Greek word · G3376

μήν

mēn

month

'The sixth month', counted from a starting point the context supplies.

Appears 18 times in 18 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

μήν genitive, μηνός, ὁ,

[in LXX very frequently for חֹדֶשׁ, Genesis 7:11, al.; a few times for יֶרַח ;]

a month: Luke 1:24, 26 1:36, 56 4:25, Acts 7:20 18:11 19:8 20:3 28:11, James 5:17, Revelation 9:5, 10 9:15 11:2 13:5 22:2; pl., of the festival of the new moon (cf. Isaiah 66:23), Galatians 4:10.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Luke 1:26

Range of meaning

'The sixth month', counted from a starting point the context supplies.

Against the English

Lifted out of context, 'in the sixth month' can sound like a calendar month (e.g. the sixth month of the Jewish year, Elul, or June). NIV and NLT add 'of Elizabeth's pregnancy' to prevent that reading.

How it drifted

Later church calendars treated the phrase as a fixed date. Placing the Annunciation on 25 March and John the Baptist's birth on 24 June follows from this verse once Christmas had been set at 25 December. That system came well after Luke.

Used elsewhere in the period

In context: 1:24 ('for five months she kept herself hidden') and 1:36 ('this is the sixth month for her who was called barren').

From the study of Luke 1:24

Range of meaning

'Five months'. The accusative case expresses how long something lasted: 'for five months'.

Against the English

All the versions render it the same way. The point is not a matter of translation. It is the role the number plays in the structure of the story.

Used elsewhere in the period

Luke keeps a running clock through the infancy stories: five months (1:24), 'in the sixth month' (1:26, 36), Mary stays 'about three months' (1:56), then Elizabeth's 'time was fulfilled' (1:57). Ancient biographies also often dated a figure's birth in relation to other events.

From the study of Galatians 4:10

Range of meaning

A month, measured by the cycle of the moon. In religious contexts it means the start of the month (new moon), a time of special sacrifices and gatherings.

Against the English

'Months' is accurate but sounds like a plain unit of time. The religious point is the observance that marks each month, chiefly the new moon.

Used elsewhere in the period

New-moon observance in Israel: Num 10:10; 28:11–15; 1 Sam 20:5; Isa 1:13–14; Hos 2:11. Col 2:16 names 'festival, new moon or Sabbaths' as a set. In Asia Minor the moon god was called Mēn, the same word as 'month'. He had a major sanctuary (Mēn Askaenos) just outside Pisidian Antioch, one of the cities Paul evangelized in southern Galatia (Acts 13).

Where it appears

Luke · 5

  1. Luke 1:24 μῆνας months

    After these days, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. She declared,

    Here: Months, counted as a length of time. The count matters because Luke picks it up next with 'in the sixth month' (1:26, 1:36).

  2. Luke 1:26 μηνὶ month

    In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

    Here: A month as a span of time. Here it counts from the start of Elizabeth's pregnancy (1:24, 'for five months she kept herself hidden'), not a month of the calendar.

  3. Luke 1:36 μὴν month

    Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month.

    Here: A calendar month, counted from Elizabeth's conception.

  4. Luke 1:56 μῆνας months

    Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

  5. Luke 4:25 μῆνας months

    But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.

    Here: Months, giving a precise-sounding total.

Acts · 5

  1. Acts 7:20 μῆνας months

    At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God. For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house.

  2. Acts 18:11 μῆνας months

    So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching the word of God among the Corinthians.

  3. Acts 19:8 μῆνας months

    Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

    Here: Months, the length of Paul's synagogue ministry in Ephesus.

  4. Acts 20:3 μῆνας months

    where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

  5. Acts 28:11 μῆνας months

    After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered in the island. It had the Twin Brothers as a figurehead.

Galatians · 1

  1. Galatians 4:10 μῆνας months

    You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

    Here: Months are marked by the moon. Religiously, this most likely points to new-moon observances, which began each month on the Jewish calendar and had their counterparts in pagan lunar cults.

James · 1

  1. James 5:17 μῆνας months

    Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

    Here: "Months", also giving a length of time.

Revelation · 6

  1. Revelation 9:5 μῆνας months

    The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.

    Here: An accusative of duration, 'for months.' The torment has a set end date.

  2. Revelation 9:10 μῆνας for months

    They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.

    Here: In the accusative case, which in Greek can mean 'for the length of'. So: 'for months'. It repeats the time limit already given in 9:5.

  3. Revelation 9:15 μῆνα month

    So the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

    Here: The month containing that day; the date widens step by step outward.

  4. Revelation 11:2 μῆνας months

    But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.

    Here: An accusative of duration: 'for months'. The trampling is time-limited.

  5. Revelation 13:5 μῆνας months

    The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.

    Here: This gives the length of time: 'for months'. The limit is built into the grant itself.

  6. Revelation 22:2 μῆνα month

    down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

    Here: The vision keeps a rhythm of months even though the city has no sun or moon (21:23). Time here pictures unbroken abundance, not a calendar to be measured.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.