ELUL

(E·lulʹ).

The postexilic name of the sixth Jewish lunar month of the sacred calendar, but the twelfth of the secular calendar, corresponding to part of August and part of September. The meaning of the name is uncertain.

In this closing month of the summer season, the dates were ripe, also the principal crop of figs. By the month’s end the gathering of grapes was in full swing and the new wine was flowing.—Lev. 26:5; Num. 13:23; Jer. 8:13.

It was in the month of Elul that Nehemiah completed the fifty-two-day project of reconstructing Jerusalem’s walls. Thus, the construction must have gotten under way about Ab 4. Nehemiah had obtained permission to return to Jerusalem from Shushan in the spring month of Nisan. The intervening months of Iyyar (Ziv), Sivan and Tammuz allowed for completing the long trip, followed by a three-day rest at Jerusalem before beginning his nighttime survey of the walls.—Neh. 2:1, 11-15; 6:15; compare Ezra 7:9.

In the other Scriptural references the month Elul is mentioned only as the sixth month.—1 Chron. 27:9; Ezek. 8:1; Hag. 1:1, 15.

The charts prepared by Parker and Dubberstein, in their Babylonian Chronology, show that the month Elul was used intermittently by the Babylonians as an intercalary month along with the month Adar.