Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 8 · Chapter 27 – Chapter 28
CHAPTER XXVII. Of their monethmonth.
EXOD. 12.2. This ſhall be the beginning of moneths to you.
BEfore the people of God came out of Egypt, the moneths were reckoned according to the courſe of the Sunne,Reaſons proving how many dayes every monethmonth had. following the cuſtome of the Egyptians and Chaldeans, and their moneths were full thirtie dayes, as may be gathered out of the eight of Geneſis, the floud began to waxe the ſeventh day of the ſecond monethmonth Iair, anſwering to our May; and it began to decreaſe in the ſeventh day of the ſeventh monethmonth Tiſhri: from the ſeventh day of the ſecond monethmonth, to the ſeventh day of the ſeventh, are one hundred and fiftie dayes, which being divided by thirtie, giveth to every monethmonth thirtie dayes. After they came out of Aegypt their moneths were full thirtie dayes, Numb. 11.19. Yee ſhall not eate one day, neither fiue dayes, neither tenne dayes but even a whole monethmonth. Hence we may gather that their monethmonth was full thirtie dayes;Reaſons proving how many moneths are in the yeare. becauſe they reckoned by fiue, ten, twentie, thirtie. So there were twelue moneths in the yeare, every monethmonth conſiſting of thirtie dayes: 1 King. 4.7. And Salomon had twelue Officers over all Iſrael, which provided victuals for the King and his houſhold. Each man in his monethmonth through the yeare made proviſion: now if there had beene more then twelue moneths in the yeare, (as afterward the Iewes made their intercalar yeare Veadar) then one ſhould hauehave had two moneths. So 1 Chron. 27.1. and 12.15. The chiefe Officers ſerved the King by courſes, which came in and out monethmonth by monethmonth throughout all the moneths in the yeare: here we may ſee that there were twelue moneths in the yeare, & every monethmonth had thirty dayes, which made up in the yere three hundred and ſixtie dayes.
But becauſe there were fiue full dayes lacking in the moneths to fill up the courſe of the Sunne,The twelue moneths come ſhort of the courſe of the Sunne fiue dayes. which is three hundred ſixtie and fiue dayes, the Egyptians put to the fiue dayes called foreign to the laſt monethmonth Tiſhri: and they illuſtrate the matter by this apologue,The fiue odde dayes illuſtrated by an apologue of Mercurie and the Moone. they ſay, that Mercurie and the Moone at a time did play at the dice for the fiue odde dayes, and that Mercurie did winne them from the Moone, and Mercurie followed the courſe of the Sunne. And in reſpect the Sunne every yeare runneth three hundred ſixtie fiue dayes and ſixe odde houres,How the leape yeare or biſſextile is made up. which ſixe odde houres every fourth yeare maketh a day, they added this day to the fourth yeare, which yeare by the Egyptians was called foreign, as ye would ſay the dog turning about to himſelfe, as when he biteth his owne taile: and the Latines called it annus from annulus, becauſe it turned about to the ſame point againe. So Ioh. 18.13. foreign is a yeare, ſo Luk. 3.2. This odde day which was added every fourth yeare was called dies deſultorius, This deſultorie or biſſextile day at the firſt did run thorow the twelve Moneths.becauſe it wandered to and fro through the whole yeare, for the ſpace of one hundred and twentie yeares. This is called ſaeculum, Gen. 26. and therefore they inter-laced a whole monethmonth for this deſultorius dies, What makes an embolimie yeare.which in the ſpace of one hundred and twentie years maketh up a monethmonth of thirty dayes: and becauſe that day which afterward was inter-called in the fourth yeare lacked ſome ſcruples of a whole day,The Sunnes courſe commeth alwayes backe in the moneths. therefore in the ſpace of one hundred thirty and ſixe yeares the Sunne turned backe a day in every monethmonth, when it commeth to the Equinoxe or Solſtice. The Sunne was in the Equinoxe at Chriſts death, in the twentie fifth of March, now it is come to the tenth of March, and if the world ſhould continue long, it ſhould come to the tenth of Ianuary and ſo backward.The Sunne followeth the firſt mover. This ſheweth that the Sunne keepeth the revolution of the firſt mover, who comes alwayes neerer to the North Pole, as the Astronomers hauehave obſerved.
Theſe fiue foreign dies, the laſt of them Nehemias calleth Nephthar, foreign a foreign Purificare.from the word patar, purificare, for writing to the Iewes which were in Egypt, 2 Macc. 1.36. he ſayes, that the Temple was purified upon the laſt of theſe foreign dies, called naphthar: for the Egyptian moneths had alwayes thirtie dayes,Theſe fiue intercalar dayes had divers names among the Egyptians. which make up in the yeare three hundred and ſixtie dayes, and fiue odde dayes which added to the end of the yeare were called foreign, and by Egyptians and Arabians, Naſi, the firſt of them was called Oſiris, and the fift naphthar.
The monethmonth of the Moone hath twenty nine dayes and twelue houres, therefore amongſt the Iewes the moneths were either twenty nine, or full thirty.
A threefold computation of the moneths of the Moone.The moneths of the Moone are conſidered three manner of wayes. Firſt, as the Moone goeth from one point of the Zodiacke and returneth backe to the ſame againe: and this is called periodus, vel curſus lunaris, which ſpace of time is more then twenty ſeven dayes, and leſſe then twenty eight. The ſecond is the returning of the Moone to the ſame place where ſhe went backe laſt from the Sunne, and this is called foreign: this conſiſteth of twenty nine dayes and twelue whole houres. The third is the ſecond day from the conjunction, and it is called foreign or foreign, the apparition of the new Moone; this is in the ſecond day after the conjunction.
All the time before the captivitie the moneths had no proper names, Ezek. 1.1.No proper names of the moneths before the Captivitie. Now it came to paſſe in the thirtieth yeare, in the fourth, that is, in the fourth monethmonth. So the Romanes gaue the names to the moneths from their number, as September, October, &c. Therefore theſe three names ſpoken of, 1 King. 6.37.38. Ziph for the ſecond monethmonth, and Bul for the eight, and ſo ethanim; Theſe firſt names Ziph and Bul, The names of the moneths before the captivitie were appellatiue.Scaliger holdeth them to be Sydonian names, or Tyrian: but we may ſay rather that they were appellatiue names all this time; Ziph, ſignificat amaenitatem, Dan. 2.31. ſo the monethmonth ethanim, menſis antiquorum, a Chaldie word, becauſe they reckoned the creation of the world from that monethmonth.
Alexander the great changed theſe Chaldie names which they had learned in the Captivitie, into Macedonian names, as Adar he called it Xanthius, and tiſhri he called it foreign, as yee would ſay Iupiters boy, 1 Macch. 9.50.
It was after the captivitie before they learned to inter-call their monethmonth,The reaſon of the moneths intercalation after the captivitie. and then they began to inter-call them, that they might make both the Sunne and the Moone come both to one period every ſecond or third yeare. And that they might know the time of the change of the Moone, for the keeping of their feaſts the better: and for every ſecond or third yeare they doubled the monethmonth adar, and called it veadar, and this yeare was called the embolimie yeare. And becauſe the Sunne and the Moone met not in one period the ſecond or third yeare, therefore they made up the golden number conſiſting of nineteene yeares,The courſe of the Sun and Moone agree after nineteene yeares are compleat, and called the golden number. wherein the Sunne and the Moone met both in one period together. The rule for this embolimie amongſt the Hebrewes was this; ter ter bis bis ter ter ter, id est, menſis intercalandus est, anno tertio, ſexto, octavo, undecimo, decimo quarto, decimo ſeptimo, decimo nono; et annus decimus nonus erat intercalandus, conſiſting of ſeven moneths.
Before the captivitie they had no other inter-calling or reducing the Moone to the Sunne, but onelyonly dies foreign Egyptiorum: and the Turkes at this day obſerving onelyonly the lunarie yeare, and never reducing the Moone to the Sunne, therefore the monethmonth Rammadon falleth ſometimes in Summer, and ſometimes in winter.
When they inter-called their moneths, they called the monethmonth which they inter-called, Veadar; and this Veader was their twelfth monethmonth, and Adar was their thirteenth monethmonth; this Veadar was but eſteemed as momentum temporis among the Iewes, and in their civill computations it had no uſe, neither judged they any cauſe in this monethmonth, and the Iewes ſet downe this caſe.
Ruben and Simeon were two twins; Ruben the eldeſt was borne in the laſt day of the intercalar monethmonth Veadar, and Simeon his brother was borne in the firſt day of the ordinary monethmonth adar, ſo that Simeon was but a day younger then Ruben. And the caſe was handled amongſt the Iudges which of them ſhould enter into the inheritance firſt, and they ordained that Simeon ſhould enter a monethmonth before his brother Ruben, becauſe Ruben was borne in that monethmonth which was not reckoned amongſt the moneths, and therefore they counted him a monethmonth younger then his brother Simeon.
The Sunne exceedeth the Moones courſe eleven dayes.This reckoning they kept, that they might reduce the courſe of the Moone to the Sunne, for the Sunne exceedeth the Moone eleven dayes;The Sunne exceedeth the Moones courſe eleven dayes. The monethmonth exceedeth the Moones courſe ſixe dayes. The Sunne exceedeth the twelue moneths fiue dayes and ſixe houres. What maketh up the leape yeare. and alſo the monethmonth exceedeth the Moone in the whole yeare ſixe dayes, (when the moneths are full thirtie dayes.) And thirdly the Sunne exceedeth the twelue moneths, fiue dayes and ſixe houres, which ſixe houres every fourth yeare maketh up a day, and this yeare we call leape yeare: theſe eleven odde dayes are not caſt away, they are inſititij dies, or ingrafted daies, as a graft is grafted in a tree, and they are called the Epact, becauſe they are caſt to, to the end of the year, for to reduce the Moones courſe to the courſe of the Sunne; neither are they left as dies deſultorij, to runne at randome through all the moneths of the yeare.
This time of the Epact with them is counted as no time, and they illuſtrate the matter thus.The embolimie epact counted as no time. A man had thirty ſonnes and thirty daughters, and three which were neither his ſonnes nor his daughters, but abortives, borne out of time; theſe thirty ſonnes and thirty daughters were the dayes & the nights of the moneths, and the three odde dayes after the third embolimie were reſerved as inſititij dies, untill the next embolimie, and were no part of the moneths of the yeare, untill the ſeventh embolimie.
The ſpirituall uſe which the Scripture maketh of the Moone is, firſt to ſhew us the inſtabilitie of the world, therefore Revel. 12.1. the Church is the woman cloathed with the Sunne, having the moone under her feet: to ſignifie that the Church ſhall tread under foote the changeable world.
Secondly, as the Moone changeth, ſo doth the life of man, Iob 14. while my change come: ſo Prov. 31.8.foreign Filii mutationis. aperi ostuum in cauſa filiorum mutationis, that is, for him that is going to be put to death; and as we pray when the Moone changeth, Lord ſend us a good change, ſo ſhould we pray eſpecially when we are ready to die, that the Lord would giuegive us a happie change.
CHAPTER XXVIII. Of their Yeare.
2 CHRO. 24.23. And it came to paſſe at the end of the yeare, (or in the revolution of the yeare) that the Hoſt of Aſſyria came up.
THe Iewes had a twofold beginning of the reckoning of their yeare; the firſt was from Tiſhri, the ſecond was from Niſan.
They began their firſt reckoning from Tiſhri, in the monethmonth Elul their yeare ended, and in this monethmonth their new yeare began;foreign Revolutio. this was called [Tekuphah] revolutio anni. 1 King. 20.26. it was in this monethmonth that the Kings went forth to battaile, 2 Sam. 11.1. And it came to paſſe when the yeare was expired at the time when Kings went out to battaile. They went out to battaile at this time of the yeare, becauſe then the heat of the yeare was declining;foreign Menſis Antiquorum. and the Chaldees called this monethmonth, Menſis Ethanim, id eſt, veterum, 1 King. 8.2. In this monethmonth they began to reckon before they came out of Egypt, becauſe the Iewes held that the world was created in this monethmonth;foreign chaldaicè Pueritia et Hyems. this monethmonth is called [Hhoreph] pueritia, for as Tiſhri is the beginning of the yeare, Gen. 8.22. ſo the beginning of our age is our childhood, Iob 29.4.
Their Eccleſiaſticall reckoning began in Niſan.Their Eccleſiaſticall reckoning began in Niſan, Exod. 12.1 Chron. 12.15. Theſe are they who went over Iordan in the firſt monethmonth, when Iordan had overſtowed all the bankes: this was in the monethmonth Niſan, for then the ſnow melteth upon the mountaines of Libanus, and the waters overflow the banks of Iordan. Ioh. 4.35. Say ye not there are yet foure moneths and then commeth the harveſt? that is, the Paſcha and the Pentecoſt; the firſt was the beginning of the harveſt, and the laſt was the end of the harveſt; the beginning of the harveſt fell in the firſt monethmonth of the yeare in Niſan; for on the fourteenth day was the Paſcha, & on the fifteenth day they brought in handfuls of new Corne; and Zach. 7.1. The word of the Lord came unto Zachariah in the fourth day of the ninth monethmonth, even in Chiſleu, that is, in the ninth from Niſan. So the feaſt of the Tabernacles was kept in the ſeventh monethmonth Tiſhri, which is the ſeventh from Niſan.
From Niſan they reckoned their feaſts,What they reckoned from every monethmonth. the reigne of their Kings, their contracts, bonds, and Obligations.
From Elul anſwering to our Auguſt; they reckoned the age of their young beaſts which they were to offer to the Lord, none of their beaſts were offered before Elul.
Thirdly, from Tiſhri anſwering to our September, they reckoned the ſeventh yeare of the reſting of their land, and their Iubilees;Vide Buxtor. Synag. and from this time they reckoned how long their trees were circumciſed or uncircumciſed.
Fourthly, from Shebat anſwering to our Ianuary, they reckoned all their trees which payed fruit, they payed tithe onelyonly of theſe trees which began to flouriſh at that time.
The concluſion of this is; Concluſion. As the Lord changed the reckoning of the Iewes from Tiſhri to Niſan, becauſe the Iewes then were delivered out of Egypt; ſo the Lord hath changed our reckoning now from the old Sabbath of the Iewes, to the new reckoning of our Sabbath, becauſe this day our delivery and redemption was finiſhed; 2 Cor. 5.17. Old things are paſſed away, behold all things are become new.