Lesser light in the sky (Genesis 1:16). Many Semitic languages use the same word for moon as the Hebrew. In three passages in the Hebrew Old Testament, the moon is called “the white one,” and paired with “the hot one,” the sun (Song of Solomon 6:10; Isaiah 24:23; 30:26). Another term, “crescent,” is used in other languages such as Aramaic and Arabic, and “crescent ornaments” (Judges 8:21, 26; Isaiah 3:18) are mentioned.
In the creation account, it is said concerning the functions of the two luminaries: “Let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years” (Genesis 1:14). That is, “times” are determined by their movements. For this reason, when describing the mighty deeds of the Lord in creation, the poet says, “He made the moon to mark the seasons” (Psalm 104:19).
The ancient Hebrew calendar was lunar (Sirach 43:6–7), the months beginning with the new moon, marked by special rituals (Numbers 10:10; 28:11–14; 2 Chronicles 2:4). Two great festivals, Passover and Tabernacles, began in midmonth when the moon was full (Leviticus 23:5–6; Psalm 81:3–5; and Leviticus 23:34, respectively). The seven-day week is a division of the twenty-eight-day lunar cycle into logical and convenient units, so the moon may be said to provide the basis for the significance of the number seven. As a corollary, the beginning of the seventh month, the Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:24), marked the climax month of the sacred feasts. It also signified the New Year for the years a ruler had been in power and for agriculture (Josephus’s Antiquities 1.1.3; Mishnah, Rosh Hashanah 1:1).
One verse in the creation story speaks of the sun’s dominion over the day and the moon’s over the night (Genesis 1:16; compare Psalm 136:9). The moon is also mentioned (alongside the sun) in the general order of creation when the spheres of the universe were established (Jeremiah 31:35). From this the luminaries symbolize the continuity of the world order (Psalms 72:5; 89:37–38). The darkening of the moon (and the sun) is a sign of the change of the order in creation in the latter days (Isaiah 13:10; Ezra 32:7; Joel 2:10; Hebrews 3:11; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Revelation 6:12; the converse is stated in Isaiah 30:26).
Since the moon resembles the sun, it also has the power to smite (Psalm 121:6) and to influence the growth of crops in the field (Deuteronomy 33:14). In the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites were warned against worshiping the moon and the rest of the host of heaven (Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3), but this foreign worship eventually spread into the Judean kingdom (2 Kings 21:3; 23:4–5; Jeremiah 7:18; 8:2).
To keep accurate control over the calendar and the feasts, the new moon was carefully observed seven times during the year in Jerusalem. This ensured that the major feasts fell on the proper days. The Sanhedrin would gather early in the morning on the last day of the preceding month, and watchmen were posted to observe the moon’s first appearance. When the evidence became clear, the sacred word was pronounced, and the day became the first of the new month. Fire signals beginning from the Mount of Olives announced the new moon. Later, they were replaced by messengers because the Samaritans had set up false signals along the way.