Hebrew word · H3691

כִּסְלֵו

bekhislev

Chislev

The ninth lunar month in the spring-based calendar, roughly mid-November to mid-December. The name comes from Babylonian Kislīmu.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Chisleu = "his confidence"

the 9th month of the calendar corresponding to Nov-Dec

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Nehemiah 1:1

Range of meaning

The ninth lunar month in the spring-based calendar, roughly mid-November to mid-December. The name comes from Babylonian Kislīmu.

Against the English

KJV 'Chisleu' and modern 'Chislev/Kislev' are spellings of the same name. Nothing is lost except the reader's sense of when in the year it falls.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only in Neh 1:1 and Zech 7:1 in the Bible. Before the exile Israel mostly numbered its months ('the ninth month') or used Canaanite names (Abib, Ziv, Ethanim, Bul). The Babylonian names, still used in the Jewish calendar today, appear in the exilic and post-exilic books (Esther, Zechariah, Ezra–Nehemiah) and in the Elephantine papyri from Persian-period Egypt.

Where it appears

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 1:1 כִּסְלֵיו֙ Kislev

    These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,

    Here: The ninth month counted from spring, roughly November to December. The name is Babylonian (Kislimu), one of the month names Jews took over during and after the exile.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 7:1 בְּכִסְלֵֽו׃ in Kislev

    In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.

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