x. 22), and lasted eight days, being distinguished by the offering of

many sacrifices, a general illumination (hence its name the _Feast of Lights_), and other rejoicings.

In Scripture, dates are often fixed by a reference to the seasons or productions (Num. xiii. 20; 2 Sam. xxi. 9). The following Table, therefore, is here given, in which the civil and sacred months, their _approximate_ English equivalents, the various annual feasts, and the chief features of the seasons are combined. It is assumed that _Abib_ or _Nisan_ answers to April. (See Article _Month_ in Smith’s _Bib. Dict._ and Angus’s _Bible Handbook_, p. 270.)

CALENDAR Year ───────── English Seasons Sacred Month and Civil Month (nearly) Festivals │ Productions ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── i.│ 7│ ABIB or │April│14. The PASSOVER│ Fall of the _latter_ │ │ NISAN │ │ │ or _spring_ rain. │ │ (_green │ │ │ (Deut. xi. 14.) │ │ ears_) │ │ │ Floods │ │ Days 30 │ │ │ (Josh. iii. 14). │ │Exod. xii. 2│ │16. First-fruits│HARVEST │ │ │ │ of │ Barley ripe at Jericho. │ │ │ │ barley-harvest│ │ │ │ │ presented │ Wheat partly in the ear. ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── ii.│ 8│ ZIF │ May │14. _Second │ Barley harvest general │ │(_blossom_) │ │ Passover_ for │ (Ruth i. 22). │ │ Days 29 │ │ those who │ │ │ 1 Kings │ │ could not keep│ Wheat ripens. │ │ vi. 1 │ │ the first. │ │ │ │ │ Num. ix. │ │ │ │ │ 10, 11 │ ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── iii.│ 9│ SIVAN │ June│ 6. PENTECOST │ Wheat harvest. Summer │ │ Days 30 │ │ or FEAST OF │ begins. │ │ Esth. │ │ WEEKS │ No rain from April │ │ viii. 9. │ │ │ to Sept. (1 Sam. │ │ │ │ │ xii. 17). ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── iv.│10│ THAMMUZ │ July│ │HOT SEASON. │ │ Days 29 │ │ │ Heat increases. │ │ Zec. │ │ │ │ │ viii. 19 │ │ │ ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── v.│11│ AB │ Aug.│ │ The streams dry up. │ │ Days 30 │ │ │ Heat intense. │ │Esth. vii. 9│ │ │ Vintage (Lev. xxvi. 5). ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── vi.│12│ ELUL │Sept.│ │ Heat still intense │ │ Days 29 │ │ │ (2 Kin. iv. 18–20). │ │Neh. vi. 15 │ │ │ Grape harvest general │ │ │ │ │ (Num. xiii. 23). ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── vii.│ 1│ TISRI or │ Oct.│1. Feast of │SEED TIME │ │ ETHANIM │ │ _Trumpets_ │ │ │ Days 30 │ │10. Day of │ Former or early rains │ │ 1 Kin. │ │ ATONEMENT │ begin (Joel ii. 23). │ │ viii. 2 │ │15. Feast of │ Ploughing and sowing │ │2 Chr. v. 3 │ │ TABERNACLES │ begin. │ │ │ │ First-fruits │ │ │ │ │ of wine and │ │ │ │ │ oil (Lev. │ │ │ │ │ xxiii. 39) │ ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── viii.│ 2│ BUL │ Nov.│ │ Rain continues. │ │ (_rain_) │ │ │ │ │ Days 29 │ │ │ Wheat and barley │ │ 1 Kin. │ │ │ sown. Vintage in │ │ vi. 38 │ │ │ N. Palestine. ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── ix.│ 3│ CHISLEU │ Dec.│ │WINTER │ │ Days 30 │ │25. Feast of │ Winter begins. Snow on │ │ Neh. i. 1 │ │ _Dedication_ │ the mountains. │ │ │ │ (1 Macc. │ │ │ │ │ iv. 52–59) │ ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── x.│ 4│ THEBETH │ Jan.│ │ Coldest month. Hail, │ │ Days 29 │ │ │ snow (Josh. x. 11). │ │Est. ii. 16 │ │ │ ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── xi.│ 5│ SHEBAT │ Feb.│ │ Weather gradually │ │ Days 30 │ │ │ becomes warmer. │ │ Zech. i. 7 │ │ │ ─────┼──┼────────────┼─────┼────────────────┼───────────────────────── xii.│ 6│ ADAR │March│ │COLD SEASON │ │ Days 29 │ │14, 15. Feast of│ Thunder and hail │ │Esth. iii. 7│ │ _Purim_ │ frequent. │ │Esth. ix. 27│ │ │ Almond-tree blossoms.

NOTE.

_Laws of Purity._

Not altogether unconnected with these regulations respecting Holy Times and Seasons were other enactments of the Mosaic code, having for their object the enforcement of ideas of purity and holiness. _Ye shall be holy unto Me_, was the Divine command; _for I the Lord thy God am holy, and have severed you from other people that ye should be Mine_ (Lev. xix. 2; xx. 7). Many of these regulations were, doubtless, laws of health, tending to regulate diet, enforce cleanliness, and guard against many prevalent disorders. But over and above this, they had a higher object, and formed part of the moral discipline of the elect nation.

They regard (i) things unclean to eat; (ii) things unclean to touch; (iii) unclean matters or conditions[103].

i. _Things unclean to eat._ The prohibitions respecting food follow directly the laws concerning sacrifice. Portions of many sacrifices, as we have seen, might be eaten. From this eating the Law passes on to food generally, the nature of which has “commonly no little influence on the refinement and manners of a people.” Concerning vegetable eating, no rules are laid down. In respect to animal food, the laws are clear and precise. (i) Of _quadrupeds_, the clean were such as _both parted the hoof and chewed the cud_, all others were unclean. All animals, therefore, used in sacrifice might be eaten, as also the numerous species of deer and gazelles (Deut. xiv. 5), but none of the _carnivora_, or such animals as the camel, coney, hare, or pig. (ii) Of _birds_ also, all that were offered in sacrifice might be eaten, such as doves, pigeons, and also quails, but all birds of prey, and nearly all the water-fowl, were unclean. (iii) Of _Fish_, those only were clean that had both fins and scales. (iv) All _Reptiles_ and _Insects_ were unclean, except locusts, and such as had four legs for walking and two for springing (Lev. xi. 21, 22; comp. Matt. iii. 4). But the Israelite was also strictly forbidden to eat anything that died of itself (Ex. xxii. 31), or was torn by beasts, emphatically the blood of any animal (Gen. ix. 4; Lev. iii. 17; xvii. 10, 12; Comp. 1 Sam. xiv. 32, 33).

(ii) _Things unclean to touch._ An Israelite incurred defilement who touched or handled (i) the dead body of any animal, whether clean or unclean (Lev. xi. 24–28), (ii) the body, bones, or grave of a dead man (Num. xix. 11, 13, 16). The latter was deemed a defilement calling for special purification. The person was unclean seven days. For his cleansing a young red heifer was slain outside the camp or town, in the presence of one of the priests. Some of the blood the priest was then to sprinkle seven times in the direction of the Sanctuary, to burn the entire carcase, and cast into the fire cedar-wood, scarlet wool, and hyssop. The ashes were then collected, and laid up in a clean place, and a portion mixed with water was to be sprinkled on whatever had been defiled, man, or place, or vessel. This ceremony was to be repeated twice, on the third and on the seventh day. On the latter day the person defiled washed his clothes, bathed, and was clean at even. But still stricter regulations were enforced when a priest or a Nazarite had become defiled (Num. xix. 1–22).

(iii) _Unclean matters or conditions._ Many are enumerated, but we need speak of only one, the disease of LEPROSY. This fearful malady, indigenous in Egypt and Asia Minor, disfiguring the whole person, and making it horrible to the beholder, was called by the Jews _the Stroke_, and even by the Greeks the _first-born son of Death_[104]. It made itself apparent by a white swelling on the skin, especially on the face, turning the skin white (Ex. iv. 6), and the hair white or yellow (Lev. xiii. 3, 10, 30), and producing other disfigurements. The person affected with it was instantly to repair to the priests (Lev. xiii. 2, 9), whose duty it was to make a minute examination, and pronounce whether it was a case of “true leprosy.” If so, the sufferer was pronounced _utterly unclean_, and forthwith assumed the awful badges of his sad condition. He rent his clothes, bared his head, put a covering on his upper lip (Lev. xiii. 45), as though he was mourning for the dead (Ezek. xxiv. 17, 22), and wherever he went cried out, _Unclean! unclean!_ An exile from his home, his family, his friends (Num. v. 2), he was bound to reside without the camp or city in a separate house by himself, or in the society of others similarly afflicted (Lev. xiii. 46; 2 Kings xv. 5; 2 Kings vii. 3; Lk. xvii. 12). No Israelite ever pretended to effect a cure of this awful malady. The priest could pronounce upon the symptoms, shut out the sufferer from the congregation, but he had no power to heal. If, however, the symptoms abated, and there were any signs of a cure, the sufferer again went to the priest, who carefully ascertained whether this was the case. If so, a peculiar ceremony celebrated the healing. It consisted of two stages, (i) Two birds were taken, one killed by the priest over running water, the other dipped, together with cedar-wood, scarlet wool, and hyssop, in its blood, and suffered to fly away into the open air. The priest then sprinkled the leper with the blood seven times, and pronounced him clean. (ii) But before he could return to the society of his fellowmen, he must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, bathe, and then present himself at the Sanctuary with a he-lamb as a _Trespass-offering_, an ewe lamb as a _Sin-offering_, and a he-lamb as a _Burnt-offering_ with its usual meat-offering. In cases of poverty two doves or pigeons might be presented in place of the two latter offerings, but the he-lamb as a _Trespass-offering_ was indispensable. This was first slain, and its blood smeared by the priest on the leper’s right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot. Consecrated oil was then similarly applied, and poured on his head, and the other sacrifices offered, at the conclusion of which atonement was deemed to have been made, and the Leper was clean (Lev. xiv. 49–53).

The regulations respecting this fearful malady were no mere sanitary regulations, for it was not catching from one person to another (comp. 2 Kings v. 1; viii. 4), and the ordinances respecting it did not apply to the stranger and the sojourner. “From the whole host of maladies and diseases which had broken in upon man’s body, God selected this, the sickness of sicknesses, that He might thereby testify against that out of which it and all other sicknesses grew, against SIN, as not from Him, and as grievous in His sight[105].” It was the outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption, a meet emblem in its small beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its dissolution little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and defiles man’s inner nature, and renders him unmeet to enter the Presence of a Pure and Holy God.

(iv) Among the _Vows_ known before the time of Moses (and which, as a general rule, were discouraged by him, comp. Deut. xxiii. 21–23) was that of the _Nazarite_. The person making this vow was bound, usually for a certain term, to abstain from wine or strong drink, from grapes or anything made from the vine, from cutting the hair of his head, or approaching a corpse, even that of his nearest relative (Num. vi. 2–7). If he accidentally touched a corpse, he was obliged on the seventh day to cut off his hair, and begin his vow afresh on the next day, after presenting to the priest two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, one for a sin, and the other for a burnt-offering, and a lamb as a trespass-offering. At the expiration of his vow, he brought to the Tabernacle a burnt-, sin-, and thank-offering (Lev. vii. 12, 13) with a meat- and drink-offering (Num. vi. 15), had the left shoulder of the thank-offering waved upon his hands by the priest (Num. vi. 19, 20), and cutting off his hair burnt it in the fire on the altar. Of Nazarites for life three are mentioned in Scripture, _Samson_ (the only one actually called a Nazarite, Judg. xiii. 5), _Samuel_ (1 Sam. i. 11), _John the Baptist_ (Lk. i. 15).