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CHRONOLOGIES AND CALENDARS.

40. Writing upon the minor prophets, Farrar says 'the Bible would be far better understood in its historical aspect if it were arranged with greater reference to chronology. As it is, the Books of the Prophets, like the epistles of the New Testament, are heterogeneously flung together with reference only to their length and size. This is, of course, a purely accidental principle of arrangement.'[1] And in another place the same authority calls 'attention to the certainty that the Biblical chronology of the Kings is merely given in round numbers. It consists mainly of multiples of twenty.' This opinion is homologated in the very recent volume by Henry Hill on the 'Kings of Israel and Judah,' when he says 'the difficulties under the head of chronology seemed almost insuperable.'

41. For the purposes of cross-references between the old Hebrew Calendar and the Greek and the Roman reckonings, I append[2] a table showing the months which corresponded in each style. The first column or Hebrew is in the order of the ancient sacred year, and the Roman names are in the progression usual prior to the Julian correction of 45 B.C., that is the year's commencement being in March-April.

Hebrew. Syro-Macedonian. Roman.
Nisan i.e. Xanthicus i.e. Mar. and April.
Jyar i.e. Artemisius i.e. April and May.
Sivan i.e. Daesius i.e. May and June.
Tamuz i.e. Panemus i.e. June and July.
Ab i.e. Loüs i.e. July and Aug.
Elul i.e. Gorpiaeus i.e. Aug. and Sept.
Tisri i.e. Hyberberetaeus i.e. Sept. and Oct.
  1. Farrar, p. 23.
  2. From Whiston, p. 856.