B.C.E. It is an agricultural calendar and describes agricultural activity beginning with the autumn. In brief, it describes two months each of storage, sowing and spring growth, followed by one month each of pulling flax, barley harvest and a general harvest, then two months of pruning the vines and, finally, one month of summer fruit.—Lev. 26:5.

The chart set out following this article shows the months in their relation to both the sacred and secular calendars and also their approximate correspondence to the months of our present calendar.

The frequent references in the Gospel accounts and the book of Acts to the various festival seasons show that the Jewish calendar continued to be observed by the Jews during the time of Jesus and the apostles. These festival seasons serve as a guide to measuring the relative time of the Biblical events of that day.—Matt. 26:2; Mark 14:1; Luke 22:1; John 2:13, 23; 5:1; 6:4; 7:2, 37; 10:22; 11:55; Acts 2:1; 12:3, 4; 20:6, 16; 27:9.

It should be noted that Christians, under the new covenant, are not governed by any sacred or religious calendar specifying certain holy days or festivals, a point that is clearly stated by the apostle Paul at Galatians 4:9-11 and Colossians 2:16, 17. The one event that they are required to observe annually is the Lord’s evening meal, at Passover time and so governed by the lunar calendar.—Matt. 26:2, 26-29; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; see LORD’S EVENING MEAL.

JULIAN AND GREGORIAN

In the year 46 B.C.E., the 708th year from the traditional date of the founding of the city of Rome, Julius Caesar issued a decree changing the Roman calendar from a lunar to a solar year. This Julian calendar, based on the calculations of the Greek astronomer Sosigenes, had twelve months of arbitrary length and a regular year of 365 days beginning on January 1. It also brought in the use of leap years by the addition of an extra day every four years, to compensate for the extra fraction of a day in the length of the tropical year, which has a little less than 365 ¹⁄4 days.

The Julian calendar year was actually a little more than eleven minutes and fourteen seconds longer than the true solar year. Thus, by the sixteenth century a discrepancy of ten full days had accumulated. In 1582 C.E., Pope Gregory XIII introduced a slight revision of the Julian calendar, whereby the leap years every four years were retained but with the exception that only those century years with a number divisible by 400 were to be counted as leap years. By papal bull on March 1, 1582, ten days were to be omitted in that year, so that the day after October 4 became October 15. This Gregorian calendar is now in general use in most parts of the world. It is the basis for the historical dates used throughout this publication.

OTHER CALENDARS

In a number of countries today the Muslim people continue to use a religious calendar based solely on the lunar cycles and with no intercalary month to adjust the year to the true solar year. This results in a steady retrogression of all the seasons during a cycle of about every thirty-two and a half years.

In the western hemisphere an ancient calendar was developed centuries before our Common Era and used by both the Mayan and Aztec Indians of Mexico and Central America. It was an astronomical calendar and, as regards the length of the solar year, was slightly more accurate than the present Gregorian calendar.

Whereas Christians today customarily use the calendar in effect in their particular land, they are aware that the God of eternity, Jehovah, has his own calendar of events not governed by human systems of reckoning. As his prophet Daniel wrote: “He is changing times and seasons, removing kings and setting up kings, giving wisdom to the wise ones and knowledge to those knowing discernment. He is revealing the deep things and the concealed things, knowing what is in the darkness; and with him the light does dwell.” (Dan. 2:21, 22) So, in his position as Universal Sovereign he stands far above our spinning Earth, with its day and night, its lunar cycles and its solar year. However, in his Word, the Bible, he does helpfully relate his actions and purposes to such measurements of time, thereby allowing his creatures on earth to learn where they stand in relation to God’s grand calendar of events.—See CHRONOLOGY.

CALF

The Hebrew word ʽeʹghel, generally rendered “calf” in various Bible translations, denotes a male young neat, a young bull. Calves were offered in sacrifice (Lev. 9:2, 3), and on special occasions or under special circumstances the fattened calf was slaughtered and prepared for the table (Gen. 18:7, 8; 1 Sam. 28:24; Luke 15:23) In Scripture repeated mention is also made of the calf in connection with idolatrous calf worship.—Ex. 32:4, 8, 19, 20; 1 Ki. 12:28, 32; 2 Chron. 11:15; Neh. 9:18; Hos. 8:5, 6; 13:2; see CALF WORSHIP.

‘Cutting the calf in two and passing between its parts’ alludes to an ancient mode of entering into a solemn obligation or covenant. (Compare Genesis 15:9-21.) Doubtless Jeremiah used this expression to stress the sacredness of the covenant into which the Jews had entered before God, and by the terms of which they were obligated to liberate fellow Israelites whom they had enslaved.—Jer. 34:17-19.

The calf is also spoken of illustratively in the Scriptures. For instance, unfaithful Israel was corrected like an inexperienced ‘calf that had not been trained’ to the yoke. (Jer. 31:18) Egypt’s mercenary soldiers are likened to fattened calves that would prove to be unable to resist the Babylonians and would take to flight. (Jer. 46:21, 26) At the time the wicked and presumptuous ones are reduced to dust, the fearers of God’s name are shown going forth and pawing the ground like fattened calves released from the stall.—Mal. 4:1, 2; see BULL; COW.

CALF WORSHIP

The first form of idolatry mentioned in the Bible to which the Israelites succumbed after the exodus from Egypt. While Moses was in the mountain receiving God’s law, the people became impatient and approached Aaron with the request that he make a god for them. From the gold earrings contributed by the Israelites, Aaron formed a molten statue of a calf, undoubtedly a young bull. (Ps. 106:19, 20) It was regarded as representing Jehovah, and the festival held the following day was designated a “festival to Jehovah.” The Israelites sacrificed to the golden calf, bowed before it, ate and drank and enjoyed themselves in song and dance.—Ex. 32:1-8, 18, 19.

The molten calf was not necessarily made of solid gold. This is indicated by the fact that Isaiah, when referring to the making of a molten image, mentions that the metalworker overlays it with gold. (Isa. 40:19) Hence, it has been suggested that the golden calf was formed of wood and then overlaid with gold and, therefore, when Moses subjected the image to a burning process the wooden center was reduced to charcoal and the gold layer either entirely or partially melted. Whatever was left was crushed and ground to pieces until it was fine like dust, and this dust, composed of charcoal and gold, Moses scattered upon the surface of the water. Other commentators advance the thought that by means of the burning process the molten calf was cast into ingots of a size that could afterward have been beaten into gold leaf and then crushed and ground to pieces.—Ex. 32:20; Deut. 9:21.

Idolatrous Egyptian worship, which associated gods with cows, bulls and other animals, likely had influenced the Israelites to a great extent, causing them to adopt calf worship so soon after being liberated from Egypt. This is confirmed by Stephen’s words: “In their hearts they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us to go ahead of us. . . .’ So they made a calf in those days and brought up a sacrifice to the idol and began to enjoy themselves in the works of their hands.”—Acts 7:39-41.

The first king of the ten-tribe kingdom, Jeroboam, fearing that his subjects would revolt and go back to the house of David if they continued going up to Jerusalem for worship, had two golden calves made. (1 Ki. 12:26-28) The Bible record does not reveal to what extent Jeroboam’s choice of a calf to represent Jehovah was influenced by earlier calf worship in Israel or by what he had observed while in Egypt (1 Ki. 12:2) or by the religion of the Canaanites and others, who often represented their gods as standing upon an animal, such as a bull.

One of the golden calves Jeroboam set up at the far northern city of Dan, the other at Bethel about twelve miles (c. 19 kilometers) N of Jerusalem. He told his subjects that it was too much for them to go up to Jerusalem to worship and that the calf represented the God who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt. (Compare Exodus 32:8.) Since the priests of the tribe of Levi stayed loyal to Jehovah’s worship at Jerusalem (2 Chron. 11:13, 14), Jeroboam appointed his own priests to lead the false worship before the idol calves at Dan and Bethel. He also arranged for a festival similar to the Festival of Booths, but it was celebrated a month later than in Jerusalem.—1 Ki. 12:28-33; 2 Chron. 13:8, 9; Lev. 23:39.

Jehovah condemned this calf worship and, through his prophet Ahijah, foretold calamity for the house of Jeroboam. (1 Ki. 14:7-12) Nevertheless, calf worship remained entrenched in the ten-tribe kingdom. Even King Jehu, who eradicated Baal worship in Israel, let calf worship remain, likely in order to keep the ten-tribe kingdom distinct from the kingdom of Judah. (2 Ki. 10:29-31) In the ninth century B.C.E., Jehovah raised up his prophets Amos and Hosea to proclaim His condemnation of calf worship, which included kissing the idol calves, and also to foretell doom for the ten-tribe kingdom. The golden calf of Bethel was to be carried away to the king of Assyria, giving cause for the people as well as the foreign-god priests to mourn. The high places would be annihilated, and thorns and thistles would grow upon the altars that had been used in false worship. (Hos. 10:5-8; 13:2; Amos 3:14; 4:4; 5:5, 6) Calamity did come when the ten-tribe kingdom fell to Assyria in 740 B.C.E. About a century later, Jeremiah prophesied that the Moabites would be just as ashamed of their god Chemosh as the Israelites had become of their center of idolatrous calf worship Bethel.—Jer. 48:13; see BETHEL No. 1; IDOL, IDOLATRY.

CALNEH

(Calʹneh).

1. A city founded by Nimrod in the land of Shinar. (Gen. 10:10) It thus evidently lay in southern Mesopotamia, but the location is uncertain. Nippur, an ancient Babylonian city about fifty-six miles (90.1 kilometers) E-SE of Babylon, has long been suggested as its site, based on Talmudic tradition and other factors. Some scholars, however, prefer an identification with Kulunu, the early name of a city of some importance near Babylon. A third possibility is a twin city of Kish called Hursagkalama, the latter part of the name (-kalama) supposedly representing Calneh. Some translations (RS, JB) render Calneh not as a place-name but as the phrase “all of them” so that the text reads “Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar” (RS), but this requires an adjustment in the pointing as found in the Masoretic text.

2. A place mentioned by the prophet Amos, along with the cities of Hamath and Gath, when warning the people of Israel and Judah of coming calamity. (Amos 6:2) While some commentators consider it to be the same as No. 1 above, most scholars view its association with Hamath and Gath as indicating a location in the region adjacent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, rather than in Mesopotamia. They suggest an identification with Kullani in northern Syria (apparently represented today by modern Kullan Köy, about ten miles [16 kilometers] SE of Arpad), mentioned by Tiglath-pileser III as among the places subjugated during an Assyrian campaign in the west. If this identification is correct, then Calneh here may be the same as Calno of Isaiah 10:9.—See CALNO.

CALNO

(Calʹno).

A city listed in Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the boasting of the Assyrians as to their conquests and the futility of trying to withstand their might. (Isa. 10:5, 9-11) Most authorities consider Calno to be an alternate spelling of Calneh. (Amos 6:2) Calno’s mention in connection with Carchemish would harmonize with the identification of Calneh with Kullani of the Assyrian texts, located between Carchemish and Aleppo in northern Syria. Kullani was conquered by Tiglath-pileser III, a contemporary of King Ahaz of Judah.—See CALNEH No. 2.

CALVARY

See GOLGOTHA.

CAMEL

An animal that has long served man as a beast of burden and a means of transport, especially in desert regions. There are two varieties of camel, the Bactrian and the Arabian. The former has two humps on its back, is stronger than the latter and is able to carry greater loads; the latter, thought to be the one generally referred to in the Bible, has only one hump.

The camel’s characteristics ideally fit it for life in desert regions, where it fills the place usually assigned the horse or donkey in other lands. This animal’s thick hair shields it from desert heat. Its long slitlike nostrils can close at will, a useful precaution against the blowing sand. Its eyes are shielded from blistering sandstorms by heavy eyelids and long eyelashes. The camel’s feet are provided with a hardened skin and are padlike, remarkably shaped for walking on soft and yielding sand. Callous pads on which the animal rests protect its chest and knees. These pads are present at birth. The camel’s strong teeth enable it to chew practically anything. This creature needs little grain and can subsist on the common plants of the desert, making it an animal quite economical to use.

The camel’s hump serves as a sort of portable pantry. Here most of its food reserve is stored. If the camel is required to draw nourishment from its stored-up food supply for too long a time, the skin of the hump, instead of standing up, falls over, and hangs like an empty bag on the side of the dorsal ridge. In ancient times, as today, loads were placed on the humps of camels. (Isa. 30:6) Mention is also made in Scripture of a “woman’s saddle basket of the camel,” which undoubtedly was placed on the camel’s hump.—Gen. 31:34.

Contrary to popular belief, the camel needs almost as much water as does a horse. If water is available, it will drink from five to seven gallons (c. 19 to c. 26 liters) a day. However, the remarkable feature about the camel is its endurance when forced to go without water. Carrying a load of 400 pounds (c. 181 kilograms) and traveling at a rate of twenty-five to thirty miles (c. 40 to c. 48 kilometers) a day, a camel may go without water for eight days. One camel is known to have continued for thirty-four days without drinking water, but this is an exception.

Views differ as to the reason for the camel’s ability to go for long periods without water. Although folklore has it that the camel stores water in its hump, this is not the case. The idea that the camel stores water in its stomach has been presented