Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
The verse above is the only time Elul is mentioned in the Bible.
Elul is the last month of the civic calendar in Judaism. Elul is the sixth month of the religious calendar.
Elul 1 marks the beginning of Teshuvah, a 40 day period that runs through the holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Teshuvah is the Hebrew word for repent.
On our western Gregorian calendar in the year 2024, this would be at sunset September 3rd as calculated by 21st century time keeping.
Those keeping a traditional Hebrew lunar calendar depend on when the new moon is confirmed by two witnesses. People on the ground near Jerusalem will be looking to verify the event and confirm the new month by seeing the little slice or a crescent of the new moon.
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The Essenes followed a solar calendar. A solar calendar has a leap week as compared to a leap month with a lunar calendar. On the Essene calendar, Elul 1st took place on what was August 18th, 2024 or roughly two weeks ago. It is the year 5949 AM. In other words, 5,949 years since creation.
The Essenes also marked the beginning of the year in the spring with the month of Nisan or Abib as described in Exodus.
Exodus 12:1-2 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you…”
Moses referred to this month as Abib. Exodus 13:4 On this day in the month of Abib, you are about to go forth. Per Strong’s Concordance, Abib means: fresh, young barley ears; month of ear-forming, of greening of crop, of growing green; month of Exodus and Passover.
The month is called Nisan in Nehemiah 2:1 And it came about in the month Nisan… It means “their flight”. Israel took “their flight” out of Egypt in Nisan. The meaning of month Nisan is a reminder to Israel.
As the Essenes mark time, this is the 49th year of a 50 year cycle. We are in the middle of a Sabbatical or Shemitah year. That would make the next New Year in the spring of 2025 a Jubilee year.
For more details on the Essene calendar, see Ken Johnson’s work at…
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It is Jewish custom to blow a shofar (ram’s horn) one time every day during the season of Teshuvah. The trumpet is blown after the morning service. The trumpet is blown every day except Shabbat or the Sabbath (Saturday for us in western culture) and the last day of month of Elul.
The trumpet blast signified the beginning of the month.
Psalm 81:3-4 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
Numbers 10:10 On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the LORD your God.”
Some form of a trumpet blast(s) is used at Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). A trumpet blast also signals the beginning of a Jubilee (Leviticus 25).
The shofar blast was also a call to war and the prospect of danger.
The countdown to the Fall Feasts has begun…
