Meaning of YEAR

The Jewish year is twelve or thirteen lunar months, and in the first case it is called common and in the second it is called emboslimic. The beginning of the year coincided with the beginning of spring, and this was common among the people of the Middle East (Ex. 12:2).

In the last books of the Bible the month of Nisan is mentioned as the first of the year and Adar as the twelfth. The modern Jewish designation for the new year appears in the prophet Ezekiel (Ez. 40:1).

Moses organized the calendar, and another reorganization was made at the time of the inauguration of the Temple in Jerusalem.

This calendar begins with the month of Tisri, in which the new temple was inaugurated; but it did not come to be generally used until the first century for civil purposes, although it is true that from ancient times they celebrated religious festivals according to the religious calendar (Deut. 16:13; Ex. 23:16; 34:22), which began around autumn and made the main religious festivals coincide with the festivities.

In addition to the astronomical or civil year, the Old Testament indicates two other types of years: the "Sabbath Year" (Lev. 25:4), which must be considered a year of rest and which occurred every seven years, similar to what It happens with Saturday compared to the other days of the week.

This year had an impact on agriculture, because the lands were left fallow (Lev. 25:1-7); on people, who were freed, whether they had incurred debts or were slaves (Ex. 21:2) and on finances (Deut. 15:7).

The "Jubilee Year", which was celebrated when seven weeks of years were completed, that is, every half century. In it the alienated lands were once again the property of their rightful owner, and there was freedom for all the inhabitants of Israel (Lev. 25:10). The seasons of the year are not always clearly defined in the Bible.

The Hebrews had several events that served as a basis for counting the years: the creation of the world, the exodus (Ex. 19:1; 1 Kings 6:1), the building of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6:1 ; 8:1, 2), the captivity of Babylon (Ez. 33:21; 40:1) or the beginning of the different reigns (Solomon, David, Herod, etc.). See TIME.