Understanding the word "month"

You were just shown how God calculates time in the word of God.

You saw that "a day" biblically is from “the evening and to the morning” which must also encompass the time leading up to the evening. So it's evening to sundown which is "even," which begins the new day.

Now we are going to determine another biblical phenomenon called “a month.”

In many places in the Bible it speaks of “months.” Much like today, our months exist as spans of time of accumulated days. Likewise in the Bible, it speaks of years which are a span of time of accumulated "months."

So what does a biblical "month" consist of?

The very first use of the words “the month” in our King James Bible occurs in Genesis 7:11.

Genesis 7:11 (KJV)
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Notice this Scripture states a nonspecific period of time within a “month” and a “year.”

The Hebrew word for “month” is most peculiar. It is the Hebrew word “chodesh.”

chodesh, Hebrew 2320, Strong’s

chodesh, kho'-desh; from Hebrew 2318 (chadash); the new moon; by implication a month :- month (-ly), new moon.

We can see that word “month” is not really a month (like our month) in terms of a time span of days, but is in fact a new moon —according to the Hebrew—or the implication of a month as being determined from the new moon.

Again this fits amazingly perfect with God’s creation story in Genesis! The Word of God states that God made luminaries such as sun stars and Moon "for seasons, and for days, and years:"

Genesis 1:14-19 (KJV)
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: [15] And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. [16] And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. [17] And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, [18] And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. [19] And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

In the fourth day God mentions the Sun or "the greater light" (luminary) to the "rule the day," and the Moon— "the lesser light" (luminary)— "to rule the night."

Indeed, in the night time, there is a bright or dim or lesser luminary —the moon— the rule the night or dark part of God’s perfect day.

"The Moon" in the Bible is an interesting word in the Hebrew meaning. Below are two distinctly different examples of the Hebrew word for the moon in the Old Testament text.

Joshua 10:12 (KJV)
Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

yareach, Hebrew 3394, Strong’s

yareach, yaw-ray'-akh; from the same as Hebrew 3391 (yerach); the moon :- moon.

Deuteronomy 33:14 (KJV)
And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,

yerach, Hebrew 3391, Strong’s

yerach, yeh'-rakh; from an unused root of uncertain significatnce; a lunation, i.e. month :- month, moon.

Notice in the translation of Hebrew word "yerach" for "moon" it states "a lunation, i.e. month :- month, moon."

So we now can see that there is definitely something in the ancient and Holy Hebrew text of the Holy Bible called a moon and this had to do something with a month.

The Holy Scriptures further testify to something called a “new moon” and this also meant the same meaning as a month.

Indeed today there is something called “a new moon.”

Scientists today tell us that the moon, like the earth, when facing the sun is partly lit or warmed and partly dark or cool. Many people assume (like author initially) that the shadow on the moon is earth's shadow on moon. Actually what you and I see when we look at the moon, depending on when we view it and at which period in time we view it, is the lit part of the sun’s light hitting the moon.

The shadowed of the part of the moon, is not the earth’s cast shadow, but the moon's own shadow which cannot be seen as all else around it is darkness; therefore we only see the part lighted or illuminated.

The moon is simply a barren globe orbiting around, which reflects dimly the light of the sun hitting it.

You can recreate this same phenomenon with by simply taking a ball placed on your kitchen table, and place a flashlight on the table facing and shining at/on the ball.

Notice what the shadow looks like, as you walk around the ball. It most certainly will be brighter on one part than others. Depending from on which angle you view it, you will see a larger shadow or a larger lit part of the ball's surface.

Now astronomers today call this phase of the moon cycle, (or your ball on your kitchen table) where it cannot be seen at all as “the new moon.”

This is when the shadowed part of the moon is directly facing the earth (away from the sun light) where you and I are looking into the night viewing the moon.

See the illustration below.

Now the Hebrews and other ancient peoples likely noticed or were taught at some point to determine a month by this very same amazing phenomenon.

According to astronomers, during a new moon, the moon is completely dark and it will stay this way for about 2 possibly 2.5 days until the first light of the of sun can be seen appearing on the edge of the moon.

Astronomers term this “the new moon” when it was completely darkened and no moon is visible.

But as the light hit the moon a few days past, one would see what appeared from the earth to be a slight crescent shape of the lit moon. It was at this sighting that determined both the first day of the new month or the Hebrew "new moon."

Today many people still determine, and have for centuries determined, the month this exact same way, though some differ as to what amount of crescent they determined.

Notice, one can only see the moon in the evening.

Remember that a biblical "day" is from “the evening and the morning.”

Therefore the Hebrews would look for the moon each evening. When the moon was no longer appearing they would wait the next night to see if it appeared. If it was not appearing, they would wait the next evening after sundown. When they saw the crescent of the moon, then they determined it was the start of the new month. This also marked the first day—day one— of the new month.

Eventually the Hebrews would from simply viewing the moon cycle so often realize that it repeated exactly in a continuum, that could be predicted by counting and keeping track of what the moon looked like and how many days since the last new moon.

Again, we should not rely only on the astronomers words but the Word of God.

Let's now see how or if any of this fits in studying closely the Word of God.

Next article: The First Biblical Day