12. What is a lunar month, and how does it differ from our modern months?

¹² Lunar Months. The Bible speaks of “lunar months.” (Ex. 2:2; Deut. 21:13; 33:14; Ezra 6:15) Our modern months are not lunar months, for they are not determined by the moon. They are merely 12 arbitrary divisions of the solar year. A lunar month is a month that is determined by the new moon. There are four phases of the moon, which make up one lunation averaging 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes. One has only to look at the shape of the moon to tell approximately the day of the lunar month.

Until the time of Christ, most nations used lunar years for counting time, employing various ways of adjusting the year to coincide more or less with the solar year. The common lunar year of 12 lunar months has 354 days, with the months having 29 or 30 days, depending on the appearance of each new moon. The lunar year is therefore about 11 1/4 days short of the true solar year of 365 1/4 days. The Hebrews followed the lunar year.