Later festivals were (i) the Feast of PURIM, or _Lots_, instituted by Mordecai to commemorate the defeat of Haman’s machinations against the Jews (Esth. iii. 7–15; ix. 24–26). It began on the 14th day of the 12th month Adar, and lasted two days. (ii) The Feast of DEDICATION, to commemorate the cleansing of the Temple after its defilement by Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. xi. 31). Established by Judas Maccabæus, it was kept on the 25th of the winter month Chisleu, _December_ (Jn. 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.