th month. There is no mention of a
thirteenth month.

But occasionally we find names as well as numbers given to the months.
The first of these is Abib, meaning the month of "green ears." This was
the first month, the month of the Passover, and it received its name no
doubt from the first green ears of barley offered before the Lord during
the feast that followed the Passover.

The second month was called Zif, "splendour"; apparently referring to
the splendour of the flowers in full spring time. It is mentioned
together with two other names, Ethanim, the seventh month, and Bul, the
eighth month, in the account of the building and dedication of Solomon's
Temple. The last two are certainly Phoenician names, having been found
on Phoenician inscriptions; the first is possibly Phoenician also. Their
occurrence in this special connection was no doubt a result of the very
large part taken in the building of the Temple and the construction of
its furniture by the workmen of Hiram, king of Tyre. The Phoenician
names of the months would naturally appear in the contracts and accounts
for the work, side by side with the Hebrew equivalents; just as an
English contractor to-day, in negotiating for a piece of work to be
carried out in Russia, would probably take care to use the dating both
of the Russian old style calendar, and of the English new style. The
word used for month in these cases is generally, not _chodesh_, the
month as beginning with the new moon, but _yerach_, as if the chronicler
did not wish them to be understood as having been determined by Jewish
authorities or methods. In one case, however, _chodesh_ is used in
connection with the month Zif.

The other instances of names for the months are Nisan, Sivan, Elul,
Chisleu, Tebeth, Sebat, and Adar, derived from month names in use in
Babylonia, and employed only in the books of Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and
Zechariah, all avowedly post-exilic writers. The month word used in
connection with them is _chodesh_--since the Babylonian months were also
lunar--except in the single case where Ezra used a month name, terming
it _yerach_. The other post-exilic writers or editors of the books of
Holy Scripture would seem to have been at some pains to omit all
Babylonian month names. These Babylonian month names continue to be used
in the Jewish calendar of to-day.

In four places in Scripture mention is made of a month of days, the word
for month being in two cases _chodesh_, and i