Common Figure of Speech/Colloquial Language?

[37818]

Well, a night and day, a night and day, a night and the morning of the resurrection. That is what I understand from, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
[Thursday sundown and Friday and Saturday and early Sunday morning.]

 

[rstrats]

No such example in scripture exists.

Actually, Esther 4:16 thru 5:1 might be one example if "three days, night or day" means the same thing as "three days and three nights".

 

[rstrats]

The OP is attempting to try to prove a false a priori...

What false priori do you think I'm trying to prove?

 

[Alofa Atu]

What false priori do you think I'm trying to prove?

You'll show it eventually. Just be patient.

 

[Alofa Atu]

Actually, Esther 4:16 thru 5:1 might be one example if "three days, night or day" means the same thing as "three days and three nights".

You misunderstood what I said (twice even).

I stated that there is no place in scripture in which the phrase "day and night" (or the plurality thereof) does not include some portion of those time frames. Why? Because, according to the definition of a day in Genesis, includes the evening and day-light:

Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.​

So, anywhere in scripture that uses the phrase (a number, ie. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc) with (in association) "day" and "night", it always includes portions of the evening and morning with it. See Exodus 24:18, 34:8; Leviticus 8:35; Deuteronomy 9:9,11,18,25, 10:10, 16:4; 1 Samuel 30:12; 1 Kings 8:29,59, 19:8; 1 Chronicles 9:33; 2 Chronicles 6:20; Nehemiah 1:6, 4:9; Esther 4:16; Job 2:3; Psalms 1:2, 32:4, 55:10, 88:1; Ecclesiastes 8:16; Isaiah 27:3, 28:19, 34:10, 60:10, 62:6; Jeremiah 9:1, 14:17, 16:13; Jonah 1:17; Matthew 4:2, 12:40, 27:64; Mark 4:27, 5:5; Luke 2:37, 18:7; Acts 9:24, 20:31, 26:7; 2 Corinthians 11:25; 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 3:10; 2 Thessalonians 3:8; 1 Timothy 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:3; Revelation 4:8, 7:15, 12:10, 14:11, 20:10, etc.

Esther, and the place you included is no exception.

Est 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.​

Esther's "three days", includes portions of days and nights, as the context "night or day" gives in plain English, or Masoretic Hebrew if one is so inclined to read it from there.

Est 4:16 לך כנוס את־כל־היהודים הנמצאים בשׁושׁן וצומו עלי ואל־תאכלו ואל־תשׁתו שׁלשׁת ימים לילה ויום גם־אני ונערתי אצום כן ובכן אבוא אל־המלך אשׁר לא־כדת וכאשׁר אבדתי אבדתי׃​

Or even Origen's hexapla (aka so called lxx):

Est 4:16 Βαδίσας ἐκκλησίασον τοὺς Ιουδαίους τοὺς ἐν Σούσοις καὶ νηστεύσατε ἐπ᾿ ἐμοὶ καὶ μὴ φάγητε μηδὲ πίητε ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τρεῖς νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν, κἀγὼ δὲ καὶ αἱ ἅβραι μου ἀσιτήσομεν, καὶ τότε εἰσελεύσομαι πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα παρὰ τὸν νόμον, ἐὰν καὶ ἀπολέσθαι με ᾖ .​

Important verses in connection with Calvary are:

Deu_21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Mat_27:64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
​

Thus the Maximum Time that the “day and night” portion of a single day can be, is 24 hrs, and so the Maximum Time that the phrase “three days and three nights” could be, is 72 hours:

Night - 12 Hours
Day - 12 Hours
Night - 12 Hours
Day - 12 Hours
Night - 12 Hours
Day - 12 Hours​

Total = 72 Hours​

However, the Scripture [KJB] also includes mere portions of any given part of “day” or “night” time to count, inclusively, as a “day”. See: Genesis 7:4,10, 17:12, 42:17-19; 2 Chronicles 10:5,12; Esther 4:16, 5:1; Luke 1:59, 2:21; Acts 10:3-30 KJB, etc.

As a for instance, circumcision - a male child could be born in the beginning, middle or nearing the end of any given day, and it would still be counted as the first day, unto his eighth day to be circumcised (Genesis 17:12; Luke 1:59, 2:21). Other instances are found in Genesis 7:4,10, 42:17-19; Exodus 24:18, 34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9,11,18,25, 10:10; 1 Samuel 30:12; 1 Kings 19:8; 2 Chronicles 10:5,12; Job 2:13; Esther 4:16, 5:1; Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; Acts 10:3-30.

The phrase "Day and Night" is found in Genesis 8:22; Exodus 13:21; Leviticus 8:35; Deuteronomy 28:66; Joshua 1:8; 1 Kings 8:59; 1 Chronicles 9:33; 2 Chronicles 6:20; Nehemiah 1:6, 4:9; Job 26:10; Psalms 1:2, 32:3-4, 42:3, 55:10, 88:1; Jeremiah 9:1, 16:13, 33:20,25; Lamentations 2:18; Luke 18:7; Acts 9:24, 26:7; Revelation 4:8, 7:15, 12:10, 20:10.

The phrase "Night and Day" is found in 1 Samuel 25:16; 1 Kings 8:29; Isaiah 27:3; Jeremiah 14:17; Mark 4:27, 5:5; Luke 2:37; Acts 20:31; 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 3:10; 2 Thessalonians 3:8; 1 Timothy 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:3.

The Minimum time then for a single “day and night” could then be any portion of that “day” and any portion of that “night”, thus even a measurement of mere minutes. Thus any could count from 1 minute to Sunset, and 1 minute after Sunset, and still accurately represent the singular phrase “day and night” in a given context.

The phrase then does not have to be the Maximum, nor of the Minimum, but could include anywhere at either end and in between.

Context will always determine for us how to proceed in determining whether we need to understand the Maximum, the Minimum or somewhere in between them.

We also know that we are not merely dealing with a single “day and night”, but rather “three days and three nights”.

This means that the Maximum amount of time can only be 72 hrs, being consecutive in time due to context, but that the Minimum amount of time can be approximately 48 hrs and 2 minutes, or even mere seconds in technicality or if under Rabbinical time - when the 3rd star visibly appears. See the inclusive reckoning:

Night - 1 minute before daylight, sunrise, etc
Day - 12 hours
Night - 12 hours
Day - 12 hours
Night - 12 hours
Day - 1 minute after daylight, sunrise, etc
​

Many times the phrase "day and night" simply means 'continually, without ceasing all the time'. In many places in scripture when a single day or single night is involved and the context wants us to know that an entire day (time; light portion) or night (time, dark portion) is taking place, it will generally say "all the/that day", or "all the/that night". If the context does not use the phrase "all", then it generally does not mean all of those time portions, but partial time portions.

 

[rstrats]

You'll show it eventually.

Show what, exactly? You say I'm trying to prove a false a priori. So I ask again, to what false a priori are you accusing me?

 

[rstrats]

I stated that there is no place in scripture in which the phrase "day and night" (or the plurality thereof) does not include some portion of those time frames.

And I'm telling you that there is, if the "three days, night or day" of Esther is the same thing as "three days and three nights. Esther says that she will fast three days, night or day, and that after she has done that, she will go to the king. And since verse 5:1 says that that was on the third day, there is no way that at least a portion of each one of three daytimes and at least a portion of each one of 3 night times could occur.

 

[Ziggy]

Biblically, the evening comes first, then the day, as in Genesis. So if Esther goes to the king on the 3rd day, it would be night+day +night+day +night+day when she went to him.

 

[rstrats]

Biblically, the evening comes first, then the day, as in Genesis. So if Esther goes to the king on the 3rd day, it would be night+day +night+day +night+day when she went to him.

Assuming that "three days, night or day" is the same thing as "three days and three nights, how do you account for the lack of a third night time and a third daytime?

 

[Alofa Atu]

And I'm telling you that there is, if the "three days, night or day" of Esther is the same thing as "three days and three nights.

It isn't "=". It says "three days", night, day. The phrase does not "=" "three days and three nights". You can also compare the phrases forty days and forty nights, etc in Genesis, Exodus, etc. The number is always repeated, "three", "forty", "seven", etc. It is different in Hebrew, and in English, which is why the KJB used the phrase "or" in connecting "day", "night". It just means 'three days', in any portion of those three days, which if they included night or day, to fast during that time frame until she meets the King. Thus, it can be (day-night, day-night, day, and be considered 'three days', without any portion of a third night being included, since a 'day' may also be considered just referring to the day time portion, as texts already given show) The phrase does not mean "three days and three nights" as in Matthew or Jonah.

Est 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Est 4:16 לך כנוס את־כל־היהודים הנמצאים בשׁושׁן וצומו עלי ואל־תאכלו ואל־תשׁתו שׁלשׁת ימים לילה ויום גם־אני ונערתי אצום כן ובכן אבוא אל־המלך אשׁר לא־כדת וכאשׁר אבדתי אבדתי׃​

It is not the same as given in 1 Samuel 30:12:

1Sa 30:12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

1Sa 30:12 ויתנו־לו פלח דבלה ושׁני צמקים ויאכל ותשׁב רוחו אליו כי לא־אכל לחם ולא־שׁתה מים שׁלשׁה ימים ושׁלשׁה לילות׃​

It is not the same as given in Jonah 1:17:

Jon_1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jon 2:1 וימן יהוה דג גדול לבלע את־יונה ויהי יונה במעי הדג שׁלשׁה ימים ושׁלשׁה לילות׃​

 

[Alofa Atu]

Assuming that "three days, night or day" is the same thing as "three days and three nights, how do you account for the lack of a third night time and a third daytime?

I do not need to assume. Just read the text. No "if's" needed. I do not have to account for a third night time. The text does not say I should expect it.

 

[rstrats]

I do not need to assume. Just read the text. No "if's" needed. I do not have to account for a third night time. The text does not say I should expect it.

The post was directed to Ziggy, not Alofa Atu.

 

[rstrats]

It isn't "=". It says "three days", night, day. The phrase does not "=" "three days and three nights".

And that would mean that the Esther account is not an applicable example as rlvaughn may be suggesting.

 

[Alofa Atu]

The post was directed to Ziggy, not Alofa Atu.

Yes, I know, but you keep saying things like "if", "assume". Those are not really good ways to study the Bible. I begin with the text itself, not what "I" might think it might say, and position of 'maybe'. Ziggy can answer for themselves, but I answered for myself because of the way in which you ask the questions to Ziggy. Being a public forum, the conversation gets 'heard' by more than the persons we direct our questions to, and as such, we ought to expect more than the persons we direct our questions to will answer.

 

[Alofa Atu]

And that would mean that the Esther account is not an applicable example as rlvaughn may be suggesting.

It would still be applicable in a certain way, just not an exact equative to the phrase "three days and three nights", since the number "three" is repeated, and is speaking of both "day" and "night" as being "three" each. The 'Esther' example would just be a way of expressing some similar sayings of Jesus, such as "in three days", etc. Joe Crews' material while useful is not a perfect study of what Jesus meant in Matthew (for a more thorough study, we can do that). I find that Joe Crews' (a faithful man of God) material is helpful, and leads to a better understanding for sure, though it is incomplete and so there is much more to be known since the time he wrote that study ( https://archive.org/download/amazin...- Joe Crews - Three Days And Three Nights.pdf ):

[A.] In only one instance (stated twice), Matthew 12:40 He said, “three days and three nights”,

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. - Matthew 12:40​

[B.] but on Two occasions, Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31 He/Scripture said, “after three days.”

Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. - Matthew 27:63

And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and [of] the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. - Mark 8:31​

[C.] and He/Scripture referred to the same event 5 times in Matthew 26:61, 27:40; Mark 15:29; John 2:19-20 as “in three days”,

And said, This [fellow] said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. - Matthew 26:61

And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest [it] in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. - Matthew 27:40

And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest [it] in three days, - Mark 15:29

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. - John 2:19

Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? - John 2:20​

[D.] and on Twelve occasions it is said, “the third day.” Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19; Mark 9:31, 10:34; Luke 9:22, 13:32*, 18:33, 24:7,46; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4.

From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. - Matthew 16:21

And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. - Matthew 17:23

And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify [him]: and the third day he shall rise again. - Matthew 20:19

Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. - Matthew 27:64

For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. - Mark 9:31

And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. - Mark 10:34

Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day. - Luke 9:22

And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third [day] I shall be perfected. - Luke 13:32*

Luke 13:32,33, is a special case text(s), which refers to the closing days of Jesus' ministry, basically ending in the Garden of Gethsemane. This text is given in the third day of the week [aka 'Tuesday', compare to Matthew 23:37-39], in which Jesus is facing the Pharisees for the last time, before He tells them that their house [Temple] was left to them desolate and leaves for Mt. Olivet on the east. The word "perfected" also means completed, finished, done in His 3 1/2 year ministrations [AD 27 - AD 31].​

And they shall scourge [him], and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. - Luke 18:33

Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. - Luke 24:7

But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. - Luke 24:21

And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: - Luke 24:46

Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; - Acts 10:40

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: - 1 Corinthians 15:4​

Please notice, that the texts over and over again, all include the betrayal, being handed over, the trials, the scourging, the crucifixion, the death, burial and resurrection. Now consider Jonah/s again. Do we not see, from Scripture, that the "three days and three nights" can not, and do not begin in Jesus' burial, but much time before then from the Garden of Gethsemane (in which the betrayal, etc began).

Moreso, if these expressions are all to be taken in the strictest sense of literally, then the Bible, nay moreso, Jesus, is in complete contradiction, for it is clear that they would then have differing total times, for one says “in”, another “after”, still another “the” and one specific “three days and three nights”.

However, when we search the Scriptures faithfully and prayerfully, we will find that the Bible uses inclusive reckoning over and over again [Genesis 7:4,10, 17:12, 42:17-19; 2 Chronicles 10:5,12; Esther 4:16, 5:1; Luke 1:59, 2:21; Acts 10:3-30, etc], and so therefore which saying is correct?

All of them, for they are all (*Luke 13:32, exception) verily saying the same thing about the same events, albeit, in differing phraseology. Even comparing the Scriptures to one another, some overlap one another, see Matthew 16:21 and Mark 8:31 for instance.

Jesus was not and cannot be in the strictest literal sense, without destruction to His own words, literally Three Days and Three Nights [as some incorrectly see as a full '72 hours'] in the Grave, as Scripture, Structure, Language and Typology show (demonstrable upon request).

 

[rstrats]

I do not have to account for a third night time.

I haven't said that you do. I thought Ziggy was saying that three night times and three daytimes would be involved.

BTW, you have a question directed to you in post #26.

 

[37818]

. . . in His 3 1/2 year ministrations [AD 27 - AD 31]. . . .

There is no possible date for the crucifixion and resurrection in that time frame.
Here is the tool, Calendar Converter
Please show me otherwise using this tool. Note the Passover in Mark 14:12-16. The day before His crucifixion.

 

[Alofa Atu]

There is no possible date for the crucifixion and resurrection in that time frame.
Here is the tool, Calendar Converter
Please show me otherwise using this tool. Note the Passover in Mark 14:12-16. The day before His crucifixion.

The reason you are in error is because that calendar system does not use the correct scriptural calendar. That calendar uses a Rabbinical fixed dating system (Hillel II), which is in error. Evidence here - https://archive.org/download/sda-karaites/SDA- Karaites.pdf

If you would like to see a general timetable, consider:

“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,” Luke 3:1​

*“...to determining when the reign of Tiberius Caesar started.[38] The traditional approach is … that the reign of Tiberius started when he became co-regent in 11AD, placing the start of the ministry of John the Baptist around 26 AD. ...” - [Wikipedia; "Baptism of Jesus"] - Baptism of Jesus - Wikipedia​

Samuel Sheffield Snow [S. S. Snow]

“... We come now to an examination of chronological dates. And let it not be forgotten that, as we have proved, the 70 weeks must have commenced on the 10th day of 7th month. The date of the year assigned for their commencement is B. C. 457. There has been some diversity of opinion among chronologists, as to the correctness of that date; but the majority of standard writers on chronology have agreed on that as the true date. Not only so, but recent investigations have resulted in its confirmation. Among other testimony on this point, we give the following, from an article on prophetic chronology, by N. N. Whiting, published in the Advent Shield, No. 1:

“According to the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, there was an ‘Eclipse of the sun, April 30, B. C. 464, which was followed by the assassination of Xerxes by Artabanus.’ Artaxerxes succeeded Xerxes. Hence we may fix his accession to the throne between the months which have been named, (July and November,) in the year B. C. 464. His first year would, therefore, embrace part of 464 and part of 463 B. C. Nisan (the first month) in his year consequently, falls in B. C. 463. His seventh year would commence in B. C. 458, (not earlier than Ab, the fifth month,) and end B. C. 457. And, therefore, the first day of the first month, (Nisan) when Ezra left Babylon, was in the same year, B. C. 457.”

“The commencement of the reign of Artaxerxes can be ascertained by another process.

“The battle of Arbela put an end to the Persian monarchy. This battle was preceded by an eclipse of the moon, which occurred September 20th, B. C. 331, eleven days previous to the battle. See Arrian’s Life of Alexander, B. III., chap. 7; Quintus Curtius, B. IV. chap. 39; Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, and Fugreson’s Table of Eclipses, in his Astronomy.

The Canon of Ptolemy furnishes a history of the kings of Persia, with the period of each reign. He omits those who did not hold the throne a full year, by reckoning the months of their reign partly to the preceding and partly to the succeeding monarch. Thus Xerxes II. and Sogdianus began to reign B. C. 224. The former reigned two months, and the latter seven.

Neither are named by Ptolemy; still these nine months, being applied to the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus and Darius Nothus, no time is actually lost by his computation.

Availing ourselves of the date of the battle of Arbela, which has been noticed, we can employ the Canon, and ascertain the era when Artaxerxes took the crown, by reckoning backward.

Darius Codomannus reigned 4 years to B.C. 331.

Arses, do. 2 do.

Darius Ochus, do. 21 do.

Aetaxerxes Mnemon, do. 46 do.

Darius Nothus, do. 19 do.

Sogdianus, do. 00 7 months.

Xerxes II. do. 00 2 months.

Artaxerxes Longimanus, do. 40 3 months.

133 00 years from B. C. 331, to the beginning of the reign of Artexerxes.

If we add 133 to the year B. C. 331, we learn the result 464 B. C.”

Thus we see that by two different methods, including both Astronomical and Historical proof, we arrive at the same result, viz., that Artexerxes began his reign in the year B. C. 464, and, consequently, that his seventh year commenced in the year B. C. 458, and embraced a part of the following year. It follows, therefore, that Ezra left Babylon in the first month of B. C. 457, and the commandment went forth in the seventh month of the same year. From that point, 2300 years terminate in the seventh month, A. D. 1844.

The next point to be considered is the date of the commencement of our Lord’s public preaching. This is a point of great importance, as it marks distinctly the termination of the sixty-nine weeks and the beginning of the last week of the seventy. And if, after a careful examination, we find it to harmonize with B. C. 457, which has been ascertained to be the true starting point, it will serve to confirm that date, and make ‘assurance doubly sure.’

In arriving at that date several steps are necessary. And first we will notice the fact that there was a difference of about six months between the ages of John the Baptist and our Lord. As proof of this, see Luke 1:24-37. In the next place let it be understood that John was a Levite, and of the order of the priesthood, Luke 1:5. According to the Law his ministry could not commence until he was thirty years of age: see Numbers 4:3, 23, 30, 35, 39, 43, 47; 1 Chronicles 23:3. As the birth of Jesus could not have been later in the year than December, the birth of John could not have been later than the preceding June. He was, therefore, thirty years old in the spring or in June, when he must have begun his ministry. ..."​

 

[Alofa Atu]

There is no possible date for the crucifixion and resurrection in that time frame.
Here is the tool, Calendar Converter
Please show me otherwise using this tool. Note the Passover in Mark 14:12-16. The day before His crucifixion.

The reason you are in error is because that calendar system does not use the correct scriptural calendar. That calendar uses a Rabbinical fixed dating system (Hillel II), which is in error. Evidence here - https://archive.org/download/sda-karaites/SDA- Karaites.pdf

continued ...

"... This was in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Casar---not of his sole reign, but of his administration, reckoned from the time when he was associated with his uncle Augustus in the government. The following remarks on the subject are from Horne:---’We learn from the Roman historians that the reign of Tiberius had two commencements: the first, when he was admitted to a place in the empire, (but without the title of Emperor,) in August, of the year 764, from the foundation of the city of Rome, three years before the death of Augustus; and the second, when he began to reign alone after that Emperor’s decease. It is from the first of these commencements that the fifteenth year, mentioned by St. Luke, is to be computed, who, as Tiberius did not assume the imperial title during the life of Augustus, makes use of a word which properly marks the nature of the power exercised by Tiberius, namely, “In the fifteenth year tés hégemonias [i.e. of the administration] of Tiberius Casar,”’ etc. Intro. B. I. p. 564.

Augustus died August 19th A. D. 14. And as Tiberius was united with him three years before, his administration must have commenced in August A. D. 11. From that point fourteen full years extend to August A. D. 25, when, of course, his fifteenth year began, which, reaching to August A. D. 26, would necessarily embrace that point of time at which John began his ministry. We come, then, to this result, that the ministry of John the Baptist began in the early part of A. D. 26.

Our Lord, being about six months younger that John, was thirty years of age in the autumn or in December following. About that time he was baptized; see Luke 3:21-23. After his baptism he attended a passover feast at Jerusalem; see John 2:3, 23. This was in the Spring, and, as it was the first spring after his baptism, must certainly have been in A. D. 27. After this he came into the land of Judea with his disciples, where he tarried and baptized. At the same time John was baptizing in Enon, not being yet cast into prison; see John 3:22-24. We may, therefore, rest assured that as late as the summer or autumn of A. D. 27, John’s imprisonment had not taken place.

But Jesus did not commence the confirming of the covenant, by his public preaching and his public miracles, until after the imprisonment of John. Matthew 4:12, 17, ‘Now, when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Mark 1:14, 15 ‘Now, after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and the believe the gospel.’ Acts 10:37, ‘That word I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached.’ Thus Matthew, Mark, and Peter, all testify that the public proclamation of the gospel by our Lord, began soon after the imprisonment of John. As that must have occurred in the summer or autumn of A. D. 27, the public preaching of Christ, accompanied by the confirmatory. Proofs of miracles publicly wrought, by which he was fully manifested to Israel and proved to be the true Messiah, did not commence till the autumn of A. D. 27. And that, it is very evident, must have been the true date.

But will this harmonize with the date B. C. 457? Let us see. From one point to the other there must be 69 weeks, i.e. 483 years. Suppose, then, the period to have embraced the whole of B. C. 457, there would then be needed 26 full years to make it complete. It would then extend from the first day of B. C. 457 to the first day of A. D. 27. But, as we have clearly proved, the period began on the 10th day of the 7th month. A part of B. C. 457 is not, therefore, to be included in the reckoning, and this deficiency must be made up by the addition of a part of A. D. 27. We see, then, that these two dates agree, and the 69 weeks which commenced in the 7th month B. C. 457, terminated in the 7th month A. D. 27. Then Jesus began to ‘confirm the covenant,’ and on the 10th day of the first month of A. D. 31, he caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and four days after that the nailed the hand writing of ordinances to his cross.

The argument of Ferguson, that the death of our Lord must have occurred in A. D. 33, is not valid. It is based upon the assumption that the Rabbinical Jews are correct in their mode of reckoning the year. Were that true, the argument would be perfect and irrefutable. The crucifixion was evidently on Friday, the day before the Sabbath. See John 19:31; Mark 15:42. It was also on the day of the Passover; John 18:28. Now, admitting the Rabbinical Jews to be correct, we find by astronomical calculation, that the Passover full moon occurred on Friday, in the year 33, and not for several years before or after. But the Caraite Jews accuse the others of corrupting the Law in this matter, in other words, of adopting the customs of the heathen in their mode of reckoning time. And on examination we find the charge to be just.

The Law imperatively required the presentation of the first-fruits’ sheaf, or handful, as a wave-offering, on the 16th day of the first month. But if the year be commenced, according to the Rabbinical Jews, with the new moon in March, it would be impossible to obey this requisition of the Law. For the grain would not be ripe in the first month. The Caraites, who adhere rigidly to the Law, usually commence the year one moon later than do the others; the one class regulating their year by the vernal equinox, after the manner of the Romans,—the other by the ripening of the barely harvest, according to the requirements of the Mosaic Law.

The Caraite computation is consequently correct; and the argument of Ferguson, based upon the Rabbinical reckoning, falls to the ground. The death of our Lord was not, therefore, in A. D. 33.

But let us see if it was not in A. D. 31.

In the first place let us understand and remember, that the passover was always either on the day in which the moon came to the full, or the day following. This would depend upon the point of commencement of the month. The Jews began their months with the first visible appearance of the new moon. When its change took place early in the morning it would be visible the same evening, and the first day of the month, would be the day following. And as there are between fourteen and fifteen days from the change of the moon to the full, and the passover was always the fourteenth day of the month, it would, in this case, occur on the very day of the full moon. But when the moon changed at a later hour in the day, it could not be visible the same evening. In that case the first day of the month would be the second day after the moon’s change, and, consequently, the fourteenth day of the month would be the day following the full. We find upon examination that this must have been the case with the Caraite first month, A. D. 31.

We find also, that in A. D. 33 the full moon was on the 3rd day of April. From one full moon to another are about 29 1/2 days. The Caraite passover in that year would be on the 3rd day of May. As the lunar months fall behind the solar 11 days every year, so, in reckoning backward from A. D. 33 to A. D. 31, there must be an addition of 11 days to each year, making, for the two years 22 days. We see, then, that as in A. D. 33 the full moon was on the 3rd of May, it must have occurred on the 25th of May in A. D. 31. The true passover day must therefore have been either the 25th or 26th of May in that year.

Again, in the Appendix Townsend’s arrangement of the New Testament will be found a very accurate table, exhibiting the time of the occurrence of the passover (according to the Rabbinical Jews,) during our Saviour’s life. In that table it is placed for A. D. 31, Tuesday, April 25th. Assuming this as undoubtedly correct, we shall find that 29 1/2 days, which make a lunar month, extend to Thursday, May 25th. And as there is a small excess over 29 1/2 days in a lunar month, and also over 11 days to a year in the precession of the moon’s changes, it came to the full in the latter part of the day. Consequently the passover was on the day following, which was Friday. We come, then, to this conclusion, that our Lord was crucified, on Friday, May 26th, A. D. 31. S. (To be continued.) ...” [The Jubilee Standard Volume 1; May 29, 1845; Volume 1, New York City, Thursday, Number 12., [section] Prophetic Chronology Continued – Samuel Sheffield Snow] - [Link to Source]​

 

[Alofa Atu]

... BTW, you have a question directed to you in post #26.

I answered it before in post #24. Common Figure of Speech/Colloquial Language?

Question in return, What does the phrase "in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40) mean?