Israel is, of course, another name for Jacob - the father of twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. 'Israel' claimed the sons of Joseph as his own, hence the half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

So when I wrote 'the calendar of Israel', I actually meant the calendar of 'Israel'. The term Hebrew is applied to the descendants of Eber, including Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, the father of 'Israel', the father of Joseph. The term Hebrew seems to disappear from the Hebrew language after David acccording to Holman's Bible Dictionary.

Moses was, of course, a descendant of Joseph, and Egypt was the place where the twelve tribes of Israel grew into a great nation from a family of around seventy members.

The calendar of Abraham may have been the same as the calendar of 'Israel' with its seven day week. In the book of Genesis both the sun and moon govern the times and seasons. But it may be that Joseph improved the calendar of Israel in the light of the Egyptian astronomical observations.

I chose the description 'calendar of Israel' because this calendar was preseved from the time of Moses onwards, as is evident from the celebration of Passover at the appointed time. Moses instituted the celebration of Passover one year after he had led the Isaraelites out of Egypt, and it was celebrated again when the Israelites entered Canaan.

Israel lived out the last years of his life in Egypt, but Joseph buried his father in the land of Canaan - later to referred to as Israel. Israel was buried in a cave which Abraham had bought as a burial place.

Mark