib was coincident with the full moon (Philo, Vit. Mos. iii, p. 686); and the new moons themselves were the occa- sions of regular festivals (Numb, x, 10; xxviii, 11-14). The statements of the Talmudists (^lishna, Rosh Hash. i-iii) are decisive as to the practice in tlieir time, and the lunar month is observed by the modern Jews. The commencement of the month was generally decided by observation of the new moon, which may be detected aliout forty hours after the period of its conjunctiou with the sun : in the later times of Jewish history this was effected according to strict rule, the appearance of the new moon being reported by comiietent witnesses to the local authorities, who then officially announced the commencement of the new month by the twice-re- peated word " Mekuddash," i. e. consecrated (see Cud- worth's lutilhctual System, ii. Append, p. 528). Ac- cording to the rabbinical rule, however, there must at all times liave been a little uncertainty beforehand as to tlie exat't day on which the month would begin ; for it depended not only on the appearance, liut on the an- nouncement: if the important word Mekiiddash were not pronounced until after dark, the following day was the first of the month; if before dark, then that day (^Rosh
MONTH
547
MONTH
Hash, iii, 1). But we can hardlj- suppose that such a strict rule of observation prevailed in early times, nor was it in any way necessary ; the recurrence of the new moon can be predicted with considerable accuracy by a calcu- lation of the interval that would elapse either from the last new moon, from the full moon (which can be de- tected by a practiced eye), or from the disappearance of the waning moon. Hence David announces definitely " To-morrow is the new moon," that being the first of the month (1 Sam. xx, 5, 24, 27), though the new moon could not as yet have been observed, and still less an- nounced. Jahn (-4 rcfi. iii, 3, § 352) regards the discrep- ancy of the dates in 2 Kings xxv, 27, and Jer. Iii, 31, as originating in the different modes of computing by as- tronomical calcidation and by observation. It is more probable that it arises from a mistake of a copyist, sub- stituting 'i for n, as a similar discrepancy exists in 2 Ivings xxv, 19 and Jer. Hi, 25, without admitting a simi- lar explanation. The length of the month by obser- vation would be alternately 29 and 30 daj-s; nor was it allowed by the Talmudists that a month should lall short of the former or exceed the latter number, what- ever might be the state of the weather. The months containing only 29 days were termed in Talmudical language chaser ("lOn), or '"deficient," and those with 30 male (xb^), or '• full."
The usual number of months in a year was twelve, as implied in 1 Kings iv, 7 ; 1 Chron. xxvii, 1-15 ; but in- asmuch as the Hebrew months coincided, as we shall presently show, with the seasons, it follows as a matter of course that an additional month must have been in- serted about every third year, which would bring the number up to thirteen. No notice, however, is taken of this month in the Bible. We have no reason to think that the intercalary month was inserted according to any exact rule ; it was sufiicient for practical purposes to add it whenever it was discovered that the barley harvest did not coincide with the ordinary return of the month of Abib. In the modern Jewish calendar the intercalary month is introduced seven times in every 19 years, according to the Metonic cycle, which was adopted by the Jews about A.D. 360 (Prideaux's Coti- nection, i, 209, note). At the same time the length of the synodical month was fixed by R. Hillel at 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3^ seconds, which accords very nearly with the truth.
2. The usual method of designating the months was by their numerical oriler, e. g. "the second month" (Gen. vii, II), "the fourth month" (2 Kings xxv, 3) ; and this was generally retained even when the names were given, e. g. " in the month Zif. which is the second month" (1 Kings vi, 1); "in the third month, that is, the month Sivan" (Esth. viii, 9). An exception occurs, however, in regard to Abib in the earlj-^ portion of the Bible (Exod. xiii, 4 ; xxiii, 15 ; Deut. xvi, 1), which is always mentioned by name alone, inasmuch as it was necessarily coincident with a certain season, while the numerical order might have changed from year to year. We doubt indeed whether Abib was really a proper name. In the first place, it is always accompanied by the article, "^Ae Abib," as an appellation ( = the season of the new ears of grain) ; in the second place, it ap- j)ears almost impossible that it could have been super- seded by Nisan if it had been regarded as a proper name, considering the important associations connected with it. The practice of the writers of the post-Baby- lonian period in this respect varied : Ezra, Esther, and Zechariah specify both the names and the numbered order ; Nehemiah only the former ; Daniel and Haggai only the latter. The names of the months belong to two distinct periods: in the first place we have those peculiar to the period of Jewish independence, of which four only, even including Abib, which we hardly regard as a proper name, are mentioned, viz. : Abib, in which the Passover fell (Exod. xiii, 4; xxiii, 15; xxxiv, 18; Deut. xvi, 1), and which was established as the first