Marcheshvan

Marcheshvan (מִרחֶשׁיָן, Marcheshvan', of the later Hebrew; Josephus, Ant. Μαρσουάνης, 1:3, 3; the Macedonian Δῖος) is the name of that month which was the eighth of the sacred and the second of the civil year of the Jews, and began with the new moon of our November. There was a fast on the 6th in memory of Zedekiah's being blinded, after he had witnessed the slaughter of his sons (2Ki 25:7). This month is always spoken of in the Old Testament by its numerical designation; except once, when it is called Bul (בּוּל, 1Ki 6:38; Sept. Βαάλ). According to Kimchi, Bul is a shortened form of the Hebrew יבול, "rain," from יבל The signification of rain-month is exactly suitable to November in the climate of Palestine. Others derive it from ב. Benfey, availing himself of the fact that the Palmyrene inscriptions express the name of the god Baal, according to their dialect, by בול (as עגלבול , Α᾿γλιβόλος), has ventured to suggest that, as the months are often called after the deities. Bul may have received its name from that form of Baal (Monatsnamen, p. 182). The rendering of the Sept. might have been appealed to as some sanction of this view. He supposes that Marcheshvain is a compound name, of which the syllable mar is taken from the Zend Amersettf, or its later Persian form Mordad, and that cheshvan is the Persian chezdn, "alutumn," both of which are names belonging to the same month (1. c. p. 136 sq.). See BUL.