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Apologetics

‘Three Days And Three Nights’ – Doesn’t Add Up!

By Rowland Croucher and others ⋅ January 3, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

“J D Leister” <> wrote in message . > Ok what about the crucifixion.

>

> Tradition says Good Friday is the day he was crucified

> so which part of the day was this done in?

>

> He was supposed to be dead for 3 days then rose on the

> Sunday..

>

> But to make it 3 days shouldn’t it be Monday?

Good question, actually.

Pardon the length of this response

If you want a brief response, here’s one:

In Aramaic, there is an idiom “three days and three nights” which means three days or parts of days. It’s like our saying, “I worked day and night to finish this project.” We don’t mean we literally worked 24 hours without stopping. “Three days and three nights” is not meant to be taken to mean literally 72 hours.

http://www.cin.org/archives/apolo/200109/0014.html

~~~

You want more? O.K. You asked for it (but they all basically agree):

“If Jesus Was Crucified on Friday, How Was He Dead for Three Nights?” I am looking for an answer to the “three days, three nights in the tomb” prophecy. Jesus was only in the tomb three days and TWO NIGHTS. I have seen the day portion of this prophecy explained. However, I have never heard a convincing explanation of how Friday and Saturday night can be three nights. Help!

There are several views that address this question. One view is that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday. 72 hours later later, Saturday evening, He rose and the empty tomb was discovered on Sunday.

Another view is that Jesus died on Thursday. I take the view Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday. All prophecies state He will rise on the third day. (Matthew 16: 21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:64, Luke 9:22, 18:33, etc…) The events of the gospels seem to correlate best with a Friday crucifixion. Only one passage talks about him being in the grave three days and three nights, Matthew 12:40. If not for this one passage, all scholars would agree on a Friday crucifixion. So we are really dealing with the question of one passage and how is that related in light of all the other passages?

In Jewish thinking, a part of a day is equivalent to a whole day. Genesis 42:17 states that Joseph held his brothers in prison for three days and in verse 18 states he spoke to them on the third day and released them. 1 Kings 20:29 says Israel and Syria camped for 7 days and then on the seventh day the began battle. Other passages–Esther 5;1, 1 Samuel 30:12–show similar thought. So Old Testament language shows the expression “three days,” “third day,” and “three days and three nights” are used to express the same period of time. Rabbinic literature shows the same thing. Rabbi Eleazr ben Azariah wrote in 100 A.D., “A day and night are an Onah (period of time) and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it.”

So we conclude the expression “after three days,” “on the third day,” and the “three days and three nights” are all one and indicate the same time span.

Pat Zukeran

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/e-3days.html

~~~

in Jewish thought, “three days and three nights” was a figure of speech referring to any part of three separate days. Here is a brief outline of those three days.

Day 1 – Jesus was tried before Pilate Friday morning, and was crucified at 9 a.m. He hung on the cross until He died at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon. He was placed in the tomb before the Sabbath began at sundown.

Day 2 – Was the Sabbath which began at sundown Friday night and lasted until sundown Saturday night.

Day 3 – Began at sundown Saturday and went until sundown Sunday. Jesus rose from the dead in the early hours of Sunday morning, the third day.

Perhaps you wonder how to reconcile John 19:14, where we are told Jesus’ trial took place at the sixth hour, with Mark 15:25, where we are told Jesus was crucified at the third hour.

Keep in mind that Matthew, Mark and Luke used Jewish time in referring to Jesus’ trial, death and Resurrection, but John used Roman time since he wrote his book from Ephesus, the capital of the Roman Empire of Asia. Jewish time began at sunrise. The Romans began their day at midnight. So sunrise, or 6 a.m. for the Romans, was the first hour for the Jewish people. If you want, the ninth hour for the Romans was the third hour for the Jewish people.

This reconciles John 19:14, where we are told that Jesus’ trial happened on the day of preparation of Passover Week about the sixth hour. Again, the sixth hour, here, is Roman time, which would be the first hour Jewish time. According to John, Jesus’ trial took place at the sixth hour, which coincides with the time cited in Matthew, Mark and Luke. In brief, there is plenty of time for Jesus to be led away and crucified by the ninth hour (Roman time) or the third hour, Jewish time.

http://www.johnankerberg.org/ankerberg-articles/resurrection.html

~~~

How Long Was Jesus in the Tomb? by Wayne Jackson Article Description Critics claim that the Gospel records contradict due to the fact that some passages speak of Jesus being in the tomb three days and three nights, while other texts mention only three days? What is the solution to this alleged discrepancy?

Christ predicted that he would be raised from the dead “the third day” (Mt. 16:21). However, he also declared that he would rise “after three days” (Mk. 8:31). To complicate the seeming difficulty, Jesus further stated that he would be in the grave “three days and three nights” (Mt. 12:40). These references, which some see as disharmonious, puzzle sincere Bible students. What is the explanation? The solution lies in understanding how the Jews measured time. According to a common Hebrew idiom, any part of a day could be counted as the whole day and night (see John Lightfoot, Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud & Hebraica, II, pp. 210-211). There are many examples of such usage in the Scriptures.

The rain of the flood was upon the earth “forty days and forty nights,” or, simply “forty days” (Gen. 7:12, 17).

In 1 Samuel 30:12-13, the expressions “three days and three nights” and “three days” are equivalent to one another.

When Israel asked Rehoboam to lighten its burdens, he said: “Depart ye for three days, then come again to me.” The context subsequently says that they returned on “the third day” (1 Kgs. 12:5, 12).

When Esther was about to risk entrance into the king’s presence, she requested her fellow Jews to neither “eat nor drink three days, night or day,” but on “the third day,” she went into unto the king (Esth. 4:16; 5:1).

Finally, note this. The Pharisees said to Pilate, “This deceiver said while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore, that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day (Mt. 27:63-64). Clearly there was flexibility in the Hebrew mode of expressing time.