What is…
Adar

Hebrew: אֲדָר —transliteration: Adar

Meaning: large; the 12th month of the Jewish sacred calendar

This is the name of the sixth month of the civil and the twelfth of the ecclesiastical year of the Jews (Esther 3:7, 13; 8:12; 9:1, 15, 17, 19, 21). It included the days extending from the new moon of our March to the new moon of April.

The name was first used after the Captivity. When the season was backward, and the lambs not yet of a paschal size, or the barley not forward enough for abib, then a month called Veadar, i.e., a second Adar, was intercalated.

The Jewish holiday of Purim is celebrated during this month. It commemorates the saving of the Jewish people in Persia from extermination by Haman, the royal vizier to King Ahasuerus

Jewish months

Month Number
Biblical
Ecclesiastical
Civil Name Days Rough
equivalent
1 7 Nisan / Abib 30 Mar–Apr
2 8 Zif (Ziv) / Iyar 29 Apr–May
3 9 Sivan / Siwan 30 May–Jun
4 10 Tammuz / Tamuz 29 Jun–Jul
5 11 Av / Ab 30 Jul–Aug
6 12 Elul 29 Aug–Sep
7 1 Ethanim / Tisri (Tishrei)) 30 Sep–Oct
8 2 Bul / Marcheshvan (Cheshvan) 29/30 Oct–Nov
9 3 Chisleu / Chislev / Kislev 30/29 Nov–Dec
10 4 Tebeth / Tevet 29 Dec–Jan
11 5 Sebat / Shevat / Shvat / Shebat 30 Jan–Feb
12 6 Adar 29 Feb–Mar

ALSO SEE

Article Version: June 4, 2021