John Calvin Commentary Exodus 13:4

"This day ye go forth in the month Abib." — Exodus 13:4 (ASV)

This day came ye out. He compares the day of their coming out with the whole time of their dwelling in the land of Canaan, as if he had said that they were redeemed not to enjoy a mere fleeting joy, but so that they might be mindful of their blessing throughout all ages.

He goes on to praise the extent and fertility of the land again, principally for two reasons. The first is lest, after such glorious victories, pride should fill their minds, and in the abundance of their good things, their eyes should be closed by opulence; the second, that by the very multitude of their possessions they might be more strongly encouraged to the duty of gratitude and to the service of God.

For it might be that the conquerors of so many nations, and the lords of so rich and extensive a territory, would grow reckless and so be less devoted to God’s service, unless they were reminded that they owed it to God alone that they had conquered so many peoples and had obtained dominion over them.

But Moses shows them that, in proportion to God’s goodness to them, they would be all the more inexcusable if they did not earnestly strive to show their gratitude.

With this purpose, he repeats the names of the nations by whose destruction they were to become inheritors of the land; and then adds, a land flowing with milk and honey, in order to arouse them more and more to piety by the great abundance of blessings that would always be before their eyes.

Those are entirely mistaken who suppose that the month Abib³²² is the same as Ab, which corresponds with our July. For it is evident that the Israelites came out of Egypt in the month Nisan, around the vernal equinox; the keeping of Easter, handed down by tradition from our ancestors, is an unquestionable proof of this circumstance.

Now, since the Hebrews borrowed from the Chaldeans all the names of their months, which were in use two thousand years later, it would be absurd in this place to regard Abib as a proper name, especially when we nowhere find the months designated by proper names in Scripture. Since, then, reason demonstrates that this word is used descriptively, we must inquire why it is applied to March or the beginning of April.

Those who translate Abib as “ripening fruits” have no basis for it, since the word simply means “anything that grows.” Hence, it is applied to the stalks of grain; and because in those warm climates the grain reaches its height around the vernal equinox, Nisan is for this reason called the month of stalks.

It is also a probable conjecture (as we have already said) that the beginning of the year was changed so that the nativity of the Church might receive more distinction, as if the world were then renewed. The opinion of some that Noah came out of the ark in the same month, so that the spring temperatures might welcome him and the other animals in their new birth, I leave undecided, as I have done regarding Genesis 8.

But if this opinion is accepted, there will be an anticipation (prolepsis) in the naming of the months. This would be an absurdity because it was useful for the people to become accustomed to the rites of the Law. But I do not enter into controversy about uncertain matters.

³²² אביב C. has copied the Hebrew in his text, writing it Abib, as a proper name; but in the V. it is translated “mensis novarum frugum,” and in S.M., “mensis maturescentis frugis.” The name for July is אב, which exists in Chaldee as a general name for the fleshy fruit of trees. David Levi says, in his Lingua Sacra, that one of their Rabbis had observed that Ab or Av is not to be found in Scripture, and that all the names of the Jewish months, as Sivan, Nisan, etc., are not Hebrew but Chaldee; for which reason we do not meet with them but in the books of Zechariah, Daniel, Ezra, and Esther, which were written during the captivity; and in these four books mention is made of seven of the months, but in the Jerusalem Targum of Esther they all follow regularly. This is also the opinion of Aben-Ezra; but adds, “we find three of the months named in Hebrew, viz., Zif, in 1 Kings 6:1; Bul, in same chapter, verse 38, and Ethanira in 8:2; which plainly shews that they had names for all the months in Hebrew; but during the captivity they adopted those of their masters.” — W.