Deuteronomy 16:1: Month Abib, Phoenician or otherwise?

Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint Lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

17 August 2011

The article by Paul Haupt opened my eyes to month-names used by Moses in the Pentateuch. In fact, based on dating of months in the Pentateuch, Wellhausen and Kittel were quick to ascribe these time references as the work of editors, a position that Haupt apparently did not cancel (see Paul Haupt, "Biblisches-chronologische Fragen," Oriental Studies published in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary 1883-1923 of Paul Haupt as director of the John Hopkins University Baltimore, MD, editors Eprus Adler and Aaron Ember [Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1926], 74-83). The other article is that of Julius Morgenstern, "The Three Calendars of Ancient Israel," Hebrew Union College Annual I vol. I (1924): 13-78, especially page 16-17 where he mentioned Deuteronomy 16:1 as an example of citing a Canaanite month-name Abib. He also pointed out that this month-name is mentioned six times in the Pentateuch: Exodus 13:41; 23:15; 34:18 (twice); Deuteronomy 16:1 (twice). Otherwise, it is not used anywhere else in the Old Testament. The Phoenician calendar of other month names are used for example: Ziv, Ethanim and Bul but those are all in much later literature of 1 Kings.

What is the issue? Very simple. Moses wrote the books of Genesis and Job in 1460 BCE, and Psalm 90 as well as Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy between 1448-1410 BCE, how is it that he is citing a Phoenician month-name Abib of which we know that no older texts exist than ca. 900 BCE? The Canaanite corpus using Abib is an Iron Age construct but Moses is Late Bronze?

The Exodus is said to have taken place in Abib in Deuteronomy 16:1. But which Abib? The Phoenician one?

Let us look at alternatives. Let us start with a multiplex approach. That means that we realize, working with month-names in the Ancient Near East, that the science itself is clear enough but not watertight. The approach should be looking at astronomy: stellar and astrological information; planetary/lunar; solar; comparative; climatological and agricultural etymology connected to the month-names; other cultic and religious reasons for naming the months, whether feasts or gods. What we soon find is that there is diversity in the unity and unity in the diversity. A lot of reshuffling takes place if you follow etymological lines and some of it is to be readjusted because the texts demands a month-order that cannot be ignored. There is thus an educated guess necessary between many factors from the outside. Scholars do not claim to have all positions of month-names at each site fixed. The Ugarit month-names by Hannes Olivier is tentative, William Shea's Old Ebla and New Ebla month-names are tentative. The articles of other scholars like J. Renger, R. M. Whiting at Eshnunna, J. Simmons, H. Limet at Mari, M. Seif, Pettinato at Ebla, Charpin at Mari compared to Ebla; H. and J. Lewy for Assyrian months; are all educated guesses. The literature is not exhausted. It is true of Hittite, Nuzi, Hurrian, Ugarit, Rash ibn Hani, Canaanite or Phoenician calendars, all of them are fairly tentative. The Babylonian one seems to be sorted out with Nisan as the first month of the year in a Spring to Spring year.

Siegfried Horn wrote an article on the calendar of Judah "The Babylonian Chronicle and the Ancient Calendar of the Kingdom of Judah. The Babylonians counted the fall of Jerusalem with a spring to spring calendar and the Jews counted it with an autumn to autumn calendar. This accounted for the apparent discrepancies between the two historical sets of data. The methodology of Horn is praiseworthy since this is the type of scholarship needed. If data does not fit one has to reinvestigate to come up with alternatives.

S. Talmon wrote an article to explain "Divergences in Calendar-reckoning in Ephraim and Judah" Vetus Testamentum 8 (1958): 48-74. He points out that there are many factors that we have to keep in mind. Cloudy days, different systems of reckoning and so forth. Talmon said that agricultural climaxes like harvesting cannot be objectively determined (Talmon 1958: 55). It is not the only problem.

What we want to do is to list the cases of month names that conforms with the phonics or phonology of Abib.

There was abu eluu which is a season of the Accadians. The fifth month in the Nippurian list is Ab. At Old Ebla there was a month-name i-ba4-ša. This last name was considered by D. Charpin in RA (1982): 1-6 as in tenth position but by G. Pettinato as in sixth position. The month of Abum at Mari was for travel (Jack M. Sasson, "The Calendar and Festivals of Mari during the Reign of Zimri-Lim"). Lewy mentioned the Old Assyrian month-name Abu-elulu which he feels is the 19th of August (H. Lewy "The Week and the Oldest West Asiatic Calendar HUCA 1942: 1-152c especially page 65). The 11th month he mentioned a name ab šar ani.

Sometimes there were variants: a-bi-im or a-bi which is in Sumerograms. In R. Labat's list 128, AB (-BA-È) was ṭebētu the 12th month of the year.

There is no clarity to which calendar Moses was referring and the fact that Phoenician is conveniently considered to be the first month of the Phoenician calendar corresponding to Nisan of Babylon and the Israelite calendar, is not a free license to say it is the Phoenician calendar in Deuteronomy 16:1. The Hebrew phonology compares the closest to the Phoenician phonology here but still one has to be careful in the light of the diversity and uncertainty prevailing surrounding menologies of the Ancient Near East. When scholars are giving convenient lists for comparison, one must understand the weakness of each reconstruction sometimes to the point of no answer. Many problems still prevail in menologies. The certainty with which Wellhausen and Haupt and also Morgenstern allocated the month-name to Phoenician cannot be upheld with ipso facto clarity. The reason is clear, no other Phoenician month-name is listed and it was the custom of Moses to number the months not name them.