The Month of Shevat: Deep-Rooted Renewal
By Sandra Aviv
The Bible often marks God’s activity not only through dramatic events but through seasons that unfold quietly. “Though it linger, wait for it,” the prophet Habakkuk says of God’s appointed time (Habakkuk 2:3). Some moments of renewal do not arrive with thunder or fire, but with rain, roots, and patient growth beneath the surface. The month of Shevat belongs to this quieter rhythm.
In the Jewish calendar, Shevat falls in the heart of winter. The land of Israel is deep into its rainy season, the time when water soaks into the soil and prepares the ground for future life. Fields may look dormant, but below the surface something essential is happening. In this way, Shevat teaches that renewal often begins long before it becomes visible.
Shevat appears in Scripture as a moment of prophetic transition. The prophet Zechariah receives a vision “in the eleventh month, which is the month of Shevat” (Zechariah 1:7). The context is one of waiting and restoration. Jerusalem has returned from exile, but the promises of renewal still seem incomplete. God’s word comes not at harvest time or festival peak, but in winter, reminding His people that divine action is already underway, even when circumstances appear unchanged.
The name Shevat (שְׁבָט) shares its form with the Hebrew root שבט (š-b-ṭ), a word with two related senses in Scripture: a staff or rod (Exodus 4:2; Psalm 23:4), and a tribe, something ordered, guided, and held together (Genesis 49:28). While the month name itself is Babylonian in origin (adopted during the Jewish exile) the resonance with this Hebrew root is striking. A shevet is not only an instrument of discipline, but of direction and support. Psalm 23 pairs it with comfort: “Your rod (shevet) and your staff — they comfort me.” In winter terms, this fits Shevat well: a season when direction matters more than speed, and stability matters more than outward display. Linguistically, the name of the month itself hints at being held, guided, and kept in order.
Later Jewish tradition associates Shevat with the inner life of trees. Tu BiShvat — the “New Year of the Trees” — is observed on the fifteenth day of the month and originally functioned as an agricultural marker, used in Jewish law to calculate the age of trees and the timing of their fruit (cf. Leviticus 19:23–25). Its symbolism, however, flows naturally from the biblical world itself. Trees in Scripture often represent stability, righteousness, and long-term faithfulness. “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon” (Psalm 92:12). Growth here is not instant; it is the result of seasons of rain, waiting, and rootedness.
Biblical Hebrew reinforces this imagery through the word shoresh שֹׁרֶשׁ)), meaning “root.” In Scripture, life, endurance, and future fruitfulness all depend on what is rooted below the surface. Isaiah speaks of new life emerging from a shoresh even when circumstances appear barren (Isaiah 11:1). Hebrew thought consistently locates strength underground: unseen, sustained, and patient. Shevat, the season when trees draw water quietly through their roots, mirrors this biblical logic closely: what will one day flourish is already being formed beneath the surface.
In the land of Israel, Shevat marks the period when signs of renewed life begin appearing in trees. The almond tree, the first to bloom, often flowers during this season, long before spring officially arrives. This early blossom becomes a visual parable: life returning while winter still lingers. Jeremiah alludes to this image when God shows him the branch of an almond tree, a sign that God is watching and ready to fulfill His word (Jeremiah 1:11–12). Renewal begins quietly, but it is intentional and certain.
Water is another key theme of Shevat. The rains of winter determine the fertility of the coming year, and Scripture repeatedly connects rain with divine blessing and faithfulness. “He will give the rain for your land in its season” (Deuteronomy 11:14). In this sense, Shevat highlights dependence on God’s provision. Growth cannot be forced; it must be received.
Spiritually, Shevat invites reflection on foundations rather than outcomes. It asks different questions than the High Holidays or pilgrimage festivals. Not “What have I achieved?” but “What am I rooted in?” Not “What is visible?” but “What is forming within?” Like the trees drawing water through their roots, faith during Shevat is shaped by trust, patience, and quiet persistence.
Shevat reminds us that God’s work often starts where no one is looking, beneath the surface, in silence, in faithfulness over time. And when spring finally comes, it reveals what has been growing all along.
You can learn more profound insights (CLICK HERE for more)
