3505
Lexical Summary
neomēnia: New Moon

Original Word: νεομηνία
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: neomēnia
Pronunciation: neh-oh-MAY-nee-ah
Phonetic Spelling: (ner'-ohn)
KJV: Nero
Word Origin: [of Latin origin]

1. Neron (i.e. Nero), a Roman emperor

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Nero.

Of Latin origin; Neron (i.e. Nero), a Roman emperor -- Nero.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3505: Νέρων

Νέρων (by etymol. 'brave', 'bold'), Νερωνος, , Nero, the well-known Roman emperor: Rec. (i. e. in the subscription).

Topical Lexicon
Definition and Scope

The term describes the first day of each lunar month in the Hebrew calendar. It denotes both the astronomical event of the waxing crescent and the covenantal observance that accompanied it. The new moon signaled the rhythm of Israel’s worship life, agricultural cycle, and civic administration.

The New Moon in the Mosaic Covenant

Numbers 10:10 links the day with trumpet blasts that served “as a reminder of you before your God.” Numbers 28:11–15 prescribes two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs, plus their grain and drink offerings “at the beginning of each of your months.” Thus the festival combined thanksgiving for past provision and petition for the month ahead. Psalm 81:3 commands: “Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon and at the full moon on the day of our Feast,” showing its integration with the three pilgrim festivals that framed Israel’s year.

Sacrificial and Liturgical Elements

• Burnt offerings: total consecration to the LORD.
• Grain and drink offerings: acknowledgment that daily bread and rejoicing come from Him.
• Trumpet blasts (Numbers 10:10): public proclamation of divine kingship and covenant faithfulness.
• Convocation: a communal day of rest and worship, akin to a minor Sabbath (Ezekiel 46:1).

The Levitical singers also served “to give thanks and to praise the LORD at the gates on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts” (1 Chronicles 23:31).

Symbolism and Theological Themes

1. Time belongs to God. He orders months and seasons (Genesis 1:14).
2. New beginnings. Every new moon dramatized renewal and covenant mercy.
3. Anticipation. A sliver of light that grows foreshadows greater fulfillment, ultimately realized in Christ (John 1:9).
4. Community accountability. The trumpet sounded over sacrifices, calling a nation to remember its identity in God.

Prophetic Corrections and Eschatological Vision

When ritual persisted without righteousness, the prophets rebuked Israel. Isaiah 1:13 declares: “I cannot endure iniquity in the solemn assembly.” Amos 8:5 exposes merchants who begrudged sacred time: “When will the New Moon be over so that we may sell grain?” These oracles warn that form divorced from faith invites judgment. Yet Isaiah 66:23 projects a cleansed future: “From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me.” The festival’s holiness will be universally acknowledged in the consummated kingdom.

Second Temple and Early Jewish Practice

Post-exilic communities restored the calendar (Nehemiah 10:33). The new moon regulated temple service, civil contracts, and agricultural first-fruits. Rabbinic sources record the Sanhedrin’s role in confirming the lunar sighting, underscoring how the day guarded Israel’s corporate life from creeping syncretism.

New Testament Perspective

There is no occurrence of the exact lexical form in the Greek New Testament, yet the concept is presupposed. Paul warns believers not to submit to judgment on food, festival, new moon, or Sabbaths (Colossians 2:16), teaching that such observances were “a shadow of the things to come, but the body belongs to Christ.” The writer to the Hebrews presents Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice as superseding repetitive rituals (Hebrews 10:1-10).

Application for Christian Doctrine and Ministry

1. Freedom from legalism: External calendars cannot justify; only the cross can (Galatians 4:9-11).
2. Orderly worship: The principle of structured time encourages churches to plan seasons of prayer and thanksgiving.
3. Gratitude for renewal: Monthly communion services, mission focuses, or fasting days can harness the new-moon motif—celebrating fresh starts in the gospel.

Christological Fulfillment and Future Expectation

The waxing moon that climaxed in full brightness prefigures the increasing revelation of God that culminates in Christ, “the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3). Believers experience spiritual renewal “day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16), anticipating the eternal city where “the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23). In the new heavens and new earth, unbroken fellowship—the substance to which every new moon pointed—will be fully realized.

Forms and Transliterations
ενευροκόπησαν ενευροκόπησε νενευροκοπημένης νέσσα νεύμασι νεύμασιν νεύρα νεύρά νευραίς νευράς νευροίς νευροκοπήσεις νευροκοπήσουσι νεύρον νεύρου
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