Except for the Sabbath day, the individual days of the week have no names, just numbers. The middle column in the table below gives the actual transliterated pronunciation of the names. Yom is pronounced "Yome". The "Kh" is a guttural sound often spelled as "Ch". There is no "Ch" sound in Hebrew as there is in English. Modern Hebrew, however, can create a "Ch" sound by putting an accent mark ( ´ ) in front of the Hebrew letter "Khet" (or "Chet"). This is used only in rare cases in order to properly pronounce such words or names as Church or Churchill (referring to the person Winston Churchill.)
This table is divided into two sections because of the changes made in the calendar as a result of the Babylonian exile. After the Jews were exiled from Judah to Babylonia in 586 B.C.E., they adopted Babylonian names for the months of the year. Nevertheless, they still have important meanings in whole scheme of things. Not only do most of the names of the Babylonian months have appropriate meanings, but there is also an important theme that applies to these months (Babylonian or Biblical).
Mo.
#
Babylonian
Calendar
Meaning of
Babylonian Months
Theme of Month
(Babylonian & Biblical)
Biblical
Calendar
Meaning of Biblical Months (Harvesting Schedule)
Biblical Feasts
1
Nisan
Their flight
Redemption,
Miracles
Abib
(Mar, Apr)
Ripening of grain[Barley, Wheat]
Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits
2
Iyyar
(natural) healing
Introspection,
Self improvement
Ziv
Splendor orRadiance[Flowers] (Barley harvest)
3
Sivan
Bright - their covering
Giving of Torah
3rd
(Wheat harvest)
Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)
4
Tammuz
Hidden - giver of the vine
(A Phoenician deity)
Sin of the Golden Calf, guarding of the eyes
4th
5
Av
Father
Av the Comforter
5th
6
Elul
A vain thing - nothingness
Repentance
6th
(Fruit harvest)
7
Tishri
Beginning (from reishit)
Month of the Strong or Month of the Ancients
Ethanim
Ever-flowing streams
Rosh HaShannah, Yom Kippur, Succot
8
Kheshvan
Eighth
The Flood
(of Noach)
Bul
Produce (in the sense of rain)
9
Kislev
Security, trust
(Restful) Sleep
9th
10
Tevet
Good (from "Tov")
Divine Grace
10th
11
Shevat
meaning unknown
Tree of Life
11th
12
Adar
Strength
Good Fortune
12th
13
* Adar II
* Additional month added during Leap Years. About every 3rd year. There are 7 leap years in a 19 year cycle.