אָבִיב

From the study of Exodus 23:15

Range of meaning

Barley at the stage where the ears have formed but the grain is still fresh and soft (Exod 9:31; Lev 2:14, 'aviv roasted in fire'). By extension it names the month in which this happens, in early spring.

Against the English

Most English versions just transliterate it as 'Abib', so the reader loses the picture of ripening grain. NLT adds 'in early spring', which helps. The Septuagint translates the sense: 'the month of the new [grain]'.

How it drifted

Not a drift but an opaque transliteration. After the exile the month came to be known by its Babylonian name, Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), and the old agricultural name dropped out of use.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 13:4; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:1. The Gezer Calendar, a Hebrew inscription from about the 10th century BC, also names months after farm work (for example 'month of barley harvest'). That supports a calendar built around the crops.

From the study of Deuteronomy 16:1

Range of meaning

Fresh, green or just-ripening ears of grain, especially barley 'in the ear' (Exod 9:31; Lev 2:14, 'aviv roasted in fire'). By extension it is the name of the month when barley reaches that stage, roughly March–April.

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as a name ('Abib', or NIV's 'Aviv'), so English readers lose the picture. To a Hebrew hearer it said 'the month of the green barley'. NLT's paraphrase points to the season with 'early spring'.

How it drifted

Transliterating it as a proper name hides the farming meaning. After the Babylonian exile the month was generally called by its Babylonian name, Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), and 'Abib' became an archaic term.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 13:4; 23:15; 34:18 and Deuteronomy 16:1 all link the Exodus or the festival of unleavened bread to 'the month of Abib'. The Greek Septuagint renders it 'the month of the new [things]', and Jerome's Latin Vulgate has 'the month of new crops and the beginning of spring'. Older Israelite month names such as Ziv, Ethanim and Bul (1 Kgs 6:1, 37–38; 8:2) are also seasonal or Canaanite names, and the 10th-century BC Gezer inscription organises the year by farm work.

From the study of Exodus 34:18

Range of meaning

Ears of grain, especially barley, at the stage where the head is full and still green or fresh. It can be roasted and eaten (Lev 2:14). With 'month', it names the month when barley comes into ear: early spring, around March–April. Exodus 9:31 explains the plague of hail with 'the barley was ʾāvîv.'

Against the English

Every major English version transliterates it as 'Abib' (NIV 2011 'Aviv'), so readers see a name with no meaning. The Hebrew still has 'the' in front of it ('the month of the Abib'), which shows the description was still alive: 'the month of the green ears'.

How it drifted

The KJV tradition set the word down as a proper name. Later Jews adopted the Babylonian month name Nisan (Neh 2:1; Esth 3:7), so the farming meaning dropped out of sight for most readers.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Gezer Calendar, a 10th-century BC Hebrew inscription, names months by farm work ('month of barley harvest'), the same kind of naming. Other old Israelite month names (Ziv, Ethanim, Bul in 1 Kings 6:1, 38; 8:2) belong to this pre-exilic system. The Septuagint renders it 'the month of the new things/new grain' (μὴν τῶν νέων) instead of transliterating it.