Pure Etymology

 

For most of you that are unfamiliar with the word etymology, it means ‘the origins of words.’ In this article we are going to look at the origin of the names of the days of the week and the months of two calendars.

First, let me tell you where the information comes from. 1. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (hereafter called WEB); 2. Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon (hereafter called GES); 3. The Strong’s Concordance (hereafter called STR); and 4. College Dictionary (hereafter called COL). See Bibliography for full book names. Other abbreviations are L= Latin, ME = Middle English, OE = Old English, OF = Old French, ON = Old Norse, the symbol § = a section of a book. [Note: 2005 book has symbols for the days of the week, will update when they can be located.]

Days of the Week:

  1. Sunday – WEB “the 1st day of the week, the Christian Sabbath,” symbol ….; COL “ME Soneday, [from] OE Sunnandaeg, translation of L dies solis, day of the sun”
  2. Monday – WEB “the second day of the week,” symbol ….; COL “OE Monandaeg, translation of L dies lunae, day of the moon, ON Mandagr”
  3. Tuesday – WEB “the third day of the week,” symbol …., back § relates it to Mars, the Roman god of war; COL “ME Tuesdai, [from] OE Tiwesdaeg, Tiu’s day,” Tiu is “Norse myth, the Germanic god of war and the sky, ON Tirsdagr”
  4. Wednesday – WEB “ME from OE Wodensdaeg, literally day of Woden [supreme god of the pagan Anglo-Saxons], the 4th day of the week,” symbol …., back § relates it to Mercury, the Roman messenger god; COL “the chief Teutonic god”
  5. Thursday – WEB “the 5th day of the week,” “ME from OE thursdaeg, from ON thorsdagr, literally day of Thor, Norse thunder god,” symbol …., back § relates it to Jupiter, the supreme Roman god; COL “ME, [from] OE Dunresdaeg, the English is a translation of L dies Jovis ‘Jupiter’s day,’ OE version was Thunresdaeg from Thunor, a Germanic thunder god, Norse form of Thunor is Thor, since thunder was one of Jupiter’s attributes, the two gods were associated and Thor’s, or Thunor’s, name was given to Jupiter’s day”
  6. Friday – WEB ” the sixth day of the week,” symbol …., back § relates it to Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty; COL “ME Fridai, [from] OE Frigedaeg, Freya’s day, Norse goddess of love and beauty, ON Freyjadagr”
  7. Saturday – WEB “the 7th day of the week,” symbol …., back § relates it to Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture; COL “ME Saterday, [from] OE Saeternesdaeg, translation of L dies Saturni, Saturn’s day.”

As you can see all of the names come from pagan gods, except Sunday and Monday, which comes from sun and moon worship. None of the names glorify YaHVaH. The days of the week are not named in Hebrew, except the Shabbath. They are simply called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th days. YaHVaH gave the 7th day the name Shabbath, meaning day of rest.

Names of the months of the Gregorian/Julian calendar:

  1. January – WEB “ME Januarie, from L Januarius, first month of the ancient Roman year from Janus, two-faced god of gates and beginnings [doorways], the 1st month of the year.”
  2. February – WEB “ME Februarie, from L Februarius, from Februs, plural form, [means] feast of purification, the 2d month of the year”; COL ” . . ., februa, festival of purification, of Sabine origin.”
  3. March – WEB “ME from OF from L martius, from martius of Mars, from Mart-Mars, Roman god of war, the 3d month of the year”; COL only adds that it also has some origin in Anglo-Norman between L and OF.
  4. April – WEB “ME from OF avrill, from L Aprilis, the 4th month of the year.”
  5. May – WEB “ME from OF mai, from L Maius, from Maia, Roman goddess, the 5th month of the year.”
  6. June – WEB “ME from L Junius, the 6th month of the year”; COL “ME Juin, [from] OF, [from] L Junius, after Juno, Roman goddess, wife of Jupiter.”
  7. July – WEB “ME Julie, from OE Julius, from Gaius Julius Caesar, the 7th month of the year”; COL “ME Juil, [from] OF [from] L Julius.”
  8. August – WEB “ME from OE from L Augustus, from Augustus Caesar, the 8th month of the year.”
  9. September – WEB “ME Septembre, from OF & OE, both from L September [seventh month], from septem seven, the 9th month of the year.”
  10. October – WEB “ME Octobre, from OF from L October [eighth month], from octo eight, the 10th month of the year”; sometimes spelled Oktobre
  11. November – WEB “ME Novembre, from OF, from L November [ninth month], from novem nine, the 11th month of the year.”
  12. WEB “ME Decembre, from OF, from L December [tenth month], from decem ten, the 12th month of the year.”

You can see by the last four months, the Roman calendar only had ten months until the time of the Caesars, then two months were inserted, July & August. All the names are from Latin/Roman origin.

Names of the months of the Hebrew/Jewish calendar:

  1. Abiyb – GES “a green ear of corn, the first month of the old year [instituted coming out of Egypt], at a later period called Niysan”; STR “of an unused root meaning to be tender”; COL “Heb Abhibh, fresh barley [month of].”    Niysan – GES “month of flowers, the first month of the Hebrews”; Same as Abiyb; STR “probably of foreign origin”; COL “Heb Nisan, < Akkadian nissanu.” Name used today is Nissan. 7th month social calendar; 1st month sacred calendar.
  2. Ziv – GES “splendor [as of flowers], the second Hebrew month”; STR “properly brightness, ie. the month of flowers”; COL “Heb Iyyar, the eighth (8th) month of the Hebrew [social] year.” Name used today is Iyyar, but this name is not used in the Bible. 8th month social calendar; 2nd month sacred calendar.
  3. Sivan – GES “from the root to rejoice, as the month of rejoicing, the third month of the Hebrew year”; STR “probably of Persian origin.” 9th month social calendar; 3rd month sacred calendar.
  4. Tammuz – GES “of a Syrian god, Adonis of the Greeks, worshipped by the Hebrew women with lamentations [see Ezekiel 8], in the fourth month of every year”; STR “of uncertain derivative, a Phoenician deity”; COL “Heb Tammuz, Babylonian Du’uzu, the name of a god.” Note: Syrian and Phoenician are of the same area. 10th month social calendar; 4th month sacred calendar.
  5. Av – GES “[means] father”; name not used in Bible for the month; COL “(also Ab), Heb Abh, < Akkadian abu.” 11th month social calendar; 5th month sacred calendar.
  6. Elul – GES “vain, the sixth Hebrew month”; STR “probably of foreign derivative,” related word “nothing”; COL “Heb Elul, < Akkadian elulu, harvest time.” 12th month social calendar; 6th month sacred calendar.
  7. Eythaniym – GES “the month of perennial streams, (elsewhere called Tishri) the seventh month of the Hebrew year”; STR “the permanent brooks.”  Tishri – COL “Heb Tishri, < Akkadian Tashritu, < shurru, to begin.” Name used today is Tishri, same as Eythaniym above, but not used in the Bible. Sometimes spelled Tishrei. 1st month social calendar; 7th month sacred calendar.
  8. Buwl – GES “rain, showers, hence the month of showers, the eighth of the Jewish months.” Name used today is Cheshvan, but Cheshvan is not used in the Bible. 2nd month social calendar; 8th month sacred calendar.
  9. Kislev – GES “the ninth month of the Hebrew months, it’s etymology is altogether uncertain”; STR “probably of foreign origin.” Sometimes spelled Chisleu. 3rd month social calendar; 9th month sacred calendar.
  10. Teveth – GES “the tenth Hebrew month”; STR “probably of foreign derivative”; COL “Heb Tebheth, < Akkadian tebetu.” Sometimes spelled Tevet. 4th month social calendar; 10th month sacred calendar.
  11. Shevat – GES “tribe (rod, scepter, or staff), the eleventh month of the Hebrew year”; STR “of foreign origin.” 5th month social calendar; 11th month sacred calendar.
  12. Adar – GES “the twelfth month of the Hebrew months, the etymology is uncertain [other words seem to allude to greatness, magnificence]”; STR “perhaps meaning ‘fire,’ probably of foreign derivative”; COL “ME, < Heb Adhar, < Akkadian addaru, addru – to be dark.” 6th month social calendar; 12th month sacred calendar.
  13. Adar II – 13th month added on leap years.

As you can see from the etymology of the Hebrew calendar names, they are mostly of Akkadian origin (according to COL), except Tammuz, which is of Syrian-Phoenician deity origin (with equilavent names in Babylonian and Greek). So even the Hebrews have one name of a pagan deity in their calendar.

I would also like to mention what GES says about the Name of YaHVaH. 2nd ¶ “As it is thus evident that the word (Yehovah) does not stand with its own vowels, but with those of another word, the inquiry arises, what then are its true and genuine vowels? Several consider that (Yahaowh) is the true pronunciation (according to the analogy of (Paroh Ya’aqov)), rightly appealing to the authority of certain ancient writers, who have stated that the [El] of the Hebrew was called IAO … Not very dissimilar is the name IEUO of Philo Byblius ap. Euseb. praep. Evang. I. 9; and IAOU (Yahuw) in Clem. Al. Strom. v. p. 562. Others, as Reland, following the Samaritans, suppose that (Yah’veh) was anciently the true pronunciation, and they have an additional ground for the opinion in the abbreviated forms (Yahuw) and (Yahh).” (p. 337, #3068/9).

You can see where all the confusion comes from about the Name of YaHVaH and how the Greek characters (the vowels in capitals above) were conferred in error. Only the Samaritans seem to have come close to the correct Name.

To those of you who may have trouble digesting this, I apologize and I hope everyone will be able to sort through the information alright.

First published 3-2004, © 2004, 2017

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