Agriculture cycle for Israel
"A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." Deuteronomy 11:12
Calendar Month
Season: Weather
Agriculture process
Holy days, Feasts
Feasts of Israel
Feasts of Israel
Hebrew Month
Roman calendar
leap year day added every fourth year
leap year day added every fourth year
temperature, rains, etc.
12 month year 1Kgs 4:7; 1Chr 27:1-15
holy days
20 or 30 day months except for 13 month adjustment years;
Hebrew months do not directly match Roman months.
Hebrew months do not directly match Roman months.
January
Winter:
coldest month (hail, snow) Josh 10:11
coldest month (hail, snow) Josh 10:11
Late planting
1st day: New Moon
10th day: fast, (seige of Jerusalem)
10th day: fast, (seige of Jerusalem)
Tebeth - Tenth month
"Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus" Esth 2:16
"Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus" Esth 2:16
February
winter breaks, weather warms
Late planting
almond trees in bloom,
fig and carob trees blossom
1st day: New Moon
Num 10:10; 28:11-14; 2Chr 2:4
Num 10:10; 28:11-14; 2Chr 2:4
Sebat / Shebat / Shebet - Eleventh month
Zech 1:7
Zech 1:7
March
Early spring, cold season:
thunder & hail
thunder & hail
hoe flax
oranges & lemons ripe in lowlands
almond trees end blossoms
early flax harvest in lowlands
1st day: New Moon
13th day: Fast of Esther
14-15th day: Feast of Purim
13th day: Fast of Esther
14-15th day: Feast of Purim
Adar - Twelfth month
Esth 3:7; 9:27
Esth 3:7; 9:27
1st day: New Moon, [no other feasts]
[Intercalary or 13th month inserted here: Ve-Adar]
April
fall of "latter rain" or spring rains, Deut 11:14
mountain snow melt, floods, Josh 3:15
barley ripe at Jericho [mid-altitude area], wheat ripens in hotter lowlands - Jordan valley
mountain snow melt, floods, Josh 3:15
barley ripe at Jericho [mid-altitude area], wheat ripens in hotter lowlands - Jordan valley
continue Flax harvest
Barley harvest begins later in month
1st day: New Moon
14th day: Passover, Deut 16:1; Exo 12:1, 18
15th-21st day: Feast of Unleavend Bread, Exo 23:15; 34:18
about 16th day: First of Barley harvest, Lev 23:10-14
14th day: Passover, Deut 16:1; Exo 12:1, 18
15th-21st day: Feast of Unleavend Bread, Exo 23:15; 34:18
about 16th day: First of Barley harvest, Lev 23:10-14
Abib / Nisan - First month
Exo 12:2; 13:4
Exo 12:2; 13:4
May
last of "latter rain", warming toward hot, Wheat earing & ripening
harvest and storage
finish Barley harvest, Ruth 1:22
late in month begin early Wheat harvest in hotter lowlands
1st day: New Moon
15th day: Second Passover, Num 9:10-11
15th day: Second Passover, Num 9:10-11
Zif / Ayar - Second month (29 days)
Num 1:1; 1Kgs 6:1
Num 1:1; 1Kgs 6:1
June
Summer begins, no rains until 7th month-Tishri, 1Sam 12:17; Deut 26:2-10; Ex 23:19
Vine tending, Wheat ripens, harvest through most of month progressing from lowlands to highlands, 2Kgs 4:18
1st day: New Moon
~4th day: Feast of Pentecost / Feast of Weeks, Lev 23:15-21
[50 days after first barley offering]
bring to Tabernacle/Temple firstfruit offerings of the earth
~4th day: Feast of Pentecost / Feast of Weeks, Lev 23:15-21
[50 days after first barley offering]
bring to Tabernacle/Temple firstfruit offerings of the earth
Sivan - Third month
Est 8:9
Est 8:9
July
Getting hotter
Vine tending
finish mountain Wheat harvest
last of month: earliest Tree fruit, end of month Grapes appear in lowlands, Song of Solomon 2:13
1st day: New Moon
17th day: Fast - taking of Jerusalem
17th day: Fast - taking of Jerusalem
Tammuz - Fourth month
Zech 8:19
Zech 8:19
August
Heat of summer: waddis, creeks, streams dry up
Summer fruits: figs, dates, pomegranates, apricots, etc.
in lowlands: earliest Grape harvest, Lev 26:5; Num 13:20, 23; olives ripe
1st day: New Moon
9th day: Fast - destruction of Temple
9th day: Fast - destruction of Temple
Ab - Fifth month
2Kgs 25:7-9
2Kgs 25:7-9
September
Lingering heat of summer, no rain, General grape harvest, Num 13:23
Grape harvest proceeds from lowlands early in month to highlands, Isa 24:13; Jer 8:20; gleaners get remanants, Lev 19:10, 16; Deut 24:21
olive harvest for about 50 days through next month
1st day: New Moon
Elul - Sixth month
Neh 6:15
Neh 6:15
October
Fall begins: cooling, fall of "former rain" or early rains, Joel 2:23
Olive harvest through whole month
end of pomegranates
plowing, planting, and sowing begin, Exo 23:16
1st day: New Moon, blow trumpet
10th day: Day of Atonement
15th-21st day: Feast of Tabernacles / Booths, Lev 23:34;
22nd day: Holy Sabbath / Shemini Atzeret / Feast of Solemn Assembly, Num 29:35, Jn 7:37; Lev 23:36: first of wine and oil offered, Deut 16:13
10th day: Day of Atonement
15th-21st day: Feast of Tabernacles / Booths, Lev 23:34;
22nd day: Holy Sabbath / Shemini Atzeret / Feast of Solemn Assembly, Num 29:35, Jn 7:37; Lev 23:36: first of wine and oil offered, Deut 16:13
Ethanim / Tishri - Seventh month
1Kgs 8:2; 2Chr 5:3
1Kgs 8:2; 2Chr 5:3
November
Fall, comfortable to cool temperature, rains
grain planting: wheat, barley, millet, sesame; other foods: lentils, peas, beans, chickpeas, cucumbers, melons, onions, herbs, etc.]
northern olive & grape harvest finished
1st day: New Moon
Bul / Marchesvan - Eighth month, 1Kgs 6:38; Neh 1:1
December
Winter begins, snow on mountains, cool temperature
grain planting
winter figs ready
1st day: New Moon
25th day: Chanukah or Feast of Dedication, Jn 10:22, 29
25th day: Chanukah or Feast of Dedication, Jn 10:22, 29
Chislev (Kislev) - Ninth month
Neh 1:1; Zech 7:1 [Tebeth starts]
Neh 1:1; Zech 7:1 [Tebeth starts]
Seasons used to convey God's message.
Season
Citation
Text
Whole year
Leviticus 26:3-5
"If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely."
Winter
Matthew 24:20-21
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
Spring
Ezekiel 40:1
"In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither."
Spring
2 Samuel 11:1
"And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem."
Spring
Zechariah 10:1
"Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field."
Summer
Psalm 32:4
"For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah."
Summer
Jeremiah 40:12
"Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much."
Summer
Matthew 24:32; Mark 13:28; Luke 21:29-31
"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh"
Summer
Psalm 32:4
"For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah."
Summer
Jeremiah 8:19-20
"Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."
Summer to Fall
Isaiah 17:3-6
"The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel."
Summer to Fall
Isaiah 24:4-13
"The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done."
Fall / Autumn
Joel 2:23
"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month."