וְעַֽל־הַמִּסְגְּר֞וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ בֵּ֣ין הַשְׁלַבִּ֗ים אֲרָי֤וֹת ׀ בָּקָר֙ וּכְרוּבִ֔ים וְעַל־הַשְׁלַבִּ֖ים כֵּ֣ן מִמָּ֑עַל וּמִתַּ֙חַת֙ לַאֲרָי֣וֹת וְלַבָּקָ֔ר לֹי֖וֹת מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה מוֹרָֽד׃
변죽 가운데 판에는 사자와 소와 그룹들이 있고 또 변죽 위에는 놓는 자리가 있고 사자와 소 아래에는 화환 모양이 있으며
Rabbeinu Bahya
However, in Shemot Rabbah 15,26 this calculation is described differently, and the month is given as having thirty days during the first half of which the moon is progressively becoming more powerful, whereas after that it declines visibly. According to the author of that list the first 15 days of the month are characterised by the leaders of the Jewish people from Avraham to Solomon, whereas the last 15 days symbolise the decline of the Kingdom of Yehudah after the division of the country between Rechavam and Jerobam. This is based on Exodus 12,1. G’d is supposed to have told the Jewish people already prior to their departure from Egypt that the kingdom would not last for more than thirty generations, hence the words: החודש הזה לכם, ”this month (moon) is for you, etc.” The Midrash lists verses in the Bible to back up the contention that the early ancestors of the Jewish people such as Avraham and Yitzchak are already part of these 30 generations. It quotes a verse in which Avraham is described as “shining,” such as Isaiah 41, 2. It similarly is at pains to prove the same for Yitzchak and Yaakov. Starting with Yehudah, there is no need for such proofs anymore. The author of the Midrash, aware that most of the Kings of Yehudah actually worshipped idols, does not describe them as an unending string of righteous people but lumps them together as part of the decline of the Davidic dynasty, in spite of the exceptions such as Chiskiyah and Yoshiyah to name but two. According to this Midrash, the prayers of the patriarchs on behalf of their errant children helped to persuade G’d to continue to let that Kingdom exist beyond the time it had a legal right to exist.