NISĀN (From Babylonian Nisannu). - First month of the year in Israel; in the oldest biblical literature, it is identified with ḥōdheṣ hā-'ābhībh "month of the ripening ears of grain" (v. 'ABIB): Neh. 2:1; Esth. 3:7 (Vulgate, also Esth. 3:12; 11:2). On the first of N. the construction of the tabernacle was completed (Ex. 40:17); from the 1st to the 12th, the inauguration of the altar took place through the offering of sacrifices by the leaders of the 12 tribes (Num. 7). On the 14th of N. the paschal lamb was offered (Ex. 12:3-13). The feast of Passover (v.) lasted from the 15th to the 22nd of N.

On the 13th of N., Num. 8:1-4 is read in the synagogue. After this reading, a prayer of a mystical character is recited, taken from the work of R. Isaiah Levi Horovitz, Le due tavole della Legge. In the month of N. there is no fast and no manifestation of mourning. The firstborn fast during the morning hours of the eve of Passover. The sabbath that precedes Passover is called the "great sabbath," a designation that was later applied to the sabbath preceding the New Year, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

Bibliography

BIBL.: M. Zobel, Das Jahr der Juden in Brauch und Liturgie, Berlin 1936, p. 157 ff.

Eugenio Zolli

@incollection{ec8_nisan_dal_babilonese_nisannu, author = {Zolli, Eugenio}, title = {NisĀN (Dal Babilonese Nisannu)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1899}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/nisan-dal-babilonese-nisannu} }

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Nisān (From Babylonian Nisannu)

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