Friday, March 20, 2020

What Time was Jesus Crucified on the Cross, on the 3RD or 6TH Hour?

In Mark 15:25, the crucifixion was the third hour (9 am), but in John 19:14, Jesus was brought before Pilate on the 6th hour.  If we review carefully, St. Mark followed the Jewish time system.  


"It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him."(Mark 15:25)
"Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”(John 19:14) 
The 24th hour of the Jews start at 6 pm and morning starts at 6 am. When Mark said that Jesus was crucified at 9 am and its equivalent is third hour.  

According to the Bible scholar, Craig S. Keener in his book: 


“The third hour began shortly after 8:30 a.m. and ran till shortly after 9:30 a.m. (The exact time of hours would vary according to the time of sunrise from which they were reckoned, hence according to the season of year.)” (The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Craig S. Keener, page 172).


When Jesus was crucified, the third hour was equivalent to 9 am. 

St. John followed the Roman time system and according to Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler: 

"In Roman time, midnight to midnight marked a day. (Today’s 24-hour day is obviously based on the Roman system.) So when Mark says that Christ was crucified at the third hour, he means around 9 a.m. John stated that Christ’s trial was about the sixth hour. This would place the trial before the crucifixion at around 6 a.m., and therefore, would not negate any testimony of the Gospel writers. This fits with John’s other references to time (for example, John 1:39)" (The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, Joseph M. Holden, page 151)


It is written in John 1:39, Jesus preached at 4 pm and in the Roman time system it is 10 a.m.

"He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon."(John 1:39)

According to Bible scholar, Craig S. Keener:

"The "tenth hour" by usual reckonings would be about 4 p.m., possibly too late in the afternoon to walk a long way home before dark and thus implying that a hospitable person would invite them to spend the night. (By another system of time reckoning, unlikely here, the "tenth hour" could mean 10 a.m.; this system fits 19:14 better but not 4:6.)" (The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Craig S. Keener, page 266)

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