our 6 a.m.; the third hour (when, according to Matthew 20:3, the market-place was full),
to our 9 a.m.; the close of the sixth hour, to our mid -day; while at the eleventh, the day
neared its close. The Romans reckoned the hours from midnight, a fact which explains
the apparent discrepancy between John 19:14, where, at the sixth hour (of Roman
calculation), Pilate brings Jesus out to the Jews, while at the third hour of the Jewish,
and hence the ninth of the Roman and of our calculation (Mark 15:25), He was led forth
to be crucified. The night was divided by the Romans into four, by the Jews into three
watches. The Jews subdivided the hour into 1,080 parts (chlakim), and again each part
into seventy-six moments.
For the convenience of the reader, we subjoin a calendar, showing the occurrence of the
various festive days--
1--Nisan
Spring Equinox, end of March or beginning of April.
Day 1. New Moon.
Day 14. The preparation for the Passover and the Paschal Sacrifice.
Day 15. First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Day 16. Waving of the first ripe Omer.
Day 21. Close of the Passover.
2--Iyar
Day 1. New Moon.
Day 15. 'Second,' or 'little' Passover.
Day 18. Lag-le-Omer, or the 33rd day in Omer, i.e. from the presentation of the first ripe
sheaf offered on the 2nd day of the Passover, or the 15th of Nisan.
3--Sivan
Day 1. New Moon.
Day 6. Feast of Pentecost, or of Weeks --7 weeks, or 50 days after the beginning of the
Passover, when the two loaves of first ripe wheat were 'waved,' commemorative also of
the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.
4--Thamus
Day 1. New Moon.
Day 17. Fast; taking of Jerusalem on the 9th by Nebuchadnezzar (and on the 17th by
Titus). If the 17th occur on a Sabbath, the Fast is kept on the day following.
5--Ab
Day 1. New Moon.
Day 9. Fast--(threefold) destruction of the Temple.
6--Elul
Day 1. New Moon.
7--Tishri
Beginning of Civil Year
Day 1 &2. New Year's Feast.
Day 3. Fast for the murder of Gedaliah.
Day 10. Day of A tonement; Great Fast.
Day 15. Feast of Tabernacles.
Day 21. Close of the above.
Day 22. Octave of the Feast of Tabernacles. (In the Synagogues, on the 23rd, Feast on
the annual completion of the Reading of the Law.)
8--Marcheshvan or Cheshvan
Day 1. New Moon.
9--Kislev