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A Day and Week in the Life of Yeshua

The calendar was very important in Yeshua’s Jewish world. A week in his life consisted of seven day, just like our weeks today. There were some important differences, however. Each week reminded Yeshua and his fellow Jews of the seven-day period of creation recorded at the beginning of the TORAH scroll. The creation of the first day is recorded in Genesis 1:5 (the words in bold type are transliterations of Hebrew words; ELOHIYM is usually translated “God”):

ELOHIYM called the light “Day” (יום - YOM) and the darkness He called “Night” (לילה - LAYLAH).  And there was evening, and there was morning — YOM RISHON (First Day).

A Jewish day begins and ends at sundown -- “and there was evening, and there was morning.” Every afternoon, as the sun disappeared beyond the western horizon and the first three stars appeared, Yeshua viewed it as the beginning of a new day – a day that begins and ends with the fading of light in the western sky. The beginning and end of a day was, and still is, determined locally.

The Jewish calendar follows a seven-day weekly cycle, which runs concurrently but independently of monthly and annual cycles. The names of the days of the week were simply the day number within the week. Below are the names and order of the days of the week with the corresponding time period of our American calendar today.

● Yom Rishon - יום ראשון (meaning "First Day”) began at sundown on Saturday and ended at sundown on Sunday.  

● Yom Sheni - יום שני (meaning "Second Day"”) began at sundown on Sunday and ended at sundown on Monday.

● Yom Shlishi - יום שלישי (meaning "Third Day") began at sundown on Monday and ended at sundown on Tuesday.

● Yom Reviʻi - יום רביעי (meaning "Fourth Day") began at sundown on Tuesday and ended at sundown on Wednesday.

● Yom Chamishi - יום חמישי (meaning "Fifth Day") began at sundown on Wednesday and ended at sundown on Thursday.

● Yom Shishi - יום ששי (meaning "Sixth Day") began at sundown on Thursday and ended at sundown on Friday.

● Yom Shabbat - יום שבת (meaning “Rest Day”) began at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday.

The name of every day was a reminder of the Creator’s work on that day. Take a moment to read what He created on each of those days (Genesis 1:1-2:4a) when you get a chance. Think about how you would view your week, if you used the names of the days Yeshua used and associated each day with the Creator’s work. Get your family members or a group of friends to use Yeshua’s weekly calendar in your weekly schedule – so you can get a feel for what it would be like. Also, consider the effects of viewing the beginning of a day at sundown, instead of at 12:01 am. 

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