Time

tim: The basis of the Hebrew measurement of time was the day and the lunar month, as with the Semites generally. The division of the day into hours was late, probably not common until after the exile, although the sun-dial of Ahaz (2Ki 20:9; Isa 38:8) would scent to indicate some division of the day into periods of some sort, as we know the night was divided, The word used for "hour" is Aramaic she`a' (sha`ta'), and does not occur in the Old Testament until the Book of Daniel (4:33; 5:5), and even there it stands for an indefinite period for which "time" would answer as well.

1. The Day:

The term "day" (yom) was in use from the earliest times, as is indicated in the story of the Creation (Ge 1). It there doubtless denotes an indefinite period, but is marked off by "evening and morning" in accordance with what we know was the method of reckoning the day of 24 hours, i.e. from sunset to sunset.

2. Night:

The night was divided, during pre-exilic times, into three divisions called watches ('ashmurah, 'ashmoreth), making periods of varying length, as the night was longer or shorter (Jud 7:19). This division is referred to in various passages of the Old Testament, but nowhere with indication of definite limits (see Ps 90:4; 119:148; Jer 51:12; Hab 2:1).

In the New Testament we find the Roman division of, etc.). But the use of the word in the indefinite sense, as in the expressions: "day of the Lord," "in that day," "the day of judgment," etc., is far more frequent (see DAY). Other more or less indefinite periods of the day and night are: dawn, dawning of the day, morning, evening, noonday, midnight, cock-crowing or crowing of the cock, break of day, etc.

3. Week:

The weekly division of time, or the seven-day period, was in use very early and must have been known to the Hebrews before the Mosaic Law, since it was in use in Babylonia before the days of Abraham and is indicated In the story of the Creation. The Hebrew shabhua`, used in the Old Testament for "week," is derived from shebha`, the word for "seven." As the seventh day was a day of rest, or Sabbath (Hebrew shabbath), this word came to be used for "week," as appears in the New Testament sabbaton, sabbata), indicating the period from Sabbath to Sabbath (Mt 28:1). The same usage is implied in the Old Testament (Le 23:15; 25:8). The days of the week were indicated by the numerals, first, second, etc., save the seventh, which was the Sabbath. In New Testament times Friday was called the day of preparation (paraskeue) for the Sabbath (Lu 23:54).

4. Month:

The monthly division of time was determined, of course, by the phases of the moon, the appearance of the new moon being the beginning of the month, chodhesh. Another term for month was yerach yerach, meaning "moon," which was older and derived from the Phoenician usage, but which persisted to late times, since it is found in the Aramaic inscriptions of the 3rd century AD in Syria. The names of the months were Babylonian and of late origin among the Hebrews, probably coming into use during and after the Captivity. But they had other names, of earlier use, derived from the Phoenicians, four of which have survived in "Abib," "Ziv," "Ethanim" and "Bul."

See CALENDAR.

5. Year:

The Hebrew year (shanah) was composed of 12 or 13 months, the latter being the year when an intercalary month was added to make the lunar correspond with the solar year. As the difference between the two was from ten to eleven days, this required the addition of a month once in about three years, or seven in nineteen years. This month was added at the vernal equinox and was called after the month next preceding, we-'adhar, or the "second Adar." We do not know when this arrangement was first adopted, but it was current after the Captivity. There were two years in use, the civil and the ritual, or sacred year. The former began in the autumn, as would appear from Ex 23:16; 34:22, where it is stated that the "feast of ingathering" should be at the end of the year, and the Sabbatic year began in the 7th month of the calendar or sacred year, which would correspond to September-October (Le 25:9). Josephus says (Ant., I, iii, 3) that Moses designated Nican (March-April) as the 1st month of the festivals, i.e. of the sacred year, but preserved the original order of the months for ordinary affairs, evidently referring to the civil year. This usage corresponds to that of the Turkish empire, where the sacred year is lunar and begins at different seasons, but the financial and political year begins in March O.S. The beginning of the year was called ro'sh ha-shanah, and was determined by the priests, as was the beginning of the month. Originally this was done by observation of the moon, but, later, calculation was employed in connection with it, until finally a system based on accurate calculation was adopted, which was not until the 4th century AD. New-Year was regarded as a festival.

See ASTRONOMY, sec. I, 5; YEAR.

6. Seasons:

The return of the seasons was designated by summer and winter, or seed-time and harvest; for they were practically the same. There is, in Palestine, a wet season, extending from October to March or April, and a dry season comprising the remainder of the year. The first is the winter (choreph), and this is the seed-time (zera`), especially the first part of it called yoreh, or the time of the early rain; the second is the summer (qayits, "fruit-harvest," or qatsir, "harvest").

Seed-time begins as soon as the early rains have fallen in sufficient quantity to moisten the earth for plowing, and the harvest begins in some parts, as in the lower Jordan region, near the Dead Sea, about April, but on the high lands a month or two later. The fruit harvest comes in summer proper and continues until the rainy season. "The time when kings go out to war" (2Sa 11:1; 1Ki 20:22) probably refers to the end of the rainy season in Nican.

7. No Era:

We have no mention in the Old Testament of any era for time reckoning, and we do not find any such usage until the time of the Maccabees. There are occasional references to certain events which might have served for eras had they been generally adopted. Such was the Exodus in the account of the building of the temple (1Ki 6:1) and the Captivity (Eze 33:21; 40:1) and the Earthquake (Am 1:1). Dates were usually fixed by the regnal years of the kings, and of the Persian kings after the Captivity. When Simon the Maccabee became independent of the Seleucid kings in 143-142 or 139-138 BC, he seems to have established an era of his own, if we may attribute to him a series of coins dated by the years "of the independence of Israel" (see COINS: MONEY; also 1 Macc 13:41 and 15:6,10). The Jews doubtless were familiar with the Seleucid era, which began in 312 BC, and with some of the local eras of the Phoenician cities, but we have no evidence that they made use of them. The era of the Creation was not adopted by them until after the time of Christ. This was fixed at 3,830 years before the destruction of the later temple, or 3760 BC.

See ERA.

H. Porter

• → Beginning of Ge 1:1,14
• → Epochs of
  • Before the flood Jos 24:2
• → The exodus Ex 19:1; 40:17; 1Ki 6:1
• → Daniel' s reckoning of time, and times, and half times Da 7:25; 12:7
• → Indicated by a sun-dial 2Ki 20:9-11; Isa 38:8
• → Division of, into watches Ex 14:24; 1Sa 11:11; Mt 14:25; Mr 6:48
• → One day is like one-thousand years 2Pe 3:8
• → Fullness of Ga 4:4; Eph 1:10
• → End of Job 26:10; Re 10:6

• The duration of the world Job 22:16; Re 10:6
• The measure of the continuance of anything Jud 18:31
• An appointed season Ne 2:6; Ec 3:1,17
• COMPUTED BY
  • Years Ge 15:13; 2Sa 21:1; Da 9:2
  • Months Nu 10:10; 1Ch 27:1; Job 3:6
  • Weeks Da 10:2; Lu 18:12
  • Days Ge 8:3; Job 1:4; Lu 11:3
  • Hours, after the captivity Da 5:5; Joh 11:9
• Moments Ex 33:5; Lu 4:5; 1Co 15:52
• The heavenly bodies, appointed as a means for computing Ge 1:14
• The sun-dial early invented for pointing out 2Ki 20:9-11
• ERAS FROM WHICH, COMPUTED
  • Nativity of the patriarchs during the patriarchal age Ge 7:11; 8:13; 17:1
  • The exodus from Egypt Ex 19:1; 40:17; Nu 9:1; 33:38; 1Ki 6:1
  • The jubilee Le 25:15
  • Accession of kings 1Ki 6:1; 15:1; Isa 36:1; Jer 1:2; Lu 3:1
  • Building of the temple 1Ki 9:10; 2Ch 8:1
  • The captivity Eze 1:1; 33:21; 40:1
• Part of a period of, usually counted as the whole 1Sa 13:1; Es 4:16; 5:1
• In prophetic language, means a prophetic year, or 360 natural days Da 12:7; Re 12:14
• Shortness of man's portion of Ps 89:47
• Should be redeemed Eph 5:16; Col 4:5
• Should be spent in fear of God 1Pe 1:17
• PARTICULAR PERIODS OF, MENTIONED
  • The ancient time Isa 45:21
  • The accepted time Isa 49:8; 2Co 6:2
  • The time of visitation Jer 46:21; 50:27
  • The time of refreshing Ac 3:19
  • The time of restitution of all things Ac 3:21
  • The time of reformation Heb 9:10
  • The time of healing Jer 14:19
  • The time of need Heb 4:16
  • The time of temptation Lu 8:13
  • The evil time Ps 37:19; Ec 9:12
  • The time of trouble Ps 27:5; Jer 14:8
• All events of, predetermined by God Ac 17:26
• All God's purposes fulfilled in due time Mr 1:15; Ga 4:4