Thursday

Unlike English (and many other languages) where the days of the week are named after gods and mythological figures, the Hebrew days are faithful only to the Bible and are simple ordinal numbers, named after the order of the Creation as described in the Bible. We’ll review each day in light of the Bible. For contrast, we’ll also briefly mention the origin of the English, ancient Latin and other origins of these names.

1. English, Norse (Scandinavian), Ancient Latin – Thursday is named after the Norse god Thor. In the Norse languages this day is called Torsdag. The Romans named this day dies Jovis (“Jove’s Day”), after Jove or Jupiter, their most important god.

2. Hebrew – yom cha•mi•shee indicates the ordinal number fifth. “Yom” means “day” and “cha•mi•shee” simply means “the fifth.” The related cardinal number is “cha•mesh” (five). Also, the Hebrew name of each book of the Torah (also called in English the Five Books of Moses) is derived from this word – Chu•mash.

In the Bible Thursday is called “yom cha•mi•shee,” – “the fifth day.” To refresh your memory, here are the accomplishment of creation on the fifth day of our planet: God filled the waters with many kinds of living creatures and birds, created the great crocodiles, and every kind of creature that live in the waters, and every kind of winged birds. God also “blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply in the earth.” Genesis 1:20-22.