What Day Is The first Day Of The Week?

[flamingjimmy]

Illogical. If a week has two ends (beginning, finishing)

I wouldn't call the beginning of something 'the end', it's the start, they are opposite.

 

I think there's a difference between the idea of a process or period of time starting and ending, and a physical object which has two ends.

 

But I do see what you're saying and we could get lost in semantics here but hey that's fun!

Think about this.

A day is an observable phenomenon.

A solar year is, too, and so is a lunar month (on which solar months are modelled).

BUT where is there any basis for a week- other than in the Book of Genesis?

Not that I know of, but a quick google has revealed that most scholars think the Hebrews got it from the Babylonians anyway, so it's probably a lot older than genesis.

 

Apparently they had 7 day weeks (even including a sort of 'day of rest' at the end) and then just tacked on a few days on the last week of the month so it matched up to the moon.

 

It seems highly likely to me that the stuff about 7 days in there was tacked on because it fit the already established pattern, rather than the other way round. Much like the Christians saying we celebrate a winter festival because of the birth of Jesus, when it is clearly the other way round.

Edited July 22, 2016 by flamingjimmy

[chillirobbo]

I've always thought it was Monday.

 

I'm now living in Dubai where Sunday is the first day. Friday is their holy day plus some people (not all, however) get Saturdays off.

Years ago though, their weekend was Thursday and Friday.

 

I've confused myself now

[foxydebs]

Monday is classed as the start of the working week...so I'm going with that.

 

Yet Sunday is the start of our working week.

[barleycorn]

I'll just put this here:

 

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/03/week-starts-sunday/

 

The first day of the week (for most), Sunday has been set aside as the “day of the sun” since ancient Egyptian times in honor of the sun-god, beginning with Ra. The Egyptians passed their idea of a 7-day week onto the Romans, who also started their week with the Sun’s day, dies solis. When translated into early German, the first day was called sunnon-dagaz, which made its way into Middle English as sone(n)day.

 

For some in the Christian tradition, the first day of the week is named in accordance with the creation tale in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, where one of the first things God did was say “let there be light, and there was light.”

[Olive]

The first day of the Christian week is on Sunday. The first day of the working week is on Monday.

 

 

How's that? I thought God did all his creative work on days 1 to 6, then on 7th he had a day of rest - Sunday?

[apelike]

How's that? I thought God did all his creative work on days 1 to 6, then on 7th he had a day of rest - Sunday?

 

It depends on what you believe in, either Judaism or Christianity and also at that time the name-days were not in effect so no one knows what day it started. The above is true under the Jewish religion which included Moses laws and his writings. When Christ rose from the dead IIRC it was on the Jewish Sunday but that also heralded the start of Christianity and therefore the start of the Christian week. Most though still class Monday as the start of the week.

Edited July 26, 2016 by apelike

[vwkittie]

Monday, on account of Saturday and Sunday together being the weekEND.

[Berberis]

How's that? I thought God did all his creative work on days 1 to 6, then on 7th he had a day of rest - Sunday?

 

Who said it was Sunday though? We only know it was the 7th day. A 7 day week goes back to well before Christianity, dating back to Babylonian times and horoscopy.

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Monday, on account of Saturday and Sunday together being the weekEND.

But any linear object has TWO ends- where it starts and where it finishes.

[altus]

But any linear object has TWO ends- where it starts and where it finishes.

But it's called the weekend not the weekends, so it's clearly only referring to one end.