If Sunday is the very first day of the week, then why is it considered part of the weekEND?

Question

Uhm, yes, I should clarify....I'm a resident of the United States, which uses the calendar that places Sunday at the front of the week (left hand side of the page). Some really keen answers here, so far.

Answer 1

Sunday is the traditional seventh day, the "day of rest" mentioned in the Old Testament (And on the seventh day, He rested).

It's always been considered the last day of the week, although for the life of me I can never figure out why the calendars show it on the left-hand side as though it were the first day. That's the real question. Wikipedia offers this:

In the tradition of ancient Jews via Ecclesiastical Latin Sunday is seen as the first day of the week in some parts of the world; including the United States, Canada, and in parts of Africa. However in few countries, especially in Europe, Sunday is the last day of the week. Consequently, the standard for international date and time formats, ISO 8601, states that Monday is the first day of the week. In some languages the name for Wednesday reflects Sunday's status as the first day of the week: German has Mittwoch ("midweek"); Finnish has keskiviikko ("center of the week"); and Icelandic has Miðvikudags ("mid-week day"); Russian Среда (Sreda) cf. средний (sredniy: "middle, adj.").

Answer 2

I don't know why our calendars put Sunday first, but I have a rather interesting Egyptian calendar hanging on my wall. Not only does it start the week with Saturday (!), but it also lists the days of the week from top to bottom down the left-hand column instead of from left to right across the top. So if the first day of the month happens to be a Friday, it's located at the bottom left of the grid. (As a nod to the seventh 'day of rest', it has all of the Sunday rows printed in red, while the other days are printed in black.)

It's particularly neat looking, but it's a complete mindf^ck to try to use it =)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Answer 3

That is funny but I never thought of that but in some language likes french the begiinning of the week is monday maybe thats the reason y

Answer 4

Forty-two

Answer 5

It;s traditionally the day of rest at the end of the week - Origin goes back to Biblical times.

As for the last day or the first . . . depends on which calender you use! :)

Answer 6

I agree, that is very strange. We should switch to Mexico's system and start the week on Monday.

Answer 7

Because MONDAY is the first day of the week.

Answer 8

so it will not be confused with sat. afterall, both sun and sat begin with the letter 's' and have the word 'day' in them. it's like why is wed between tue and thur.

Answer 9

i think its because sunday is a rest day - no school, etc.