20. How was the lunar year adjusted to correspond to the solar year, and what are lunisolar years?

²⁰ Lunisolar Year. 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. Just how they adjusted this year to coincide with the solar year and the seasons is not explained in the Bible, but they must have added additional, or intercalary, months when needed. The arrangement of intercalary months was later systematized in the fifth century B.C.E. into what is now known as the Metonic cycle. This allowed for the intercalary month to be added seven times every 19 years, and in the Jewish calendar, it was added after the 12th month, Adar, and was called Veadar, or “second Adar.” As the lunar calendar is thus adjusted to the sun, the years, which are of 12 or 13 months, are known as lunisolar years.

Name of Month Veadar

Corresponds to (Intercalary month)

Sacred Year 13th month