Eastons Bible Dictionary

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Year

Year—Heb. shanah, meaning "repetition" or "revolution" (Gen. 1:14; 5:3). Among the ancient Egyptians the year consisted of twelve months of thirty days each, with five days added to make it a complete revolution of the earth round the sun. The Jews reckoned the year in two ways,
(1) according to a sacred calendar, in which the year began about the time of the vernal equinox, with the month Abib; and
(2) according to a civil calendar, in which the year began about the time of the autumnal equinox, with the month Nisan. The month Tisri is now the beginning of the Jewish year.