# Does every tribe and every nation honor Sunday at the first day of the week? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823 "2020-08-23T14:17:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Forever77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/74df32/32.png) [@Forever77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forever77)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/1 "2020-08-23T14:17:44Z")
Perhaps everyone and every calendar? Perhaps not? ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/2 "2020-08-23T14:21:51Z")
No. I learned French in elementary school. There, the week starts on Monday. It varies from country to country and culture to culture. (In Canada, the week starts on Monday in Quebec and Sunday elsewhere.) There’s an international calendar foundation that decided the week starts on Monday. The Seventh Day Adventist Church thinks that is satanic. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/3 "2020-08-23T14:27:18Z")
For some people everything starts on a Thursday. Last Thursday specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/4 "2020-08-23T14:28:19Z")
Not my work tribes calender. First day of work week is on Monday. The bible says God rested on the seventh day. Many Christians interpret this as Sunday being the last day of the week, despite what any official church doctrine may say. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/5 "2020-08-23T14:32:54Z")
Since I started working fulltime, I’ve always considered the week to begin on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/6 "2020-08-23T15:21:33Z")
For decades now Microsoft Outlook has been the main communicating and calendaring app on work & home desktops around the world. There’s a reason that any day of the week can be set to the be the first day of the week. Which days are “weekdays” and which are “weekend” days is also configurable. Why did they spend the money to add that feature? Because around the whole world, all those features are used by somebody. Despite being in born in & still living in the USA I run all my calendars with Mon as the first day of the week. It is so much more logical. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/7 "2020-08-23T17:28:58Z")
Is there any culture that does consider Sunday the first day of the week? Certainly in the UK, Monday is pretty much universally the first day of the week. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/8 "2020-08-23T17:37:27Z")
If you search for it, you’ll find a recent thread about how even a seven-day week is not/was not universal. And, even today, if you go to someplace like Israel, where the septimal week is pretty historically entrenched, you will find shops closed for the weekend on Saturday opening on Sunday, which is not even called that— it’s literally named the first day of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/9 "2020-08-23T18:36:43Z")
The Old Testament holds that God rested on the last day of the week, which Jews (and Adventists) hold to be Saturday. Thus, Sunday is the first day in that tradition. In Hebrew, the days Sunday through Friday don’t even have names, just numbers. (“First Day”, “Second Day”, through “Sixth Day”.) Only Saturday has an actual distinct name, “Shabat” (Sabbath). In a certain club I belong to, we use an on-line calendar site to maintain our schedule of events. Our activities are primarily on weekends, so the calendar is configured to begin the week on Saturday. Thus, Saturday and Sunday appear as adjacent days at the beginning of each week. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/10 "2020-08-23T19:29:58Z")
In the US, Sunday is widely considered the first day of the week. Almost every calendar you’ll find in the US runs Sunday to Saturday. And most Christians also, at least for Biblical purposes, regard Saturday to be the seventh day. Christian religious services aren’t celebrated on Sunday because we think that’s the Shabat; they’re celebrated on Sunday because Easter, regarded as being a very important event, was on a Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/11 "2020-08-23T20:31:29Z")
In my book Monday is the first day of the week. In addition, the unofficial New Year, according to me, starts on September 1. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/12 "2020-08-23T20:32:42Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > First day of work week is on Monday. Yeah, people may say the week begins on Sunday, but in practice, Monday is the first day of the week that actually counts- school and work both start on that day. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/13 "2020-08-23T21:04:30Z")
I suspect the word “honor” is the OP title is more significant to @Forever77 than has been discussed so far. I suspect this is another example of someone assuming their particular brand of religion is somehow the worldwide standard. Over 2/3rds of the planet are not Christians. “Honoring” Sunday is a Christian thing. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/14 "2020-08-23T21:12:43Z")
I’m not sure when the week officially starts and ends in Egypt, but the “weekend” days are Friday and Saturday. In some places in the Middle East (I forget which ones, I just remember talking to friends about how hard it was to do cross-border work involving countries with different non-work days), the “weekend” is Thursday and Friday. In Islamic countries, Friday is the holy day. Not Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/15 "2020-08-23T21:20:48Z")
In Norway the week starts on Monday. As does the international standard week: [ISO week date - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_week_date) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/16 "2020-08-23T21:33:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > For some people everything starts on a Thursday. Last Thursday specifically. Or you can ask Arthur Dent all about the significance of Thursday (rather the opposite of what you suggest). ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/17 "2020-08-23T21:47:48Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Not my work tribes calender. First day of work week is on Monday. > > The bible says God rested on the seventh day. Many Christians interpret this as Sunday being the last day of the week, despite what any official church doctrine may say. Just to be clear, many modern Christians may well think this way, but it is an inaccurate belief in terms of the history of their own religion and culture. The Catholic Church has never claimed that the “seventh day” of the Old Testament Sabbath was really Sunday. From the [Baltimore Catechism #3, Lesson 32: From the Second to the Fourth Commandment](http://www.baltimore-catechism.com/lesson32.htm): > [@](#): > > **Q. 1248. Are the Sabbath day and the Sunday the same?** > > A. The Sabbath day and the Sunday are not the same. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, and is the day which was kept holy in the old law; the Sunday is the first day of the week, and is the day which is kept holy in the new law… > > **Q. 1250. Why does the Church command us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath?** > > A. The Church commands us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath because on Sunday Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday He sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. > > **Q. 1251. Do we keep Sunday instead of Saturday holy for any other reason?** > > A. We keep Sunday instead of Saturday holy also to teach that the Old Law is not now binding upon us, but that we must keep the New Law, which takes its place. And from the Protestant side, the [Westminster Confession of Faith](https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/westminster-confession-faith/) (Chapter XXI. Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath-day): > [@](#): > > VII. …He hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto Him: which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath. There may be some odd-ball little sect out there which teaches that everyone else has been getting it all wrong for thousands of years and Sunday was _really_ the seventh day all along, but if so I am not aware of it. The modern practice of (officially or _de facto_) starting the week on Monday is a totally different thing, based on the rhythms of the modern work week of five days on, and then two days off (“the weekend”). The institution of the weekend was _indirectly_ related to Judeo-Christian religious practices–even before labor unions, workers in predominantly Christian societies would likely be given some time off on Sunday (the Christian day of rest and worship) as opposed to, say, the Day of Thor; and when workers organized and succeeded in getting “the weekend” recognized, it made sense to continue Sunday as one of the two rest days, and to make the other rest day Saturday (rather than Monday), since at least some workers were and are Jewish; or Seventh-day Adventist, Seventh-day Baptist, and so forth. Much of the world has now adopted the Western calendar to varying degrees, including the seven day week. There’s no reason why non-Christian societies–or in the increasingly secularized post-Christian societies of the Western world (outside the United States)–should cling, for non-religious purposes, to the official or old notion that the work week consists of days two through six, and the “weekend” consists of days one and seven. And (as has been pointed out) for non-Christian but still strongly religious cultures, the “weekend” has been adapted to fit local needs. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/18 "2020-08-23T21:55:52Z")
In Judaism, and therefore in Israel, Sunday is the first day of the week, because the bible says so. The last day of the week, Shabbat, is the rest day, so the day that follows the rest day is the first day, and is even simply call “Yom rishon,” [first day] in Hebrew. Yom rishon begins when Shabbat ends, which is at sundown. So when the secular world is still having Saturday, which is the day that mostly corresponds to Shabbat (most of the light hours), the Jewish world has already moved on to Yom rishon. If you ask an Orthodox Jew, people have kept account since the Garden of Eden, and we are still commemorating the correct day-- since creation, we have always noted the last day of the week, even back when there was no need to rest on it. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/19 "2020-08-23T23:18:29Z")
Is anyone here familiar with the etymology of the word “weekend”? I’m very curious how that word came to be used for Saturday and Sunday in the US. (And other anglophone areas?) Did it come about before or after the 5-day workweek became common? And why didn’t some other term get used for this function? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823/20 "2020-08-23T23:27:33Z")
I don’t know the etymology, but I still remember an early episode of the program _Downton Abbey_, in which the Dowager Countess (the elderly mother of the middle-aged earl who owns the estate) asks, completely seriously, “What’s a week-end?” This is after another character, who actually has a regular job, mentioned that he would be free that weekend. We’re to understand that she is so posh that she has never worked a normal job. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-every-tribe-and-every-nation-honor-sunday-at-the-first-day-of-the-week/918823.md?page=2)