CALENDAR MONTHS
Events recorded in scripture by named month.
A History of the Months
The original Roman year had 10 named months Martius "March", Aprilis "April", Maius "May", Junius "June", Quintilis "July", Sextilis "August", September "September", October "October", November "November", December "December", and probably two unnamed months in the dead of winter when not much happened in agriculture. The year began with Martius "March". Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome circa 700 BC, added the two months Januarius "January" and Februarius "February". He also moved the beginning of the year from Marius to Januarius and changed the number of days in several months to be odd, a lucky number. After Februarius there was occasionally an additional month of Intercalaris "intercalendar". This is the origin of the leap-year day being in February. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (hence the Julian calendar) changing the number of days in many months and removing Intercalaris.
March -- Mars' month
Martius has always had 31 days.
March was the original beginning of the year, and the time for the resumption of war.
Mars is the Roman god of war. He is identified with the Greek god Ares.
1 ABIB corresponding to March-April
From an unused root (meaning to be tender); green, that is a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Abib or Nisan
The Exodus begins and the Feast Days are declared and to be instituted upon entry to the Promised Land.
Day 14 Passover (High Sabbath)
Days 15-21 Feast of Unleavened Bread (Days 15 and 21 High Sabbaths)
Day 16 Wave Sheaf (Countdown to Pentecost 50 days)
The Passover
The Exodus begins
Exodus 12:1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
The first month is Abib, which starts the day after the Spring Equinox which is March 20 or 21.
12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
Unleavened bread was significant, as it symbolized the haste in which Israel fled Egypt, with no time to prepare bread with leaven.
Exodus 13:3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
13:4 This day came you out in the month Abib.
Abib, the first month. The greening month, spring.
The children of Israel were indeed tender and green. They had become accustomed to the pagan gods of Egypt.
Exodus 23:15 You shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (you shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it you camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before Me empty:)
Exodus 34:18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt you keep. Seven days you shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib you camest out from Egypt.
Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahweh's passover.
Passover. Fourteen days after the spring equinox.
Exodus 12:14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to Yahweh throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto Yahweh: seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Feast of Unleavened Bread. No leaven products for seven days after the Passover.
Numbers 9:1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
9:2 Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season (time).
9:3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, you shall keep it in his appointed season (time): according to all the rites (ordinances) of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall you keep it.
9:4 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.
9:5 And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
Numbers 28:16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of Yahweh.
28:17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
We do not do the things in verses 18-24 anymore because Christ fulfilled them. The priesthood expired and Christ is now our High Priest and mediator. We must now make spiritual sacrifices, which is done by obedience and allegiance, and by participating in the heritage of our ancestors.
Numbers 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand (boldly) in the sight of all the Egyptians.
Exodus 13:4 This day came ye out in the month Abib.
The Passover
Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto Yahweh your God: for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night.
Abib is in the end of March beginning of April of the modern calendar. The first day of Abib is the first day after the Spring Equinox, which is usually on March 20-21.
16:2 You shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose to place His name there.
16:3 You shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt you eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for you camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you mayest remember the day when you camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
We are still to keep this feast. Just not the sacrifices of animals, Christ fulfilled that part.
David and his mighty men defeat the the hated enemies of the cursed seed.
1Chronicles 12:15 These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflown all his banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west.
Observing the Passover
2Chronicles 35:1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto Yahweh in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2Kings 23:21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto Yahweh your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
Ezra 6:19 And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.
Esther 3:7 In the first month, that is, the month Nisan (Abib), in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes), 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.
3:8 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes), There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them.
These certain dispersed people are Israelites. When the Assyrians rose to power, they were part of Yahweh's punishment upon disobedient Israel. The Israelites were taken captive and relocated throughout the coast lands. These are the scattered “lost sheep”.
Haman was an Edomite Jew that tried to get Artaxerxes to kill all the Israelites.
3:9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.
3:10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Judahites' enemy.
Haman was a descendant of Agag, of the Amalekites.
Ezekiel 45:21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
April -- Aphrodite's month
Aprilis had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She is identified with the Roman goddess Venus.
The building of the first Temple begins.
Day 23 Day of Simon. Memorial feast commemorating defeat of the enemy.
2 ZIV name of the 2nd month of the year, corresponding to April-May.
Ziv = “brightness”
Probably from an unused root meaning to be prominent; properly brightness (compare H2111 A primitive root; properly to shake off, that is, (figuratively) to agitate (as with fear): - move, tremble, vex.), that is, (figuratively) the month of flowers; Ziv
Numbers 1:1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation (tent of meeting), on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
1:18 And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers (forefathers, ancestors), according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls (heads).
Numbers 9:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto Yahweh.
9:11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. (2Chr 30:2,15)
9:12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.
Makeup passover. A second chance in the second month for those that were unclean (from war, sickness, or other) and couldn't observe the Passover in the first month.
The Temple
1Kings 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 Yahweh.
2Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Day of Simon (The high priest, governor and leader of the Judahites)
1Maccabees 13:51 And entered into it the three and twentieth day of the second month in the hundred seventy and first year, with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel.
13:52 He ordained also that that day should be kept every year with gladness. Moreover the hill of the temple that was by the tower he made stronger than it was, and there he dwelt himself with his company.
The Day of Simon is a Judahite feast of remembrance of the destruction of the enemies of Israel that sought to destroy them.
May -- Maia's month
Maius has always had 31 days.
Maia (meaning "the great one") is the Italic goddess of spring, the daughter of Faunus (Atlas), and wife of Vulcan. Mother of Hermes.
3 SIVAN the 3rd month corresponding to May-June.
Sivan = “their covering”
The month of the giving of the Torah.
Esther's courage saves her Israelite kinsman from Haman's plan of genocide.
Soldier Sabbath (91st Day) follows last day of Sivan.
At mount Sinai
Exodus 19:1 In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
2Chronicles 15:10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
Soldier Sabbath.
Decree of Judahite genocide revoked
Esther 8:9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Judahites, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Judahites according to their writing, and according to their language.
Baruch 1:8 At the same time when he received the vessels of the house of Yahweh, that were carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Judah, the tenth day of the month Sivan, namely, silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Jada had made,
June -- Juno's month
Junius had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.
Juno is the principle goddess of the Roman Pantheon. She is the goddess of marriage and the well-being of women. She is the wife and sister of Jupiter. She is identified with the Greek goddess Hera.
4 TAMMUZ a Sumerian deity of food or vegetation. Corresponding to June-July.
Of uncertain derivation; Tammuz, a Phoenician deity: - Tammuz.
Tammuz = “sprout of life”
Moses breaks the first set of tablets and burns the golden calf.
Nebuchadnezzar breaches the walls of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel is shown how wicked Jerusalem has become.
Ezekiel 8:13 He said also unto me, Turn you yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
8:14 Then He brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
Ancient Summerian and Akkadian inscriptions mention Tammuz.
Tammuz was The Shepherd's god. Enkimdu the Farmer's god. Said to be reminiscence to Cain and Abel.
Ezekiel is shown visions of pagan worship in the land, near, around and in the sanctuary.
July -- Julius Caesar's month
Quintilis (and later Julius) has always had 31 days.
Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (hence the Julian calendar) in 46 BC. In the process, he renamed this month after himself.
5 AB fifth month corresponding to July-August
Ab, a primitive word; father in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application.
Temple destroyed by Babylonians. Later destroyed again by Titus in 70 AD.
August -- Augustus Caesar's month
Sextilis had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 31 days long.
Augustus Caesar clarified and completed the calendar reform of Julius Caesar. In the process, he also renamed this month after himself.
6 ELUL sixth month corresponding to modern August-September.
Elul = “nothingness”
Walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt under Ezra and Nehemiah.
Soldier Sabbath (91st Day) follows the last day of Elul.
The walls of Jerusalem rebuilt.
Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
1Maccabees 14:27 So then they wrote it in tables of brass, which they set upon pillars in mount Sion: and this is the copy of the writing; The eighteenth day of the month Elul, in the hundred threescore and twelfth year, being the third year of Simon the high priest,
14:32 At which time Simon rose up, and fought for his nation, and spent much of his own substance, and armed the valiant men of his nation and gave them wages,
Soldier Sabbath.
September -- the seventh month
September had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.
7 ETHANIM seventh month, corresponding to modern September-October ; so named because permanent streams still flowed.
Ethanim = “enduring”
Plural of H386 (meaning to continue); permanence; hence (concretely) permanent; specifically a chieftain: - hard, mighty, rough, strength, strong.; always with the article; the permanent brooks; Ethanim, the name of a month: - Ethanim.
Day 1 Feast of Trumpets (High Sabbath)
Day 10 Day of 'covering over' (Propitiation). Fasting. (High Sabbath)
Days 15-21 Feast of Tabernacles. Dwell in booths. (Day 15 and 22 High Sabbaths)
Leviticus 16:29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls (by fasting), and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger (of kin) that sojourneth among you:
16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement (propitiation) for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before Yahweh.
16:31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and you shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
This is a fast. No food or drink for 24 hours.
Leviticus 23:24/Numbers 29:1 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall you have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation (high sabbath).
Feast of Trumpets. Fall equinox.
23:27/Numbers 29:7 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement (propitiation): it shall be an holy convocation (high sabbath) unto you; and you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto Yahweh.
Day of Atonement. A day of fasting.
23:34/Numbers 29:12 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto Yahweh.
Feast of Tabernacles. Guess who tabernacles with us if we have repented?
23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep a feast unto Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath (high sabbath), and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath (high sabbath).
23:41 And you shall keep it a feast unto Yahweh seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
The festival of booths. Observing the memory of our ancestors when they were led out of Egypt. Time to camp and respect and observe our history and our God.
23:42 You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
23:43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths (tents), when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Yahweh your God.
23:44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of Yahweh.
Leviticus 25:8 And you shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
The Jubilee. 49 years.
25:9 Then shalt you cause the trumpet of the jubilee (ram's horns) to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement (propitiation) shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
The Jubilee starts on the Day of Atonement in the 49th year and lasts until the following year.
25:10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man unto his possession, and you shall return every man unto his family.
1Kings 8:2/2Chronicles 5:3 And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast (of tabernacles) in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
8:3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
8:4 And they brought up the ark of Yahweh, and the tabernacle of the congregation (tent of meeting), and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.
Ezra 3:1 And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
1Esdras 5:47 But when the seventh month was at hand, and when the children of Israel were every man in his own place, they came all together with one consent into the open place of the first gate which is toward the east.
5:51 Also they held the feast of tabernacles, as it is commanded in the law, and offered sacrifices daily, as was meet:
9:40 So Esdras the chief priest brought the law unto the whole multitude from man to woman, and to all the priests, to hear law in the first day of the seventh month.
Nehemiah 8:14 And they found written in the law which Yahweh had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month:
8:15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
The purpose of the Feast of Trumpets was for a reminder of the Exodus and how Yahweh had delivered them.
8:16 So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
Observing this feast may be done at home as stated in verse 16. It's the act of sincerity, gratitude, remembrance, and honor to Yahweh. It's symbolic of leaving evil and captivity.
1Maccabees 10:21 So in the seventh month of the hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of the tabernacles, Jonathan put on the holy robe, and gathered together forces, and provided much armour.
Zechariah 7:5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto Me, even to Me?
Isaiah 58:1-6
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching (drawing near) to God.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife (contention) and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
7:6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
October -- the eighth month
October has always had 31 days.
8 BUL the eighth Hebrew month, corresponding to modern Nov-Dec.
Bul = “increase: produce”
The same as H944 produce (of the earth, etc.): - food, stock. (in the sense of rain); Bul
The Temple that Solomon built is completed.
The Temple finished.
1Kings 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.
November -- the ninth month
Novembris had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.
9 CHISLEV the 9th month of the calendar corresponding to Nov-Dec.
Chisleu = “his confidence”
Day 25 The Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah)
Soldier Sabbath (91st Day) follows last day of Chislev.
After the death of Alexander the Great, and the break up of his empire, Antiochus Epiphanes, a wicked root, defied Israel and sough to destroy them unless they denounced their heritage, laws and God.
1Maccabees 1:54 Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Judah on every side;
1Maccabees 4:59 Moreover Judas and his brethren with the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, with mirth and gladness.
Hanukkah feast of dedication of 8 days.
In the Hebrew month Kislev (December) the Maccabees drove out the Syrians and recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem. The Maccabees and their followers quickly cleansed the altars and restored the holy furnishings. Of particular importance to them was the broken Menorah symbolizing the light of God. They restored it and lit it, but there was a problem. As they searched for some specially prepared oil, they found only enough to burn for one day. The priests knew it would take at least eight days for new oil to be produced. What to do? They decided it was better to light the Menorah anyway; at least the light of God would shine forth immediately. To their amazement, the oil burned not only for one day, but for eight days until additional oil was available! Yahweh indeed showed His miracles.
Hanukkah is not a Jewish holiday, it is an Israelite holiday, as the Maccabees were Israelites, not Jews.
1Esdras 9:5 And in three days were all they of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem the twentieth day of the ninth month.
Soldier Sabbath.
Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
1:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Judahites that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
Nehemiah was in Persia (Babylon) and was praying that Yahweh hears his prayers for his people. A few months later, Artaxerxes allows Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem to oversee the rebuilding.
Zechariah 7:1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Yahweh came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month (of Elisabeth's pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Soldier Sabbath-Christ conceived.
December -- the tenth month
December had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 31 days long.
10 TEBETH the 10th month corresponding to modern Dec-Jan
Tebeth = “goodness”
Esther taken as Queen.
Esther 2:16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
11 SHEBAT 11th month corresponding to Jan or Feb
Sebat = “a rod”
A month to Return to the Torah.
The name of this book signifies the 'repetition' of the law.
The Israelites that were about to enter the Promised Land were too little to remember the first reading of the law or born shortly after.
This is a repeating of the law to the new generations of the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 1:3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that Yahweh had given him in commandment unto them;
1Maccabees 16:14 Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the country, and taking care for the good ordering of them; at which time he came down himself to Jericho with his sons, Mattathias and Judas, in the hundred threescore and seventeenth year, in the eleventh month, called Sabat:
Zechariah 1:7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Yahweh unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
12 ADAR twelfth month, corresponding to modern March-April.
Adar = “glorious”
H144 (Chaldee); corresponding to H143 Probably of foreign derivation; perhaps meaning fire; Adar.: - Adar. H12 a perishing: - destruction. From H6 A primitive root; properly to wander away, that is lose oneself; by implication to perish (causatively, destroy): - break, destroy (-uction), + not escape, fail, lose, (cause to, make) perish, spend, X and surely, take, be undone, X utterly, be void of, have no way to flee.
Day 13 Celebration of the Destruction of Nicanor
Days 14-15 Purim.
PURIM
The 14th of Adar, observed in celebration of the deliverance of the Judahites from massacre by Haman.
Esther 3:7 In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes), 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.
3:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Judahites, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.
8:11 Wherein the king granted the Judahites which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,
8:12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes), namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
8:13 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Judahites should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. See letter after verse 13 in apocrypha.
Esther 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Judahites hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Judahites had rule over them that hated them;)
2Samuel 22:41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.
9:2 The Judahites gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes), to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.
9:15 For the Judahites that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.
9:16 But the other Judahites that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,
9:17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
9:18 But the Judahites that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
9:19 Therefore the Judahites of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
9:20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Judahites that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes), both nigh and far,
9:21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
9:22 As the days wherein the Judahites rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.
9:23 And the Judahites undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;
9:24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Judahites, had devised against the Judahites to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;
9:25 But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Judahites, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
Esther 10:4-13 ...Therefore did He ordain two lots. One for the people of God, and one for all the other nations. And these two lots came for an appointed season, and for a day of judgment, before God, and for all the nations. And God remembered His people, and vindicated His inheritance. And they shall observe these days in the month Adar, on the fourteenth and on the fifteenth day of the month, with an assembly, and joy and gladness before God, throughout the generations for ever among his people Israel...
The two lots are of course the two houses of Israel and Judah. Esther and the Maccabees being of the house of Judah, and all the other nations (of Israel) being those scattered Israelites of the house of Israel.
1Maccabees 7:43 So the thirteenth day of the month Adar the hosts joined battle: but Nicanor's host was discomfited, and he himself was first slain in the battle.
Nicanor was an enemy of Israel.
2Maccabees 15:36 And they ordained all with a common decree in no case to let that day pass without solemnity, but to celebrate the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which in the Syrian tongue is called Adar, the day before Mardocheus' day. (See 1-36)