3 Days and 3 Nights???
March 22nd, 2008 by Ron S.
This weekend is the date on the calendar for Easter and even though I believe that it should be next month and lined up with Passover (since the NT tells us Jesus arose after Passover), my thoughts still have been on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus this week. So I thought I would write a post on that subject.
What day of the week was Jesus crucified on?
The majority of Christianity has accepted that Jesus was crucified on Friday (since that is the day just before the weekly Passover on Saturday). But does this match Jesus’ prediction that he would “be in the heart of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights”? Can a Friday crucifixion provide 3 days and 3 nights in the grave? I’ve never thought that it does, so let’s take a look at it in more detail.
In order to save space here on the blog, I’ll point everyone to a very good article by “Tassos Kioulachoglou” over at the “Journal of Biblical Accuracy” web site: http://www.jba.gr/Articles/nkjv_jbaaprmay98.htm. It provides in-depth details and supporting Scripture.
To sum it up, the jba article argues for a Wednesday crucifixion because that would make 3 days and 3 nights and fit with the clues given in Scripture - specifically the apparent differences between Mark 16:1 & Luke 23:56 (did the woman buy spices before or after the Sabbath) and the “High Sabbath” described in John 19:31. The theory posited is that Thursday was the 15th of Nissan or the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (the “High Sabbath” of John 19:31). So Jesus was crucified on Wednesday before the High Sabbath and then the woman bought spices on Friday (before the Saturday weekly Sabbath) and then Jesus arose before dawn early Sunday morning.
So with that, how would the 3 days and 3 nights work out? Well here’s how the Hebrew people calculated their days. Each new day began at sundown (approx. 6:00pm), divided into a 12 hour “day” and a 12 hour “night” calculation (each consisting of four, three-hour watches). So it all looks something like the following:
Hebrew Night Time:
- 1st Watch: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
- 2nd Watch: 9:00pm - 12:00am
- 3rd Watch: 12:00am - 3:00am
- 4th Watch: 3:00am - 6:00am
Hebrew Day Time:
- 3rd Hour: 6:00am - 9:00am
- 6th Hour: 9:00am - 12:00pm
- 9th Hour: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
- 12th Hour: 3:00pm - 6:00pm
So Jesus dies in the 9th hour on Wednesday and was buried in the tomb before the 12th hour hit and the day ended and became the next day - the High Sabbath.
So he was in the tomb for 3 full days and 3 full nights according to Hebrew custom. Here’s the breakdown:
The nights of
- Thursday (6pm Wed - 6am Thurs)
- Friday (6pm Thurs - 6am Fri)
- Saturday (6pm Fri - 6am Sat)
and the days of
- Thursday (6am Thurs - 6pm Thurs)
- Friday (6am Friday - 6pm Friday)
- Saturday (6am Saturday - 6pm Saturday)
Jesus arose sometime BEFORE dawn on the First Day of the Week (Sat 6pm - Sun 6pm). If dawn is at the start of the third hour (6:00am), then his Resurrection would have occurred sometime before that (between 6pm Saturday and 6am Sunday morning).
Of course your opinion may vary. I’ve heard arguments for a Thursday crucifixion as well as the traditional Friday one. The Thursday one works if you count the Sunday night from 6pm Sat to 6am Sun. But Matthew 28:1 says “Now late on the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.” This passage seems to indicate that they came sometime before the first day of the week began (6pm Saturday). Could Jesus have arisen right at the time he was put IN the tomb three days earlier - just before the 12th hour hit? That would make his prediction synch up perfectly with the events.
What does everyone else think?
Ron,
The main problem with this view is that several times the Gospels say that Jesus was raised ON THE THIRD DAY (Matt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46).
Matt 28:1 is better translated as “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week” (NIV) or “after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week” (NASB, NKJV). So Jesus was raised on Sunday morning, as it began to dawn (i.e. at sunrise). If this was “the third day” then Saturday was the second day and Friday was the first day. Jesus was crucified on Friday and raised on Sunday, “the third day”.
I think you will find that “three days and three nights” is a Hebraism. It doesn’t literally mean 72 hours, but all OR PART of three “day and night” periods. A “day and night” is taken as a whole. So the first “day and night” was Friday, and Jesus was buried during that period. The second was Saturday, and the third “day and night” was Sunday.
Hi Steve,
you wrote above
So then, when Mary came to the sepulchre while it was yet dark (that is, BEFORE dawn, before sunrise), the stone was no longer closing the entrance to the grave and according to Mary’s testimony to the disciples, Jesus had apparently also already been raised from the dead (cp John 20,1-2)?
As for “on the third day”, it seems to me that if Jesus was raised at about the same time of day at which he was laid into the grave — that is, late afternoon, before sunset — he would still be raised on the “third day” (=> Saturday, Nisan 17)
The interpretation of Friday death and Sunday resurrection has a problem with “3 NIGHTS”, does it not? Even with a supposed “Hebraism”, there is not really at least a part of a 3rd night, is there?
I recently read an article where someone suggested that the 3rd night was actually the hours of darkness during which Jesus was still hanging at the cross …. but that doesn’t seem to compute well either, or?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
For a number of years I had the understanding that the expression “3 days and 3 nights” meant @72 hours and with that being the case, called into question some of the timing of orthodox teaching on the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Recently I have read some things that called into question that understanding of “3 days and 3.” I have to admit that right now I am not happy with either explanation in that I find weakness in both. I can certainly see that 3 days and 3 nights does not need to mean @72 hours, (although its hard to see that it means @36hours) but if that’s the case I’m not so sure why the expression “on the 3rd day” needs to be any more precise. As far as understanding exactly what the Passover was like in the days of Jesus, I have come to understand that the history on that period may not be as clear as some would suggest. Some of what historians understand as 2nd Temple Judaism is really taken from post Temple, 2nd and 3rd century Judaism and although one can assume similarities, those are only assumptions. So at this point I tend to have a wait and see attitude, but I have to admit when I see some present this with a “I have it all figured out” attitude, it tends to make it harder for me to accept there position.
Friday - Sunday seems simplest, and fits with the most Scriptures. Like Brian said: “I can certainly see that 3 days and 3 nights does not need to mean @72 hours”. Working backwards from Sunday in the Synoptics is the easiest thing to do. And that leads you to Friday.
hi, is not the jewish sabbath, on our saturday.thanks
Wolfgang,
Thank you for the correction. I should have said that the women found the tomb of Jesus empty “on Sunday morning, as it began to dawn (i.e. at sunrise)”. Jesus was raised sometime earlier, but we don’t know exactly when.
However, to have been raised sometime on the third day this must have occurred after sunset Saturday, which was when the third day began.
On the matter of the “three days and three nights” it would be helpful to look at Old Testament usage.
Esther 4:16; 5:1 says “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for THREE DAYS, NIGHT OR DAY. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish … On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance.”
Esther proclaimed a fast of three days and nights before she goes in to the king. Yet, she is said to go in to him on the “third day”. If she began her fast on Friday morning, three days and nights by our reckoning would have her coming to the king on Monday morning. However, she came to him on the third day. Thus, if she began the fast on Friday morning, she came to the king on Sunday.
I think this helps to establish that “three days and three nights” is not strictly 72 hours, but part or all of 3 days and/or 3 nights.
Hi Steve,
you mention
Now, if Jesus arose before sunrise on Sunday, then there is no even a 3rd day or part thereof (to conincide with the 3 DAYS and 3 nights) and neither is there a 3rd night or part thereof ….
Friday afternoon put in grave (perhaps a few hours of daylight = 1st day), Friday-Saturday night (=1st night) Saturday datime (=2nd day), Saturday-Sunday night (=2nd night), by sunrise Sunday tomb is already empty (no 3rd day or part thereof, neither a 3rd night or part thereof) … please explain?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Hi John O.,
you mentioned
See my note to Steve … I am wondering how you with working back from Sunday (or working forward from Friday afternoon) can see a 3rd day or part thereof or a 3rd night or part thereof ?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
The exact meaning of the phrase “the third day” in its Biblical usage is defined in Luke 13:32. “And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.” Counting of days began with today as the first day, and tomorrow as the second day. The day after tomorrow was the third day, even though we would say only two days have elapsed, because we don’t count today as day one.
This fits with Jesus dying on Friday and rising on “the third day” or Sunday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are the first, second, and third days respectively, according to the way they reckoned days in that culture. If he died on Wednesday, according to this reckoning the third day would be Friday, which would contradict the theory that he rose on Saturday. In addition, the Scriptures are clear that on the first day of the week (Sunday), the apostles said that it was, “the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21). This identifies the day of his death as Friday, according to Bibical usage.
It is worth pointing out that fourteen verses state that Jesus would be, or was, raised on “the third day,” but only one says “three days and three nights.” And that phrase is used in its Hebraic sense. They spoke of so many days, but would include the partial days at the beginning and end of the period as if they were whole days. The following is from the Jewish Encyclopedia:
“In Jewish communal life, part of a day is at times reckoned as one day; for example, the day of the funeral, even when the latter takes place late in the afternoon, is counted as the first of the seven days of mourning; a short time in the morning of the seventh day is counted as the seventh day; circumcision takes place on the eighth day, even though, of the first day, only a few minutes remain after the birth of the child.”
It’s really pretty simple. We make things complicated when we fail to understand the Bible in light of its Hebrew origins.
Hi Mark,
you wrote
indeed … and this particular one verse with the reference to “3 days and 3 nights” gives us Jesus’ very own words and in connection with a sign which he said would be given. What was Jesus talking about? Why a reference to 3 days and 3 nights if Jesus meant to tell his disciples that it would actually be less than 2 days?
Furthermore, there seems to be not one scripture which states that Jesus was raised on Sunday (1st day of the week) … thus, would we not first have to establish from the Scriptures that he was raised on the 1st day of the week (Sunday)?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Wolfgang,
Mark seems to make my point for me
All the accounts say Jesus was raised on Sunday morning… that is, at the dawn. All say that no one was at the tomb on the Sabbath. And he is killed the day before the Sabbath, noting that the Jewish leaders want him taken down before the Sabbath. That’s how I count backwards, 1, 2, 3, Sunday, Saturday, Friday.
Hi John O.,
the point being made seems to somehow conveniently ignore that the tomb was already empty while it was yet dark, that is BEFORE the dawn …
And it seems to ignore the lord’s words about the sign with the distinct mention of “3 DAYS and 3 NIGHTS” … to what was the Lord referring there and what did he mean with “days” and “nights”?
Also, are you taking the view that Jesus was crucified on Nisan 15th, the 1st day of Unleavened Bread?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Yes before the dawn would be sometime before sunrise Sunday morning… I don’t see how that is conveniently ignoring anything…
Mark doesn’t ignore Jesus phrase - he actually explained it quite nicely with another biblical example, today, tomorrow, and the third day.
I don’t know how the calendar days match up with the days of the week. Particularly since the Jewish calendar is up to changing based on the timing of harvest and so on. So to specifically declare that Friday (or any day) was the 15th of Nissan, is rather silly to me.
Wow! Some good comments and critical thinking going on here since Saturday. I thought the subject might very well lend itself to varying viewpoints.
I absolutely agree that Scripture must be viewed with a proper “Hebraic” understanding. Many of the NT sayings get twisted around when viewed with 21st century English understandings vs. 1st century Hebrew ones. After all that is where a small amount of trouble got started concerning the nature of Jesus the Messiah just 2 or 3 centuries later by those in Greek & Roman culture.
I do see the point of the Hebrew perspective of the “third day” being the day after tomorrow (today, tomorrow and the next/third day). But is saying “three days and three nights” really the same as saying “on the third day”? Does anyone know of any scholarship or historical source that shows that to be the case?
BTW, I feel that I should say that I don’t see this subject as anything major, especially when compared to such foundational errors as the Trinity or the Immortal Soul belief. To me this is just one of those smaller “side subjects” I have always wondered about and am looking to investigate a little deeper for a clear understanding of the truth of how things really are. And that’s something that I continually ask God in prayer for - to open my mind to the true way of things regardless of how I may be perceiving them presently. Our goal should always be to obtain the actual truth in order to really be free (as Scripture promises).
Peace!
Besides the Jewish Encyclopedia article quoted above, there is also the well-known quote from the Jerusalem Talmud (a collection of ancient Jewish writings which orthodox Jews consider to be the most important guide to life). It quotes Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, who lived around A.D. 100, as saying: “A day and night are an onah [’a portion of time’] and the portion of an onah is as the whole of it” (from Jerusalem Talmud: Shabbath ix. 3).
There are a number of scholars who understand this, as well as some who hold to the Wednesday crucifixion theory. I just entered “three days and three nights” in a Google search and came up with a number of views. You can look at both sides and see which makes the most sense to you.
I agree it’s not a “salvation issue.” Many say, “What difference does it make what day he died? The important thing is that he was raised.” This is true. However, this study was significant for two reasons. One, it was humbling for me. After many years of smugly thinking I knew it all, and condescendingly implying that those who held to the traditional Good Friday view “couldn’t count to three,” I found myself in the sobering position of discovering how little I really knew.
The other reason is that it illustrates some of the more common mistakes that are made in the field of Biblical interpretation. If you begin with an idea that is not explicitly stated in the Scriptures, and read it into a particular passage, the Bible can seem to say something that in fact it does not. Then when you attempt to interpret other passages in light of that preconceived idea, the result is a compounding of error. This is especially true when you have to twist and force Scriptures to make them fit with an idea that is not explicitly stated in the Bible to begin with. This practice has been at the heart of many wrong interpretations and doctrines. It has been a humbling and exhilarating experience over the past several years to discover how much I had done that in the past, and yet how simply the Bible interprets itself when you avoid doing it and just read things in context.
well said, Mark
Here are some problems that I have with a Wednesday crucifixion:
1) There is only 1 verse to supposedly prove such a teaching.
2) Where in this verse does it say that Jesus would be in the tomb for three days and three nights?
Matt. 12:40 for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Hi Karl,
what are you trying to say with your capitalization of the words “THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
He is probably just quoting from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) which regularly capitalizes quotations from the Old Testament in the New.
Yes that is correct Sean. If I was going to capitalize something myself I would capitalize “heart of the earth.”
Karl,
It appears that the expression “heart of the earth” occurs only once in Scripture. I’ve always assumed it means “the grave” (and interestingly Jonah even described the belly of the fish as “sheol” (Jon 2:1), but you’ve now got me wondering if you think it may mean something else.
Hi all,
capitalization usually indicates some kind of emphasis when used on text based blogs or forums … thus I was wondering because the capitalized part of the quote did not seem to relate to the point being made …
Now, the question is: What did Jesus mean with his words “in the heart of the earth”? He did relate it to Jonah being “in the belly of the fish”. Anyone have insights what Jesus may have meant?
In addition, I haven’t seen any reply yet to the question about why Jesus used the “3 days and 3 nights” expression rather than just “3 days” to more closely resemble the “on the third day” idea …
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Wolfgang wrote: “In addition, I haven’t seen any reply yet to the question about why Jesus used the “3 days and 3 nights” expression rather than just “3 days” to more closely resemble the “on the third day” idea …”
I think that Jesus specifically used 3 days and 3 nights, (rather than his normal “on the third day”) here because he was quoting the book of Jonah and that’s the wording used in Jonah.
Wolfgang wrote: “Now, the question is: What did Jesus mean with his words “in the heart of the earth”? He did relate it to Jonah being “in the belly of the fish”. Anyone have insights what Jesus may have meant?”
Though I think that Mark’s expanation from the Jerusalem talmud above is suffucient to answer the problem of 3 days and 3 nights, I think that there is another possible interpretation. “Heart of the earth” would be interpreted as Jerusalem, the city which killed the prophet likened to the fish that swallowed the prophet. So the three days and three nights would include all the “distress” (see Jonah 2:2) that Christ underwent in Jerusalem, i.e. his trial, passion and burial. Also see Ezekiel 38:12 were Jerusalem is called the “center (navel) of the earth.” Also ancient Jews and Christians considered Jerusalem to be the center of the earth.
Good comments about Jerusalem Karl. Those ideas stem from the Jewish understanding of the Temple as the center of the world, of course with God’s Temple being in Jerusalem. The Temple, to the ancient peoples, represented the world in metaphor, hence it being the center as well.
Hi Karl,
I used to hold to that idea about Jesus’ words perhaps referring to “Jerusalem” as “heart of the earth” for a while … but then have not given it further thought since it seems to me that with such an understanding the reference to Jonah and his 3days and 3 nights in the belly would be somewhat odd …
It seems to me that Jesus’ expression of 3 DAYS and 3 NIGHTS would give a different emphasis (”days” referring to daylight periods of a weekday, “nights” referring obviously to theno daylight, dark portions of a weekday) than a reference to “third day” (”day” referring to a weekday) …
Cheers,
Woilfgang
Hi John O.,
if Jerusalem was to be understood as “heart of the earth”, in particular because of their understanding and view of the Temple there … perhaps the idea of “heaven and earth” passing away also has to do with what would happen to Jerusalem and the temple?
Cheers,
Wolfgang
Wolfgang,
That would be a stretch. Passages which speak about the Temple in the manner that Karl and I described are usually laid out and built step by step. And it usually starts with the temple and brings in the created world. It doesn’t start with the created world (heaven and earth), and come to go backwards to mean the temple.
“It seems to me that Jesus’ expression of 3 DAYS and 3 NIGHTS would give a different emphasis (”days” referring to daylight periods of a weekday, “nights” referring obviously to theno daylight, dark portions of a weekday) than a reference to “third day” (”day” referring to a weekday) … ”
That’s what our Western thinking would indicate, but the Eastern, Hebrew mind did not think of it that way, as noted above.
Hi Mark,
so our Western minds think that Eastern, Hebrew minds thought …
Also, I am not sure to what you are referring with “as was noted above” … there was a lot of noting about 3rd day, also some interesting things about “heart of the earth” … but I must have missed further notes concerning the use of “3 days and 3 nights” rather than just “on the 3 rd day” or “for 3 days be in the heart of the earth” ….
Yes, there was one suggestion that Jesus used these words because they had been used in Jonah as well …. which only moves the question forward: Why at all use 3 days and 3 nights in Jonah or anywhere else IF the normal Hebrew way of describing a time frame with part of a day or a whole day as “one day”?
Having done quite a bit of reading on Eastern customs, figures of speech and applying such to reading the Scriptures while keeping Eastern / Hebrew thought in mind, it seems even more clear that there is a point for this more emphatic use of “days and nights” … thus my question: what is that point? why use “day” in this expression for the daylight portion IF one would normally use “day” as a reference for a whole day (even if only a part of a day is being thus described)?
Cheers
Wolfgang
Wolfgang, you may find this paper that Mark recently wrote useful. Furthermore, Dr. James White has also explained this issue on a call in radio show and Dr. William Lane Craig has recently tackled this subject in his Sunday school class.
Hi Sean,
I’ve heard those type of explanations for the apparent difficulty with the timing of the passover meal, etc before …. just listened to Dr. Craig … and all explanations that are based on Jesus eating the annual passover meal with this disciples seem stretched and even are sort of opposed to each other in that the explanation and reference to some supposed Jewish custom in one explanation is countered in another explanation ….
My rather simple take on the matter is: The last evening mean eaten by Jesus with his disciples was NOT the annual Jewish passover meal in the first place …
Nowhere in any of the gospel accounts about that meal is a direct reference made to it being the annual passover meal, nowhere is there reference made to certain things prescribed for the meal in the biblical accounts of the original institution of this memorial meal, etc …. Yes, some interpret the fact that a “cup” is mentioned as if it were proof that this was a passover meal because in Jewish tradition (supposedly then and even now) there were several
These verses in Luke show that the last supper was a Passover meal.