the time of the crucifixion and resurrection

7/23/2019 The Time of the Crucifixion and Resurrection

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-time-of-the-crucifixion-and-resurrection 1/64

THE TIME OF THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION

Chapter 2

THE SIGN OF JONAH

Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., A!re"# $i%er#it&

Is the "Good Friday, Easter Sunday" tradition a fact or a fable? Few Christianchurches believe that this tradition is truly a fable devoid of Biblical support.his belief rests first of all on the interpretation of the so!called "sin of#onah."

In response to a re$uest for a sin by so%e doubtin scribes and &harisees,Christ %ade a startlin state%ent' "(n evil and adulterous eneration see)sfor a sin* but no sin shall be iven to it e+cept the sin of the prophet #onah.For as #onah was three days and three nihts in the belly of the whale, so willthe Son of an be three days and three nihts in the heart of the earth" -att/'01!234.

I. THE D$'ATION OF THE ENTO(B(ENT

5hat is the sin of #onah that Christ ave to 6is unbelievin eneration as aproof of 6is essiahship? 5ednesday Crucifi+ionists fir%ly believe that thesin consisted not si%ply of the resurrection which Christ, li)e #onah, woulde+perience after a te%porary burial, but pri%arily of the exact period of 7/!hour ento%b%ent in the heart of the earth.

A E)act *e+th o Time. his conviction is e%phatically e+pressed, fore+a%ple, in the boo)let The Resurrection Was Not on Sunday , published bythe 8epart%ent of heoloy of (%bassador Collee' "#esus offered but oneevidence 9of 6is essiahship:. hat evidence was not the fact of theresurrection itself. It was the length of time 6e would repose in 6is rave,before bein resurrected."

he i%plication of this contention is clearly stated in the ne+t pararaph whichreads' "#esus sta)ed 6is clai% to bein your Savior and %ine upon re%ainine+actly three days and three nihts in the to%b. If 6e re%ained ;ust three days



and three nihts inside the earth, 6e would prove 6i%self the Savior<if 6efailed in this sin, 6e %ust be re;ected as an i%postor."/

-2Hour Etom/met. State%ents such as the ones ;ust $uoted clearlyreveal the funda%ental i%portance attached to a 7/!hour duration of Christ=s

ento%b%ent. his conviction rests on the assu%ption that when "days andnihts" are e+plicitly %entioned in the Bible, they represent literal /2 hourdays. (ppeal is %ade to the creation wee) where each day consists of"evenin and %ornin" that is, of a day and a niht.

he desination of each creation day as "evenin and %ornin" is seen as"the only Bible definition which e+plains and counts up the a%ount of ti%einvolved in the e+pression >the third day.= It includes three dar) periods called>niht= and three liht periods called >day=<three days and three nihts, and#esus said they contained twelve hours for each period 9#ohn '1!3:<a

total of 7/ hours."0

II. THE SIGN OF THE 'ES$''ECTION

he interpretation which views the sin of #onah as bein pri%arily an e+act7/!hour period of Christ=s ento%b%ent is discredited by three %a;or reasons.hese, as we shall now show, indicate that the sin of #onah consisted not ina 7/!hour ento%b%ent but in the %iracle of the esurrection.

A/#ece o Time 'eerece. he first sinificant reason is the absence ofany ti%e reference in the other two passaes %entionin the sin of #onah-att @'2* Au)e '/1!0/4. In Au)e '/1!03 #esus says' "his eneration isan evil eneration* it see)s a sin, but no sin shall be iven to it e+cept thesin of #onah. For as #onah beca%e a sin to the %en of ineveh, so will theSon of %an be to this eneration."

ote should be ta)en of the fact that in Au)e there is no reference to thelenth of ti%e #onah survived in the whale=s belly. If the sin of #onahconsisted of the ti%e factor, Au)e could hardly have inored it. he

co%parison in Au)e between #onah and Christ is not in ter%s of identicalduration of ento%b%ent, but of si%ilar %iraculous esurrections' "as #onah . .. so will the Son of %an be."

he boo) of #onah suests that #onah beca%e a sin to the inevitesthrouh the %iraculous way in which God raised #onah out of the whale=sbelly and cast hi% alive on shore. his e+perience ave #onah the co%pulsion



to preach, and the inevites the conviction to repent. In the sa%e way asGod=s rescue of #onah revealed #onah=s prophetic %andate which led %anyinevites to repent, so Christ=s esurrection would reveal 6is essiahshipwhich would lead %any to believe.

he vast %a;ority of co%%entaries consulted aree in viewin the sin of#onah as bein pri%arily the sin of Christ=s esurrection. orval Geldenhuys,for e+a%ple, writes in The New International Commentary on The Gospel ofLuke' "#onah was a sin to the inevites, because he appeared there as onesent by God after havin been %iraculously saved fro% the reat fish -as itwere raised fro% the dead4 as a proof that he was really sent by God. So also#esus will by 6is resurrection prove conclusively that 6e has been sent byGod as the Christ, the pro%ised edee%er."2

A Parallel E)ample. ( second sinificant reason is found in the si%ilar

passae of #ohn /'1 where in response to the sa%e re$uest by the #ews fora sin #esus replied' "8estroy this te%ple, and in three days I will raise it up."In this state%ent Christ %a)es 6is esurrection the un%ista)able sin of 6isessiahship. By virtue of the parallelis% between this te+t and atthew /'23-in both places a sin is as)ed for and iven4, it see%s leiti%ate to concludethat the sin of #onah is essentially the sa%e in both places, na%ely, the sinof the esurrection, which is i%plicit in the first te+t and e+plicit in the second.

The Te#timo& o the Catacom/#. ( third reason is provided by the earlyChristians= pictorial representation of the sin of #onah. In nu%erous frescosof the cataco%bs, Christ=s esurrection is sy%bolically represented as #onahbein spewed out by the whale. In fact, the scene of #onah -)nown as"#onah=s cycle" because it consists of different scenes4 is perhaps the %ostco%%on sy%bolic representation of Christ=s esurrection.

he cataco%bs indicate, then, that the early Christians identified the sin of#onah with the eent of the esurrection and not with its ti%e ele%ent. &aulhi%self indirectly confir%s this view when he writes that Christ was"desinated Son of God in power . . . by his resurrection fro% the dead" -o%'24.

In the liht of the above considerations we conclude that the sin of #onahiven by Christ as a proof of 6is essiahship consists pri%arily in 6is futureesurrection and not in an e+act 7/!hour ento%b%ent. Christ=s esurrectionwas the un%ista)able vindication of 6is essiahship, of which the e%erenceof #onah fro% what was a te%porary livin burial was in so%e sense aforeshadowin.



III. INC*$SI0E 'EC1ONING

he literal interpretation of the phrase "three days and three nihts" asrepresentin an e+act period of 7/ hours inores the abundant Biblical and

abbinical evidence on the idio%atic use of the phrase "a day and a niht," torefer not to an e+act nu%ber of hours or of %inutes, but si%ply to a calendricalday, whether co%plete or inco%plete. atthew, for e+a%ple, writes that #esus"fasted forty days and forty nihts" in the wilderness -att 2'/4. he sa%eperiod is iven in ar) '0 and Au)e 2'/ as "forty days," which does notnecessarily re$uire forty co%plete /2 hour days.

It is i%portant to note that in Biblical ti%es a fraction of a day or of a niht wasrec)oned inclusively as representin the whole day or niht. his %ethod ofrec)onin is )nown as "inclusive rec)onin." ( few e+a%ples fro% the Bible

and fro% abbinic literature will suffice to de%onstrate its usae.

A A/a!oe! E+&ptia. Sa%uel 03'/ spea)s of an abandoned Eyptianservant who "had not eaten bread or drun) water for three days and threenihts." he idio%atic usae of this e+pression is shown by the followinverse, where the servant states that his %aster had left hi% behind "threedays ao" -v. 04. If the "three days and three nihts" were %eant to be ta)enliterally, then the servant should have said that he had been left behind fourdays before.

E#ther# 0i#it to the 1i+. (nother e+plicit e+a%ple of inclusive dayrec)onin is found in the story of Esther=s visit to the )in. 5hen DueenEsther was infor%ed by ordecai about the plan to e+ter%inate the #ews, shesent this %essae to hi%' "Go, ather all the #ews to be found in Susa, andhold a fast on %y behalf, and neither eat nor drin) for three days, niht or day.I and %y %aids will also fast as you do. hen I will o to the in" -Esther2'@4.

If Esther intended the three days and three nihts to be ta)en literally as a 7/!hour period of fastin, then she should have presented herself before the inon the fourth day. 6owever, we are told a few verses later that Esther wentbefore the )in "on the third day" -Esther '4. E+a%ples such as these clearlyshow that the e+pression "three days and three nihts" is used in theScriptures idio%atically to indicate not three co%plete /2!hour days, but threecalendric days of which the first and the third could have consisted of only afraction of a day.@



'a//iical *iterature. E+plicit e+a%ples for inclusive day rec)onin are alsofound in abbinic literature. abbi Eleaar ben (ariah, who lived about (.8.33, stated' "( day and a niht are an nah 9>a portion of ti%e=: and theportion of an nah is as the whole of it."7 here are other instances inabbinic literature where the "three days and three nihts" of #onah '7 areco%bined with ld esta%ent passaes which %ention events that too) place"on the third day."H "It is in this liht," writes Gerhard 8illin in the Theological!ictionary of the New Testament , "that we are to understand atthew/'23."1

Je"i#h Practice. he practice of inclusive day rec)onin, accordin to The"ewish #ncyclopedia, a standard #ewish reference wor), is still in vouea%on the #ews today. "In #ewish co%%unal life part of a day is at ti%esrec)oned as one day* e.., the day of the funeral, even when the latter ta)esplace late in the afternoon, is counted as the first of the seven days of%ournin* a short ti%e in the %ornin of the seventh day is counted as theseventh day* circu%cision ta)es place on the eihth day, even thouh on thefirst day only a few %inutes re%ained after the birth of the child, these beincounted as one day."3

he e+a%ples cited above clearly indicate that in Biblical ti%es the e+pression"a day and a niht" si%ply %eant a day, whether co%plete or inco%plete.hus, in the liht of the prevailin usae, the e+pression "three days and threenihts" of atthew /'23 does not re$uire that #esus be ento%bed for 7/hours, but for a full day and two partial days.

I0. ON THE THI'D DA3

( conclusive confir%ation of the Biblical %ethod of inclusive day rec)onin isprovided by the two %ost co%%on Gree) phrases used in the Gospels todescribe the ti%e between the Crucifi+ion and the esurrection, na%ely, tetrite hemera and meta treis hemeras, which can be literally translated as onthe third day and after three days, respectively. he latter phrase, which isused four ti%es in the Gospels -ar) H'0* 1'0* 3'02* att /7'@04, if ta)en inisolation would confir% the literal interpretation of "three days and threenihts" -att /'234, since the latter re$uires the esurrection to ta)e placeafter three whole days fro% the ti%e of the Crucifi+ion.

A Parallel $#a+e. his interpretation, however, is discredited by the fact thatthe very sa%e state%ent of Christ which contains the phrase "after threedays" in one Gospel, is reported in another Gospel with the phrase "on the



third day." o clarify this point, in the followin table we shall set out theoccurrences of these two phrases in the parallel passaes of the SynopticGospels'

(ar4 5678"after three days rise aain"

(atthe" 89678"on the thirdday be raised"

*u4e :622"on the third

day be raised

(ar4 :678

"after three days

he will rise"

(atthe" 8-627 "he will be raised

on the third day"

(ar4 8;67<"after three dayshe will rise"

(atthe" 2;68:"he will be raised on the third day"

*u4e 85677"on the thirdday he will rise"

I!etical (eai+. his co%parison clearly indicates that atthew and Au)eunderstood ar)=s "after three days" as %eanin "on the third day." Furtherevidence for the basic identity of the two phrases is provided by atthew/7'@0!@2. In verse @0 the #ewish leaders tell &ilate that Christ had said, "(fterthree days I will rise aain." In actual fact, up to this point only the e+pression"on the third day" occurs in atthew -@'/* 7'/0* /3'14, which suests theidentical %eanin of the two phrases.

erse @2 provides additional confir%ation when the #ewish leaders re$uest

&ilate to have the to%b uarded "until the third day." 8avid Clar) )eenlyobserves in his article "(fter hree 8ays," published in The $i%le Translator ,that "Jnless this e+pression 9>until the third day=: referred to a space of ti%eidentical with, or at least as reat as, that referred to by >after three days= inthe previous verse, then the uard would not e+tend over the whole of thecritical period, and the entire pararaph would thus lose its point."

he sa%e author e+presses astonish%ent at the fact that translators of all%a;or Enlish versions have entirely overloo)ed "the aw)ward fact that afterthree days&three days later does not %ean the sa%e thin in Enlish as on

the third day ."/ hus, for the sa)e of accuracy, Clar) proposes to use thephrase "on the third day"consistently in all the passaes %entioned above.

0. FI'ST DA3 APPEA'ANCES



he literal interpretation of the "three days and three nihts" is also discreditedby Au)e=s account of Christ=s appearance on Sunday evenin to the twodisciples who were oin to the villae of E%%aus. Christ, who% they had notreconied cauht up with the% and as)ed the%, "5hat is this conversationwhich you are holdin with each other as you wal)?" -Au)e /2'74.

he two %en, surprised at #esus= unawareness of what had happened in#erusale%, recounted to 6i% "how our chief priests and rulers delivered hi%9Christ: to be conde%ned to death, and crucified hi%. But we had hoped thathe was the one to redee% Israel. Kes, and besides all this, it is not the thirdday since this happened " -Au)e /2'/4.0

Thir! Da& o Su!a& E%ei+. o appreciate the sinificance of the laststate%ent, notice %ust be ta)en of two facts. First, the state%ent was %adeon the "evenin" of the first day when the day was "far spent" -Au)e /2'/14.

Second, "the third day" refers specifically to the events %entioned in thei%%ediate conte+t, na%ely, Christ=s conde%nation and Crucifi+ion. It isobvious, then, that if Christ had been crucified on a 5ednesday afternoon,those two disciples could not have referred to that event on a Sunday niht,sayin' "It is now the third day since this happened." (ccordin to the #ewishinclusive day!rec)onin, it would have been the fifth day and not the third.

0I. CH'ONO*OG3 OF PASSION =EE1END

he chronoloy of the &assion wee)end provides further evidence of theidio%atic usae of the phrase "three days and three nihts." he days of theCrucifi+ion, ento%b%ent, and esurrection are iven in clear se$uence andwith considerable clarity in the Gospels as &reparation day, Sabbath, firstday.

ar), who writes for a Gentile readership less fa%iliar with #ewishter%inoloy, e+plains with ut%ost clarity that Christ was crucified on "the dayof &reparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath" -ar) '2/4. In thefollowin chapter it will be shown that both the ter% "preparation" - paraskeue4and "Sabbath!eve" - pro'sa%%aton4 are two technical ter%s used un%ista)ablyto desinate what we call "Friday."

ar), then, is %ost precise in e+plainin that the Crucifi+ion too) place onwhat today we call "Friday." he ne+t day is desinated by ar) as "sabbath"-ar) @'4 which in turn is followed by the "first day of the wee)" -ar) @'/4.



ar)=s chronoloical se$uence leaves absolutely no roo% for a two!dayinterval between the Crucifi+ion and esurrection.

Si%ilarly Au)e %a)es it clear that the day of Christ=s Crucifi+ion was followed,not by a hursday or a Friday, but by a wee)ly Sabbath. 6e writes' "It was the

day of &reparation, and the sabbath was beinnin" -Au)e /0'24. By lin)inthe beinnin of the Sabbath to the end of the day of &reparation, and thebeinnin of the "first day of the wee)" -Au)e /2'4 to the ter%ination of theSabbath -Au)e /0'@4, Au)e leaves absolutely no roo% for two full days tointervene between the Crucifi+ion and esurrection.

No T"o Sa//ath#. So%e wish to %a)e roo% for intervenin days by aruinthat between the 5ednesday Crucifi+ion and Saturday afternoon resurrectionthere were two Sabbaths' the first, a &assover Sabbath which fell on ahursday* the second, a wee)ly Sabbath which fell on the reular Saturday.

Such an aru%ent is based on pure speculation because nowhere do theGospels suest that two Sabbaths intervened between the day of theCrucifi+ion and that of the esurrection.

Support for the two!Sabbath view is souht in the plural for% the Sabbath inatthew /H' ta)es, which literally reads "at the end of the Sabbaths." histe+t is viewed as "a vital te+t" which "proves that there were 5 Sabbathsthat wee) with a day in between." he first Sabbath, hursday, alleedly was"the annual hih!day Sabbath, the feast day of the days of JnleavenedBread," while the second was "the wee)ly Sabbath, Saturday."2

his conclusion is untenable, because, as 6arold 5. 6oehner points out, "heter% Sabbath is fre$uently -one!third of all its ew esta%ent occurrences4 inthe plural for% in the ew esta%ent when only one day is in view. Fore+a%ple, in atthew /'!/ both the sinular and plural for%s are used -cf.esp. v. 4." here is then no Biblical basis for a &assover Sabbath whichoccurred two days before the reular wee)ly Sabbath.

he clear and uninterrupted chronoloical se$uence of days iven in theGospels is' &reparation day, Sabbath day, and first day. his se$uence leavesabsolutely no roo% for a literal interpretation of the phrase "three days andthree nihts" as representin an e+act period of 7/ hours.

Coclu#io. he foreoin considerations have shown, first, that the sin of#onah iven by Christ to prove 6is essiahship consisted not in an e+act 7/!hour ento%b%ent, but in 6is esurrection on the third day after 6is death.Second, the phrase "three days and three nihts" -att /'234 is an idio%atic



e+pression which in Bible ti%es %eant not necessarily three co%plete /2!hour days -7/ hours4, but rather three calendric days, of which the first and the thirdcould have consisted of only a few hours.

he latter conclusion is supported by the prevailin inclusive %ethod of day!

rec)onin, by the parallel usae of the phrases "after three days" and "on thethird day," and by the uninterrupted chronoloical se$uence of days whichdoes not allow for three co%plete /2!hour days. ( reconition of these factsade$uately e+plains how #esus fulfilled 6is prediction of a "three days andthree nihts" ento%b%ent by bein buried on Friday afternoon and risin earlyon Sunday %ornin.

NOTES ON CHAPTE' II

. 6erbert 5. (r%stron, The Resurrection Was Not on Sunday -&asadena,California' (%bassador Collee, 17/4, p. 2* e%phasis supplied.

/. I%id ., p. 2.

0. I%id ., p. @.

2. orval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, he ewInternational Co%%entary on the ew esta%ent -Grand apids, 1H04, p.002. Si%ilarly Aeon orris co%%ents' "For the inevites the sin was the

reappearance of a %an who had apparently been dead for three days. For the%en of #esus= day the sin would be the reappearance of the Son of (an onthe third day after 6is death" -The Gospel )ccording to St* Luke, he yndaleew esta%ent Co%%entaries 9Grand apids, 1H/:, p. /3.

. Si%ilar e+a%ples are found in Gen 7'2, /* E+ /2'H* 02'/H* ins 1'H*#ob /'0.

@. For %ore e+a%ples and a discussion of the inclusive rec)onin,see Seenth'day )dentist $i%le Commentary , vol. II, pp. 0@!07* vol. , pp.

/2H!/.

7. #erusale% al%ud, Sha%%ath 1, 0* cf. also Babylonianal%ud, +esahim 2a.

H. See (idrash Ra%%ah' Genesis @, -on Gen //'24* Genesis 1,7 -on Gen2/'7!H4* Esther 1,/ -on Esther '4.



1. Gerhard 8illin, "hemera," in Theological !ictionary of the NewTestament -Grand apids, 1724, vol. II, p. 13.

3. The "ewish #ncyclopedia, s.v. "8ay," vol. I, p. 27.

. 8avid Clar), "(fter hree 8ays," The $i%le Translator 03 -#uly 1714' 02.

/. I%id ., pp. 02/, 020.

0. E%phasis supplied.

2. 6erbert 5. (r%stron -n. 4, p. 0.

. 6arold 5. 6oehner, Chronological )spects of the Life of Christ -Grandapids, 1774, pp. @1!73.

Chapter 7

THE DA3 OF THE C'$CIFI>ION


Is the 5ednesday Crucifi+ion a fact or a fable? 5ednesday Crucifi+ionists

fir%ly believe that it is a Biblical fact. o support it, they appeal not only to the

sin of #onah e+a%ined in the previous chapter, but also to a second )ey te+t,

na%ely, #ohn 1'2, where the day of Christ=s Crucifi+ion is desinated as"the day of &reparation of the &assover."

he conclusion drawn fro% #ohn 1'2 is that Christ was crucified, not on a

Friday<the &reparation day for the Sabbath<but on a 5ednesday<the

&reparation day for the annual cere%onial &assover Sabbath, which that year

supposedly fell on a hursday. hus, all the references to the "&reparation

day" of Christ=s Crucifi+ion -att /7'@/* ar) '2/* Au)e /0'2* #ohn 1'0,

2/4 are interpreted in the liht of #ohn 1'2 as %eanin 5ednesday<the

day precedin the &assover Sabbath -hursday4<rather than Friday<theday precedin the reular seventh!day Sabbath.

he three %a;or reasons enerally iven in support of this conclusion are

succinctly stated in the boo)let The Time #lement in the Crucifixion and

Resurrection of Christ , published by the Church of God -Seventh 8ay4'

"Firstly, the day before the wee)ly Sabbath was never called a > preparation= in



the Bible* secondly, the wee)ly Sabbath -as desinated in the en

Co%%and%ents4 was never called or referred to as a >hih day=* and thirdly,

the sa%e writer -#ohn4 tells us . . . e+actly which occasion this preparation day

preceded. 6e said' >(nd it was the preparation of the &assover= -#ohn 1'24 .

. . hus, after #ohn states this >was the preparation of the passoer = -in verse24, we %ust understand . . . that >the sa%%ath day = in verse 0 corresponds

to ,the passoer =in verse 2."

( brief analysis will now be %ade of the three iven reasons in an atte%pt to

deter%ine what is %eant by the "&reparation" day %entioned in all the four

Gospels as a ti%e reference of the day of Christ=s Crucifi+ion.

I. P'EPA'ATION DA3

he first reason iven for interpretin "the day of &reparation" as %eanin5ednesday rather than Friday is that "the day before the wee)ly Sabbath was

never called a > preparation= in the Bible." his reason is pulin, to say the

least, because it flies in the face of the irrefutable Biblical and historical usae

of the ter% "&reparation! paraskeue" as a technical desination for "Friday." In

addition to its occurrence in #ohn 1'2, the ter% "&reparation! paraskeue" is

used five ti%es in the Gospels as a technical desination for "Friday" -att

/7'@/* ar) '2/* Au)e /0'2* #ohn 1'0, 2/4.

(ar4# Deiitio. ar) '2/ provides what is perhaps the clearest definitionof the e+pression "day of &reparation" by the state%ent' "It was the day of

&reparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath." ote that in Gree) the two

phrases "the day of &reparation" and "the day before the Sabbath" are each

iven with a sinle technical ter%' " paraskeue!&reparation," and " pro'

sa%%aton!Sabbath!eve." ranslated literally the te+t reads' "It was

&reparation, that is, Sabbath!eve." For the sa)e of clarity, ar) uses two

technical ter%s here, both of which un%ista)ably desinate what we call

"Friday."

he ter% " prosa%%aton!Sabbath!eve" was used by 6ellenistic #ews todesinate e+plicitly and e+clusively "the day before the Sabbath, i.e. Friday"

-#udith H'@* / acc. H'/@4./ hus ar), by definin " paraskeue!&reparation"

as bein the " prosa%%aton!Sabbath!eve," ives the clearest possible definition

to his Gentile readers of what he %eant by " paraskeue," na%ely, the day

before the wee)ly Sabbath. Clarifications of ti%e references by a $ualifyin



clause are co%%on in ar), evidently because the author )new that his

Gentile readers were enerally unfa%iliar with #ewish ter%s and custo%s.0

A Techical De#i+atio or ?Fri!a&.? (n Enlish reader could fail to see the

technical usae of the ter% "&reparation," because in the Enlish lanuae

such a ter% is a eneric noun which does not %ean "Friday." he situation

was %uch different in the Se%itic Gree) of our &alestinian docu%ent,

however, where the ter% " paraskeue" was the Gree) e$uivalent of the

(ra%aic word "aru%ta!eve," both of which were co%%only used to desinate

"Friday."

In (ra%aic, as Charles C. orrey e+plains, "the %iddle days of the wee) were

desinated by nu%bers, >third, fourth, fifth,= but Friday was always aru%ta*

there was no >si+th day= of the wee)* . . . Its Gree) e$uivalent, paraskeue!

Friday, was li)ewise adopted, fro% the first, by the Gree) Church."2

he early Christian usae of the ter% " paraskeue," as a technical desination

for Friday is well attested outside the ew esta%ent. he !idache -or The

Teaching of the Twele )postles4, dated between (.8. 73 to /3, en;oins

Christians to fast on "the fourth day and &reparation" -H'4, that is,

5ednesday and Friday. It is noteworthy that Friday is desinated si%ply as

"&reparation! paraskeuen," without the article or the noun "day," thus indicatin

the technical usae of the ter%.

By the ti%e of ertullian -c. (.8. @3!//4 paraskeue had already beco%e

such a fi+ed na%e for Friday that he even arues that this had been the na%e

for Friday since creation. hese, and si%ilar e+a%ples,@ clearly indicate that

Christians adopted the #ewish practice of nu%berin the first five days of the

wee) and of na%in the si+th and the seventh as paraskeue and sa%%aton<

&reparation and Sabbath.

The Nee! or a Clariicatio. Christians co%in fro% a Gentile bac)round

had to learn this #udeo!Christian no%enclature of the wee)!days, because in

the paan world the wee)!days were not nu%bered but na%ed after the sevenplanetary deities -dies solis- dies lunae- * * * 4. his %ay e+plain why ar), in

writin to a Gentile!Christian readership who had only recently learned the

#udeo!Christian no%enclature of the wee)!days, dee%ed it necessary to

clarify what he %eant by " paraskeue!preparation," by addin the $ualifyin

phrase, "that is, the day before the sabbath" -ar) '2/4. his clarification



%ay also have been necessitated by the fact that the seven!day planetary

wee) itself had been recently introduced in the o%an world where the eiht!

day wee) -nundinum4 was still used side by side with the planetary wee).7

(dditional and conclusive evidence that " paraskeue!&reparation" is used in

the Gospels to desinate "Friday" and not "5ednesday" is provided by the

se$uence in which the days of the &assion wee)end are iven' "&reparation,

Sabbath, first day" -att /7'@/* /H'* ar) '2/* @'* Au)e /2'2!* /2'4.

Both ar) and atthew e+plicitly place the beinnin of the first day at the

end of the Sabbath -ar) @'* att /H'4. he latter could hardly have been

a hursday &assover Sabbath, because hursday is not followed by the first

day of the wee).

A 'ea#o or the (i#u!er#ta!i+. he failure to reconie the technical

usae of the ter% "&reparation" as the na%e for "Friday," has caused so%e to%isinterpret #ohn=s phrase "it was the day of &reparation of the &assover"

-#ohn 1'24 as %eanin "the day of &reparation for the &assover." he latter

is in fact the translation of the (%erican evised Standard ersion. n the

basis of this %isunderstandin, 5ednesday Crucifi+ionists arue that in #ohn

"the day of &reparation" %eans not Friday but the 5ednesday precedin the

&assover day, which supposedly fell on a hursday.

his conclusion inores the fact, coently stated by orval Geldenhuys, "that

at the ti%e when #ohn wrote, the Gree) ter% paraskeue ->preparation=4 wasalready for a lon ti%e the technical ter% used to indicate >Friday,= the

e$uivalent of the 6ebrew ere%h sha%%ath."H he reconition of this fact is

evident in the riht translation which is found in the (.., .S.., and .I..,

na%ely "the day of &reparation of the &assover."

his %eans, as Geldenhuys e+plains, "that the day of the Aord=s crucifi+ion

was the Friday of the &assover, the Friday that falls durin &assover wee),

i.e., &assover Friday -Good Friday4. It is a ra%%atically correct renderin

and all the evidence is in favor of it."1

he foreoin considerations %a)e it abundantly clear that in the Gospels, as

stated by oulton and illian, noted authorities on the Gree) lanuae'

" paraskeue is a technical desination for Friday."3 hus, the first reason,

which clai%s that "the day before the wee)ly Sabbath was never called a



> preparation= in the Bible" %ust be rearded as false, because, as we have

shown, the very opposite is true.

II. A HIGH DA3

he second reason iven for interpretin "the day of &reparation" as referrin

to 5ednesday rather than Friday is based on #ohn=s definition of the Sabbath

day which followed the &reparation day of Christ=s Crucifi+ion. #ohn e+plains'

"that sabbath was a hih day" -#ohn 1'04. It is arued that since "the wee)ly

Sabbath -as desinated in the en Co%%and%ents4 was never called or

referred to as a >hih day,=" then the latter %ust have been not the reular

wee)ly Sabbath but the annual cere%onial &assover Sabbath -Aev /0'!74.

In support of this conclusion, a third reason is iven, na%ely, that #ohn 1'2

"tells us e+actly which occasion this preparation day preceded. 6e says' >(ndit was the preparation of the passover.="/ hus the "hih day" Sabbath of

#ohn 1'0 is interpreted as bein the "&assover" day of #ohn 1'2, and by

the sa%e to)en "the day of &reparation" of verse 0 is interpreted as bein

the &assover day of verse 2. Since in the year of Christ=s Crucifi+ion,

&assover day supposedly fell on a hursday, the day of preparation for the

latter would obviously be a 5ednesday.

A Ceremoial Sa//ath. he reasons iven in support of this conclusion rest

on three %a;or %ista)en assu%ptions. First, it is assu%ed that since certainannual feasts such as the 8ay of (tone%ent are desinated as "sabbath" -Aev

/0'/2, 0/, 014, then all the references to the Sabbath found in the &assion

narratives %ust refer not to the wee)ly Sabbath but to the annual cere%onial

&assover Sabbath.

his assu%ption is discredited by the fact that the day of atone%ent is

desinated by the co%pound e+pressionsha%%ath sha%%athon, %eanin "a

sabbath of sole%n rest" -Aev /0'0/* @'04. But this phrase is rendered in the

Septuaint by the co%pound Gree) e+pression "sa%%ata sa%%aton," which is

different fro% the si%ple "sa%%aton" used in the &assion narratives. It istherefore linuistically i%possible to interpret the latter as a reference to the

day of the &assover or to any other annual feast day, since these are never

desinated si%ply as "sa%%aton."

Hi+h Da&6 Pa##o%er or Sa//ath? he second %ista)en assu%ption is that

the ter% "hih day'megale hemer a," used in #ohn 1'0, is e%ployed in the



Scripture to desinate the annual &assover feast -a cere%onial Sabbath4,

rather than a special wee)ly Sabbath. Jnfortunately, no Biblical or e+tra!

Biblical e+a%ples are cited to support this assu%ption<the reason bein

si%ply that no such e+a%ples e+ist .

Israel (braha%s, a noted #ewish scholar, finds no instance before #ohn 1'0

of the use of the ter% "hih day" or "Great Sabbath" in abbinical literature.

6is opinion is that the later abbinic use of the ter% "Great Sabbath" to

desinate the Sabbath of the &assover season was borrowed fro% the

church.0 5hile the latter is difficult to prove, it is a well!)nown fact that the

church coined the ter%s "Good Friday" and "6oly Saturday" as desinations

for the special days of Christ=s Crucifi+ion and burial. It is noteworthy that

Georius Codinus -th century4 ives the official ter% for "Good Friday"

as .he megale paraskeue<the reat &reparation."2 his suests the

possibility that even the Sabbath of the &assion wee) ca%e early to be )nownby Christians as a "hih day" or a "Great Sabbath."

ote should be ta)en also of the fact that, accordin to e+a%ples iven by

Strac) and Billerbec), in later abbinic literature the seventh!day Sabbath is

rearded as a "hih day" if it fell on isan , since that was the first day of

the &assover festival, or if it fell on isan @, because on that day the omer or

first sheaf of barley was offered accordin to &harisaic tradition.

his infor%ation is i%portant because it disproves the clai% that "the wee)lySabbath was never called or referred to as a "hih day." abbinical sources

see% to indicate that the wee)ly Sabbath was called a "hih day" when it

coincided with &assover, because, as well stated by Charles C. orrey, "its

inherent sole%nity was reatly heihtened by the celebration of the fore%ost

feast of the year."@

III. P'EPA'ATION OF THE PASSO0E'

he third %ista)en assu%ption is that the ter% "&reparation" found in #ohn

1'2, "It was the day of &reparation of the &assover" is used as a technicaldesination for the day before the &assover. It is also assu%ed that this

"&reparation" day fell on a 5ednesday because &assover day alleedly fell on

a hursday. n the basis of these assu%ptions, it is further assu%ed that all

the other five references to the "&reparation" day -att /7'@/* ar) '2/*



Au)e /0'2* #ohn 1'0, 2/4 %ust be interpreted in the liht of #ohn 1'2 as

%eanin 5ednesday.

Fri!a& o the Pa##o%er =ee4. hese assu%ptions are false on several

counts. First of all, because, as Charles C. orrey e+plains, "here is no

evidence to show that that word 9&reparation: was used in the ti%e of the

Gospel writers for the >eve= of other festal days than the Sabbath."7 illian

and oulton e%phasie the sa%e point, sayin' "It has never been shown that

the day before the &assover was called >he preparation of the &assover.="H

Aeon orris e+presses the sa%e view, sayin' "he fact %ust be faced that no

e+a%ple of the use of paraskeue is cited for any day other than Friday."1

oreover, as #. 6. Bernard points out, if "&reparation" %eant "the &reparation

day of the &assover" we would e+pect a definite article in Gree), which,

however, is absent./3

(n additional indication that #ohn %eant "Friday" by the phrase "&reparation

of the &assover" -v. 24 is provided by the usae of the sa%e

ter% .paraskeue" twice aain in the sa%e chapter. In verse 0 #ohn e+plains

that the #ews did not wish the bodies to re%ain on the Cross "on the Sabbath,

because it was &reparation" -literal translation4. 6ere #ohn not only %entions

the Sabbath e+plicitly, but also refers to the precedin day by the technical

ter%.paraskeue<&reparation" without the article, thus %eanin' "because it

was Friday."

Si%ilarly, in verse 2/, #ohn reports that #esus was placed in a arden to%b

near the place of 6is Crucifi+ion "because of the &reparation of the #ews." In

this conte+t the ter% "&reparation" is used aain by itself, not in a eneric

sense, but in a te%poral sense as a technical desination for Friday. 5hat

#ohn is sayin is that #esus was buried in the arden to%b because it was

near and because it was late Friday -&reparation4 when the Sabbath was

about to start. In the liht of the above considerations, the e+pression "the day

of &reparation of the &assover" -#ohn 1'24, si%ply %eans, as %ost scholars

ac)nowlede, "the /riday of the +assoer wee)."

The Te#timo& o the S&optic#. Further support for this conclusion is

provided by the Synoptics where the sa%e "&reparation" day %entioned by

#ohn is un%ista)ably identified with Friday, the day before the wee)ly Sabbath

-ar) '2/* att /7'@/* Au)e /0'24.



(ny atte%pt to interpret the Synoptic references to the day of "&reparation" in

the liht of #ohn 1'2 as %eanin "5ednesday," is unwarranted for at least

two reasons. First, because, as shown earlier, the ter% "&reparation" was

never used as a technical desination for the day precedin the &assover.

Second, because, even rantin that #ohn used the ter% "&reparation" to%ean "5ednesday &assover!eve," such a %eanin cannot be auto%atically

read bac) in the parallel references found in the Synoptics, because the

atthean, arcan, and Aucan co%%unities understood this ter%, not in the

liht of what #ohn wrote later, but in the liht of its conte+t in their respective

Gospels and in the liht of its prevailin usae.

$!i#pute! Tra!itio. ( final and e$ually i%portant consideration is the fact

that Christian tradition has unani%ously held to the Friday!Crucifi+ionLSunday!

esurrection chronoloy. his is all the %ore surprisin in view of the fact that

so%e early Christian writers did place the Aast Supper on uesday eveninrather than hursday evenin. 5ith reard to the Crucifi+ion, however, no

early Christian writer ever disputed or doubted its occurrence on Friday.

he absence of any early Christian pole%ic reardin the day of Christ=s

Crucifi+ion and esurrection, offers, in our view, overwhel%in proof of the

trustworthiness of the traditional chronoloy of the Crucifi+ion and

esurrection. If indeed Christ had risen on a Saturday afternoon, seventh!day

Sabbath)eepers would have capitalied on this fact to discredit the

esurrection aru%ent fre$uently used in early Christianity to defendSunday)eepin. Such an aru%ent, however, never appears in the pole%ic

over the theoloical superiority of the two days.

Coclu#io. he foreoin analysis of #ohn 1'2, the second )ey te+t of the

5ednesday Crucifi+ion theory, has shown that such a theory is based on

hu%an fantasy and not on a Biblical fact. 5e have sub%itted abundant

evidence indicatin that #ohn=s e+pression "the day of &reparation of the

&assover" -#ohn 1'24, si%ply %eans, as %ost scholars ac)nowlede, "the

Friday of the &assover wee)." hus the Crucifi+ion too) place on Friday and

not on 5ednesday.

NOTES ON CHAPTE' III

. The Time #lement in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ , published

by the Bible (dvocate &ress of the Church of God -Seventh 8ay4, p. /3.



/. See 5illia% F. (rndt and F. 5ilbur Ginrich, ) Greek'#nglish Lexicon of the

New Testament -Chicao, 1714, s.v. "prosabbaton."

0. See, for e+a%ple, ar) '0/, 0* 2'0* 0'/2* 2'03* '2/* @'/.

2. Charles C. orrey, "he 8ate of the Crucifi+ion accordin to the Fourth

Gospel," "ournal of $i%lical Literature 3 -104' /02!/0.

. The Writings of Tertullian, (nte!icene Christian Aibrary, vol. III, p. 031.

@. See, for e+a%ple, The (artyrdom of +olycarp, 7, .

7. n the oriin and adoption of the &lanetary wee) in the o%an world, see

Sa%uele Bacchiocchi, /rom Sa%%ath to Sunday -o%e, 1774, pp. /2!/.

H. orval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, he ew

International Co%%entary on the ew esta%ent -Grand apids, 1H04, p.

@@2.

1. Loc* cit*

3. 5. oulton and 5. F. illian, 0oca%ulary of the Greek New

Testament -ew Kor), 1/H4, p. 2.

. The Time #lement -n. 4, p. /3.

/. Loc* cit*

0. Israel (braha%s, Studies in +harisaism and the Gospels -Ca%bride,

1/24, vol. II, p. @H.

2. !e 1fficiis 0,.

. 6. A. Strac) and &. Billerbec, 2ommentar 3um Neuen Testament aus

Talmud und (idrash -unich, 1//!1/H4, vol. /, pp. Hf. and H27.

@. Charles C. orrey -n. 24, p. /0.

7. Charles C. orrey, "In the Fourth Gospel the Aast Supper was the &aschal

eal," The "ewish 4uarterly Reiew , 2/ -#anuary 1/4' /2.



H. 5. illian and 5. F. oulton, Commentary on the Gospel of St*

"ohn -Edinburh, H1H4, on #ohn 1'2.

1. Aeon orris, The Gospel )ccording to "ohn, he ew International

Co%%entary on the ew esta%ent, -Grand apids, 174, p. 777.

/3. #. 6. Bernard, ) Critical and #xegetical Commentary on the Gospel

)ccording to St* "ohn -Edinburh, 1/H4, on #ohn 1'2.

THE TIME OF THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION

Chapter <

THE DA3 OF THE 'ES$''ECTION


Is the Easter!Sunday esurrection a Biblical fact or an ecclesiastical fable?5ednesday Crucifi+ionists believe that it is a fable fabricated by "the so!called>apostolic fathers= . . . to ;ustify a paan tradition of the Sunday resurrection ofi%rod, the paan saviorM" In their view Christ=s esurrection occurred, notearly on Sunday %ornin, but late on Saturday afternoon.

he "clinchin proof" for the Saturday afternoon esurrection of Christ issupposedly found in atthew /H', !@. he te+t reads' "In the end of the

sabbath, as it bean to dawn toward the first day of the wee), ca%e aryadalene and the other ary to see the sepulchre . . . (nd the anelanswered and said unto the wo%en, Fear not ye' for I )now that ye see)#esus, which was crucified. 6e is not here' for he is risen, as he said. Co%e,see the place where the Aord lay" -#4.

his te+t alleedly pinpoints the ti%e of the esurrection on Saturdayafternoon. he reasonin runs as follows' Since atthew tells us that whenthe two arys went to the sepulchre "in the end of the sabbath, as it bean todawn toward the first day of the wee)," they discovered that Christ hadalready risen, this %eans that 6is esurrection occurred in the last part of theSabbath before the ne+t day bean.

o defend this conclusion, the dawnin of the first day is interpreted as beinthe beinnin of dus) -evenin4 rather than of dawn -%ornin4. he reasoninruns as follows' "Since the Sabbath ended at sunset, it would be i%possiblefor >dawn= to %ean morning here, for the sun would not rise until so%e /



hours later. It could not be in the end of the Sabbath and %ornin at the sa%eti%e."/

A Apparet Cotra!ictio. It %ust be ranted that this reasoninrepresents an inenious atte%pt to reconcile what %any scholars view as two

apparently contradictory state%ents. he contradiction lies in the fact that theend of the Sabbath at sunset does not %ar) the dawnin of the first day, sincethe two events are about / hours apart.

he above interpretation, thouh inenious, cannot be accepted for at leasttwo reasons. First, because the verb "to dawn" -epiphosko4 literally %eans not"to beco%e dus)" but "to row liht," "to dawn." Second, because a fiurativeinterpretation -i.e. to beco%e dus)4 in this instance runs aainst the e+plicitstate%ents of the other Gospels which tell us that the wo%en ca%e to thee%pty to%b at daybrea) "when the sun had risen" -ar) @'/* cf. Au)e /2'*

#ohn /3'4. hus other solutions %ust be found to this apparent contradiction.

I. *ATE O' AFTE'@

( first solution is suested by the broader %eanin of the adverb "opse"which is translated in the # as "in the end of" but in the S and %ost%odern translations as "after." he two translations reflect the dual %eaninsof the ter%, na%ely "late" or "after."

A Appro)imate Time 'eerece. In the ew esta%ent the

ter% opse occurs only twice aain, in ar) '1 and 0'0. In ar) '1-"(nd when evenin 9opse: ca%e they went out of the city"4 it is hard to tell bythe conte+t whether opse desinates the late afternoon of that day or the ti%eafter sunset, which, accordin to the #ewish sunset to sunset rec)onin,would be the beinnin of the new day.

In ar) 0'0, however, opse -"evenin"4 clearly desinates the first watch ofthe niht, fro% about sunset till about 1 p.%.' "5atch therefore for you do not)now when the %aster of the house will co%e, in the evenin -opse4 or at%idniht, or at coc)crow, or in the %ornin" -ar) 0'04. he fact that "opse"

could %ean not only the late hours of the day, but also the early hours of thenew day, suests the possibility that atthew %ay have used the ter% as anappro+i%ate ti%e reference si%ply to indicate that the Sabbath was overwhen the wo%en went to the sepulchre.0

In the ae of $uart watches when even seconds count, we e+pect the sa%eaccuracy fro% the Bible writers, who had only the sun at their disposal to



%easure ti%e. he concern of Bible writers, however, see%s to have been%ore with reportin the actual events than with the precise ti%e of theiroccurrence. ar), for e+a%ple, says that #esus was crucified appro+i%atelythree hours earlier -"it was the third hour"<ar) '/4 than #ohn -"it wasabout the si+th hour"<#ohn 1'@4.

Si%ilarly, the visit to the sepulchre occurred "while it was still dar)" accordinto #ohn -/3'4 and "when the sun had risen" accordin to ar) -@'/4. hee+istence of these ti%e appro+i%ations in the Gospels suests the possibilitythat atthew also %ay have used opse loosely, si%ply to indicate that thewo%en went to the sepulchre after the Sabbath was over and as the first daywas dawnin.

*ate Gree4 $#a+e. he latter conclusion is supported by the usae of opse inlate Gree) writers as %eanin "after." 5hile in the ancient Gree), as (. .

obertson e+plains, "opse . . . occurs as a preposition with the enitive -huc.2, 104 with the sense of >late on,=" later Gree) authors, li)e &hilostratus, usethe word in "the sense of >after,= li)e . . . >after these thins.="2

Edar #. Goodspeed, another renowned Gree) scholar, %a)es the sa%eobservation. 6e e+plains that "the adverbopse is so%eti%es used in the senseof >late,= with a enitive of ti%e . . . which would %ean >late on theSabbath.= . . . But opse has another sense* it is also used by late Gree) writersli)e &hilostratus -second to third century4 as a preposition %eanin >after,=followed by the enitive, opse touton, >after these thins= -Life of )pollonius vi.3* cf. 2'H' opse musterion >after the %ysteries=4. his is the sense of theword in atthew /H' and at once clears up any difficulty . . . he plain senseof the passae is' >(fter the Sabbath, as the first day of the wee) wasdawnin.="

Sta!ar! Gree4 *e)ico#. he sa%e e+planation is iven in severalstandard Gree) le+icons of the ew esta%ent. 5alter Bauer=s le+icon, fore+a%ple, points out that opse is "used as an i%proper preposition withenitive 9%eanin: after , -opse sa%%aton4 after the Sa%%ath-atthew /H'4."@Bauer ives several e+a%ples of this usae, includin one of &olyae%uswhere the followin phrase occurs' "later -opse4 than the hour decidedupon."7

Jnfortunately so%e translations, such as the evised ersion, have inoredthe late Gree) usae of opse and thus they have translated atthew /H' as"now late on the Sabbath day." his translation would %ean that the wo%enca%e to the to%b late on a Saturday. "his %iht be the sense of the Gree)



words used in the classics," but, as . C. 6. Aens)i perceptively points out, "inthe )oine opse is used as a preposition and %eans >after,= B.!&. 1H* B.!8 @2*Stellhorn, >lon after so%ethin*= Nahn, erst nach* . 7. ar) arees, >whenthe Sabbath was past.="H

he sa%e conclusion is reached by Edward Aohse, thouh fro% a differentbasis. 6e finds that the phrase opse sa%%aton of atthew /H', correspondsto the abbinicmosa5e sha%%at "and thus %eans the niht fro% the Sabbath tothe first day of the wee)."1

To"ar! the Da". Further support for the %eanin of opse sa%%aton as "after the sabbath" rather than "late on the sabbath," is provided by the second ti%eele%ent iven by atthew to date the visit of the wo%en to the sepulchre,na%ely, "toward the dawn of the first day of the wee)" -att /H'4.

he Gree) verb epiphosko literally %eans "to shine forth," "to row liht," "todawn." It %ust be said that this verb is used not only in a literal sense todescribe the %ornin dawnin of a new day, but also in a fiurative sense torefer to the evenin beinnin of a day. In Au)e /0'2epiphosko is translated"drew on" -#4 or "beinnin" -S4, in reference to the approach of theSabbath at sundown.

In atthew /H', however, e+positors are enerally areed that theverb epiphosko is used in its literal %eanin of "to dawn." his conclusion isbased first of all on the parallel state%ents of the other Gospels, which

e+plicitly place the visit of the wo%en to the to%b "at early dawn" -Au)e /2'*ar) @'/* #ohn /3'4. here is no hint in any of the Gospels that the wo%en%ade two visits to the sepulchre, one on Saturday afternoon and one onSunday %ornin. hus we are ;ustified in concludin that the "dawnin" inatthew is literal as in the other Gospels.

Sa//ath# Tra%el 'e#trictio#. ( second reason is suested by theprevailin #ewish restrictions on Sabbath travel -(cts '/4, which would haveprecluded any visit to the to%b on Sabbath afternoon fro% a distance reaterthan /L0 of a %ile. Since ary adalene lived in Bethany, a distance of /%iles fro% #erusale% -att /'4, and since she presu%ably spent theSabbath at ho%e -Au)e /0'@4, she could hardly have traveled to the to%bbefore the end of the Sabbath.

he sa%e %ust be said for the evenin after the close of the Sabbath. In theEast people in eneral, let alone wo%en, do not travel in the dar)ness of theniht, particularly to a burial place "to see the sepulchre" -att /H'4. It is far



%ore true to life for the wo%en to have traveled fro% Bethany to Calvary earlyon Sunday %ornin, as indicated by the Gospels -ar) @'/* Au)e /2'* #ohn/3'4.

(t &assover ti%e the astrono%ical %ornin twiliht bean in the latitude of

#erusale% at about 2'33 a.%. and the sun rose at about '03 a.%. his %eansthat if ary adalene arose about the ti%e it bean to et liht -#ohn /3'4,and wal)ed fro% Bethany to Christ=s sepulchre, she would have arrived bysunrise -ar) @'* #ohn /3'4.

Other Diicultie#. Several other difficulties arise if the esurrection and thevisit of the wo%en to the to%b are placed "late on the Sabbath day." he%any events which are described in atthew /H'/! and attached to the ti%edesinated in verse could hardly have ta)en place "late on a Sabbath day."For e+a%ple, it is hard to believe that the risen Christ would tell the wo%en on

a late Sabbath afternoon, "Go and tell %y brethren to o to Galilee" -att/H'34. It would have been aainst prevailin custo%s to start out on a trip lateon a Sabbath afternoon.

Further%ore, it is difficult to see how the followin events could have ta)enplace on a late Sabbath afternoon' the uards oin to the city to infor% thechief priests about what had happened -v. 4* the chief priests asse%blinthe Council to decide what action should be ta)en -v. /4* the Council payinthe soldiers to fabricate the story of the stealin of Christ=s body by 6isdisciples -vv. /!04.

ore decisive still is the instruction iven to the soldiers by the chief priests'"ell people, >6is disciples ca%e %y night and stole hi% away while we wereasleep" -v. 04. In view of the fact that the soldiers had been stationed at thesepulchre durin the liht hours of the Sabbath day -att /7'@/!@@4, theycould hardly have told the people on Saturday evenin that the disciples stoleChrist=s body %y night , when no niht had yet intervened between thebeinnin of their viil and the esurrection.

In the liht of the above considerations on the lanuae and conte+t ofatthew /H', we conclude that this passae offers no support whatsoever tothe view of a late Sabbath afternoon esurrection and visit of the wo%en tothe sepulchre. he indications sub%itted have a%ply established that the plainsense of atthew /H' is' "(fter the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of thewee)" -I4.

II. S$N'ISE TO S$N'ISE



( second possible solution to the apparent contradiction between the two ti%ereferences found in atthew /H' is suested by the possibility that atthewhere used the sunrise!to!sunrise %ethod of day rec)onin. If atthew usedthis %ethod, for which there see%s to be so%e support both in the ld andew esta%ent, then any apparent contradiction would be auto%aticallyresolved, because the end of the Sabbath would %ar) the dawnin of the firstday.

( host of scholars have for %any years arued for the e+istence in Biblicalti%es of two %ethods of rec)onin the day' one fro% sunset to sunset and theother fro% sunrise to sunrise. he data evidencin the e+istence of the two%ethods will be e+a%ined in the followin chapter. he study will show thatthe support for the sunrise!to!sunrise day rec)onin, thouh less e+plicit thanthat fro% sunset to sunset, cannot be inored.

Summar& o E%i!ece#. Five %ain types of evidences suestin thee+istence of the sunrise rec)onin in Bible ti%es are enerally presented.Each of these will be considered in the followin chapter. (t this point we shallbriefly state the%.

First, there are sacrificial laws which specify that the sacrifice %ust be eatenon the day upon which it was offered, with nothin left over until the %ornin.Such state%ents suest that the %ornin %ar)s the end of the previous dayand the beinnin of the new day.

Second, there is the &assover leislation of E+odus / which places both theslayin of the &assover la%b in the afternoon and the eatin of it durin thefollowin niht, on the 2th day of the %onth -E+ /'@, H, 3, H, 2/4, thusi%plyin a sunrise rec)onin. (ccordin to the sunset rec)onin the nihtfollowin the sacrifice of the &assover la%b was no loner the 2th buttheth day of isan -Aev /0'* u% /H'@4. In E+odus /, however, theevents of the niht followin the slayin of the &assover la%b are placed onthe 2th in accordance with the sunrise rec)onin.

hird, there are about 3 references in which the "day" is %entioned beforethe "niht," which suests a rec)onin whereby the day beins and ends atdawn. Fourth, there are several passaes in which the niht is rec)oned withthe previous day, which suests that the day ter%inated at sunrise. Aastly,there are state%ents in #osephus and the al%ud which suest a sunrise tosunrise rec)onin.



Coe)i#tece o T"o 'ec4oi+#. he study of these evidences suests,as we shall see in the ne+t chapter, that the two %ethods of day rec)onin%ay have coe+isted side by side in ew esta%ent ti%es. If that is true, andthe available indications %a)e it plausible, then atthew=s state%ent that thewo%en ca%e to see the sepulchre "in the end of the Sabbath, as it bean todawn toward the first day of the wee)" -att /H'* #4, %a)es perfect sense,because the end of the Sabbath would indeed %ar) the dawnin of the firstday of the wee).

his e+planation sheds liht also on ar)=s account of the two wo%en whowent out to buy spices to anoint Christ "when the Sabbath was past" -ar)@'4. (ccordin to the sunset!to!sunset day rec)onin, the wo%en wouldhave one out to purchase spices on Saturday niht after sunset. his %ayhave happened, but it hardly see%s true to life because in the East wo%en donot o out to %a)e purchases on Saturday niht, in the dar)ness withoutstreet la%ps, and when the shops are closed.

(ccordin to the sunrise!to!sunrise rec)onin, however, the wo%en couldeasily have one out to purchase spices early Sunday %ornin, because inthe East people are up and about their business very early, lon before %ost

(%ericans or Europeans leave ho%e for wor). hus the wo%en could easilyhave slipped into a neihbor=s shop to purchase the spices still needed.

(ccordin to Au)e, the wo%en had already started to prepare "spices andoint%ents" on Friday afternoon -Au)e /0'@4. hus, it is possible that thewo%en went out very early Sunday %ornin to buy only those %issininredients and then they went bac) ho%e to finish the %i+in, beforehastenin to the to%b. (ccordin to ar) "they went to the to%b when the sunhad risen" -ar) @'/4. hey could hardly have carried out their purpose ofanointin Christ=s body at the to%b in dar)ness. hese considerations confir%the possibility that atthew used the sunrise!to!sunrise rec)onin and are trueto the prevailin custo%s of the ti%e.

Coclu#io. he conclusion that e%eres fro% the above e+a%ination ofatthew /H'!@ is that this passae offers no support whatsoever for aSaturday afternoon esurrection. Four %ain reasons have led us to thisconclusion. First, in the ew esta%ent the ter% opse is used as anappro+i%ate ti%e reference which in atthew could si%ply %ean that thewo%en went to the sepulchre "after" the Sabbath was over and the first daywas dawnin.



Second, the word opse is used by late Gree) writers as a preposition %eanin"after." Standard Gree) le+icons and %odern translations reconie that this isthe sense in which the word is used in atthew /H'.

hird, several details of the conte+t suest that the visit of the wo%en to the

to%b could not have ta)en place late on a Sabbath afternoon on account ofprevailin Sabbath travel restrictions. Further%ore, the latter would contradictthe parallel state%ents of the other Gospels which place such a visit e+plicitly"at early dawn" -Au)e /2'* ar) @'/* #ohn /3'4.

Aastly, there is a possibility that atthew could have used the sunrise!to!sunrise rec)onin which see%s to have coe+isted side by side with thesunset!to!sunset rec)onin. In that case, the end of the Sabbath would %ar)literally the dawn of the first day of the wee) when #esus was resurrected-ar) @'14.

S$((A'3

he analysis conducted in this boo) of the three )ey ew esta%ent te+tsco%%only adduced in support of the 5ednesday!Crucifi+ionLSaturday!esurrection, has shown, it is hoped to the satisfaction of the %ost critical%inds, that these te+ts offer no probative support for such a view.

In Chapter / we have seen that the sin of #onah found in atthew /'23consists pri%arily in the Resurrection eent , rather than in the time element of

a 7/!hour ento%b%ent.

5e have established that the literal interpretation of the phrase "three daysand three nihts" is discredited by such factors as the idio%atic use of thephrase "a day and a niht" to desinate a calendrical day, whether co%pleteor inco%plete* the prevalent %ethod of inclusive day rec)onin* the identical%eanin of the two phrases "after three days" and "on the third day*" Au)e=saccount of Christ=s appearance on Sunday evenin to two disciples -Au)e/2'/4* and the Gospels= chronoloy of the &assion wee)end which leaveabsolutely no roo% for two Sabbaths to intervene between Crucifi+ion day and

esurrection day.

In Chapter 0 we have shown that "the day of &reparation of &assover"%entioned in the second )ey te+t, #ohn 1'2, was a Friday and not a5ednesday. he %ain reasons we have cited for this conclusion are' theconsistent and e+clusive use of the ter% "&reparation" to desinate Friday*the se$uence of the days as iven in the Synoptics' "&reparation, Sabbath,



first day*" the absence of any e+a%ple of &assover day bein ever desinatedsi%ply as.sa%%aton<Sabbath*" the absence of any e+a%ple of &assover dayever bein called "6ih 8ay" or "6ih Sabbath" and the presence of suche+a%ples where the wee)ly Sabbath coincided with &assover* and theabsence of any early Christian testi%ony or hint suestin the 5ednesday!Crucifi+ionLSaturday!esurrection.

In Chapter 2 we have ascertained that the visit of the wo%en to the to%b%entioned in the third te+t, atthew /H'!@, too) place not on a late Saturdayafternoon but on an early Sunday %ornin. 5e have reached this conclusionon the basis of the followin reasons' the use of the word opse in late Gree)writers as %eanin "after*" the conte+tual details which neate the possibilityof a late!Saturday!afternoon esurrection and visit to the to%b* the possibleuse by atthew of the sunrise!to!sunrise day rec)onin.

he two followin chapters are an appendi+ to the precedin study. Chapter will e+a%ine the possible coe+istence of two %ethods of day rec)onin inBible ti%es, and its i%plication for the ti%e reference of atthew /H'.Chapter @ will address the thorny $uestion of when to bein and end theSabbath in those parts of the earth where the sun sets very early, or very late,or not at all for a certain period of ti%e.

he conclusion of this investiation, then, is that the atte%pt to construct a5ednesday!Crucifi+ionLSaturday!esurrection theory on the basis of the threete+ts e+a%ined %ust be rearded as a noble yet roundless effort, because itlac)s both Biblical and historical support. he cu%ulative witness of theGospels and of history clearly supports the traditional chronoloy of theFriday!Crucifi+ion and Sunday!esurrection of Christ.

ur fervent hope is that the pole%ic over the ti%e ele%ent of Christ=sCrucifi+ion and esurrection %ay not cause so%e persons to lose siht of thefact that our Christian faith is built not on so%e esoteric )nowlede ofthe exact duration of Christ=s ento%b%ent, but rather on the certainty of thefact that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that hewas buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with thescriptures" - Cor '0!24.

NOTES ON CHAPTE' I0

. 6er%an A. 6oen, The Crucifixion Was Not on /riday -&asadena, California' (%bassador Collee, 1@H4, p. 2.



/. The Time #lement in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ , publishedby the Bible (dvocate &ress of the Church of God -Seventh 8ay4, p. 2.

0. 5illia% F. (rndt and F. 5ilbur Ginrich note in their le+icon that when"opse" is "used as an i%proper preposition with enitive, it %eans . . . after the

Sabbath att /H'" - ) Greek'#nglish Lexicon of the New Testament 9Chicao,171:, s.v. "opse"4.

2. (. . obertson, ) Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of6istorical Research -ashville, 1/04, p. @2.

. Edar #. Goodspeed, +ro%lems of New Testament Translation -Chicao,124, pp. 20, 2.

@. 5alter Bauer, ) Greek'#nglish Lexicon of the New Testament and 1ther

#arly Christian Literature -Chicao, 1714, s.v. "opse," p. @3. See also F.Blass and (. 8ebrunner, ) Greek Grammar of the New Testament and 1ther#arly Christian Literature -Chicao, 1@24, p. 1* 6enry Geore Aiddell andobert Scott, ) Greek'#nglish Lexicon -+ford, Enland, 1014, s.v. "opse,"vol. II, p. /H/.

7. 5alter Bauer, note @.

H. . C. 6. Aens)i, The Interpretation of St* (atthew5s Gospel -Colu%bus,hio, 1204, pp. 27, 2H.

1. Eduard Aohse, "Sabbaton," Theological !ictionary of the NewTestament -Grand apids, 174, vol. II, p. /3.

Chapter

THE 'EC1ONING OF THE DA3 IN BIB*E TI(ES


6ow was the day rec)oned in Biblical ti%es? 5as it fro% sunset to sunset,fro% sunrise to sunrise, or both? his $uestion has been e+a%ined by a host

of scholars in our eneration. hree %a;or views have been espoused, which

we shall briefly su%%arie below. For the sa)e of brevity the sunset!to!sunset

%ethod of day rec)onin will be denoted as "sunset rec)onin" and the other

as the "sunrise rec)onin."



TH'EE (AJO' 0IE=S

( first view e+pressed by &.#. 6eawood and J. Cassuto/ %aintains that the

sunrise rec)onin was the standard %ethod fro% creation until the beinnin

of Christianity. 6owever, J. Cassuto contends that "in reard to the festivals

and appointed ti%es, the orah 9&entateuch: ordains that they shall be

observed also on the niht of the preceding day."0

( second view upheld by S. Neitlin2 and . de au+, holds that the sunrise

rec)onin was used in con;unction with the solar calendar until the Babylonian

e+ile and the sunset rec)onin after the e+ile with the adoption of the lunar!

solar calendar. #acob N. Aauterbach differs slihtly by placin the introduction

of the sunset rec)onin later on at the beinnin of the Gree) period.@

( variation of both theories has been presented by G. Barrois,7 G. von adHand oer Bec)with,1 who %aintain that both %ethods of day rec)onin

coe+isted side by side in biblical ti%es.

Before e+pressin a ;ud%ent on the three above %entioned views, it is

necessary to review briefly the Biblical evidences enerally adduced on behalf

of the two %ethods. For a fuller treat%ent of this $uestion the reader is

referred to the various studies cited in the notes.

O/ecti%e#. he ai% of this chapter is not %erely to review the evidences

enerally %arshalled on behalf of the two %ethods of day rec)onin, but

pri%arily to establish whether indeed the sunrise rec)onin was used in

Biblical ti%es. his verification could help in clarifyin the apparent

contradiction of atthew /H' discussed in the previous chapter, as well as in

for%ulatin a criterion for deter%inin the beinnin and the end of the

Sabbath in places where the sun sets very early, very late, or not at all.

I. S$NSET TO S$NSET

he Biblical evidence for the day beinnin and endin at sunset is abundantand e+plicit. Since so %uch of the evidence is well )nown, we shall briefly

%ention only so%e outstandin e+a%ples.

The Da& o Atoemet. he classic te+t enerally cited in support of the

sunset rec)onin is Aeviticus /0'0/, where the followin instruction is iven

reardin the observance of the 8ay of (tone%ent' "It shall be to you a



sabbath of sole%n rest, and you shall afflict yourselves* on the ninth day of

the %onth beinnin at evenin, from eening to eening shall you )eep your

sabbath."

his te+t does provide the %ost e+plicit and e%phatic evidence of the Biblical

%ethod of day rec)onin "fro% evenin to evenin." hus it is not surprisin

that appeal is enerally %ade to this te+t to prove the Biblical principle of

Sabbath)eepin fro% sunset to sunset. Such a use is perfectly leiti%ate. wo

i%portant points, however, should be noted reardin this te+t.

First, the law in this te+t reards not the observance of the seventh day

Sabbath as such, but of the 8ay of (tone%ent. 5hile both festivals were

undoubtedly observed "fro% evenin to evenin," the %anner of their

observance was radically different. he 8ay of (tone%ent was a day of

penance and fastin -"you shall afflict yourselves"<Aev /0'0/4, whereas theSabbath was a day of deliht and celebration -Is H'0!24.

A Deiitio o the Teth Da&. Second, Aeviticus /0'0/ is the concludin

state%ent of instructions iven fro% verses /7 to 0/ on how the 8ay of

(tone%ent was to be observed "on the tenth day of the seventh %onth" -v.

/74. erse 0/, however, e+plains that this day is to be observed as "a sabbath

of sole%n rest . . . on the ninth day of the %onth beinnin at evenin fro%

evenin to evenin."

his last verse poses a proble% because it chanes the date of the 8ay of

(tone%ent fro% .the tenth day. -v. /74 to .the ninth day*. his chane has led

Solo%on Neitlin to conclude that the fastin of the 8ay of (tone%ent lasted

two days, the 1th and 3th of ishri.3 his e+planation is unacceptable,

however, because several te+ts spea) of the 8ay of (tone%ent as bein

e+clusively "one day," na%ely, the 3th of ishri -E+ 03'3* Aev @'/1* /'1,

u% /1'7!4.

The 'ea#o or the Deiitio. he plausible e+planation is that verse 0/

does not intend to chane the date of the 8ay of (tone%ent fro% the 3th tothe 1th day of the %onth, but rather, as #ac) Finean rihtly e+plains, to

"si%ply define what the tenth day of the %onth was at a ti%e when they day

had co%e to be rec)oned as beinnin in the evenin' the tenth day of the

%onth is the day which beins on the evenin of the ninth and continues until

the followin evenin."



his clarification was apparently needed because, as Finean points out, "in

%a)in the shift fro% a %ornin rec)onin to an evenin rec)onin, the >day=

was in fact %oved bac) so that it bean a half day earlier than had been the

case previously."/ o avoid any %isunderstandin, the verse e+plains with

ut%ost precission that the tenth day, accordin to the sunset rec)onin, bean"on the ninth day of the %onth beinnin at evenin" and it was to be )ept

"fro% evenin to evenin" -Aev /0'0/4.

he conclusion, then, is that Aeviticus /0'0/ does provide e+plicit evidence for

the sunset rec)onin, but it also suests<by anticipatin the beinnin of

the 3th day to the evenin of the 1th<that the sunrise rec)onin was also

apparently in use.

The Shutti+ o the Gate#. (nother noteworthy e+a%ple of sunset rec)onin

in the ld esta%ent is found in ehe%iah 0'1, which reads' "5hen itbean to be dar) at the ates of #erusale% before the sabbath, I co%%anded

that the doors should be shut and ave orders that they should not be opened

until after the Sabbath."

he shuttin of the ates on Friday evenin does not re$uire per se a sunset

rec)onin, since they were routinely shut every niht. he verse, however,

contains a sinificant e%phasis, na%ely, that ehe%iah co%%anded the

doors to be shut .when it %egan to %e dark*. 5hat this presu%ably %eans is

that ehe%iah ordered the ates to be closed on Friday earlier than usual.

he ates were enerally closed when it was co%pletely dar). his is

evidenced by the story of the two spies who entered #ericho in the evenin

and who, accordin to ahab=s response to the )in=s uards, left "when the

ate was to be closed, at dark " -#oshua /'4. Contrary to the prevailin

custo% of closin the ates when it was co%pletely dar), ehe%iah ordered

the ates to be closed "when it bean to be dar) -salal 4," that is, at the

beinnin of dus).

he obvious reason for anticipatin the shuttin of the ates is the fact that, asnoted by 6. . Stroes, "the sabbath was drawin near -with the eveninM4.

his te+t see%s to %e an al%ost conclusive indication that the sabbath, at

least post!e+ile, bean in the evenin."0

E%ei+ Beore (ori+. he sunset rec)onin is suested also by two

te+ts where the evenin is %entioned before the %ornin. In the Bible the



%ornin is enerally %entioned before the evenin, because this is the order

in which they ca%e in the wa)in and wor)in day. In the law of the continual

burnt offerin, for e+a%ple, the %ornin sacrifice is %entioned before the

evenin sacrifice -E+ /1'01!24, obviously because the for%er %ar)ed the

beinnin of the daily priestly %inistration at the tabernacle.

(n e+ception to the %ornin!evenin se$uence is found in 8aniel H'2, /@,

where the interruption of the continual burnt offerin is said to e+tend to "/033

evenins and %ornins." (nother e+ception is found in &sal% '7, where

they psal%ist says that he will utter his prayer "evenin and %ornin and at

noon." In both instances the order is irreular and see%s to suest the hour

of the evenin sacrifice and prayer, that is, sunset ti%e when the new day

bean.

Ni+ht Beore Da&. (nother indication of sunset rec)onin can be seen inthose passaes where the "niht" is %entioned before the "day." his

se$uence is less fre$uent in the ld esta%ent than the se$uence in which

the "day" is %entioned before the "niht."

he niht!day se$uence does, however, occur. Esther, for e+a%ple, sent word

to ordecai to tell the #ews to "neither eat nor drin) for three days, niht or

day" -Esther 2'@4. Si%ilarly Solo%on prayed at the dedication of the e%ple

that God=s "eyes %ay be open niht and day toward this house" - ins

H'/14.2

In the ew esta%ent e+a%ples such as these are %ore nu%erous and %ore

widely distributed. Since in %ost instances there is no conte+tual reason

why the niht should be %entioned before the day, it see%s fair to assu%e

that the order suests a rec)onin where the day beins and ends at

nihtfall.

Ceremoial $cleae##. he sunset rec)onin is i%plied also in the %any

passaes of the osaic Aaw where the cere%onial uncleanness ter%inates at

evenin. For e+a%ple, Aeviticus //'2!7 states that "whoever touches anythinthat is unclean throuh contact with the dead ... shall be unclean until the

evenin ... when the sun is down he shall be clean."

he reason for ter%inatin the period of uncleanness at sunset could hardly

have been because of reluctance to e+clude anyone fro% ca%p at niht, since

in so%e cases uncleanness lasted seven or %ore days -u% 1'14. he fact



that even in the latter cases the uncleanliness ends at sunset, suests that

the day ter%inated at sunset.

Su!o" Heali+#. &erhaps the %ost e+plicit evidence of the widespread

use of the sunset rec)onin at the ti%e of Christ is provided by the fact that

the people of Capernau% waited on the Sabbath until sunset to brin their

sic) persons to #esus. Au)e writes' "ow when the sun was settin, all those

who had any that were sic) with various diseases brouht the% to hi%* and he

laid his hands on every one of the% and healed the%" -Au)e 2'23* cf. ar)

'0/4.

he fact that people would wait for the end of the Sabbath at the settin of the

sun to brin their sic) persons to Christ provides un%ista)able evidence thatthe co%%on people rec)oned the Sabbath fro% sunset to sunset.

#ohn corroborates the use of the sunset rec)onin when he writes, "ow on

the first day of the wee) ary adalene ca%e to the to%b early, while it was

still dar)" -#ohn /3'4. he fact that #ohn spea)s of the first day when referrin

to the dar) hours before sunrise, clearly indicates that he is rec)onin the day

fro% sunset, or less probably, fro% %idniht, accordin to the official o%an

rec)onin. In either case, the sunrise rec)onin is to be e+cluded.

Jo#ephu# Te#timo&. #osephus offers e+plicit evidence of the prevailin

sunset rec)onin in ew esta%ent ti%es when he describes how one of the

priests stood on an elevated place in #erusale%, called &astophoria, and

"ave a sinal beforehand, with a tru%pet, at the beinnin of every seventh

day, in the evenin twiliht, as also at the evenin when the day was finished,

as ivin notice to the people when they were to leave off wor), and when

they were to o to wor) aain."@ In this state%ent #osephus e+plains with

re%ar)able clarity how the Sabbath bean and ended in the evenin with

priest=s blowin of a tru%pet.

he evidences sub%itted above %a)e it abundantly clear that the sunset

rec)onin was widely used in Bible ti%es. he $uestion we wish to investiate

in the second part of this chapter is whether the sunrise rec)onin was also

used, thouh perhaps less widely, side by side with the sunset rec)onin.

II. S$N'ISE TO S$N'ISE



he evidence for a sunrise rec)onin in Bible ti%es is not as e+plicit and

abundant as that for the sunset rec)onin, yet it cannot be inored. he

evidence can be rouped in four different cateories, each of which we shall

briefly e+a%ine.

Tha4#+i%i+ Oeri+. ne type of evidence for the sunrise rec)onin is

found in the laws reardin the than)sivin and votive offerins. he for%er

law prescribes that "the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerin for

than)sivin shall be eaten on the day of his offerin* he shall not leave any of

it until the %ornin" -Aev 7'4.

he sa%e law is repeated even %ore e+plicitly in Aeviticus //'/1!03' "5hen

you sacrifice a sacrifice of than)sivin to the Aord ... it shall be eaten on the

sa%e day, you shall leave none of it until %ornin." he insistence of the

eatin of the sacrifice "on the sa%e day" before the arrival of the "%ornin,"i%plies that the ne+t %ornin %ar)ed the beinnin of the ne+t day. his

suests that the day bean in the %ornin, because, as oland de au+

points out, "had the day beun in the evenin the wordin would have ordered

the %eat to be eaten before the evenin."7

his conclusion see%s supported also by the leislation reardin the votive

offerin iven i%%ediately after that of the than)sivin offerin. he law

says' "But if the sacrifice of his offerin is a votive offerin or a freewill offerin

it shall be eaten on the day he offers sacrifice, and on the %orrow whatre%ains of it shall be eaten" -Aev 7'@4. In this case the flesh of the sacrifice

could be eaten both on the day of the sacrifice and "on the %orrow." By virtue

of the parallelis% with the precedin law, the "%orrow" %ust bein in the

%ornin.

5hat the two laws are sayin is that while the flesh of the than)sivin

sacrifice was to be eaten only on the sa%e day the sacrifice was %ade, that

is, until the %ornin when the new day bean, the flesh of the votive sacrifice

could be eaten also "on the %orrow," that is, after the %ornin which %ar)ed

the end of the day in which the sacrifice was %ade. Both laws, then, suest

that the %ornin %ar)ed the end of a day and the beinnin of a new day.

Pa##o%er *e+i#latio. ( second type of evidence supportin the sunrise

rec)onin see%s i%plied also in the &assover leislation of E+odus /. he

law prescribes that the &aschal la%b %ust be slauhtered on the "fourteenth



day of this %onth ... in the evenin" -v. @4 and %ust be eaten "that niht" -v. H4

with "unleavened bread and bitter herbs" -v. H4, leavin none of it "until the

%ornin" -v. 34. Aater in the sa%e chapter the niht durin which the

&assover la%b was eaten with unleavened bread is e+plicitly desinated as

"the fourteenth day of the %onth" -v. H4.

5hat this %eans is that in E+odus / both the slayin of the &assover la%b,

which too) place "between the two evenins" -E+ /'@< that is to say, as

#osephus e+plains, between three and five o=cloc) in the afternoon4,H and

the eatin of the la%b with unleavened bread, which too) place on the

followin niht, are placed on the sa%e fourteenth day of the %onth.

his ti%e reference cannot be har%onied with the sunset rec)onin,

accordin to which the niht followin the sacrifice of the &assover was not

the 2th but the th day of isan. In fact, in several passaes which reflectthe sunset rec)onin, the beinnin of the feast of unleavened bread is

e+plicitly placed "on the fifteenth day" -Aev /0'* u% /H'@4.

(ccordin to the sunrise rec)onin, however, both the slayin of the la%b and

the eatin of it with unleavened bread would ta)e place on the 2th day,

because the niht followin the slayin of the la%b would still be the 2th day

until sunrise. his %ethod, then, see%s to be i%plied in E+odus /, because,

spea)in of "the fourteenth day of the %onth" it e+plicitly says' "(nd you shall

observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brouht yourhosts out of the land of Eypt" -v.7* cf. vv. H, 2/, 4.

#acob N. Aauterbach rihtly observes that "if they ca%e out at niht, that is the

niht followin the fourteenth day, and it is said on the very sa%e day, that is

on the fourteenth day, they were brouht out, it clearly indicates that the niht

followin the fourteenth day is still part of that day."1

he foreoin considerations suest that in E+odus / the sunrise rec)onin

is used, since the events of the niht followin the slayin of the &assover

Aa%b, na%ely, the eatin of the la%b with unleavened bread and thedeparture fro% Eypt, are both placed on the sa%e 2th day. Elsewhere these

events are e+plicitly placed "on the fifteenth day of the first %onth" -u% 00'0*

cf. /H'7* Aev /0'4, thus indicatin the use of the sunset rec)onin.

Pa##o%er i (ar4. he sunrise rec)onin of the &assover found in E+odus

/ see%s reflected also in ar) 2'/ -cf. att /@'@4 where the slayin of



the &assover la%b and the feast of Jnleavened Bread are both placed on the

sa%e day' "n the first day of Jnleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the

passover la%b" -v. /4. his state%ent suests a sunrise rec)onin,

accordin to which, as #ac) Finean e+plains, "the day when the passover

la%b was slain and the day when the unleavened bread was eaten wereindeed the sa%e day, as ar) 2'/ states."/3

So%e co%%entators e+plain ar)=s identification of "the first day of

Jnleavened Bread" with the day "when they sacrificed the passover la%b" as

a loose te%poral desination, because technically, accordin to the sunset

rec)onin, the two events occurred on two consecutive days.

o support this e+planation, appeal is %ade to the state%ent of #osephus=

which says' "5e )eep a feast for eiht days, which is called the feast of

unleaened %read*=/ he reasonin is that ar), li)e #osephus, rec)onedthe two feasts toether as beinnin on the 2th day of isan, presu%ably

because the 2th day was seen as the beinnin of the feast of Jnleavened

Bread, because on that day all leaven was re%oved fro% the house in

preparation for the feast itself.

5hile it is true that #osephus spea)s loosely of the feast of Jnleavened Bread

as lastin eiht days, presu%ably because he includes the search and

re%oval of leaven which too) place on the 2th day, he clearly differentiates

between the two feasts when he describes the ti%e of their celebration. 6ewrites' "on the fourteenth day of the lunar %onth . . . the law ordained that we

should every year slay that sacrifice which . . . was called &assover . . . he

feast of Jnleavened Bread succeeds that of the &assover, and falls on the

fifteenth day of the %onth, and continues seven days."//

In view of the e+istin distinction between the two days on which the two

feasts bean, the datin of the% on the sa%e day found in ar) 2'/

suests the possible use of the sunrise rec)onin.

?Da&? (etioe! Beore ?Ni+ht.? ( third type of evidence for the sunriserec)onin is suested by the %ention of "day" before "niht" which occurs in

appro+i%ately 3 references./0 For e+a%ple, spea)in of the #ews who were

plottin to )ill &aul, (cts 1'/2 says' "hey were watchin the ates day and

niht, to )ill hi%." Si%ilarly, Au)e H'7 says' "(nd will not God vindicate his

elect, who cry to hi% day and niht?" he sa%e order occurs in evelation



/'3 where it spea)s of Satan "who accuses the% 9the saints: day and niht

before our God."

bviously the order in which "day and niht" are iven is not necessarily

indicative of sunrise rec)onin, because the conte+t %ay supply a reason why

the day is %entioned before the niht. o conte+tual reason, however, can be

detected in e+a%ples such as those iven above. It would thus see%

plausible to conclude that this order is suested by the fact that the day was

seen as beinnin with sunrise. It %ust be added that the reverse order

occurs also, thouh less fre$uently. his %ay suest the possible

coe+istence of two %ethods of day rec)onin' sunrise to sunrise and sunset to

sunset.

Ni+ht 'ec4oe! "ith Pre%iou# Da&. ( fourth type of evidence suestin a

sunrise rec)onin is provided by those passaes in which the niht isrec)oned with the previous day. In Sa%uel 1', for e+a%ple, ichal warns

her husband 8avid, after Saul=s %esseners surrounded their house, sayin'

"If you do not save your life toniht, to%orrow you will be )illed" -cf. Sa%

/H'H, 1, /4. he fact that at niht ichal referred to the ne+t %ornin as

"to%orrow" clearly suests that the new day bean in the %ornin.

In Genesis 1'02, the older dauhter of Aot, after sleepin with her father

durin the niht, says to her sister "on the ne+t day . . . >Behold, I lay last niht

with %y father* let us %a)e hi% drin) wine toniht also* then you o in and liewith hi%= . . . " 6ere, too, the new day see%s to bein with the ne+t %ornin

because the niht is rec)oned with the precedin day.

In the story of the Aevite of Ephrai% we are told that he stayed four days with

his father!in!law. n the fifth day the father!in!law says to hi%' "Behold, now

the day has waned toward evenin* pray tarry all niht . . . and to%orrow you

shall arise early in the %ornin for your ;ourney, and o ho%e" -#udes 1'14.

he fact that the %ornin followin the niht is referred to as "to%orrow"

suests that the new day here beins at sunrise.

(nother e+a%ple is provided by the story of the atherin of the $uails.

u%bers '0/, says' "(nd the people rose all that day, and all niht, and all

the ne+t day, and athered the $uails." his passae is less decisive because

the e+pression "the ne+t day" could si%ply %ean "the ne+t dayti%e," since in



6ebrew the ter% "day<yom" is used also to desinate dayti%e as distinct

fro% nihtti%e -Gen '4.

ther e+a%ples occur in the ew esta%ent. ar) ', for e+a%ple, states

that #esus "entered #erusale% and went into the te%ple* and when he had

loo)ed round at everythin, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with

the twelve." erse / continues the narrative by tellin the "on the followin

day" #esus returned fro% Bethany to #erusale%. It would see% that here the

new day has beun with the %ornin followin the precedin evenin.

(cts 2'0 spea)s of &eter and #ohn bein arrested and put "in custody until the

%orrow, for it was already evenin." In (cts /0'0/ the soldiers who %arched

throuh the niht to brin &aul to (ntipatris "on the %orrow they returned to

the barrac)s, leavin the horse%en to o on with hi%." In both instances, the

niht belons to the precedin day, suestin that the day bean and endedat daybrea).

Fir#t Da& at Suri#e. he day appears to bein at sunrise also in ar) @'/

which says' "(nd very early on the first day of the wee) they 9the two arys:

went to the to%b when the sun had risen." (ccordin to the sunset rec)onin

the "very early" part of the first day of the wee) would be the hours

i%%ediately followin the end of the Sabbath at sunset<what we would call

Saturday niht. ar), however, ta)es pains to e+plain what he %eans by "very

early on the first day of the wee)," na%ely, not the early hours of the nihti%%ediately followin the close of the Sabbath at sunset, but "when the sun

had risen."

ar) repeatedly throuhout his Gospel defines his ti%e references by a

$ualifyin clause -see, '0/, 0* 2'0* 0'/2* 2'03* '2/4 to be sure to be

understood by his Gentile readers. In this instance he %ust have felt that a

clarification was needed because a%on his Gentile readers there were

different syste%s of day rec)onin.

&liny concisely su%s up the different %ethods of day rec)onin e+istin inew esta%ent ti%es, sayin' "he Babylonians count the period between

two sunrises, the (thenians that between two sunsets, the J%brians fro%

%idday to %idday, the co%%on people everywhere fro% dawn to dar), the

o%an priests and the authorities who fi+ed the official day, and also the

Eyptians and 6ipparchus, the period fro% %idniht to %idniht."./2



In the liht of these various ways of rec)onin the day a%on different people,

ar) saw the need to clarify what he %eant by "very early on the first day of

the wee)," na%ely, "when the sun had risen." his ti%e reference

presupposes a sunrise rec)onin because accordin to the sunset rec)onin,

by the ti%e the sun had risen it was the %iddle and not the early part of thefirst day.

0ariou# 0ie"# o Suri#e 'ec4oi+. n the basis of the evidence

presented above, nu%erous scholars have arued for the e+istence in Bible

ti%es of a sunrise %ethod of day rec)onin. uch of the discussion has

centered not on the fact of the e+istence of such a %ethod but rather on the

period of ti%e durin which the sunrise rec)onin was used.

he three %a;or views which have been espoused have already been

su%%aried at the beinnin of this chapter. Briefly stated, the first viewplaces the chane fro% the sunrise to the sunset rec)onin at the beinnin

of Christianity. he second view sets the chane earlier, that is, either by the

ti%e of the Babylonian e+ile or at the beinnin of the Gree) period. he third

view holds that both %ethods e+isted side by side durin Bible ti%e.

his last view appears the %ost plausible because, as we have seen,

indications for both rec)onins are scattered throuhout the ld and ew

esta%ents. It %ust be said that the sunset rec)onin has been found to be

%ore clearly and e+tensively attested than the sunrise rec)onin. Ket theevidence for the sunrise rec)onin is sinificant and cannot be inored. hus

it would appear that the sunrise rec)onin coe+isted side by side with the

sunset rec)onin, thouh its usae was %ore li%ited.

III. COE>ISTENCE OF T=O 'EC1ONINGS

he coe+istence of two %ethods of day rec)onin in ew esta%ent ti%es

can be found in the writins of #osephus. 5e noted earlier how #osephus

e+plains with re%ar)able clarity how the Sabbath bean and ended at sunset

with a priest=s blowin of a tru%pet.

In other passaes, however, #osephus see%s to be usin the sunrise

rec)onin. hese passaes provide a fifth type of evidence for the sunrise

rec)onin which, as we shall see, see%s supported also by al%udic

state%ents.



Jo#ephu# 'ec4oi+ o the Pa##o%er. In e+plainin the law concernin the

&assover celebration #osephus writes' "n the fourteenth day of the lunar

%onth ... the law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice which I

before told you we slew when we ca%e out of Eypt, and which was

called +assoer * and so do we celebrate this passover in co%panies, leavinnothin of what we sacrifice till the day following ."/

In this passae the fourteenth day of the %onth on which the &aschal la%b

was sacrificed between 0'33 to @'33 p.%. -Aev /0'4, e+tends throuh the

niht durin which the la%b was eaten in co%panies and ends in the %ornin

when for #osephus the fifteenth day bean.

5hile accordin to the sunset rec)onin -see Aev /0'!@* u% /H'@, 74, the

la%b was sacrificed in the afternoon of isan 2 and eaten durin the niht of

isan , because the new day bean in the evenin, accordin to #osephus,both the sacrificin and the eatin of the &assover la%b too) place in isan

2, presu%ably because the new day bean in the %ornin.

Jo#ephu# Di%i!i+ *ie. It is noteworthy that the Biblical in;unction "let none

of it re%ain until the morning " -E+ /'34,/@ is rendered by #osephus as "till

the day following-" which clearly suests that the %ornin %ar)s the

beinnin of the new day. his conclusion is substantiated by the very ne+t

state%ent which says' "he feast of unleavened bread succeeds that of the

passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the %onth."/7 In this passae#osephus places the beinnin of the feast of Jnleavened Bread i%%ediately

after the %ornin which %ar)s the end of the 2th day, and the beinnin of

the th day.

"It is hardly conceivable," rihtly observed oer . Bec)with, "that #osephus

was inorant of the fact that, accordin to the &entateuch, the dividin line

between the &assover and the feast of Jnleavened Bread, and between the

seven days of the latter, falls in the evenin" -E+ /'H, H* Aev /0'!@4./H he

fact that #osephus places the dividin line between the &assover and the

feast of Jnleavened Bread in the %ornin rather than in the evenin stronly

suests that he is usin the sunrise rec)onin.

(nother e+a%ple occurs in the followin pararaph, where #osephus, in

e+plainin the sacrifices offered by the priests on the day of &entecost, writes'

"hey brin two la%bs* and when they have only presented the% to God, they



are %ade ready for supper for the priests* nor is it per%itted to leave anythin

of the% till the day following ."/1 6ere aain the followin %ornin is referred

to as "the day followin" which suests that the new day bean in the

%ornin.

The 'eplacemet o the Sho"/rea!. he sunrise rec)onin is possibly

i%plied also in the ne+t pararaph where #osephus e+plains how the priests

prepared the loaves of showbread on Friday and placed the% in the e%ple

before the Aord on Sabbath %ornin. 6e writes' "hey were ba)ed the day

before the Sabbath, but were brouht into the holy place on the %ornin of the

Sabbath, and set upon the holy table."03

he practice of replacin the showbread on Sabbath %ornin was presu%ably

introduced at a later period of #ewish history, because we read in Sa%uel

/'@ that (hi%elech the priest ave to 8avid "the holy bread, for there was nobread there by the bread of the &resence, which is re%oved fro% before the

Aord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is ta)en away."

he replace%ent of the showbread with "hot %read " could hardly have been

done on Sabbath %ornin but presu%ably on Friday afternoon in con;unction

with the beinnin of the Sabbath. his conclusion is re$uired by two facts.

First, it is hard to believe that the priests would ba)e bread on Sabbath

%ornin, since, as #osephus points out, all the ba)in was done "the day

before the Sabbath." Second, 8avid and his %en could hardly have traveledon a Sabbath day all the way to ob where (hi%elech lived.

hese considerations lead us to conclude that while at the ti%e of 8avid the

showbread was replaced by "hot bread" on Friday afternoon before the

beinnin of the Sabbath, at the ti%e of #osephus, however, the loaves of

showbread "were ba)ed the day before the Sabbath, but were brouht into the

holy place on the %ornin of the Sabbath."0 he shift in ti%e fro% Friday

afternoon to Sabbath %ornin %ay reflect the adoption of a sunrise rec)onin

in e%ple services, accordin to which Sabbath rituals would bein on

Sabbath %ornin rather than on Friday afternoon.

Temple 'ec4oi+. he use of a sunrise rec)onin in e%ple rituals i%plied

in #osephus= state%ents is supported by so%e al%udic passaes. #acob N.

Aauterbach e+plains that "the older syste% 9sunrise to sunrise: continued all

throuh the ti%e of the e+istence of the second e%ple, and there the day



was rec)oned fro% %ornin to %ornin, or as the al%ud puts it >in sacrificial

%atters the niht follows rather than precedes the day.="0/ he latter

state%ent fro% the al%ud "si%ply %eans," writes Aauterbach, "that in the

sanctuary the conservative priests persistently held on to the older practice

9sunrise rec)onin: thouh in all other spheres of life it had been abolished orchaned."00

Aauterbach continues pointin out that "accordin to the al%ud -p. ed. H'

923d: even a%on the co%%on people the older syste% continued and in

popular lanuae the day included the followin and not the precedin

niht."02 6e %entions also so%e #ewish sects a%on which the sunrise

rec)onin "continued and the Sabbath was observed fro% Saturday %ornin

to Sunday %ornin."0

A E)plaatio or (atthe" 2568. he foreoin evidence for the sunriserec)onin provides a plausible e+planation for the apparent contradiction

present in the ti%e references of atthew /H'. If atthew, li)e #osephus,

so%eti%es used the sunrise to sunrise rec)onin, then his state%ent that the

two arys ca%e to see the sepulchre "in the end of the sabbath, as it bean

to dawn toward the first day of the wee)" -att /H'* #4, %a)es perfect

sense, because the end of the Sabbath would indeed %ar) the dawnin of the

first day of the wee).

Scholarl& Support. ( nu%ber of scholars have arued in favor of thise+planation. #ulian orenstern writes reardin atthew /H'' "here it is

e+plicitly stated that ary adalene and the other ary ca%e to the to%b of

#esus late on the Sabbath day, ;ust as it bean to dawn toward the first day of

the wee). Inas%uch as these last %o%ents of the niht, ;ust precedin the

dawn are called >late on the Sabbath day,= and the first day of the wee) does

not bein until dawn, it is %anifest that the day is still rec)oned here fro%

dawn to dawn."0@

oer . Bec)with also concludes that atthew /H' %ay provide "an e+plicit

endorse%ent" of the sunrise rec)onin. 6e writes' "(ccordin to one

interpretation, the verse states that the wo%en ca%e to the Aord=s to%b >late

on the Sabbath day, as it bean to dawn toward the first day of the wee).= If

this is riht -and opse with the enitive certainly can %ean >late on ...=4, what

#osephus says i%plicitly of the &assover is here said e+plicitly of the Sabbath,

that it ends at daybrea)."07



Bec)with, however, also finds indications in atthew for the sunset rec)onin,

and thus he concludes by suestin the possibility that "the two rec)onins

were not in rivalry with each other, but could co!e+ist har%oniously within the

%ind of a sinle writer." 0H his conclusion is corroborated by the indications

for the two rec)onins which we have found scattered throuhout the Bible.

'ea#o# or the Coe)i#tece o T"o 'ec4oi+#.So%e %ay wonder, how

two %ethods of day rec)onin could coe+ist har%oniously at the sa%e ti%e

and within the %ind of a sinle writer. he astonish%ent is lessened when one

considers two facts. First, in a society where the sun is the %a;or point of

reference to %easure the beinnin and endin of the day, sunrise is ;ust as

ood as sunset to %ar) the division of the day.

Second, as oer Bec)with aptly e+plains, "since the reater part of the niht

is consu%ed in sleep, for %ost practical purposes, it %a)es little differencewhether the niht is rec)oned with the period of dayliht precedin or with the

followin."01 he choice between the two %ay well have been influenced by

the events bein reported.

#osephus, for e+a%ple, when he describes how the beinnin and the endin

of the Sabbath was announced throuh a priest=s blowin of a tru%pet "in the

evenin twiliht," would naturally thin) of the "evenin" as the beinnin and

endin of the Sabbath. 6owever, when he spea)s of the &assover whose

%ain event occurred durin the niht with the eatin of the la%b, it would benatural for hi% to thin) of the followin %ornin as %ar)in the beinnin of

the new day, especially since the la%b inti%ately connected the niht to the

precedin day durin which its slayin and preparation too) place.

he inti%ate connection between the sacrificin and eatin of the la%b %ay

also e+plain why the beinnin of the feast of Jnleavened Bread, which

started on &assover niht with the eatin of the la%b with unleavened bread,

is placed "on the fourteenth day of the %onth" in E+odus /', H and "on

the fifteenth day of the %onth" in Aeviticus /0'@.

In the for%er the niht is seen as belonin to the precedin day accordin to

the sunrise to sunrise rec)onin, because the e%phasis is on the events of

&assover niht which bean the precedin afternoon -E+ /'@!H4* in the

latter the niht is viewed as belonin to the new day accordin to the sunset



rec)onin, because the e%phasis is on the events of the seven days followin

&assover -Aev /0'@!H4.

By the sa%e to)en, atthew could thin) of the day as endin at sunrise when

relatin events which occurred at early dawn -att /H'4, and as endin at

sunset when reportin events which too) place on a late afternoon or evenin

-att H'@* 2'4.

Coclu#io. he investiation conducted in this chapter on the %ethod of day

rec)onin in Bible ti%es suests that two %ethods of day rec)onins,

na%ely, sunset to sunset and sunrise to sunrise, coe+isted har%oniously.

5e have found that the indications for the sunset rec)onin are %ore

abundant and e+plicit than those for the sunrise rec)onin. 5e have

suested that the choice of one %ethod over the other could have beeninfluenced by whether the events bein reported occurred durin the day or

durin the niht.

he possible coe+istence of the sunset and sunrise %ethods of day rec)onin

offers a plausible e+planation for the apparent contradiction found in atthew

/H'. If atthew was usin the sunrise rec)onin because he was reportin

events which occurred at early dawn, then his state%ent that the two arys

ca%e to the to%b "in the end of the sabbath, as it bean to dawn toward the

first day of the wee)" -#4, %a)es perfect sense because the end of theSabbath would coincide with the dawnin of the first day of the wee).

n the other hand, we have shown in chapter 2 that even if atthew used the

sunset rec)onin consistently, it is not necessary to place the esurrection

and the visit of the wo%en to the sepulchre on Saturday afternoon, in order to

do ;ustice to atthew /H', since the ter% opse is used in the ew esta%ent

and in conte%porary Gree) literature as %eanin not only "late" but also

"after." hus the translation of the S and of %ost %odern translations -"ow

after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the wee)"4, is correct and

defensible.

he possible coe+istence in Bible ti%es of the sunset and sunrise %ethods of

day rec)onin has sinificant i%plications for the ti%e to bein and end the

Sabbath today. his vital $uestion re%ains to be e+a%ined in the followin

chapter.



NOTES ON CHAPTE' 0

. &. #. 6eawood, "he Beinnin of the #ewish 8ay," The "ewish 4uarterly

Reiew 0@ -(pril 124'010!23.

/. J. Cassuto, Commentary on Genesis -ew Kor), 1@4, co%%ent on

Genesis '.

0. Loc* cit*

2. Solo%on Neitlin, "he Beinnin of the #ewish 8ay 8urin the Second

Co%%onwealth," The "ewish 4uarterly Reiew 0@ -(pril 124'230!22.

. oland de au+, )ncient Israel7 Its Life and Institutions, trans. by #ohn

chuh -Aondon, 1@4, pp. H3!H0.

@. #acob N. Aauterbac), Ra%%inic #ssays -Cincinnati, 14, p. 22H.

7. G. Barrois, (anuel d5)rch8ologie $i%li9ue- ol. / -&aris, 104, pp. H0f.

H. G. von ad, "hemera," Theological !ictionary of the New Testament -Grand

apids, 1724, ol. II, p. 120, where he says' "accordin to the cultus it

officially bean in the evenin -E+ /'H* Aev /0'0/4." he i%plication is that

there was also an unofficial %ethod of day rec)onin.

1. oer . Bec)with, "he 8ay, Its 8ivisions, and its Ai%its, in Biblical

houht," The #angelical 4uarterly , 20 -ctober!8ece%ber 174'//@.

3. Solo%on Neitlin -n. 24, p. 232.

. #ac) Finean, 6and%ook of $i%lical Chronology -&rinceton, 1@24, p. 0.

/. Loc* cit*

0. 6. . Stroes, "8oes the 8ay Bein in the Evenin or ornin?" 0etusTestamentus @ -1@@4'23.

2. ther e+a%ples are found in 8eut '00* /H'@@* Sa% /'@* &s 1'* Is

/7'0* 02'3* #er 2'7.



. See ar) 2'/7* '* Au)e /'07* (cts /3'0* /@'7* / Cor '/* hess /'1*

0'3* / hess 0'H* i% '* / i% '0.

@. #osephus, War of the "ews 2, 1, /, in "osephus Complete Works, trans.

5illia% 5histon -Grand apids, 1724, p. 20. See also )nti9uities of the

"ews @, @, /.

7. oland de au+ -n. 4, p. H7. See also #ulian orenstern, "he sources

of the Creation Story!Genesis '</!2," The )merican "ournal of Semitic

Languages and Literatures- 0@ -(pril 1/34'7@* and #acob N. Aauterbac) -n.

@4, p. 227.

H. #osephus, War of the "ews @, 1, 0.

1. #acob N. Aauterbac) -n. @4, p. 227.

/3. #ac) Finean -n. 4, p. /13.

/. #osephus, )nti9uities of the "ews /, , 7 -n. @4, p. @/.

//. #osephus, )nti9uities of the "ews 0, 3, -n. @4, p. 71.

/0. See, for e+a%ple, Gen '2, @, H* H'//* 0'23* u% 2'2* / Sa%

/'3* in H'1* Chron 1'00* eh '@* 2'1* 1'/, 1* &s //'/* 2/'0,H*

'3* 72'@* HH'* 0@'7!1* Is /H'1* 0H'/* @3'* @/'@* #er 1'* @'0*0'0* 00'03, /* 0@'03* Aa% /'H* Au)e H'7* ev 2'H* 7'* H'/* 2'*

/3'3.

/2. &liny, Natural 6istory /, 71, HH, cited in #ac) Finean -n. 4, p. H.

/. #osephus, )nti9uities of the "ews 0, 3, -n. @4, p. 71. E%phasis

supplied.

/@. E%phasis supplied. See also E+ 02'/* 8eut @'2.

/7. Loc* cit*

/H. oer . Bec)with -n. 14, p. //.

/1. #osephus, )nti9uities of the "ews 0, 3, @ -n. @4, p. H3.



03. #osephus, )nti9uities of the "ews 0, 3, 7 -n. @4, p. H3.

0. Loc* cit*

0/. #acob N. Aauterbac) -n. @4, p. 221. he reference fro% the al%ud

is 6ul* H0a.

00. I%id*- p. 221, n. H.

02. I%id*- pp. 221!23, n. 1.

0. I%id*- p. 23.

0@. #ulian orenstern -n. 74, p. 7H. See also #acob N. Aauterbac) -n. @4, p.

23.

07. oer . Bec)with -n. 14, p. //.

0H. I%id*- p. //@.

01. Loc* cit*

Chapter 9

THE 'EC1ONING OF THE SABBATH TODA3


5hat is the ti%e for beinnin and endin the Sabbath today? his is not

%erely an acade%ic $uestion for scholars to debate, but a practical one

relevant to %any Christians who believe in the validity and value of the

principle of seventh!day Sabbath)eepin for today. he proble% of when to

bein and to end the observance of the Sabbath is particularly acute in those

parts of the world where it is difficult, if not i%possible, to observe the Sabbath

accordin to the sunset rec)onin, because in these places the sun rises orsets very early or very late or not at all durin certain periods of the year.

O/ecti%e#. he $uestion of when to bein and end the observance of the

Sabbath was e+a%ined at reat lenth by the early (dventist believers. he

ai% of this chapter is first to su%%arie briefly the positions they adopted,

since these provide a valuable historical perspective in discussin Sabbath



rec)onin today. Second, this chapter atte%pts to suest a uideline for

Sabbath rec)onin in those parts of the earth where sunset rec)onin is

difficult and so%eti%es i%possible to follow. he suested uideline, will be

developed out of the i%plications of the Fourth Co%%and%ent as well as out

of the conclusions drawn in the previous chapter.

I. F'O( 9 P.(. TO 9 P.(.

Se%eth Da& Bapti#t#. Seventh!day Sabbath!)eepin was introduced in

(%erica by the Seventh 8ay Baptists, who oranied their first church in

hode Island in @7. In the eihteenth century the Ger%an Seventh 8ay

Baptists in the Ephrata co%%unity of &ennsylvania observed their Sabbath

fro% @ p.%. Friday to @ p.%. Saturday.

#ulius Friedrich Sachse, a historian of Ger%an sectarian roups in&ennsylvania, notes that "the Sabbath was ushered in with the first hour of

9after: the si+th day -Friday, @ p.%.4 and closed at the end of the twelfth hour of

the seventh day -Saturday, '1 p.%.4 . . . to confor% to the very letter of the

law in the ew esta%ent."/ his %ethod of Sabbath)eepin fro% @ p.%. to @

p.%. was apparently advocated by other Seventh 8ay Baptist roups, as

indicated by the discussion of this issue in The Sa%%ath Recorder- a periodical

of the Seventh 8ay Baptists.0

Seventh!day Sabbath)eepin was first introduced to (dventist believers in5ashinton, ew 6a%pshire, early in H22 by achel &reston a)es, a

Seventh 8ay Baptist. . . &reble was the first (dventist %inister to accept

and teach the Sabbath.2 In an article he wrote in H2, &reble see%s to

suest that the Sabbath %ust be observed fro% @ p.%. to @ p.%.

Bate# Po#itio. 8urin the first 3 years of their history (dventists enerally

observed the Sabbath fro% @ p.%. Friday to @ p.%. Saturday, althouh so%e

)ept it fro% sunrise to sunrise. he %ain pro%oter of the @ p.%. to @ p.%.

Sabbath rec)onin was #oseph Bates, an e+!sea captain and a self!sacrificin

crusader for truth who beca%e a pioneer of the early (dvent believers and anapostle for the Sabbath. In (uust 12@ Bates published a 2H!pae pa%phlet

entitled The Seenth'day Sa%%ath- a +erpetual Sign- which proved to be a

%ihty instru%ent in propaatin the %essae of the Sabbath.

he reasonin Bates ives in this pa%phlet for beinnin and endin the

Sabbath at @ p.%. is that one "cannot reulate the day and niht to have what



the Savior calls twelve hours in the day 9#ohn '1: without establishin the

ti%e fro% the centre of the earth, the e$uator, where at the beinnin of the

sacred year, the sun rises and sets at @ o=cloc)."@ Bates continues reasonin

that since in the (rctic and (ntarctic areas there are ti%es when the sun never

sets or never rises, then "the inhabitants of the earth have no other riht ti%eto co%%ence their twenty!four hour day, than beinnin at @ o=cloc) in the

evenin."7

here is no evidence that Bates was influenced by er%an Seventh 8ay

Baptists in for%in his position on the si+ o=cloc) beinnin ti%e for the

Sabbath. "ather, he ca%e to these conclusions," Carl Coff%an rihtly notes,

"as a result of his )nowlede of a sea%an=s co%putation of e$uatorial ti%e."H

Bate# 'ea#o#. In the sprin of H Bates defended his @ p.%. to @ p.%.

position in an article entitled "i%e to Bein the Sabbath," where he appealsto two %ain Bible te+ts, na%ely, Aeviticus /0'0/ and atthew /3'[email protected] Fro%

the first te+t he derived the principle of )eepin the Sabbath "fro% even unto

even," and fro% the second he established the ti%e of "even," na%ely, @ p.%.

he fact that in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard -att /3'!@4 the

%aster paid his laborers at "even" -v. H4, which was the /th hour of the day,

led Bates to the conclusion that the / hours of the day were rec)oned fro% @

a.%. to @ p.%. hus @ p.%. is the "even" which %ar)s the beinnin and end of

the Sabbath.

o defend this view Bates arued that the Sabbath should be rec)oned

accordin to e$uatorial ti%e, that is, accordin to the lenth of the day and

niht at the e$uator. (t the e$uator sunrise and sunset occur consistently

throuhout the year plusL%inus 3 %inutes at @ a.%. and @ p.%.

respectively.3

Bates %aintained that the Sabbath should be observed accordin to the

"e$uatorial day" in all parts of the world. 5hat he %eant is that the Sabbath is

to be observed lonitudinally fro% @ p.%. to @ p.%. as it co%es to each part ofthe earth in due ti%e as the earth revolves on its a+is.

he %a;ority of the early (dventist believers adopted Bates= position,

especially because he was reatly respected on account of his consistent

Christian life and his eal in proclai%in the distinctive (dventist beliefs.

5ritin in H@H #a%es 5hite ac)nowledes that Bates= "decided stand upon



the $uestion, and respect for his years, and his odly life, %iht have been

a%on the reasons why this point was not sooner investiated as thorouhly

as so%e other points." (%on those who accepted Bates= position were

#a%es and Ellen 5hite.

Di%er#it& i Sa//ath 'ec4oi+. For several years %ost (dventist believers

observed the Sabbath accordin to e$uatorial ti%e, that is, fro% @ p.%. to @

p.%. any, however, were not satisfied with this %ethod. hus so%e observed

the Sabbath fro% sunset to sunset while other fro% sunrise to sunrise. In

reviewin the entire %atter several years later -H@H4 #a%es 5hite wrote' "the

si+ o=cloc) ti%e was called in $uestion by a portion of believers as early as

H27, so%e %aintainin that the Sabbath co%%enced at sunrise while others

clai%ed Bible evidence in favor of sunset."/

he e+istin diversity in the ti%e of Sabbath)eepin was of reat concern to (dventist leaders, who feared that unless this $uestion could be clearly settled

on Biblical rounds, the continuin diverence %iht splinter the (dvent

believers.

his concern led #a%es 5hite to ure first 8. &. 6all and later #. . (ndrews

to investiate this sub;ect and ascertain what the Bible actually tauht

reardin Sabbath rec)onin.0 6all failed to produce an article but (ndrews

sub%itted the results of his investiation in the for% of a paper which later

appeared in article for% in the 8ece%ber 2, H issue of the Reiew and6erald .2

II. F'O( S$NSET TO S$NSET

A!re"# Po#itio. In his paper (ndrews arues convincinly that the ew

esta%ent defines "evenin" not necessarily as @ p.%. but rather as "sunset".

6e appeals especially to te+ts such as ar) '0/ where it e+plicitly says'

"hat evenin, at sundown, they brouht to hi% all who were sic) or

possessed with de%ons" -cf. Au)e 2'23* att H'@4. 6ere the evenin which

%ar)s the end of the Sabbath is clearly lin)ed to sunset. (ndrews aveadditional references fro% the ld esta%ent where "even" is e$uated with

the settin of the sun.

eardin the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, (ndrews arues that it

does not necessarily prove that the /th hour of the day coincided e+actly with

@ p.%. 6e establishes this point by showin that the / hours of the day were



not / si+ty!%inute periods li)e ours, but rather / e$ual parts of the dayliht

ti%e, which would vary so%ewhat accordin to season. his conclusion is

e+plicitly supported by #ohn '1 where #esus says' "(re there not twelve

hours in the day? If any one wal)s in the day, he does not stu%ble because

he sees the liht of this world."

Support for (ndrews= reasonin is found in the al%ud, where there is a

discussion of the e+tent of reasonable error in the esti%ate of the hour of the

day and it is noted that "in the si+th hour the sun stands in the %eridian."@

hus (ndrews rihtly concluded that the #ewish hour was not a fi+edunit of

ti%e but the /th part of the ti%e between sunrise and sunset at any ti%e of

the year. Conse$uently the parable of the laborers in the vineyard offers no

valid ;ustification for a @ p.%. to a @ p.%. %ethod of beinnin and endin the

Sabbath.

T"o (aor 'ea#o#. (ndrews presented two %a;or reasons for rulin out the

@ p.%. to @ p.%. %ethod of Sabbath)eepin. First, such a %ethod is

dependent upon cloc)s or watches, which did not e+ist in Bible ti%es. his

would %ean that in those days God=s people would have been at a loss to

)now when to bein and end the Sabbath. Second, "the Bible, by several plain

state%ents, establishes the fact that evenin is at sunset."7

he conclusions reached by (ndrews are based on a sound analysis of the

Biblical data. (t the sa%e ti%e it should be noted that the difference betweenthe position of (ndrews and that of Bates is relative as far as &alestine is

concerned, because in that country the difference between the earliest sunset

in 8ece%ber -about @ p.%.4 and the latest sunset in #uly -about H'33 p.%.4 is

about two hours. H he proble% arises, however, in those parts of the earth

farthest away fro% the e$uator where sunset ti%e varies durin the course of

the year as %uch as ten or %ore hours.

85 Sa//ath Coerece. (ndrews= paper was presented and discussed at

a conference held in Battle Cree) on Sabbath, ove%ber 7, H. he

convincin and co%prehensive analysis of (ndrews was accepted by all, with

the e+ception of a s%all %inority.1 wo days later on ove%ber 1, H,

Ellen 5hite had a vision which confir%ed the sunset rec)onin. /3

Followin the Sabbath conference of H, the sunset rec)onin beca%e

widely accepted by practically all (dventist believers. 5ritin in the Reiew in



H@2, Jriah S%ith, the editor, says' "6ar%ony now reins where there %iht

have been discord and division."/ he only %a;or proble% that arose after

the official acceptance of the sunset rec)onin in H was the application of

this %ethod in those reions of the earth where the sun sets very early, or very

late, or, as in the (rctic and (ntarctic, not at all for a period of ti%e. hesolutions adopted for these reions will be briefly su%%aried below.

III. SABBATH 'EC1ONING IN THE A'CTIC

he observance of the Sabbath accordin to the sunset rec)onin in the (rctic

reions beco%es practically i%possible durin part of the su%%er, when the

sun never sets below the horion, and durin part of the winter, when the sun

never rises above the horion. In these areas the co%%on difficulties resultin

fro% observin the seventh!day Sabbath, in a society where %ost wor)in

schedules are built around Sunday as the day of rest, are co%pounded by theproble% of )nowin when to bein and close the Sabbath durin those wee)s

when the sun does not rise or set.

The Pro/lem. he proble% of observin the Sabbath in the (rctic reion

e+ists not only durin the ti%e when the sun does not set or rise above the

horion, but also durin the ti%e ;ust before the sun=s disappearance for a

certain period in winter and i%%ediately followin its reappearance. (t this

ti%e of the year the sun sets by noon ti%e* thus half of the Sabbath falls within

the civil ti%e of Friday. his %eans that accordin to the sunset rec)onin, forseveral wee)s every year, half of the Sabbaths falls durin the civil ti%e of

Friday and half durin that of Saturday.

Jnder these conditions the observance of the Sabbath accordin to the

sunset rec)onin beco%es a real proble%, because it re$uires the interruption

of wor) on Friday by noon and the resu%ption of wor) on Saturday after the

noon hour. his is not an i%ainary proble% but a real one which Seventh!day

Sabbath)eepers face, for e+a%ple, in the northern part of orway and to a

lesser deree in all Scandinavian countries and (las)a. o easy solution can

be offered on how to observe the Sabbath accordin to the sunset rec)onin

when the above conditions prevail.

Pre%aili+ Gui!elie#. Several reco%%endations have been offered by the

General Conference of Seventh!day (dventists to believers livin in the (rctic

reions. he preferred reco%%ended practice is that "durin the winter period



when there are no sunsets, the Sabbath be beun and ended at the sa%e

ti%e it was beun and ended when the last sunset occurred."//

ther acceptable alternatives are "-a4 that durin the winter when there are no

sunsets, the end of the twiliht, or in other words the beinnin of dar)ness,

as indicated by astrono%ical tables, be loo)ed upon as the beinnin of the

Sabbath, or -b4 that it be )ept accordin to astrono%ical co%putations for the

%o%ent when the sun is closest to the horion, or at its enith, on Friday until

it returns to this point on Saturday, or -c4 that the Sabbath be beun and

ended durin the winter period when there are no sunsets north of the (rctic

Circle at the sa%e ti%e as indicated on sunset calendars ;ust south of the

(rctic Circle."/0

hese reco%%endations were endorsed by a study co%%ittee appointed by

the orthern European 8ivision of Seventy!day (dventists to study the"borderlines of the Sabbath." 6owever, this study roup, which %et at

S)oodsbor, 8en%ar), fro% February /H to arch , 1H3, ca%e up with a

broader interpretation of the ter% "evenin." hey concluded that "the biblical

%aterial %ay offer a basis for a fle+ible definition of >evenin= in areas where

the di%inishin of liht rather than the settin of the sun is the observable

natural pheno%enon. Such a definition of >evenin= would nevertheless re%ain

in close touch with the sunset criterion."/2

Su%%in up the historical position of the Seventh!day (dventist Church onthe ti%e for beinnin and endin the Sabbath, we can say that the sunset

rec)onin has been accepted as the nor%ative Biblical %ethod since H.

his %ethod has also been the basis for for%ulatin reco%%endation for

those reions where the sun does not set or rise for a certain period of the

year.

I0. SABBATH 'EC1ONING TODA3

he foreoin brief historical survey has served to establish two %a;or facts'

-4 Seventh!day (dventists have since H rearded the sunset rec)onin asthe nor%ative Biblical %ethod for beinnin and endin the Sabbath. -/4 he

difficulty of followin the sunset rec)onin in the (rctic reions, where the sun

for a certain period of ti%e does not set or rise above the horion, has been

%et by broadenin the %eanin of "sunset" to include, for e+a%ple, "the end



of the twiliht," "the di%inishin of liht," and "the %o%ent when the sun is

closest to the horion."

A Note o Comme!atio. econition %ust be iven to the early (dventist

pioneers, especially to #. . (ndrews, for establishin fro% the Scriptures the

sunset to sunset %ethod for beinnin and endin the Sabbath.

Co%%endation %ust also be iven to (dventist leaders and believers livin in

and near the (rctic reions, for observin the Sabbath as closely as possible

to the sunset rec)onin, even if it %eans facin the proble% of havin to

obtain e+e%ption fro% wor) not only for Saturday but also for %uch of the civil

ti%e of Friday.

he followin considerations are not intended to downplay the noble effort

which has been %ade to establish fro% the Scripture the sunset to sunset

%ethod of Sabbath)eepin and to i%ple%ent such a %ethod even in the %idstof the %ost adverse circu%stances. (nyone who is willin to pay the price for

what he or she believes to be the will of God deserves our co%%endation and

not conde%nation.

y intent rather is to ascertain on the basis of the Biblical %aterial if a %ore

satisfactory uideline can be proposed to deter%ine the beinnin and end of

the Sabbath in those reions of the earth where the sunset at certain ti%es of

the year does not provide a rational division between the day and the niht. It

is %y fervent hope that the uideline to be proposed will contribute to thesolution and not to the co%plications of an already co%ple+ proble%.

The Sa//ath Comma!met. (ny atte%pt to ascertain the Biblical teachin

on the time for beinnin and endin the Sabbath ouht to start fro% a study

of the Fourth Co%%and%ent itself as found in E+odus /3'H!. (fter all, the

%anner and the ti%e of Sabbath)eepin ouht to be reflective of the principles

enunciated in the co%%and%ent itself.

It %ay be surprisin to so%e to note that no specific instructions are iven in

the Fourth Co%%and%ent on the %anner and ti%e of Sabbath)eepin. heonly in;unction iven is to "e%e%ber the sabbath day, to )eep it holy" by

doin all one=s wor) in si+ days and by restin the seventh day "to the Aord

your God."

eardin the manner- the co%%and%ent does not offer, for e+a%ple, any

in;unction to attend reliious services on the Sabbath. 5hy? he reason %ay



be found in the divine awareness of the pliht of those believers who throuh

the centuries have been prevented by sic)ness or circu%stances fro%

participatin in a corporate reliious service.

No Time Speciicatio#. Si%ilarly the absence of any instruction in the

Fourth Co%%and%ent reardin the timeto bein and end the observance of

the Sabbath %ay reflect divine awareness of the predica%ent of those

believers who would be called to live in reions of the earth where so%eti%es

it would be i%possible to observe the Sabbath fro% sunset to sunset.

If the Fourth Co%%and%ent had spelled out that the seventh!day Sabbath is

to be observed everywhere on earth fro% sunset to sunset, then those

believers who live in those northern reions, where at least for a ti%e there is

no sunset, would have felt uilty for beinnin and endin the Sabbath

accordin to a different criterion.

he absence, then, in the Fourth Co%%and%ent of specific instructions on

the e+act %anner and ti%e of Sabbath)eepin is indicative of divine wisdo% in

for%ulatin a principle whose application could be adapted to different

cultures and eoraphical locations. It is thus i%portant to note at the outset

that the %ethod of observin the Sabbath fro% sunset to sunset is dictated not

by the Fourth Co%%and%ent itself, but by the %ethod of sunset rec)onin

which beca%e nor%ative in #ewish history.

0ali!it& o Su#et 'ec4oi+. Several reasons have contributed to %a)e

the sunset rec)onin nor%ative for the observance of the annual feasts in

eneral and of the wee)ly Sabbath in particular. ( first reason is suested by

the leislation reardin the 8ay of (tone%ent, which, as noted in the

previous chapter, i%plies that the beinnin of the fast was anticipated fro%

the %ornin of the 3th day to the evenin of the 1th day -Aev /0'/7!0/4,

presu%ably to help people better to prepare the%selves for the sole%n

services that bean the followin %ornin.

Si%ilarly the beinnin of the observance of the Sabbath on Friday evenin atsunset could have been dictated by the necessity to help believers to be

better prepared and predisposed to enter into the dayliht celebration of the

Sabbath.

E! o =or4i+ Da&. ( second reason is suested by the fact that in Bible

ti%es for all practical purposes sunset %ar)ed the end of the wor)in day.



his fact is clearly illustrated in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard

where the owner in the "evenin" calls the laborers to pay the% their waes

-att /3'H4. Bein the end of a wor)in day, the "evenin" represented in a

sense the end of the day itself and thus the beinnin of a new day.

( third reason, which is closely related to the second, is i%plied in the

in;unction' "Si+ days you shall labor, and do all your wor)* but the seventh day

is the sabbath to the Aord your God" -E+ /3'1!34. he i%plication here is that

the observance of the seventh day beins at the co%pletion of the si+th day of

wor). Since in Bible ti%es the si+th day of wor), as ;ust noted, ended in the

"evenin" -att /3'H4, the sa%e "evenin" could naturally function as the

beinnin of the rest and sanctification of the seventh day.

I!eal P#&cholo+ical a! Social Time. ( last reason is suested by the

psycholoical and social function of sunset. &sycholoically the settin of thesun %ar)s the end of our wor)in day and the beinnin of the new cycle of

rest and wor) of another day. hus sunset offers an ideal psycholoical

beinnin for the celebration of the Sabbath as the day or rest, worship, and

service unto the Aord.

Socially, the settin of the sun has the effect of brinin the fa%ily %e%bers

bac) toether. he wor) of the day scatters the fa%ily in different directions,

but the settin of the sun brins the fa%ily %e%bers bac) toether for the

evenin supper and fellowship. hus sunset offers an ideal socioloical%o%ent, when the fa%ily %e%bers are toether aain at the end of a wor)in

day, to bein toether the celebration of the Sabbath day.

It is no wonder that in the course of #ewish history a very rich and %eaninful

ritual was developed to %ar) the arrival and the departure of the Sabbath at

sunset. (fter all, the Sabbath was a fa%ily celebration, which in Bible ti%es

included all dependent wor)ers -E+ /3'34. hus, by rallyin the fa%ily

%e%bers toether, sunset ti%e provided an ideal %o%ent for beinnin and

endin the Sabbath.

Normati%e (etho! o Sa//ath4eepi+. It is also no wonder that while, in the

previous chapter we saw indications of the e+istence in Bible ti%es of a

sunrise %ethod of day rec)onin, no e+plicit indications were found

suestin that such a %ethod was ever used for rec)onin the beinnin and

end of the Sabbath.



(ll the passaes in the ld and ew esta%ent which refer to the ti%e

ele%ent of Sabbath)eepin clearly suest a sunset rec)onin. Au)e, for

e+a%ple, e+plicitly desinates the late Friday afternoon when #esus= body was

ta)en fro% the cross as "the day of &reparation, and the sabbath was

beinnin" -Au)e /0'24. Si%ilarly ar) e+plains that the people waited untilthe "evenin at sunset" -ar) '0/* cf. Au)e 2'234 to brin to Christ the sic)

and de%on!possessed. &assaes such as these clearly indicate that the

Sabbath was observed by the #ewish people in eneral fro% sunset to sunset.

In the liht of the foreoin considerations we conclude that the sunset

rec)onin for beinnin and endin the Sabbath<thouh it is not dictated

directly by the Fourth Co%%and%ent<beca%e the nor%ative %ethod in

#ewish history.

Su#et 'ec4oi+ 0ali! To!a&. In %y view the sunset rec)onin is still validand valuable today, wherever the sunset does provide, as in &alestine, a

loical ter%ination of the wor)in day and a balanced division between

dayti%e and nihtti%e. y conviction rests on the fact that the reasons

%entioned above which %ade the sunset rec)onin nor%ative for

Sabbath)eepin in Bible ti%es, are reasons still valid and relevant today.

(s in Bible ti%es, the beinnin of the Sabbath on Friday evenin at sunset

enables believers today to be better prepared to enter into the dayliht

celebration of the Sabbath. (s in Bible ti%es, in %ost countries today sunset%ar)s the end of the si+th wor)in day and the beinnin of the rest and

sanctification of the seventh day.

(s in Bible ti%es, in %ost countries today, sunset can brin the fa%ily toether

at the end of the si+th wor)in day to bein toether the celebration of the

Sabbath day. he sunset rec)onin, then, is still a valid and valuable %ethod

for beinnin and endin Sabbath wherever sunset provides a balanced

division between dayti%e and nihtti%e, as in Bible lands.

0. E$ATO'IA* S$NSET TI(E

FO' THE A'CTIC

he use of the sunset rec)onin beco%es proble%atic especially in (rctic

reions of the earth where at certain ti%es of the year the sun sets as early as

noon, or as late as %idniht or not at all. he crucial $uestion is' should the



beinnin and the end of the Sabbath be deter%ined in these reions on the

basis of the sunset rec)onin?

Broa!er (eai+ o Su#et. (s noted earlier, Seventh!day (dventists,

historically, have endeavored to follow the principles of sunset rec)onin even

in the (rctic reions by broadenin the %eanin of "sunset" to include, for

e+a%ple, the end of twiliht, the di%inishin of liht, and the %o%ent when

the sun is closest to the horion.

&ast atte%pts to e+trapolate fro% the sunset rec)onin so%e broader criteria

to deter%ine the beinnin and end of the Sabbath for the (rctic reions are

indicative of the conviction that the sunset rec)onin is the nor%ative Biblical

%ethod for deter%inin the beinnin and end of the Sabbath everywhere,

irrespective of eoraphic location.

Su#et 'ec4oi+ ot Dictate! /& Comma!met.&ersonally I respect

this conviction, but I have difficulty in acceptin it as the only valid Biblical

option for at least four reasons. In the first place, the sunset rec)onin is not

dictated by the Fourth Co%%and%ent where, as noted earlier, no instruction

is iven reardin the ti%e to bein and end the observance of the Sabbath.

5e concluded that the absence of such instruction %ay be indicative of divine

wisdo% in for%ulatin a principle adaptable to different eoraphical

locations.

he Fourth Co%%and%ent establishes the principle of believers )eepin the

Sabbath holy by wor)in si+ days and restin on the seventh day unto the

Aord. he application of this principle is dependent upon what constitutes the

end of the wor)in day in any iven eoraphical area of the world.

Completio o Si) Da&# o =or4. Second, the application of the sunset

rec)onin in the (rctic reions when, for e+a%ple, the sun sets by noon,

%a)es it i%possible to observe the first part of the Fourth Co%%and%ent

which en;oins' "Si+ days you shall labor, and do all your wor)" -E+ /3'14.

o stop any ainful e%ploy%ent on Friday so%eti%e before noon in order to

be ready to bein the observance of the Sabbath at noon!sunset, %eans to

reduce the wor)in ti%e of the si+th day, which in Biblical thouht consists of

appro+i%ately / hours fro% sunrise to sunset -#ohn '1* att /3'!H4, to

only the first two or three hours of the %ornin.



oreover, to resu%e wor) on Saturday after the noon!sunset %eans to fulfill

the wor)in ti%e of the si+th day, half durin the "dayti%e" of the si+th day and

half durin the "dayti%e" of the seventh day. By the sa%e to)en to bein the

celebration of the Sabbath on Friday at noon!sunset and to end it on Saturday

at the noon!sunset, %eans to observe the Sabbath half durin the "dayti%e"of Friday and half durin the "dayti%e" of Saturday. Such a practice can hardly

reflect the intent of the Fourth Co%%and%ent, which e+plicitly en;oins

co%pletin one=s wor) in si+ days and then restin unto the Aord on the

seventh day.

Da&time Deie! /& the Cloc4. ( third reason why the sunset rec)onin is

not suitable in or near the (rctic reions for deter%inin the beinnin and

end of the Sabbath is si%ply because in these areas dayti%e is defined by the

cloc) and not by the sun.

5hile in Bible lands the ti%e between sunrise and sunset ranes constantly

between / and 2 hours durin the course of the year, in the (rctic reions

the rane can be fro% less than 0 hours in 8ece%ber to %ore than H hours

in #uly. his %eans that while in Bible lands sunrise and sunset provide a

loical and balanced division between dayti%e and nihtti%e, or wor)in ti%e

and restin ti%e, in the (rctic reions this division %ust be defined, not by

sunrise and sunset, but by the cloc).

o insist on usin the sunset rec)onin in the (rctic reions for deter%ininthe end of the si+th day and thus the beinnin of the seventh day %eans to

disrupt the balance established by God between the dayti%e for wor) and the

nihtti%e for rest. If, as Christ said, there are "twelve hours in the day" -#ohn

'14, then in those places where the sunset rec)onin would reduce the

dayti%e to @ hours or less, the end of the dayti%e and the beinnin of the

Sabbath %ust of necessity be deter%ined not by the sun but by the cloc).

Coe)i#tece o T"o Da& 'ec4oi+#. ( final reason for favorin a different

%ethod fro% the sunset rec)onin in or near the (rctic reions is the apparent

coe+istence of two %ethods of day rec)onin in Bible ti%es' sunrise to sunrise

and sunset to sunset. In the previous chapter we established that these two

%ethods apparently coe+isted side by side.

If this conclusion is correct, and in %y view the evidence favors it, then the

Bible provides a ;ustification for adoptin a different %ethod of day rec)onin



in those (rctic reions where the sunset rec)onin is difficult and even

i%possible to use for certain periods. 5hat %ethod should then be used in the

(rctic reions for deter%inin the beinnin and the end of the Sabbath?

Euatorial Su#et Time. In the liht of the foreoin discussion, the %ost

suitable %ethod of Sabbath rec)onin in the (rctic reions is, in %y view,

accordin to the e$uatorial sunset ti%e, that is fro% @ p.%. to @ p.%. his

%ethod, as noted earlier in this chapter, was first introduced by #oseph Bates

and was used by the early (dventist believers durin the first 3 years of their

history.

Ite+rit& o Si)th Da& o =or4. y reasons for favorin the e$uatorial sunset

ti%e for the (rctic reions are essentially three. First, the observance of the

Sabbath in the (rctic reions fro% @ p.%. to @ p.%. would preserve the

interity of the wor)in ti%e of the si+th day which is presupposed in the firstpart of the Fourth Co%%and%ent' "Si+ days you shall labor, and do all your

wor)" -E+ /3'14.

(n i%portant point often inored is that the Fourth Co%%and%ent ordains not

only rest on the seventh day unto the Aord, but also wor) on si+ days to

endeavor to co%plete one=s wor) by the end of the si+th day. In fact, it is the

fulfill%ent of the latter which %a)es the for%er possible. he sunset rec)onin

in (rctic reions, by shortenin the wor)in ti%e of the si+th day at certain

periods of the year to half a day or less, under%ines the interity of thewor)in ti%e of the si+th day, and thus %a)es it %ore difficult to co%plete

one=s wor) in preparation for the Sabbath.

o respect the interity of the wor)in ti%e of the si+th day, however, does not

i%ply that one ouht to be enaed in ainful e%ploy%ent until the very end

of the day. n the contrary, Friday was rihtly called the "8ay of &reparation"

because part of the wor) done on that day was in preparation for the Sabbath.

E%peror Caesar (uustus hi%self ac)nowleded the riht of the #ews to be

released fro% civil obliations earlier on Friday by leislatin that #ews "be notoblied to o before any ;ude on the day of preparation after the ninth

hour,"/ that is, after about 0 p.%. he obvious reason for this leislation was

to enable the #ews to have ade$uate ti%e to prepare the%selves for the

arrival of the Sabbath.



Compati/le "ith Pale#tiia Su#et Time. ( second reason for favorin the

e$uatorial sunset ti%e for the (rctic reions, is the fact that it is $uite

co%patible with the sunset ti%e of the Bible lands.

( co%parison between the sunset tables at the latitude of &alestine with those

at the e$uator reveals that on the averae there is less than one hour of

difference between the two durin the course of the year. hus the e$uatorial

sunset ti%e co%es very close to that of Bible lands while providin at the

sa%e ti%e a consistent %ethod of day rec)onin.

Compati/le "ith =or4i+ Sche!ule. ( third reason is suested by the fact

that e$uatorial sunset ti%e is co%patible with the wor)in schedule of %ost

people livin in the (rctic reions.

Co%patibility with the e$uatorial or &alestinian sunset ti%e per se is not adeter%inin factor. owhere does the Bible or even co%%on sense suest

that the sunset ti%e of &alestine or of the e$uator %ust be the nor%ative ti%e

for deter%inin the end of the day and the beinnin of a new day in all the

reions of the earth. 5hat %a)es this co%patibility reco%%endable, however,

is the fact that the sunset ti%e of &alestine, li)e the one of the e$uator, does

respect the wor)in schedule of %ost people livin in such northern lands as

(las)a, orway, Sweden, Finland.

In these northern lands, as in %ost industrialied nations, the wor)in day of%ost people ter%inates between and @ p.%. his hour of the day is rihtly

)nown as the "rush hour" because it is the hour when %ost people are rushin

ho%e at the end of their wor)in day.

he e$uatorial sunset ti%e, then, by bein co%patible with the ter%ination of

the wor)in day of %ost people livin in the (rctic reions, offers a rational

%ethod for observin the Sabbath fro% @ p.%. to @ p.%. Further%ore, we have

seen that this %ethod is co%patible with the &alestinian sunset ti%e, besides

preservin the interity of the si+th day of wor) -E+ /3'14, which is

presupposed by the Fourth Co%%and%ent.

Coclu#io. hree %a;or conclusions can be drawn fro% the investiation

conducted in this chapter. First, the absence of any specific instruction in the

Fourth Co%%and%ent reardin the ti%e for beinnin and endin the

Sabbath suests that divine wisdo% has chosen to leave the deter%ination

of the ti%e factor open to acco%%odate differin eoraphical situations.



Second, the reasons which %ade the sunset rec)onin nor%ative in Bible

ti%es for beinnin and endin the Sabbath, are reasons which are still valid

and valuable today. his is true wherever sunset respects to a lare deree

the interity of the si+th wor)in day by providin a balanced division between

dayti%e and nihtti%e as in Bible lands.

Aastly, in the (rctic reions where the sun sets very early, very late, or not at

all, it is advisable in %y view to observe the Sabbath fro% @ p.%. to @ p.%.,

accordin to the e$uatorial sunset ti%e. his %ethod, we have seen,

preserves the interity of the si+th wor)in day, is co%patible with the sunset

ti%e of Bible lands, and respects the wor)in schedule of %ost people livin in

the (rctic reions.

he intent of this last reco%%endation is not to %a)e an already difficult

situation worse by suestin a different %ethod of rec)onin the Sabbath.ather, it is %y fervent hope that this study with its resultin reco%%endation,

will contribute to the resolution of the co%ple+ proble% of Sabbath rec)onin

in the (rctic reions and not to its intensification.

If differin views should persist on the ti%e for beinnin and endin the

Sabbath in the (rctic reions, it is %y hope that the spirit of %utual respect,

co%passion, and charity will prevail. ay we never foret that

Sabbath)eepin e+presses obedience to God and, as Ellen 5hite

perceptively writes, "he Aord accepts all the obedience of every creature 6ehas %ade, accordin to the circu%stances of ti%e in the sun!risin and sun!

settin world."/@

NOTES ON CHAPTE' 0I

. Seenth !ay $aptists in #urope and )merica-&lainfield, ew #ersey. 134,

vol. I, p. //* Benson K. Aandis, ed., :ear%ook of )merican Churches -ew

Kor), 1@4, p. /2.

/. #ulius Friedrich Sachse, The German Sectarians of +ennsylania- ;<=>';?@@ -&hiladelphia, 1334, pp. H2!H.

0. -o author4, "i%e for Co%%encin the Sabbath, "The Sa%%ath Recorder ,

0 -8ece%ber 1, H/4'0* also -o author4, "otundity of the Earth and the

Sabbath," The Sa%%ath Recorder , reprinted in Reiew and 6erald , 0 -(pril /H,

H04'17.



2. #a%es 5hite, Life Incidents -Battle Cree), H@H4, p. /@H.

. See #. 6. 5aoner, ". . &reble on the rue Sabbath," Reiew and

6erald , 02 -8ece%ber /, H@14'/30.

@. #oseph Bates, The Seenth !ay Sa%%ath- ) +erpetual Sign- from the

$eginning- to the #ntering into the Gates of the 6oly City- )ccording to the

Commandment -ew Bedford, 12@4, p. 0.

7. I%id*, p. 0/.

H. Carl Coff%an, "he &ractice of Beinnin the Sabbath in

(%erica," )ndrews Aniersity Seminary Studies 0 -#anuary 1@4'0.

1. #oseph Bates, "i%e to Bein the Sabbath," Reiew and 6erald -(pril /,H4'73f.

3. See the sunriseLsunset tables in The )stronomical )lmanac for the :ear

;B?- issued by the ational (l%anac ffice, Jnited States aval

bservatory -5ashinton, 8.C., 1H4, pp. (2!(/.

. #a%es 5hite, "i%e to Co%%ence the Sabbath,"Reiew and 6erald 0

-February /, H@H4'@H.

/. Loc cit*

0. #a%es 5hite, "i%e of the Sabbath," Reiew and 6erald 7 -8ece%ber 2,

H4'7H.

2. #. . (ndrews, "i%e for Co%%encin the Sabbath,"Reiew and 6erald- 7

-8ece%ber 2, H4'7Hf.

. 8eut @'@* Aev /3'@,7* 8eut /0'* /2'0,* #oshua H'/1* 3'/@!/7* /

Chron H'02.

@. +asahim b!/b. See discussion in #ac) Finean,6and%ook of $i%lical

Chronology -&rinceton, 1@24, p. 0.

7. #. . (ndrews -n. 24, p. 7H.

H. The )stronomical )lmanac -n. 34, pp. (H!(/3.



1. -o author4, "he Conference," Reiew and 6erald 7 -8ece%ber 2,

H4'7.

/3. E. G. 5hite, Testimonies for the Church -ountain iew, California, 12H4,

vol. I, p. @ and appendi+, p. 70.

/. Jriah S%ith, "ot Satisfactory," Reiew and 6erald -(uust 03, H@24'3H.

//. "i%e for Beinnin the Biblical Seventh!day Sabbath," %anuscript

produced by the General Conference of Seventh!day (dventists -#uly 7,

1774, p. H.

/0. I%id*, p. 1.

/2. "Findins and eco%%endations of the E5(8 Study Co%%ittee on the>Borderlines of the Sabbath,=" eetin at S)odsbor, 8en%ar), February /H!

arh , 1H3, p. /.

/. #osephus, )nti9uities of the "ews @, @,/.

/@. Ellen 5hite, Aetters @7, arch /0, 133.

the time of the crucifixion and resurrection

Documents