For a while now our family has been interested in the origins of things, such as holidays. Most recently, we have been studying out the origins of the names of the days of the week, as well as the names of the months.
We saw how the Hebrew weekdays have no names (except Shabbat). The secular weekday names, however, have very different and unbiblical origins. Every day of the weeks name is associated with a planet and is named after a pagan god. Here are the origins of the days of the week's names. It's hard to believe all these years we have been saying these names without having any idea of where they came from. (Note: next to them, are the Hebrew names we are now calling them by)
*sunday - "day of the sun"
~Instead in Hebrew "yom" means day so~ {yom rishon} ~means, "day one."
*monday - "day of the moon"
~{yom sheynee} day two.
*tuesday - "day of mars"
~{yom shlishee} day three.
*wednesday - "day of mercury"
~{yom revi'i} day four.
*thursday - "thor's day"
~{yom hamishee} day five.
*friday - "freya's day"
~{yom shishi} day six.
*saturday - "saturn's day"
~{SHABBAT!!} the seventh day that YHWH established as Holy, from creation.
~Do you think that YHWH is pleased when we speak the names of other gods and goddesses?~
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Exd 20:3
Scripture says: (please take the time to read these scriptures, as they are very important to this study.)
"For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name."
Hos 2:17
"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of YHWH, to serve him with one consent."
Zeph 3:9
"Their sorrows shall be multiplied [that] hasten [after] another [god]: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips."
Psm 16:4
Here are the origins of the names of the months:
*january~
Named for the roman god "janus", protector of gates and doorways. "janus" is depicted with two faces, one looking into the past, the other into the future.
*february~
From the Latin word februa, "to cleanse." The Roman "februalia" was a month of purification and atonement.
*march~
Named for the Roman god of war, "mars." This was the time of year to resume military campaigns that had been interrupted by winter.
*april~
From the Latin word aperio, "to open (bud)," because plants begin to grow in this month. The name derives from the Greek goddess of love, "aphrodite".
*may~
Named for the Roman goddess "maia", who oversaw the growth of plants. Also from the Latin word maiores, "elders," who were celebrated during this month.
*june~
Named for the Roman goddess "juno", patroness of marriage and the well-being of women. Also from the Latin word juvenis, "young people."
*july~
Named to honor Roman dictator "julius caesar". In 46 B.C., "julius caesar" made one of his greatest contributions to history: With the help of sosigenes, he developed the "julian" calendar, the precursor to the Gregorian calendar we use today.
*august~
Named to honor the first Roman emperor (and grandnephew of "julius caesar"), "augustus caesar". The original name was sextilis, sixth month in the early Roman calendar.
*september~
From the Latin word septem, "seven," because this had been the seventh month of the early Roman calendar.
*october~
From the Latin word octo, "eight," because this had been the eighth month of the early Roman calendar.
*november~
From the Latin word novem, "nine," because this had been the ninth month of the early Roman calendar.
*december~
From the Latin word decem, "ten," because this had been the tenth month of the early Roman calendar.
(By the way, some of the names on the Jewish calender came out of Babylon too~check it out for yourself
here .)
So, this may seem extreme to some people, but how often do we really stop and wonder~ "What does YHWH think?" Our family feels this has been a good study, what do you think?
