Common Figure of Speech/Colloquialism?

by rstrats 59 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat

    Here is another article on the 3 days & nights question.

  • rstrats
    rstrats

    Bobcat,
    Thanks for the link, but I'm afraid it doesn't provide any examples which show where a daytime or a night time was forecast or said to be involved with an event when no part of the daytime or no part of the night time could have occurred.

  • rstrats
    rstrats

    Bobcat,
    re: "I do understand that in the account of Jesus' death and resurrection there were not three actual days and nights involved."

    I'm not aware of any scripture that shows that. What do you have in mind?

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat

    Hi rstrats,

    First, (in case you did not know) the Jewish day ran from sundown to sundown. (approx 6pm to 6pm)

    Luke 23:44-46 shows Jesus died about 3 pm. Luke 23:54-56a shows that this was the day before Sabbath. They bury him before sundown.

    Luke 23:56b they rest on the Sabbath.

    Luke 24:1-3 at early dawn the next day they go to tomb but find it empty. presumably Jesus has been raised.

    Translating this into our days, and using Friday as the day of death:

    Fri, 3pm Jesus dies and buried before sundown.

    Fri, 6pm to Sat 6pm is Sabbath, nothing happens this day.

    Sat 6pm to Sun 6pm is first day of the week. Jesus raised sometime before "early dawn" Sunday morning.

    So, supposing a Sun 6am resurrection, Jesus is dead from Fri 3pm to Sun 6am, or roughly 39 hours. But by Semitic time reckoning it is 3 days (actually, to us, parts of 3 days). He is dead about 3 hours Friday, 24 hours Saturday, and perhaps 12 hours Sunday.

    Here is the Luke account at Lumina (for easy reference).

    As I pointed out in an earlier post, the "three days and three nights" statement of Mt 12:40 may have been an attempt to create an equivalence in the hearing of his listeners between Jesus' coming experience and with Jonah's past experience in the fish as stated at Jonah 1:17. With our modern time keeping and dependence in life on precision in our time keeping, this appears to us to be an egregious mis-counting of time. But to Jesus' listeners (with not a single watch or calendar among them) they would not have batted an eye over it. Nor is there any record in the gospels or Acts of any later dispute about it. To me, the seeming discrepancy is more due to cultural differences between us moderns and the ANE.

  • rstrats
    rstrats

    Bobcat,
    re: "First, (in case you did not know) the Jewish day ran from sundown to sundown. (approx 6pm to 6pm)"

    I don't see the relevancy. Please explain.

    re: "Fri, 3pm Jesus dies and buried before sundown.

    Your comments are based on a 6th day of the week crucifixion, but nowhere does scripture state that.

    re: " With our modern time keeping and dependence in life on precision in our time keeping, this appears to us to be an egregious mis-counting of time."

    Why mention today's time keeping? We're talking about the first century.

    re: "But to Jesus' listeners (with not a single watch or calendar among them)..."

    They didn't need a watch or calendar to tell them when it was daytime or night time.

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat

    rstrats,

    Believe as you want. It's not a problem to me. But you are free to see it however you wish.

  • rstrats
    rstrats

    Bobcat,

    re: "Believe as you want."

    OK, thank you.

    BTW, you have a couple of questions directed to you in my last post.

  • Bobcat
    Bobcat

    I'll let some one else take them.

  • rstrats
    rstrats

    Bobcat,
    re: "I'll let some one else take them."

    OK; anyone care to answer my questions in post #34 to Bobcat regarding his comments in post #33?

  • myelaine
    myelaine

    dear rstrats...

    Passover begins on the 14th at sundown and the feast of unleavened bread starts at sundown on the 15th. The feast of unleavened bread lasts 7 days and the first and last days are called sabbaths. They can fall on any day of the week. If passover started on wednesday evening, the next evening (thursday) would be the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread & a sabbath. Friday evening would start the regular weekly sabbath (2nd night) saturday evening: weekly sabbath ends (3rd night) saturday evening until sunday evening is the 1st day of the week according to the jewish calendar (resurrection "day").

    Jesus would have had to be tried and crucified between the passover meal on wednesday evening and removed to the tomb before the evening of the 15th.(1st night)

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