Ab is the Jewish name for the fifth month in the religious calendar and the eleventh month of the civil calendar. This non-biblical name began to be used during the Babylonian captivity. The Bible simply calls this month the “fifth month.” This designation is found ten times in the Bible: Numbers 33:38And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.
See All...; 2Kings 25:8And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
See All...; 1Chronicles 27:8The fifth captain for the fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
See All...; Ezra 7:8And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
See All..., 9; Jeremiah 1:3It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
See All...; 28:1
See All...; 52:12
See All...; Ezekiel 20:1And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
See All...; Zechariah 7:3And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
See All.... Some of the events of the fifth month include:
- Aaron died on Mount Hor on the first day of the fifth month in 1423BC [Reese] (Numbers 33:38And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.
See All...). - The false prophet Hananiah prophesied the defeat of Babylon and was rebuked by Jeremiah in the fifth month in 594BC [Reese] (Jeremiah 28:1And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
See All...). - Ezekiel prophesied of the coming judgment of God on Israel and the mercy to follow on the tenth day of the fifth month in 591 BC [Reese] (Ezekiel 20:1And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
See All...). This chapter closes with a prophecy of fire on the land. - The Babylonian general Nebuzaradan burned Jerusalem on the seventh day of the fifth month in 586BC [Reese] (2Kings 25:8-9 [8] And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:
[9] And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire.
See All...). - Jerusalem was carried away captive in the fifth month (Jeremiah 1:3It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
See All...). This occurred on the tenth day of the fifth month in 586BC [Reese] after the destruction of Jerusalem by fire (Jeremiah 52:12-16 [12] Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, [13] And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: [14] And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about. [15] Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. [16] But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
See All...). - Zechariah was asked as to the propriety of continuing the fast of the fifth month in 519BC [Reese] (Zechariah 7:3-5 [3] And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
[4] Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
[5] Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
See All...). The fast was established to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem, but now Jerusalem was being restored. - Ezra arrived at Jerusalem from Babylon on the first day of the fifth month in 458BC [Reese] (Ezra 7:8-9 [8] And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.
[9] For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
See All...).
The month of Ab begins with the new moon of August and always has thirty days. According to Jewish tradition, the Israelites were excluded from entering the Promised Land (Numbers 14:30Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
See All...) on the ninth day of the fifth month. The fifteenth day of the month was the festival of the bringing of wood into the Temple (compare Nehemiah 11:34Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
See All...; 13:31
See All...). On the eighteenth day of the month was a fast in memory of the extinction of the western lamp of the Temple during the wicked reign of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 29:7Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
See All...). Agriculturally, the month of Ab is known in Israel as the time for the ripening of grapes, figs, and olives.