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.
Written by H. Porter
Time: Beginning Of
Gen 1:1, 14
Time: Epochs Of:
Before the flood,
Jos 24:2.
The exodus,
Exd 19:1; 40:17; 1Ki 6:1.
Daniel's reckoning of time, and times, and half times,
Dan 7:25; 12:7.
Time: Indicated by a Sun-Dial
2Ki 20:9-11; Isa 38:8
Time: Division Of
Into watches,
Exd 14:24; 1Sa 11:11; Mat 14:25; Mar 6:48.
Time: One Day Is like One-Thousand Years
2Pe 3:8
Time: Fullness Of
Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10
Time: End Of
Job 26:10; Rev 10:6
Time: The Duration of the World
Job 22:16; Rev 10:6
Time: The Measure of the Continuance of Anything
Jdg 18:31
Time: An Appointed Season
Neh 2:6; Ecc 3:1,17
Time: Computed By
Years
Gen 15:13; 2Sa 21:1; Dan 9:2
Months
Num 10:10; 1Ch 27:1; Job 3:6
Weeks
Dan 10:2; Luk 18:12
Days
Gen 8:3; Job 1:4; Luk 11:3
Hours, after the captivity
Dan 5:5; Jhn 11:9
Time: Moments
Exd 33:5; Luk 4:5; 1Cr 15:52
Time: The heavenly bodies, appointed as a means for computing
Gen 1:14
Time: The Sun-Dial Early Invented for Pointing Out
2Ki 20:9-11
Time: Eras from Which, Computed
Nativity of the patriarchs during the patriarchal age
Gen 7:11; 8:13; 17:1
The exodus from Egypt
Exd 19:1; 40:17; Num 9:1; 33:38; 1Ki 6:1
The jubilee
Lev 25:15
Accession of kings
1Ki 6:1; 15:1; Isa 36:1; Jer 1:2; Luk 3:1
Building of the temple
1Ki 9:10; 2Ch 8:1
The captivity
Eze 1:1; 33:21; 40:1
Time: Part of a Period Of, Usually Counted as the Whole
1Sa 13:1; Est 4:16; 5:1
Time: In Prophetic Language, Means a Prophetic Year, Or
Dan 12:7; Rev 12:14
Time: Shortness of Man's Portion Of
Psa 89:47
Time: Should Be Redeemed
Eph 5:16; Col 4:5
Time: Should Be Spent in Fear of God
1Pe 1:17
Time: Particular Periods Of, Mentioned
The ancient time
Isa 45:21
The accepted time
Isa 49:8; 2Cr 6:2
The time of visitation
Jer 46:21; 50:27
The time of refreshing
Act 3:19
The time of restitution of all things
Act 3:21
The time of reformation
Hbr 9:10
The time of healing
Jer 14:19
The time of need
Hbr 4:16
The time of temptation
Luk 8:13
The evil time
Psa 37:19; Ecc 9:12
The time of trouble
Psa 27:5; Jer 14:8
Time: All Events Of, Predetermined by God
Act 17:26
Time: All God's Purposes Fulfilled in Due Time
Mar 1:15; Gal 4:4
Time:
denotes "a space of time," whether short, e.g., Mat 2:7; Luk 4:5, or long, e.g., Luk 8:27; 20:9; or a succession of "times," shorter, e.g., Act 20:18, or longer, e.g., Rom 16:25, RV, "times eternal;" or duration of "time," e.g., Mar 2:19, 2nd part, RV, "while" (AV, "as long as"), lit., "for whatever time." For a fuller treatment see SEASON, A, No. 2.
A-2NounStrong's Number: g2540Greek: kairosTime:
primarily "due measure, due proportion," when used of "time," signified "a fixed or definite period, a season," sometimes an opportune or seasonable "time," e.g., Rom 5:6, RV, "season;" Gal 6:10, "opportunity." In Mar 10:30; Luk 18:30, "this time" (kairos), i.e., "in this lifetime," is contrasted with "the coming age." In 1Th 5:1, "the times and the seasons," "times" (chronos) refers to the duration of the interval previous to the Parousia of Christ and the length of "time" it will occupy (see COMING, No. 3), as well as other periods;"seasons" refers to the characteristics of these periods.
See SEASON, A, No. 1, and the contrasts between chronos and kairos under SEASON, A, No. 2.
Time:
primarily, "any time or period fixed by nature," is translated "time" in Mat 14:15; Luk 14:17; Rom 13:11, "high time;" in the following the RV renders it "hour," for AV, "time," Mat 18:1; Luk 1:10; Jhn 16:2, 4, 25; 1Jo 2:18 (twice); Rev 14:15; in Mar 6:35, RV, "day;" in 1Th 2:17, RV, "a short(season)," lit., "(the season, AV, 'time') of an hour."
See HOUR.
Time:
"ever yet," is rendered "at any time" in Jhn 1:18; 5:37; 1Jo 4:12. For Luk 15:29 see Note (14) below.
See NEVER.
Time:
"already, now," is translated "by this time" in Jhn 11:39.
See ALREADY.
Time:
"long ago, of old," is rendered "of old time" in Hbr 1:1 (AV, "in time past").
See OLD.
Notes:
(1) In Luk 9:51; Act 8:1, AV, hemera, "a day," is translated "time," in the former, plural, RV, "the days;" in Luk 23:7 (plural), RV "(in these) days," AV, "(at that) time."
(2) In 1Ti 6:19 the phrase eis to mellon, lit., "unto the about-to-be," i.e., "for the impending (time)," is rendered "against the time to come."
(3) In 1Cr 16:12, AV, nun, "now" (RV), is rendered "at this time;" in Act 24:25, the phrase to nun echon, lit., "the now having," is rendered "at this time" (the verb is adjectival); the phrase is more expressive than the simple "now." Cp. heos tou nun, "until now," Mat 24:21; Mar 13:19, RV, AV, "unto (this time)."
(4) For polumeros, strangely rendered "at sundry times," in Hbr 1:1, AV, see PORTION, C.
(5) For "long time," see LONG.
(6) For "nothing... at any time," see NOTHING, Note (3).
(7) For proskairos, rendered "for a time" in Mar 4:17, AV, see SEASON, WHILE.
(8) In Matt., apo tote, "from that time," lit., "from then," occurs thrice, Mat 4:17; 16:21; 26:16; in Luk 16:16, RV (AV, "since that time"); in Jhn 6:66, AV, "from that time" translates ek toutou, lit., "from, or out of, this," RV, "upon this."
(9) In Luk 4:27, the preposition epi signifies "in the time of."
(10) For genea, rendered "times" in Act 14:16, "time" in Act 15:21, see AGE, No. 2 (RV, "generations").
(11) For "at every time," 2Pe 1:15, RV, see ALWAYS, No. 2.
(12) For "in time of need," Hbr 4:16, see CONVENIENT, and NEED, C, Note.
(13) In Hbr 2:1, pote signifies "at any time;" in 1Pe 3:5, "in the old time;" in 2Pe 1:21, "in old time."
See PAST. In the following where the AV has "sometimes" the RV has "once" in Eph 2:13; 5:8; "aforetime" in Tts 3:3.
(14) In Luk 15:29, AV, oudepote, "never," is rendered "neither... at any time" (RV, "never").
(15) For eukaireo, "to spend time," Act 17:21, see SPEND, No. 10.
(16) For chronotribeo, "to spend time," see SPEND, No. 11.
(17) For prolego, rendered "told... in time past," in Gal 5:21, AV, see FOREWARN.
(18) In Luk 12:1, "in the mean time" is a rendering of the phrase en hois, lit., "in which (things or circumstances)."
(19) In Rev 5:11 there is no word representing "times:" see THOUSAND, Note (2).
(20) In Gal 4:2 prothesmios (in its feminine form, with hemera, "day," understood) is rendered "time appointed" (see APPOINT, No. 3 and Note, TERM).
Calendar:
kal'-en-dar (Latin calendarium, "an account book," from calendae, "day on which accounts were due"): The Hebrew or Jewish calendar had three stages of development: the preexilic, or Biblical; the postexilic, or Talmudic; and the post-Talmudic. The first rested on observation merely, the second on observation coupled with calculation, and the third on calculation only. In the first period the priests determined the beginning of each month by the appearance of the new moon and the recurrence of the prescribed feasts from the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Thus, the month Abib ('abhibh), the first month of the year according to the Levitical law, in which the Passover was to be celebrated, was determined by observation (Ex 12:2; De 16). After the exile more accurate methods of determining the months and seasons came into vogue, and calculation was employed to supplement and correct observations and the calendar was regulated according to the Babylonian system, as is evidenced by the names of the months which are derived from it. In later times the calendar was fixed by mathematical methods (see the article "Calendar" in the Jewish Encyclopedia). The difficulty of ascertaining the first day of the new moon by observation, in the early period, led to the celebration of two days, as seems to be indicated in 1Sa 20:27. We have only four names of months belonging to the pre-exilic period, and they are Phoenician. Of these Abib ('abhibh) was the first month, as already indicated, and it corresponded to Nis (nican) in the later calendar. It was the month in which the Exodus occurred and the month of the Passover (Ex 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; De 16:1).
The 2nd month of this calendar was Ziv (ziw) (1Ki 6:1,37); Ethanim ('ethanim) was the 7th (1Ki 8:2), corresponding to Tishri of the later calendar, and Bul (bul) the 8th, corresponded to Marchesvan (marcheshwan) (1Ki 6:38). There were course other month names in this old calendar, but they have not come down to us. These names refer to the aspects of the seasons: thus Abib ('abhibh) means grain in the ear, just ripening (Le 2:14; Ex 9:31); Ziv (ziw) refers to the beauty and splendor of the flowers in the spring; Ethanim ('ethanim) means perennial, probably referring to living fountains; and Bul (bul) means rain or showers, being the month when the rainy season commenced. The full calendar of months used in the postexilic period is given in a table accompanying this article. The names given in the table are not all found in the Bible, as the months are usually referred to by number, but we find Nican in Ne 2:1 and Es 3:7; Siwan in Es 8:9; Tammuz in Eze 8:4, although the term as here used refers to a Phoenician god after whom the month was named; ‘Elul occurs in Ne 6:15; Kiclew (the American Standard Revised Version "chislev") in Ne 1:1 and Zec 7:1; Tebheth in Es 2:16; ShebhaT in Zec 1:7 and ‘Adhar in Ezr 6:15 and several times in Est. These months were lunar and began with the new moon, but their position in regard to the seasons varied somewhat because of the intercalary month about every three years.
The year (shanah) originally began in the autumn, as appears from Ex 23:16 and Ex 34:22, where it is stated that the feast of Ingathering should be at the end of the year; the Sabbatic year began, also, in the 7th month of the calendar year (Le 25:8-10), indicating that this had been the beginning of the year. This seems to have been a reckoning for civil purposes, while the year beginning with Nican was for ritual and sacred purposes. This resulted from the fact that the great feast of the Passover occurred in this month and the other feasts were regulated by this, as we see from such passages as Ex 23:14-16 and De 16:1-17. Josephus (Ant., I, iii, 3) says: "Moses appointed that Nican, which is the same with Xanthicus, should be the first month of their festivals, because he brought them out of Egypt in that month; so that this month began the year as to all solemnities they observed to the honor of God, although he preserved the original order of the months as to selling and buying and other ordinary affairs." A similar custom is still followed in Turkey, where the Mohammedan year is observed for feasts, the pilgrimage to Mecca and other sacred purposes, while the civil year begins in March O. S.
The year was composed of 12 or 13 months according as to whether it was ordinary or leap year. Intercalation is not mentioned in Scripture, but it was employed to make the lunar correspond approximately to the solar year, a month being added whenever the discrepancy of the seasons rendered it necessary. This was regulated by the priests, who had to see that the feasts were duly observed at the proper season. The intercalary month was added after the month of ‘Adhar and was called the second ‘Adhar (sheni, wa-'adhar, "and Adar"), and, as already indicated, was added about once in 3 years. More exactly, 4 years out of every 11 were leap years of 13 months (Jewish Encyclopedia, article "Calendar"), this being derived from the Babylonian calendar. If, on the 16th of the month Nican, the sun had not reached the vernal equinox, that month was declared to be the second ‘Adhar and the following one Nican. This method, of course, was not exact and about the 4th century of our era the mathematical method was adopted. The number of days in each month was fixed, seven having 30 days, and the rest 29. When the intercalary month was added, the first ‘Adhar had 30 and the second 29 days.
Written by H. Porter
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