Let’s Call it Sonday
I typically write Monday’s blog on Sonday. I’m spelling it Sonday today on purpose.
Except for Shabbat, Jewish days have numbers instead of names. The seven-day Jewish week starts on what I’m referring to as Sonday, and it goes as follows:
Yom Rishon (יום ראשון) - First day
Yom Sheni (יום שני) - Second day
Yom Shlishi (יום שלישי) - Third day
Yom Revi’i (יום רביעי) - Fourth day
Yom Chamishi (יום חמישי) - Fifth day
Yom Shishi (יום שישי) - Sixth day
Yom Shabbat (יום שבת) - Sabbath day
The names of American weekdays come from the first century Roman week later adopted by Emperor Constantine in A.D. 321. Roman days were named after the sun, the moon, and five planets, along with the “gods” that supposedly governed those particular heavenly bodies.
Today’s English day names are still derived from the sun, the moon, and those same five planets whose “gods” the Romans chose to honor. (Later on, some of the Latin names were replaced by the names of corresponding Norse “gods.”)
Exodus 23:13 says, “Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth.” (WEB) You may disagree with me about this, but when I refer to Sonday--even when I spell it Sunday--I am not referring to a heathen god. I am referring to the first day of the week. Quakers, of course, would disagree with me.
Up to and including 1751 the Julian calendar was used in England. English Quakers used the Julian calendar, but they objected to using the names of days (Sunday through Saturday) and months (January through August) that were derived from pagan gods.
Up until 1752, Quakers had no problem with the months September to December, since those names were derived from numbers. For the other months they used “First Month,” “Second Month,” etc. For reasons unknown to me, when the Gregorian Calendar was adopted, Quakers decided to refer to all months by their number.
I don’t actually mind spelling Sonday the usual way. Today Sunday refers to a day of the week, not the name of a heathen god. However, I like to spell it Sonday because I find it interesting that according to the Bible, two very Christian Old Testament holidays should always fall on Sunday. What the world calls Easter and the Old Testament calls Firstfruits should always happen on Sunday. What Jews call Shavuot always happens 50 days after Firstfruits—and since the fiftieth day after any Saturday is a Sunday, Pentecost always lands on Sunday too.
In other words, Firstfruits and Shavuot “just happen” to mark two exceptionally important Christian milestones: the day Jesus rose from the dead (“Easter” Sunday) and the day the earliest Christians received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The way I like to think of it, both those holy days happen on a Sonday.
Margot Armer
