You are right, my post didn’t address the original question. To my knowledge, although the Church has traditionally commemorated the crucifixion on Good Friday, neither the Bible nor the Church says on which day of the week it took place. I thought the material I found was relevant to the extended discussion above, but if the moderators think it should be a separate thread, I have no objection.
Lieralman,
re: “To my knowledge, although the Church has traditionally commemorated the crucifixion on Good Friday, neither the Bible nor the Church says on which day of the week it took place.”
So, you’re saying that it is not an official position.
To my knowledge, right. I’d be happy to be enlightened.
Literalman,
re: “To my knowledge, right. I’d be happy to be enlightened.”
As would I.
Yes it is. That is the official position of Christianity, especially Catholic, is that the crucifixion happened on Good Friday.
Relying on Scripture it tells us that Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation, of the Sabbath. All Jews then (including Jesus and His apostles) practiced the Sabbath on Saturday. Thus the Day of Preparation is the day before Saturday (the Sabbath), which is Friday.
Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines, 142.
Very good question. TY. +
How is the lack of a third night accounted for?
In Biblical Studies the phrase “three days and three nights” does not literally mean 72 hours.
Historically, the Jews reckoned that any part of a day or night within a 24-hour period (beginning and ending at sunset) could be counted as a full day/night unit.
Thus, a late-afternoon burial followed by the Sabbath and Sunday morning fulfills this.
The Jews of 2000 years ago had a very different time-table than we do today, according to their custom. What they regarded as “days” and “nights” are not what we consider, according to our custom.
Oftentimes when we read something in Scripture, we need to properly put what we’re reading into the context of the author, at the time they wrote, according to their customs. Only then can we rightly understand and interpret what the writer meant.
Tommy,
re: “In Biblical Studies the phrase ‘three days and three nights’ does not literally mean 72 hours.”
I didn’t mention anything about 72 hours, just a third night.
re: “Historically, the Jews reckoned that any part of a day or night within a 24-hour period (beginning and ending at sunset) could be counted as a full day/night unit.”
So, if someone in the first century said that they would be studying for a test 1 day and 1 night, that no one would think that a night had to be involved?
Early Jews would see that a night would be involved if that person studied at any point during the course of a 24-hour period, even if they studied only from 3 pm to 4 pm, because any point during a 24-hour period is included one day and one night.
Night is included with day.
Tommy,
Since you seem to be suggesting that it was common usage, how about providing some examples (plural) where someone says that that a daytime or a night time would be involved with an event when no part of a daytime or no part of a night time could be.
Sure. Lets open our Bible.
- Genesis 1:5 - “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
- Leviticus 23:32 – “It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest… from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”
- Esther 4:16 – “Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.”
- 1 Samuel 30:12-13 – “for three days and three nights.” … “my master left me behind because three days ago I fell sick.”
- Matthew 12:40 – “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:4 – “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Also take into consideration that when ancient Jews referred to a very specific time of day, they refer to it “as the third hour” or “at the 9th hour”. The hours are pointed out during daylight periods or a period after dawn, which make a historical account of a specific event at a very specific time of “day.”
To further your quest about this dilemma, I’d recommend researching how ancient Jews in the Hebrew tradition and culture referred to time, or days.
Question: what one thing convinced you that Jesus is the Messiah, the true Son of God, is Savior? Were it His miracles? Which one? Can you build upon that to help resolve the 3-days/3-nights dilemma?
I found an important and substantiated post by a respected cleric confirming the Christian explanation of Jewish thought, regarding “days”.
Tommy,
From your link:
re: “The ancient Jews were comfortable in reckoning partial days as a whole day. Even in modern parlance, we can speak of time strictly or loosely. For example, I might say, “I was with my family last month.” By this I do not necessarily mean that I arrived there on exactly the first of the month and departed on the last day of the month. I might not even mean I was there a whole month, just that I was there for some time during that month.”
That’s not applicable since daytimes and night-times were not mentioned.
The scribes and Pharisees asked the Messiah for a sign. It doesn’t say what they wanted the sign for, but I think the general consensus is that was for proof of His Messiahship.
I cannot prove it of course, but I have heard it preached that by Jewish tradition, a person was not considered legally dead until they had been dead for at least 72 hours. If this is so, I don’t think the Messiah being in the tomb for less than 40 hours would be convincing evidence for the Pharisees that He had actually died.
“It was the Jewish belief at that time that when a person died his spirit remained within his body for three days. . . . Jesus had to be in the tomb for three days, not only to fulfill His own prophecy concerning Himself, but to keep Jews . . . from claiming that He had not really been dead” (A Scientific Approach to Biblical Mysteries, Robert Faid, p. 70).
From your link:
re: "The Scriptures were written in Greek, but the words of Jesus were more likely spoken in Aramaic. The Jews would render the phrase “three days and three nights” as three “night-days.”
So, if someone said they were going to be gone for one night-day , no one would think that a daytime had to be involved with their time away?
Copilot Search
“One Night-Day” in First-Century Jerusalem
“There is no evidence that the phrase “one night-day” was a common or recognized expression in first-century Jerusalem. The term does not appear in the New Testament, Jewish apocrypha, or other attested first-century Jewish writings, nor is it found in the Septuagint, Mishnah, or other major ancient Jewish texts.”
Linguistic and cultural context
In Hebrew, the common way to express a single night is echad leilah (אֶחָד לֵילָה), and a single day is echad yom (אֶחָד יוֹם). The combination “one night-day” is not a standard or idiomatic construction in the language.
Tommy,
I don’t see where your Genesis and Leviticus references say any about a daytime or a night time being involved with an event when no part of a daytime or no part of a night time could be.
As for your 1 Samuel reference, the account is not an example because nothing in it precudes at least a portion of each one of three daytimes or at least a portion of each one of three night times.
The Esther account might be an example if "do not eat or drink for three days, night or day ” is the same thing as “three days and three nights”.
And the use of the Matthew account is only applicable if the crucifixion took place on a Friday. There are numerous articles which argue for a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion.
And like your Matthew reference, your 1 Corinthians one is based on a Friday crucifixion.
re: Also take into consideration that when ancient Jews referred to a very specific time of day, they refer to it ‘as the third hour’ or ‘at the 9th hour’. The hours are pointed out during daylight periods or a period after dawn, which make a historical account of a specific event at a very specific time of ‘day.’"
Nothing has been said about a specific time of daytime or a specific time of a night-time.
re: "Question: what one thing convinced you that Jesus is the Messiah, the true Son of God, is Savior? Were it His miracles? Which one? Can you build upon that to help resolve the 3-days/3-nights dilemma?
I can’t think of how I could.
The Gospels report that on the third day, Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
Jesus himself foretold that on the third day He would be raised.
HOW we read any Scripture matters how we interpret them. If we read any Scripture in an isolated and Legalistic view, that significantly differs than if we read Scripture in a Theological view.
From what you’ve posted, it appears that you’re reading Scripture in a Legalistic view, isolating chapter and verse from other Scripture which points to theological meaning and fulfillment of Scripture. This is a common error, which I myself were once guilty of, and I were mislead by others to believe in the authority of personal interpretation of the Bible.
No scripture is a matter of personal interpretation. If I believe Scripture is open to personal interpretation, then what I need to look at is the unfortunate 30,000 Christian denominations who all claim to be led by the same Holy Spirit, yet all have 30,00 different “personal interpretations” and claims, by the same exact Holy Spirit.
There is no such thing as 30,000 “Holy Spirits” whom revelas 30,000 different doctrines of Christian beliefs.
Trying to count the number of hours, or specific time of day, or misinterpreting Jewish tradition of “time” and “days” is unfortunately evading the meaning of what our Evangelists tell us, and why they tell us precisely what they do/don’t tell us.
When we read any Scripture, we must do so in accord with the 2000 year old Living Tradition of the Church, and in accord with the intentions of the Biblical Evangelists, in context. Not as Jehovah Witness who manipulate its’ interpretation, nor as Seventh Day Adventist who miss the mark, nor as we want to interpret it. Scripture is not open to personal interpretation, as many are mislead to believe it is.
First and foremost, we must trust what the Bible contains as inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error.
Jesus’s prediction that he would be raised on the third day is a cornerstone of Christian theology, signifying his triumph over death.
The Gospel Evangelist did not intend to detail an hour-by-hour account of Jesus’ death and resurrection. But they all did intend for us to see the signifying his triumph over death.
Foretold multiple times in the Gospels, this timeline fulfilled what Jesus described as the "sign of Jonah" and aligned with Old Testament foreshadowing.
Jesus explicitly foretold his death and resurrection on the third day three primary times in the Gospel of Matthew:
- First Prediction: Following Peter’s confession, Jesus told his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and “on the third day be raised to life” (Matthew 16:21).
- Second Prediction: While traveling through Galilee, he reiterated this fate to his disciples, stating they would kill him and that “he will be raised to life on the third day” (Matthew 17:22-23).
- Third Prediction: On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus gave specific details about his crucifixion by the Gentiles and promised that “on the third day he will be raised to life” (Matthew 20:17-19).
All of this is His signifying his triumph over death.
The specific “third day” timeline carries deep biblical and symbolic significance. In the Gospels, Jesus likened his time in the tomb to the prophet Jonah being in the belly of the fish for three days.
The Apostle Paul also emphasized this precise timing in his creed, stating that Christ “was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).
So… the Apostles have handed Scripture onto us, that Christ “was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures”.
If we have any distrust or suspicion of what the Evangelists write/reveal as Holy Scripture and inspired by the Holy Spirit, then there is no point in reading the Bible any further. We can then stop reading or relying on the Bible, throw it out into the trash, burn it, and move on with our lives. The Bible isn’t a PICK AND CHOOSE SCRIPTURE religion for whatever we want. We can either believe it’s ALL inspired by God, or nothing.