First Day of the Week?

[Neo Deist]

What do you consider to be the first day of the week?

I say Monday.

Jews will most likely say Sunday, as that is the end of their Sabbath. The calendars in the USA typically place Sunday as the first day of the week, but it is also considered the last day of the weekend.

The International Standard for date and time (ISO 8601) places Monday as the first day of the week, since most people typically go to work or school Mon-Fri, and have Sat-Sun off.

 

[Sunstone]

God and Darwin intended Monday to be the first day of the week.

 

[Revoltingest]

I voted Sunday because that's the convention here.
But I also see Monday as the start...that's how my British
computer operating system (BOS V8 aka GSM) handles it.

Caution....
Avoid ancient British operating systems.

 

[Neo Deist]

I voted Sunday because that's the convention here.
But I also see Monday as the start...that's how my British
computer operating system (BOS V8 aka GSM) handles it.

Caution....
Avoid ancient British operating systems.

Make up your mind!

I can't vote one way or the other.
Sunday is the official first day on my Microsoft based calendars.
But Monday is the official first day on my GSM/BOS based calendar.
And Monday is the first work day, while Sunday is the end of the weekend.

OK, I just convinced myself that Monday is the first day.

 

[Revoltingest]

Make up your mind!

Since I'm semi-retired, I'm now leaning towards Tuesday.

 

[bobhikes]

What do you consider to be the first day of the week?

I say Monday.

Jews will most likely say Sunday, as that is the end of their Sabbath. The calendars in the USA typically place Sunday as the first day of the week, but it is also considered the last day of the weekend.

The International Standard for date and time (ISO 8601) places Monday as the first day of the week, since most people typically go to work or school Mon-Fri, and have Sat-Sun off.

My US Job says its Saturday. My work week was changed a few years ago to start on Saturday and end on Friday.

 

[SalixIncendium]

The last two employers I've worked for start the week on Monday, so given I have 16 years tenure between the two, I've adapted to this in every day life.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

The Jewish people trace their calendar back thousands of years. They say Sunday is the first day of the week. All other calendars were started much more recently and are based on various beliefs of other people and other religions. I tend to think the oldest calendar is more correct, especially since God spoke to the Jewish people and told them when to start various days and seasons. Christians want to be as different form Jews as possible so they pick days that are different from what God told the Jews.

 

[psychoslice]

Its a known fact that Sunday is the first day of the week, so for me there is no argument.

 

[Neo Deist]

The Jewish people trace their calendar back thousands of years. They say Sunday is the first day of the week. All other calendars were started much more recently and are based on various beliefs of other people and other religions. I tend to think the oldest calendar is more correct, especially since God spoke to the Jewish people and told them when to start various days and seasons. Christians want to be as different form Jews as possible so they pick days that are different from what God told the Jews.

It has nothing to do with God or how old a calendar is. As explained, in Judaism, Sunday is the first day of the week because it is the end of the Sabbath. If Christians wanted to be different, then why do US calendars (and most people) observe the Jewish tradition?

 

[Neo Deist]

Its a known fact that Sunday is the first day of the week, so for me there is no argument.

Not according to the International Standard for Date and Time!

 

[psychoslice]

Not according to the International Standard for Date and Time!

So what ?.

 

[Neo Deist]

So what ?.

It's not an argument, just a preference.

 

[psychoslice]

It's not an argument, just a preference.

Yes and a preference doesn't mean it true.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Not according to the International Standard for Date and Time!

You're confusing the ISO date system (as used in computing) with the ISO Week Date (often called industrial dateing, from its use in some packaging). In the former, today is 2017.01.09. In the latter, it's 2017W0201. In other words, the week date is an alternative calendar that doesn't use months.

Sunday is traditionally the first day, since the system started in Antiquity: obviously the list of planets started with the Sun. Hence Monday is segunda-feira in Portuguese and Deftéra in Greek. Admittedly the Russians say Vtornik "second one", but what do they know...

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Where does a circle start?

 

[Neo Deist]

Where does a circle start?

When it is created.

 

[Liu]

Monday is the standard here. I think all calendars I've seen which start the week on Sunday were foreign ones.

In my planner however I like to do weekly overviews starting on Sunday - so I'm forced to make them on Saturday evening or Sunday morning and have a buffer between the planning and the start of the work week.

Also, I recently looked a bit into astrological symbolism, regarding the 7 planets the weekdays are named after. In a traditional order I encountered, moon is the first, and Saturn the last (or the other way round, when starting at the other end). So even in that symbolism it's not exactly clear where to put the sun, to the beginning or to the end, it's the middle and can stand for either.

 

[Glaurung]

The Jewish people trace their calendar back thousands of years. They say Sunday is the first day of the week. All other calendars were started much more recently and are based on various beliefs of other people and other religions. I tend to think the oldest calendar is more correct, especially since God spoke to the Jewish people and told them when to start various days and seasons. Christians want to be as different form Jews as possible so they pick days that are different from what God told the Jews.

You do realise that the notion of a day as a unit of time is simply convention. There's no such thing per se as Sunday, Monday or mercredi. Also, the distinctiveness of seasons depends entirely on where you are on the earth. Where I live, winter and summer are almost meaningless terms. We have dry and wet.

The Jewish calendar no more "real" than the Gregorian or Chinese. It's pure convention.

 

[psychoslice]

You do realise that the notion of a day as a unit of time is simply convention. There's no such thing per se as Sunday, Monday or mercredi. Also, the distinctiveness of seasons depends entirely on where you are on the earth. Where I live, winter and summer are almost meaningless terms. We have dry and wet.

The Jewish calendar no more "real" than the Gregorian or Chinese. It's pure convention.

But haven't the Jews kept the Sabbath as long as its been around, so wouldn't the day they keep today be the true Sabbath day ?.