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Moon"; and: 3. "Ethanim Moon", which possibly means "enduring Moon". It is possible that these
adjectives are month names, and they may relate to the Canaanite or Phoenician Calendar (as some
believe). However, two of the dates: 1. "Brightness Moon" (or Zif Moon); and; 2. "Increasing
Moon" (or Bul Moon), could logically be interpreted as orientation to specific phases of the
Moon -- where the two dates may simply refer to: 1. The waning-half of the Moon cycle when
more of the time it appears in the bright part of the day; and: 2. The waxing-half of the Moon cycle
when more of the time it appears during the nighttime.

The biblical usage of the literal Moon or "Yerach" and the term "chodesh" -- both together
in a presumably same calendar (as noted in 1 Kings shown above) seems to mean that the "cho-
desh" as a calendar-cycle does have some association to the period of the "Yerach". However, due
to the Bible's extremely limited usage of the two words: "yerach" and "chodesh" (both together) it
is rather clear that the original understanding of the meaning of "chodesh" was distinct from the
meaning of "yerach". Essentially, the biblically described "yerach" and "chodesh" do not appear to
be fully interchangeable calendar terms.

Chodesh and the Sabbath

The early meaning of the calendar term "chodesh" seems to be more closely associated
with the definition of the Sabbath (rather than to the definition of the period of the Moon or
"Yerach"):

"...it is neither 'chodesh' nor Sabbath..." (2 Kings 4:2).

"...from 'chodesh'...and from...Sabbath..." (Isaiah 66:23).

"...on the Sabbath...and...the 'chodesh'..." (Ezekiel 46:1).

"...the 'chodesh'...and the Sabbath..." (Amos 8:5).

The implied relationship between the Sabbath and the calendar term "chodesh" (or "new
beginnings") ultimately has to mean that the calendar term 'chodesh' relates to the unit of the
lunar-phase (and more so than to the whole lunar-period).

Some early references seem to show that 6 working days (in each lunar-week) was counted
between the terminal of a regular-Sabbath and the terminal of a renewal-Sabbath.

The count of both the Sabbath and the "chodesh" (or "renewal", or "new beginnings") can
be recited from the Bible Book of Ezekiel as follows:

"Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be
shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the 'cho-
desh' [the day of the 'new beginnings'] it shall be opened." (Ezekiel 46:1).

The six-working-days, the Sabbath, and the day of the "chodesh" are all indicated to ulti-
mately relate to the literal "Yerach" (as shown in the 1 Kings passage, noted above). Composite

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