In the Question Chair

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 16, 1901

In the Question Chair.

[Designed for the consideration of such questions as will be of interest and profit to the general reader. All correspondents should give their names and correct post-office address, that queries not replied to here may be answered by mail.]

816.— The Jewish Year.

In “Daniel and the Revelation,” page 142, I read: “The ordinary Jewish year, which must be used as the basis of reckoning, contained three hundred and sixty days.” Other authorities say three hundred and fifty-four days. What is meant by “the ordinary Jewish year”? Was there any year consisting of three hundred and sixty days? P. R., Erie, Pa.

Answer.—By “ordinary Jewish year” we mean a year of time as designated and determined by the language of the Scriptures. This consisted of twelve months, with thirty days to the month, making three hundred and sixty days in all. The length of a Scripture month is shown by the account of the flood. Thus, the waters of the flood prevailed one hundred and fifty days. Gen. 7:24. In the second month, and the seventeenth day of the month, of the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and the flood began. The waters prevailed one hundred and fifty days. What was the day and month when the flood ended? “And after the end of the one hundred and fifty days the waters were abated” (Gen. 8:3), and the ark grounded fast on the top of Mt. Ararat. The length of time was five months (Gen. 8:4); the number of days one hundred and fifty. This gives thirty days for each month. That which is meant by “making this the basis of calculation” is in reference to the computation of the prophetic periods. In prophecy one day represents a year; a prophetic “time,” a prophetic year. In Dan. 7:25 there are brought to view “a time,” one year, and “times,” plural,—two years, the least that would make it plural,—and “the dividing of time”—half a time (Rev. 12:14), half a year. This gives three years and a half for the whole period; and this being prophetic time, how shall we reduce it to literal time?—By taking twelve months for a year, and thirty days for a month. This gives three hundred and sixty prophetic days, or three hundred and sixty literal years, for a prophetic “time.” In our calendar the months are given thirty and thirty-one days, except the month of February, curtailed to twenty-eight and twenty-nine days. In the table of the Jewish calendar, six of the months are given as having thirty days each, and six of them as having twenty-nine days each. This makes a total for the year of three hundred and fifty-four days. But whether this year is taken, or the three-hundred-and-sixty-day year, the time falls far short of the actual days in the year as measured by the sun, the chief of the orbs connected with our solar system. To remedy this deficiency, the Jews every third year intercalated a thirteenth month, called Ve-Adar, or the second Adar. In this thirteenth month there was inserted just as much time as was needed to bring the vernal equinox to the right point in the year. With the first new moon after the vernal equinox, the first month of a new year opened, and the count went on again till the end of the third year, when another readjustment was necessary. Of course it would be impractical to take any of the variable years, or the actual days allotted to the year, by which to calculate the prophetic periods. So the Scriptural allotment of twelve months to the year and thirty days to the month is the appropriate and necessary standard to adopt. But the years of a prophetic period, as for instance the twenty-three hundred years, or the twelve hundred and sixty years, etc., are not years of three hundred and sixty days each, but actual years of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds.

817.— The Seventh Year of Artaxerxes.

What direct authorities can be given to show that the seventh of Artaxerxes Longimanus, from which the twenty-three hundred years are to be reckoned, was 457 B. C.? The Britannica places the beginning of his reign in 465 B. C., which would make his seventh year 458 B. C.? T. H. J., Modale, Iowa.

Ans.—Sylvester Bliss, in 1850, made a thorough study of sacred chronology, and published a small work on that subject. In preparing his work he consulted the leading chronologists accessible, such as Prideaux, Hales, Usher, Clarke, Jackson, Blair, etc. A few years ago a new edition of this work, with notes and an appendix, was issued from this Office. Whatever date Mr. Bliss decided upon for any prophetic event, we should accept with all confidence as correct. Under Xerxes, he says:—

“He was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes Longimanus, the long-handed, who, . . . according to Ptolemy’s Canon, reigned forty-one years, from B. C. 464–423. According to these dates his seventh year, to which Ezra refers, would be 457 B. C.”

818.— Words for “Living Soul” and “Never Die.”

Please give me the Greek in English letters of “living soul,” as found in 1 Cor. 15:45, also the same for “shall never die,” as in John 11:26. From what Greek word does “grave” come, as in Matt. 27:53 and Luke 11:44? and what is the difference between that word and “hades,” as in 1 Cor. 15:55? H. F., Carrier, O. T.

Ans.—“Living soul,” in 1 Cor. 15:45, is from “psuchen zosan.” The expression “shall never die,” in John 11:26, is “ou me apothane, eis ton aiona” (literally, “not die forever”). “Grave,” in Matt. 27:53 and Luke 11:44, is from “mnemeion,” which is defined by Robinson, as “a tomb, a sepulcher.” “The sepulchers of the Hebrews were often caverns (Gen. 23:9), or were hewn out by art, in rocks, or on the sides of hills, in various forms and sizes, sometimes with several compartments. They were closed by a door or layer of stone, and were often decorated with ornaments, and whitewashed.” This word seems to be used exclusively to describe simply the place of burial; while hades is given a broader meaning, and signifies, according to Robinson, “the abode of the dead.” The Hebrew sheol signified, in like manner, the under world, and was held to be a vast subterranean place, full of thickest darkness, where dwelt the shades (psuchai) of the dead. For the Hebrew sheol the Septuagint has almost everywhere put hades.