Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

If there is nothing in the bible about Christmas’ celebrations then obviously there is nothing about the twelve days of Christmas. Here again our tradition is formed in song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, musical arrangement by Frederic Austin 1909 using a 1780 French chant that provided lyrics only.

Here again, I did not know this without looking it up. These traditions get passed down thru the years with such strong memories with total absence of origin and meaning. Twelfth night is January 5^th. Why is that?

“Clearly there was great uncertainty, but also a considerable amount of interest, in dating Jesus’ birth in the late second century. By the fourth century, however, we find references to two dates that were widely recognized—and now also celebrated—as Jesus’ birthday: December 25 in the western Roman Empire and January 6 in the East (especially in Egypt and Asia Minor). The modern Armenian church continues to celebrate Christmas on January 6; for most Christians, however, December 25 would prevail, while January 6 eventually came to be known as the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem. The period between became the holiday season later known as the 12 days of Christmas.” (quote from biblicalarchaeology.org)

Here once again, in the connected historical context, we find a secular rendering of a biblical time period. We knew that the magi were not present at the birth of Christ but nothing within the bible tells us exactly how many days there were between those events. Twelve? Maybe. Is it important? Probably not but throughout history traditions get formed and passed down because someone impressed on the next generation that this is how we celebrate this day.

What impressions do you make?