It should be understood that the moon was made
full by the Creator, that is, a fifteen days’ moon: for it
was fitting that it should be made complete Sever.
Gabal., De opif. mundi, III.. But on the fourth day, as we
said, the sun was created. Therefore the moon was eleven days in
advance of the sun, because from the fourth to the fifteenth day there
are eleven days. Hence it happens that in each year the twelve
months of the moon contain eleven days fewer than the twelve months of
the sun. For the twelve months of the sun contain three hundred
and sixty-five and a quarter days, and so because the quarter becomes a
whole, in four years an extra day is completed, which is called
bis-sextile. And that year has three hundred and sixty-six
days. The years of the moon, on the other hand, have three
hundred and fifty-four days. For the moon wanes from the time of
its origin, or renewal, till it is fourteen and three-quarter
days’ old, and proceeds to wane till the twenty-ninth and a half
day, when it is completely void of light. And then when it is
once more connected with the sun it is reproduced and renewed, a
memorial of our resurrection. Thus in each year the moon gives
away eleven days to the sun, and so in three years the intercalary
month of the Hebrews arises, and that year comes to consist of thirteen
months, owing to the addition of these eleven days Ibid. De
opif. mundi, III..