Your Daily Slice

Mette Marx
Jun 27, 2025
2 min read

Digital artwork by James Nesbit; https://www.jnesbit.com/store/p/tammuz

Tammuz תַּמּוּז

Tammuz is the fourth month of the Ecclesiastical calendar, which began with the month of Nissan, and is mentioned twice in the book of Jeremiah (Jer 39:2; 52:6). It is a month of 29 days, occurring during the Gregorian calendar months of June and July. As I previously mentioned in the Introduction to this book, most of the names of the Hebrew months are of Babylonian origin; Tammuz is identified as the name of the Babylonian sun god, certainly a strange name for this month. Added to this ‘strange’ idea is the fact that the episode of the Golden Calf occurred on the 17th of Tammuz, one of several tragedies that share this date over the centuries[1].

Reuben is the tribe associated with the month of Tammuz, and the constellation is that of Cancer, the crab. The Hebrew letter is chet[2], with the numeric value of eight (8)[3]. The sense of sight is dominant during this month, with the implication that we must ‘guard’ our eyes, focusing on those things that are above, not on things of this earth (Col 3:2). Ruby is the gemstone assigned to Reuben and this month of Tammuz, the color red considered one of deep seduction.[4]

Important days during the month of Tammuz:

17th Designated as a ‘fast’ day, this is the beginning of the “3 weeks of sorrow”, which end on the 9th of Av, the day of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem[5].