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NASB | Matthew 12:40 for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 12:40 for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. [Jon 1:17] |
Subject: 3 days and 3 nights as a Hebrew idiom |
Bible Note: [Please add comments to Glenn M. Miller's note.] QUESTION: Jesus said he was going to be in the earth (buried) for three days and three nights. If he died on Friday and rose on Sunday morning, how is this three days and three nights? ANSWER: This is one of the easier ones...the Jews counted PART of a day or night as a WHOLE day or nite, so part of Friday, all of Sat, part of Sun would be 'three days and three nights'--it was a Hebrew idiom of the day... We do the same thing of course...if I say I worked at the office all day, 'all day' normally doesn't mean 24 hours...it means most of the daylight hours or whatever... This fits with the other predictions that says 'on the third day'... [Another person comments:] Thus, the meaning and implication of the phrases "Full Day", "Whole Day" and the word "Day", can and normally does change with a change in whatever it has been used with reference to. For instance, if I say: "I stayed in America, for three days and three nights", now the word "day" is being used here in the absolute sense. Thus, one day and one night, should be a full circle. Dont you think so? [Glenn M. Miller replies:] It is important to recognize first off, that the issue of "Don't you think so?" needs to be answered definitively 'no'... Idiomatic expressions in other cultures don't have to make ANY sense to us at all. Our job as readers of the literature from another culture is to try to understand THEIR idioms, rather than judge them. So, with that in mind, let me answer the request above for the data that supports my original statement ("What is the source of this information about the referred Jewish tradition?") Although I cannot list it all, let me give the main references available. Let me cite data from three sources: the OT, the Rabbinix, and one NT passage. 1. The OT data (to show that 'on the third day' equals 'after three days') Gen 42.16: "And he put them all in custody for three days. 18 On the third day, Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God" and they are released ON that day [from the context of verses 25-26]. In this case the 'for three days' meant only 'into the third day.' 1 Kings 20.29: "For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined." In this case we have 'for seven days' mean[ing] only 'into the seventh day'. 2 Chr 10.5: "And he said to them, 'Return to me again in three days" (NAS) with verse 12: "So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had directed, saying, 'Return to me on the third day.'" In this case 'in three days' is equivalent to 'on the third day.' Esther 4.16: "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish." And then in 5.1: "On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king's hall." In this case, "on the third day" is equivalent to "for three days, night or day". 1 Samuel 30.12: "He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights. 13 David asked him, "To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?" He said, "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago." In this case "for three days and three nights" somehow was fulfilled when his master left him 'three days ago'. "Thus, the Old Testament gives the picture that the expressions 'three days,' 'the third day,' and 'three days and three nights' are used to signify the same period of time." [NT:CALC:73] 2. The Rabbinical literature also manifests this idiomatic range: Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, tenth in the descent from Ezra was very specific: "A day and a night are an Onah ['a portion of time'] and the portion of an Onah is as the whole of it" [J.Talmud, Shabbath 9.3 and b.Talmud, Pesahim 4a] This understanding was used in the numerous correlations between Jonah 1.17 ('in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights') and the OT passages cited above [e.g. Mid.Rabbath on Genesis 56 (on 22.4); Genesis 91.7 (on 42.17-18)]. 3. There is one NT passage that indicates this Jewish idiom. Matt 27.63: "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day." Note that 'after three days' was somehow equivalent to 'until the third day' (not 'until the fourth day'). This data should demonstrate the rough equivalence of the NT phrases. Hope this helps, Glenn M. Miller |