Elul

Elul is the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar, falling in the late summer. Two post-exilic events anchor it in scripture: the completion of Jerusalem's wall under Nehemiah, and the resumption of work on the temple under Zerubbabel.

The Wall of Jerusalem Finished

Nehemiah dates the closing of the rebuilt wall by the day and month of Elul: "So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth [day] of [the month] Elul, in fifty and two days" (Neh 6:15).

The Temple Work Resumed

Haggai dates the renewed labor on the house of Yahweh by the same sixth month: "And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of Yahweh of hosts, their God, in the four and twentieth day of the month, in the sixth [month], in the second year of Darius the king" (Hag 1:14-15).