Unlike most of the Solar System planets, the word ya•re•ach appears in the Bible as moon, and it means the same today. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the awesome day of the Lord come” (Joel 3:4). (In some Bible versions, this verse is Joel 2:31).
Because its cycle determines the Jewish Lunar calendar, one of the Biblical words for month is similar to the moon’s Hebrew name: ye•rach.
“Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria”
The moon was designated since the creation for the purpose of indicating the signs and seasons (the holidays). We see this role in Genesis 1:14, but it is mentioned in its nickname: ‘the small light.’ In Psalm 104:19, it is mentioned as Ya•re•ach: “He appointed the moon for seasons.”
In modern Hebrew, the moon also has a literary nickname le•va•na that is related to its color: la•van (white).
Recent Comments