What is a Month According to Scriptures?
6th-day, Month 10, 18th
Friday, January 9th, 2026
Shalom to my brothers and sisters who walk in the straight and narrow way with Shepherd Mashiach Yahusha, who guard covenant with Father Yahuah! I pray that your week has been blessed, that you are ready for Yahuah’s Shabbath Feast Day of rest tomorrow and that you and your family continue to live in the blessings of being set-apart from this evil and wicked world.
Introduction
As we discussed in last week’s blog, What is a Year, we found that Elohiym created the lights in the firmament for signs, seasons, days and years:
Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 1:14 – “And Elohiym said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:”
**The lights in the firmament are used as a guide for us here on earth so that we know how to guard time according to Elohiym’s schedule and not the schedule of man, woman or any other being. The lights are used to guide us on when seasons (moediym), days and years are supposed to be kept according to Yahuah’s prescribed method of time keeping.
We learned that Elohiym’s timing is not set by the understanding of humans, nor their need to have everything on a fixed and predictable schedule, like the year has to have a certain amount of days and months, but that Elohiym’s time keeping is dependent on us relying on Him completely, by watching and waiting for Him to reveal it to us. The calendar of Yahuah is not found anywhere in the scriptures, but the requirements to have faith and for us to wait on Him are found throughout them. If we truly say that we are followers of Father Yahuah, then we understand that His ways are not our ways, but that we are to try our best to walk in His ways:
Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 55:8-9 – “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith Yahuah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
**These verses tell us that His ways are the high way, they are ordained in heaven and we are supposed to mirror them as much as possible in our sojourn here.
The two great lights that were set in the firmament are used to rule the days and nights:
Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 1:16 – “And Elohiym made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also.”
**The sun is to set the time keeping of days and the moon is to set the time of Yahuah’s moediym so that we know which day they will occur on. All of Yahuah’s Feast Days are recorded in Vayiqra 23 and the schedule of the Yahuah’s moediym are given there:
Vayiqra (Leviticus) 23:4-5 – “These are the Feasts of Yahuah, even set-apart convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is Yahuah’s Pesach.”
**The sun and the moon each have responsibilities in Elohiym’s time keeping, for guarding His moediym and the month is dictated by the moon and we can see this clearly by the definitions of both the moon and the month in Hebrew.
So let’s look at the definitions of what a month and the moon both are and it will become a little easier to understand how the.
Definitions of a Month
The word used most commonly for month and months is חֹדֶשׁ (chodesh) which is SHW 2320 and it is from SHW 2318 (see SHW 2318 below). SHW 3391 is also translated as the word month.
SHW 2320 חֹדֶשׁ (chodesh) is by implication a month: – month (254x), new moon (20x), monthly (1x), another (1x)
Chodesh means “new moon; month.”
1. The word refers to the day on which the crescent moon reappears: “So Da’vid hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to meat” (1st Shemu’el 20:24).
2. Yesha’yahu 1:14 uses this word of the feast which occurred on that day: “Your new moons [festivals] and your appointed feast My soul hateth. . .” (cf. Bemidbar 28:14 ; 29:6)
3. Chodesh can refer to a month or period from one new moon to another. The sense of of time during which something happens occurs in Bere’shiyth 38:24: “And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Yahudah. . .”
4. In a related nuance the word refers not so much to a measure of time as to a period of time, or a calendar month. These “months” are sometimes named (Shemoth 13:4) and sometimes numbered (Bere’shiyth 7:11)
**From the above definitions we see that chodesh is a month and it can be from one new moon to another. In fact, when we look at SHW 2318 the primitive root that 2320 comes from, we will clearly see that this is exactly what it means, that a month is from one new moon to another.
SHW 2318 חָדַשׁ (chadash); a primitive root; to be new; causative to rebuild: – renew (7x), repair (3x). Chadash means “to renew.”
**With this clarification, chodesh means the period of time from one renewed moon to another. It is not the dark of the moon that marks the beginning because the dark of the moon makes no visible “sign” for us to observe and the moon has not begun to rebuild itself. The dark of the moon is the very end of the month and the new light of the moon, when it starts to “rebuild” itself, is when Yahuah has given us the sign that the new month has started. This is not the first day of the month, because the sighting can only occur after sunset which is the beginning of night. The first day of the month occurs after the night of the sighting, when the new day dawns at sunrise.
Remember, we are not going by man’s prescriptions of time but we are following Father Yahuah’s time keeping. The beginning of a month is independent of the beginning of a day but the month and the year are tied together as we saw in last week’s blog.
SHW 3391 יֶרַח (yearch) is from an unused root of uncertain signification; a lunation, i.e. month: – month (11x), moon (2x).
**From this second word translated as month it is a clear that a month is a time period regulated by the moon, the lesser light to rule the night.
Scriptures
The scriptures have several examples of the month being tied to the moon and how a month is related to the year.
Below are the key scripture passages that show a month begins with the sighting/renewal of the moon, presented without importing later tradition or rabbinic language, and staying strictly within what the text itself says and implies:
1. The Month Is Defined by Chodesh (Renewal)
Shemoth (Exodus) 12:2 –“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.”
Hebrew word: חֹדֶשׁ (cḥodesh)
Root meaning: to renew, to make new (SHW 2318)
**A month is not a number of days — it is a renewal event.
The text defines the month by what it is, not by how it is calculated.
Renewal requires a change that can be recognized.
**This establishes that a month begins when something becomes new, not by the hidden calculation or decree of man.
2. Yahuah Appointed the Moon for Appointed Times (Moediym).
Tehilliym (Psalms) 104:19 – “He appointed the moon for appointed times: the sun knoweth his going down.”
**The moon is assigned responsibility for appointed times (מוֹעֲדִים – moʿediym)
Appointment implies function and purpose, not symbolism.
A month cannot begin unless the moon does what it was appointed to do.
**This requires observation, not advanced astronomical calculations performed by men.
3. Renewed Moon as a Recognized Beginning Point.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 10:10 – “Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your ascending smoke offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Elohiym: I am Yahuah Elohaykem.”
**“Beginnings of your months” are identifiable moments.
Scripture does not say “on day one”.
It describes when the month begins.
**A beginning must be discernible by the sign from Yahuah, not theoretical.
4. Narrative Proof: Da’vid and Yonathan
Shemu’el Ri’shon (1 Samuel) 20:5 – “And Da’vid said unto Yahunathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.”
1 Shemu’el 20:24–27a – “So Da’vid hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Yahunathan arose, and Avner sat by Sha’ul’s side, and Da’vid’s place was empty. Nevertheless Sha’ul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that Da’vid’s place was empty…”
**This narrative shows:
The king’s table depended on real-time awareness.
The new moon was known when it arrived.
The first day of the month was also recognized after the crescent was sighted.
The month was not declared retroactively.
5. New Moon Worship Was Expected and Visible.
Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 66:23 – “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Shabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith Yahuah.”
**You cannot go from one new moon to another unless:
The moon is recognized as appearing.
The cycle is observed, not fixed or abstract.
The verse assumes a living, visible rhythm established by Yahuah.
6. Why Scripture Never Gives a Formula.
**Scripture never says:
“When the moon is X% illuminated”
“At conjunction”
“At a calculated molad”
**Why?
Because those are human precision systems.
**Instead, Scripture requires:
Watching.
Waiting.
Responding to Yahuah’s signs.
**Time is revealed, not engineered or calculated.
7. Summary Table
| Scripture | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Exodus 12:2 | Month defined by renewal (cḥodesh) |
| Psalm 104:19 | Moon governs appointed times |
| Numbers 10:10 | Beginning of months is observable |
| 1 Samuel 20 | Month recognized in real time |
| Isaiah 66:23 | New moon cycles worship |
8. What Scripture Never Says (Expanded)
**Scripture:
Never mentions a dark moon.
Never mentions an invisible conjunction.
Never commands calculation.
Never allows pre-declared months.
**These concepts:
Are never taught in Torah.
Are never modeled in the Prophets.
Are never assumed in narrative passages.
**They appear later, when authority replaces observation and precision replaces trust.
Scripture consistently places timekeeping in the realm of witness, not control.
9. Final Teaching Statement
A Scriptural month begins when the moon renews and is recognized — not when men calculate, predict, or declare it in advance.
Yahuah anchored His time keeping method, “calendar”, to creation itself, so that His people would learn to watch what He does, not rely on what men design. By tying time to visible renewal, Yahuah ensures that obedience remains relational, humble, and dependent upon Him.
When time keeping move from observation to abstraction, time ceases to be covenantal and becomes institutional. But those who wait on Yahuah, observe His signs, and respond in faith, walk in the rhythm He established from the beginning.
Conclusion
From the above definitions and scriptures, a month is defined as a unit of time that is directly tied to the moon. It is the period of time from the sign of the rebuilding of one moon until the next moon begins this cycle, starting a new month. The start of this is at night and the first day of the month is the following day as the day is ruled by the greater light.
We must always remember that the enemy causes confusion among the body of believers and starting the month based on the calculated calendar of man goes against waiting on the sign of Yahuah from heaven.
No where in the scriptures does it say that a month is calculated by the priest or any other person, it is a sign of renewal from Father Yahuah, it does not have a set amount of days nor is it defined by the “precise” calculations of man.
Next week we will look a what is defined as a week followed by what a day is according to the scriptures.
I pray that you all have a blessed 6th-day and remember that Yahuah’s Shabbath Feast Day of Rest is tomorrow!
Shalom,
Minister Pat
