Church of God, Beth-EL

Origin of the names of the days of the week

Is GOD pleased with the names of week days?

Where did we get the names for the days of the week?

Sunday: The first day of the week

According to Colliers Sierra 1998 Encyclopedia:
From prehistoric times until the fifth century AD, sun worship was the most common religion. In Egypt, Aton, the sun disk, was used as a symbol of Ra, the sun god in Egyptian religion. This symbol was found in the oldest pyramids. When the Israelites came to Palestine, they found sun worshippers using the form of Baal-hammon. The latter part of the title means “sun images”. Sunday got its name from the “day of the sun worshippers”. Should Christians use Sunday as a worship day just because the sun worshippers did?

Monday, The second day of the week, gets its name from the ancient observance of feast days dedicated to the moon as a goddess or a planet. Most European Calendars list a day sacred to the moon.

Tuesday, the third day of the week, gets its name from Tiw’s day. Tiw is derived from Tyr of Tir, the son of Odin, or Woden, the Norse god of war.

Wednesday, the fourth day of the week, gets its name from the Scandinavian Woden, the chief deity of Norse mythology. In Anglo-Saxon, it appears as Wodnesdaeg.

Thursday, the fifth day of the week, gets its name from the middle English Thoresday or Thursdaye. Thor, the god of strength and thunder, is the counterpart of Jupiter or Jove.

Friday, the sixth day of the week, gets its name from Frigg. This is the name given to the wife of the god Odin & meaning “beloved” or “loving”. Its corresponding Latin name is Dies Veneris, a day dedicated to Venus.

Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, is the only day that the ETERNAL GOD dignified with a name. The other six days were only numbered. Genesis 2:3- And GOD blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: Exodus 16:23 –this is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is rest of the Holy Sabbath unto the LORD: the Sabbath is mentioned in 19 books of the Holy Bible. Early Christians observed the seventh day Sabbath. So-called “Christians” changed the day of worship to Sunday in the Fourth century AD.

Saturday, the seventh day of the week, gets its name from the Roman “Dies Saturni”, or the day of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. This is the only day of the week that takes its name from a Roman deity.


Compiled by
N.P.Rust rustynp99@yahoo.com