Bul

Bul is the eighth month of the Hebrew year. UPDV uses the name once, in the dating of the completion of Solomon's temple. Two further passages that turn on the same eighth-month slot — Jeroboam's appointed feast at Beth-el and the rotation of David's monthly captains — name the month by number rather than by the name Bul.

The Month Named

The single occurrence of the proper name comes in the closing date for the construction of Solomon's house: "And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts, and according to all the fashion of it. So he was seven years in building it" (1Ki 6:38). The verse pairs the name Bul with its calendar position — "the eighth month" — and uses both together to fix the moment the temple's parts and fashion were complete.

The Eighth Month at Beth-el

Jeroboam's appointed feast falls in the same calendar slot, though UPDV identifies it by number rather than by the name Bul. He "appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; so he did in Beth-el, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made" (1Ki 12:32). The next verse repeats the dating and emphasizes its origin: "And he went up to the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart: and he appointed a feast for the sons of Israel, and went up to the altar, to burn incense" (1Ki 12:33). The framing — "the month which he had devised of his own heart" — sets Jeroboam's eighth-month feast in contrast to the appointed seasons in Judah.

The Eighth-Month Captain

The Chronicler's roster of monthly captains assigns a commander to each month of the year. The notice for the eighth month again uses the numerical form: "The eighth [captain] for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand" (1Ch 27:11). The verse names neither Bul nor a feast; it places Sibbecai's course in the calendar slot grouped under this umbrella.