Strong’s Concordance, Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon, and Gesenius’ Hebrew Chaldee Lexicon all agree that “chodesh/hodesh” means a new moon and by implication means a new month. The terms are used synonymously in the scriptural text, as the scriptural month is based on the lunar cycle.
The root word of the term “chodesh” is “chadash” (H2318), which means “to make new, renew or repair.”
I’ve heard many say that the word “chodesh” cannot mean “new moon,” chalking it up to a translation/scribal error because the word for “moon” in Scripture is a completely different word—you can find the word “moon” in Scripture as the Hebrew word “yerah” (H3391). It is also found as “yareah” (H3394).
While it is true that these are separate words, this statement and assumption is made to imply that these two words have nothing in common, and that a “new month” cannot mean “new moon,” therefore “chodesh” cannot be a lunar term.
According to Scripture, this assumption is wrong.
Even though you only need 2-3 witnesses to confirm a matter, I would like to take some time to give you 13 witnesses in Scripture in which the word “chodesh” (month) is used interchangeably with the word “yerah” (moon).
1 Kings 6:37-38
In the fourth year the foundation of the house of Yahuah was laid, in the month (H3391, MOON) of Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month (H3391, MOON) of Bul, which is the eighth month (H2320, MONTH), the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.
1 Kings 8:2
Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month (H3391, MOON) of Ethanim, which is the seventh month (H2320, MONTH).
Exodus 2:2
So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months (H3391, MOONS).
2 Kings 15:13
Shallum the son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month (H3391, MOON) in Samaria.
Job 3:6
As for that night, may darkness seize it; may it not rejoice among the days of the year, may it not come into the number of the months (H3391, MOONS).
Job 7:3
So I have been allotted months (H3391, MOONS) of futility, and wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
Job 29:2
“Oh, that I were as in months (H3391, MOONS) past, as in the days when Eloah watched over me...”
Job 39:2
Can you number the months (H3391, MOONS) that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they bear young?
Zechariah 11:8
I dismissed the three shepherds in one month (H3391, MOON). My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
Deuteronomy 21:13
She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month (H3391, MOON); after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
Additionally, we have two witnesses that use the Hebrew word ‘yerah’ (Strong’s H3393), which is another word that is derived from the Hebrew root word meaning ‘moon’ (the only difference is the vowel points).
- Ezra 6:15
And this house was finished on the third day of the month (H3393, MONTH - derived from the Hebrew root word meaning MOON) Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. - Daniel 4:29
At the end of twelve months (H3393, MONTH - derived from the Hebrew root word meaning MOON) he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
We also have a bonus witness in the Greek Septuagint (LXX):
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon (G3561, NOUMENIA) or sabbaths...”
Colossians 2:16
Noumenia means “new moon.”
Our English words for “month” and “moon” are derived from the Greek word “men.” MENstruation is also derived from these words to refer to a women’s monthly cycle.
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary:
menstruation (n.)
"the period of menstruation," 1680s, from past-participle stem of Late Latin menstruare, from menstruus "monthly" (from mensis "month;" see moon (n.)) + -ation. Old English equivalent was monaðblot "month-blood." Middle English had menstrue (n.), late 14c., from Old French menstrue, from Latin menstruum.
And because I know Psalm 81:3 may get brought up as a counterargument that “new moon is a full moon,” let's go ahead and address that here as well.
“Blow the trumpet in the new moon (H2320, MONTH), in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.”
Psalm 81:3
“In the time appointed” is H3677, and it means “full moon.”
Many people understand that verse to say that the trumpet should be blown in the new moon, when it is full (fully lit). It’s very easy to understand why people would think that.
However, in reading the rest of the verse, we see that it says “on the solemn feast day.”
The word for “feast” here is “HAG” (H2282—which is derived from H2287, HAGAG), and it is in reference to a pilgrimage feast. Scripture defines these pilgrimage feasts (outlined in Exodus 23:14-16 & reiterated in 2 Chronicles 8:13) as Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread, Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).
Without understanding the scriptural calendar, the reader will fail to realize that the moon is ALWAYS full at the commencement of Passover/Unleavened Bread and Sukkot.
Look back to the previous verse I shared (1 Kings 8:2): “Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month (H3391, MOON) of Ethanim, which is the seventh month (H2320, MONTH).”
The seventh month is talking about the feast of Tabernacles (see Leviticus 23:34)!
So, this verse is not to be interpreted as “blow the trumpet at the new moon, when it is full.” It is most appropriately interpreted as: “blow the trumpet at the new moon AND on the appointed time when it is full, on the solemn feast day of Passover/Unleavened Bread and/or Sukkot.”
Scripture speaks for itself. Everything we need to know about the truth is in His Word. You just have to dig.
“It is the glory of Elohim to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”
Proverbs 25:2
If we are to be His priests, we can’t reject knowledge when it is presented to us, or else we will be no priest to Him (Hosea 4:6).
Psalm 104:19 says that Yahuah appointed the moon for moedim (appointed times).
Jeremiah 31:35-36 says that Yahuah gives the moon ordinances and if those ordinances ever depart from Him, then Israel will cease from being a nation.
Psalm 89:37 says that the moon is established forever as a faithful witness in heaven and Proverbs 14:5 says that a faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness will utter lies.
The moon is the luminary that we are to use to determine our Creator’s appointed times.
To the torah and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Isaiah 8:20
The ones uttering lies are those who have sought to boot the moon out of our Creator’s calendar.
The faithful witnesses (Scripture) do not lie.
Examining the Term “Chodesh”
The word translated as “month” 254x in the Hebrew Scriptures is chodesh. It can be found in the Strong’s Concordance under H2320.
We have already established that the word “month” is a lunar term in Scripture. But let’s unpack this word a little bit further to get to know the root word of this Hebrew term.
Something that is important to know is that the term chadash is the same Hebrew word as chodesh. It can be found in the Strong’s Concordance under H2319. These words are identical—they are just vowel-pointed a little differently. The word chadash means “a new thing, new, something fresh.”
Both chodesh and chadash share the same root word, which is chadash (H2318), which means “to rebuild, renew, repair.”
The word chodesh (H2320), chadas (H2319), and chadash (H2318) are the SAME word. They are all just vowel-pointed differently. To put it simply:
· Chodesh (H2320) – month / new moon
· Chadash (H2319) – new, fresh, a new thing
· Chadash (H2318) – to renew, rebuild, restore, or repair
These words all share the same three Hebrew root letters:
ח – ד – ש (het–dalet–shin)
Because Hebrew is a root-based language, these connected forms all carry the same underlying idea: something becoming new again. So linguistically, the concept of a month in Hebrew is not merely a division of time. It is a renewal cycle.
The reason I share all of this is to put the pieces together in which a “new moon” in Scripture means a moon that is renewed. This is why in some translations of the Bible you will see the word “month” translated as “new moon” when in the proper context.
This understanding is also reflected in ancient Second Temple Period writings. In the Book of Sirach 43:6–7 (which is part of the apocrypha texts originally included in the KJV Bible), we read:
“He made the moon also to serve in its season for a declaration of times, and a sign of the world. From the moon is the sign of the feast days, a light that decreases after being full. The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her changing.”
This passage highlights the same principle found in the Hebrew word chodesh: the month is tied directly to the changing and renewal of the moon.
Ancient Israel did not calculate months with printed calendars or mathematical tables. Instead, they observed the renewal of the moon in the sky.
When the moon disappears at the end of its waning cycle and then reappears as the first thin crescent, it is literally becoming new again.
In Hebrew thought, that renewal is the chodesh. Each lunar cycle moves through a predictable pattern:
The moon wanes until it disappears --> It becomes dark for a short period --> Then it reappears as a small, thin crescent in the western sky just after sunset.
That first visible crescent marks the renewal of the moon. And because the Hebrew concept of time is tied to renewal, this moment signals the beginning of a new chodesh — a new month! :)
This linguistic connection between renewal and the moon is not accidental. It actually reflects a broader biblical theme.
Creation itself is structured around cycles of renewal.
Each day is renewed at morning—Lamentations 3:23 uses the word Chadash (H2319) when referring to Yahuah’s mercies being new (chadashim, H2319) every morning.
Each week culminates in the renewal of the Sabbath.
Each year begins when the agricultural cycle renews in Abib.
And each month begins when the moon is renewed.
There are many calendars that claim to use the moon in their reckoning of time, yet their “new moon days” occur in the middle of the lunar cycle rather than when the moon is actually renewed. But Scripture ties the word chodesh directly to the concept of renewal. The month begins when the moon is made new again—not when it is already half illuminated in the middle of its cycle.
When we allow the Hebrew language and the observable patterns in the sky to define the calendar, the system becomes super simple. The renewed moon marks the renewed month, just as the rising sun reveals the renewed day.
Creation itself is the witness of time. HalleluYAH!
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun.
Psalm 19:1-4
With love,
Stephanie