The Torah states no numerical divisions for the day. The closest numeric we find is that there are 7 days in the week, and that the start of the "day" begins with "erev" (and there are debates on when that begins.) When and from where did the concept, in Judaism, of dividing the day into 12 "parts" called a "sha'ah" begin? We see such a concept in discussions of when to burn chametz and when to stop eating it (on erev Pesach), for example.
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Babylon. Who said there is any Jewish significance to that division?– Double AA ♦May 7, 2014 at 19:22
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The gemoro does say that the planets 'change' every hour. So it is not just a means of dividing the day. It does have some purpose and Jewish significance– preferredMay 7, 2014 at 19:22
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DanF, without indicating in the question that Judaism divides the day into 12 hours (does it? where?), this question seems to have nothing to do with Judaism at all.– msh210 ♦May 7, 2014 at 22:30
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@preferred Judaism uses hours because everyone else does. We could have used microseconds or petaseconds.– Double AA ♦May 7, 2014 at 22:35
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1@DoubleAA The fact is, it wasn't 3500,000,000 microseconds, but rather an amount of time which fits well into hours. This may indicate something.– YpnypnMay 7, 2014 at 23:01
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