the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
New; New Moon
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or A. Verb.
Châdash (חָדַשׁ, Strong's #2318), “to renew.” This verb occurs in post-Mosaic literature (with the exception of Job 10:17). The root is found in all the Semitic languages with the same sense; usually the radicals are h-d-th. The first appearance of châdash in the Bible is in 1 Sam. 11:14: “Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.”
B. Noun.
Chôdesh (חֹדֶשׁ, Strong's #2320), “new moon; month.” This noun occurs about 283 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods.
The word refers to the day on which the crescent reappears: “So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat” (1 Sam. 20:24). Isa. 1:14 uses this word of the feast which occurred on that day: “Your new moons [festivals] and your appointed feasts my soul hateth …” (cf. Num. 28:14; 29:6).
Chôdesh can refer to a “month,” or the period from one new moon to another. The sense of a measure of time during which something happens occurs in Gen. 38:24: “And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah.…” In a related nuance the word refers not so much to a measure of time as to a period of time, or a calendar month. These “months” are sometimes named (Exod. 13:4) and sometimes numbered (Gen. 7:11).
C. Adjective.
Châdâsh (חָדָשׁ, Strong's #2319), “new; renewed.” This adjective appears 53 times in biblical Hebrew.
Châdâsh means “new” both in the sense of recent or fresh (as the opposite of old) and in the sense of something not previously existing. The first nuance appears in Lev. 23:16: “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.” The first biblical occurrence of châdâsh (Exod. 1:8) demonstrates the second meaning: “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.” This second nuance occurs in Isaiah’s discussion of the future salvation. For example, in Isa. 42:10 a new saving act of God will bring forth a new song of praise to Him: “Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth.…” The Psalter uses the phrase “a new song” in this sense; a new saving act of God has occurred and a song responding to that act celebrates it. The “new” is often contrasted to the former: “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them” (Isa. 42:9). Jer. 31:31-34 employs this same nuance speaking of the new covenant (cf. Ezek. 11:19; 18:31).
A unique meaning appears in Lam. 3:23, where châdâsh appears to mean “renewed”; just as God’s creation is renewed and refreshed, so is His compassion and lovingkindness: “They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” This nuance is more closely related to the verb from which this word is derived.
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'New; New Moon'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/n/new-new-moon.html. 1940.
