Subject: Idiom? |
Bible Note: Dear Jim, Hi there guy! We have to accept first what scripture said, scratch our proverbial heads a bit and then try to make sense of what the words meant to them when it was wriiten to them, not what it means to us reading it now. Fact - Jesus said Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster for three days and three nights, that makes that part fact, right? Fact - Jesus said He too would be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, that makes that part fact, right? Okay now turn to Mark 15:42-47 - Jesus was buried the day before Sabbath could begin, the Sabbath begins on Saturday, so Jesus was buried on Friday. Look down at Mark 16:1-6 - Mary and the women came on the first day of the week to anoint Jesus and get told, He is risen that morning of the first day of the week. That is Jesus in the tomb before the sun went down - Now, see John 18:28 - The Jews wanted to hurry up and get Jesus crucified before sundown so they could eat the Passover with clean hands. So Jesus was crucified before the sun went down on Friday and got up sometime early Sunday morining that is a fact. But you have to look at the fact of that time frame of from Friday evening to Sunday morning and realize Jesus could not be mistaken about it being three days and three nights no matter how it looks. So the question is never did He get crucifed on Thursday (did not say you said that), He did not the text shows He did not. The only possible question there could be is what did Jesus mean by three days and three nights? It has to be exact, but it also has to fit the real time frame of being somehow not three full days, right? It is exact and it does fit the time frame. Here is why... The New Testament is written in Greek, Jesus spoke Aramaic. Whatever the Aramaic word for day that Jesus used Mathew knew what He meant by the word day. Mathew chose a word, the Greek word Hemera, number 2250 in the Strong's - it's actualy translated as literally - the time space between light and dark, or the whole twenty four hours, figuratively a period of time as any part of a day. So if you look at that very real definition there is no reason why we can't understand what Jesus was really saying in light of what really happened. What Jesus actually was saying was accurate when you factor in that what He meant was figuratively a period, not twenty four hour periods. This issue is about a figure of speech, it has to do with the use of the word Hemera as being it's last listed meaning - a figurative period. You are wondering what in the heck I am saying by now aren't you because it does not seem to add up yet does it? Here is what we now have to turn to to understand how Jews calculated time in Jesus day. This is fact, not speculation, not conjecture, the Jews did count any part of a day as constituting the whole day, this is an historical fact. When we go back to the beginning, Moses uses the word Yowm in Genesis to describe a day. The definition of Yowm number 3117 is - the warm hours, from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next, or figuratively a space of time. When Moses used the word he meant night and day a twenty four hour day, but the word can mean a figurative space of time as any part of that day as well. Let's look at Mathew 17:23 and they will kill Him and He will be raised on the third day." Again Jesus uses the word Hemera as that any part of each of the three days constitutes a day unto itself and therfore it is correct that He rose on the third day whether they were three twenty four periods or parts of days. Mark 4:35 the word Hemera is used to describe part of a day - On that day, when evening came, etc. That the word Hemera can mean part of a day and not the whole day is not an idiom as John Gill purports but is a correct translation of the word Hemera as used by Jesus to mean part of a day as being one day. It is not about what scripture can intrepret that three days and three nights means 24 hours, 2 minutes, and 72 hours. It is about that Jesus meant part of one day as counting for a full day according to the Greek meaning of the word Hemera. Hope this helped, Tamara |