Why its important to keep the Sabbath

[GerhardEbersoehn]

"...was the preparation day and the sabbath drew on" refers to the weekly Sabbath, not a yearly Feast Day sabbath.

First, this is not QUOTE THE SCRIPTURE OF <this passage along with the other Gospels shows that Jesus died just before sunset on Friday aka "Preparation Day">! It shows that the grave was just closed and that the women afterwards went home, prepared the spices and ointments they had, "and began to rest the Sabbath according to the (Fourth) Commandment" - after sunset naturally.

Next, Luke 23:54, 54 καὶ ἡμέρα ἐκεινη ἦν Παρασκευῆς καὶ σάββατον ἐπέφωσκεν.

"That Day was the Preparation Day and the Sabbath drew on" : "the Sabbath drew on" refers to the weekly Sabbath that "drew near", correct.

WHEN?

Literally "That Day WAS (ἦν Imperfect) on the Preparation Day” (Παρασκευῆς <the yearly Feast Day sabbath>)

"while That Day … the Sabbath MID-AFTERNOON DAYLIGHT DREW NEAR" (ἐπέφωσκεν Imperfect).

 

[1stCenturyLady]

The only "yearly sabbath" that occurred during the week Jesus was crucified was Passover, which fell on Friday, Nisan 14, the day Jesus died on the Cross.

The Nisan 14 Passover typified the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, so the only sensible time for Christ's crucifixion was Friday, Nisan 14.

Why does Passover have to be on Friday? BTW, the feast of unleavened bread started on the 15th with the 14th being the preparation day. The Last Supper was at the beginning of Passover the evening of the 13th which in Jewish time was the beginning of the 14th. These days don't land of the same day of the week each year. The Roman Catholic Church started "Good Friday."

 

[Aunty Jane]

I have to take, at least, academic exception to the phrase "you've been told," Sis.

Yes Barney, I hear you…..but what have any of us been “told” about early observance of the Sabbath and a Christian observance of it? And who told us?
Nothing that Sabbath observers have offered so far has altered my viewpoint on this question.

If you can provide clear scriptural evidence that any of God’s early servants observed a Sabbath before it was mandated to Israel….fire away. But if all you can provide is inference and suggestion then the Bible verses offered do not make what you believe, to be true. I remain unconvinced that any Christian was mandated to observe a Sabbath as the Jews were mandated clearly in their scripture.

If it was so important, then why was it not stated when the circumcision issue was resolved? The only things that Christian’s had to uphold as “necessary” were clearly stated.….

Acts 15:6-11…28-29….
”So the apostles and the elders gathered together to look into this matter. 7 After much intense discussion had taken place, Peter rose and said to them: “Men, brothers, you well know that from early days God made the choice among you that through my mouth people of the nations should hear the word of the good news and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by giving them the holy spirit, just as he did to us also. 9 And he made no distinction at all between us and them, but purified their hearts by faith. 10 So why are you now making a test of God by imposing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our forefathers nor we were capable of bearing? 11 On the contrary, we have faith that we are saved through the undeserved kindness of the Lord Jesus in the same way that they are. . . . . For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you except these necessary things: 29 to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper. Good health to you!”

The situation is somewhat similar to what SDA’s are promoting…a return to an old and now obsolete law that was never given to Christians even though Jews could still observe it as they had always done, but it was no longer a “requirement” for Gentiles, as Peter said……why were the Jews trying to impose on Gentile Christians, a law that no one could keep? The “curse of the law” (Gal 3:13) was removed when Jesus gave his life at Calvary. The law of love that Christ’s followers were now under, was not a written law but now impressed on hearts and exercised by conscience.

I mean, let's be honest, is there anything you've portrayed here that departs, materially, from "Studies In The Scriptures?"

You are speaking ancient history here Barn…..”Studies in the Scriptures” was the beginning of our journey….we have come a long way since then. Remember we have no one claiming to be prophets and no divine revelation to offer as proof of our authenticity as Christ’s disciples…..we simply have his assurance in Matt 24:45 that he would provide a ”faithful and discreet slave” who, at this critical time in history, would give spiritual “food at the proper time” to those in his entire household.

The proof would be in the kind of people produced…those who were led by God’s spirit to live the life Christ Jesus left as a model for our own, and to carry out the “great commission” as some call it. It is what distinguishes JW’s as different….not just their beliefs but also their practices…..who else obeys Christ’s commands to preach as he taught his disciples to preach…(Matt 10:11-14; Acts 20:20)

Jesus told his disciples that he would be “with” them in this work of disciple making, and left them with the training he had provided. (Matt 28:19-20) Since this preaching work is not something we see the churches engaged in on a regular or global basis, don’t we have to ask why only one group, out of all those claiming to be Christ’s disciples, are actually out there in the field, doing what Christ commanded in every nation……it was not simply a request to do that if you felt inclined…but he said “Go! and make disciples of people of all the nations, teaching them to observe all the thingsI have commanded you”…..so tell me who else calls at your door in every nation with some good news to tell about the Kingdom of God? (Matt 24:14) Most “Christians” can’t even tell you succinctly what God’s Kingdom is, let alone preach the good news about it…..

Revelation of truth is progressive as the scriptures clearly show….Israel was unaware of the spiritual nature of the Kingdom….no Jew expected to go to heaven…..nor was their Messiah expected to be anything but 100% human. For him to claim to be “the son of God” was blasphemy.
It was quite a change for the first Christians to contemplate what those changes would mean for them. So not all is revealed at once, but ‘as the day dawns, the light on the path gets brighter.’ (Prov 4:18) As it must or else we remain in the dark.,

Respectfully, I'm not really up on Watchtower's prophetic updates but, at this point, aren't we just waiting to see how long the period between the creation of Adam and that of Eve proves to be? Or some such qualification? I used to try to keep up with such things. Help me out, here, Sis.

I’ll help anyone out who really wants to know the truth and is not afraid to face the fact that they could be wrong in what someone has taught them…..the proof of the pudding to me is in what I can see with my own eyes…..and what I have experienced in my own life.
Genuine Christianity in this “time of the end” would be like “wheat” among the “weeds”….”sheep” among the “goats”….they would stand out as different, like the first Christian’s did, and they were not well received. The world’s hatred for Christ’s disciples was to be global, because their work assignment was to be global. (John 15:18-21)

As I said…I call ’em asI see ‘em….”the faithful slave” exists in this horribly divided realm of so called “Christianity”…and the devil has made sure that finding the diamond in that pile of broken glass was going to be as difficult as possible….but it is God who separates us out by “drawing” us to his uncomfortable truth, so that it becomes very comforting, once accepted. No one can come to the son without an invitation from his Father. (John 6:44; 65) So if we fail to get an invitation, so be it. We were not worthy.

 

[Aunty Jane]

A COMPLETELY, WRONG, statement, nay, completely FALSE, yea, absolutely reckless PROVING one thing: YOUR IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE. In truth, illustrating how the Word of God is abused of antinomian neocon evangelicals.

Well, I am guessing that one of us is “COMPLETELY WRONG” and is incredibly pompous about his false beliefs.

Certain days of commanded Jewish festivals were solemn assemblies or holy conventions; these were sabbaths, and similar to the weekly Sabbaths, they required a complete cessation of ordinary business. No secular work at all was to be done. An exception to the regular Sabbath arrangement was that work such as the preparing of food, unlawful on the weekly Sabbath days, was permitted in connection with the preparation for the festival observances. (Exodus 12:16)

A distinction exists between “holy conventions” of the festivals, and the regular weekly Sabbaths (and the Sabbath on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, a time of fasting), on which days no work whatsoever was allowed, not even the lighting of a fire “in any of your dwelling places.”
We can compare Leviticus 23:26-32….

Exodus 35:2-3…
“Work may be done for six days, but the seventh day will become something holy to you, a sabbath of complete rest to Jehovah. Anybody doing work on it will be put to death. 3 You must not light a fire in any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

So tell us whether you intend to impose the death penalty on those who fail to observe the Sabbath, as the Jews were commanded to do…..
If not, why not? If it’s the same Sabbath and it has the same penalty……why are offenders still living?

 

[Aunty Jane]

<why can we find no mention of it in connection with him?>
Perhaps because Abraham was "a friend of God"? Like Moses was "a friend of God"? Why would God have given the Sabbath Commandment to Moses to give to Israel, but not to Abraham? Not because GOD CHOSE THEM ALL?
But typically, you see only MAN'S goodness and free will - not GOD'S mercy and forgiveness of man's free will.
All the children of God are "JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, NOT BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW", not because of their individual choice of God but of His Personal Choice of them, not because of God's Election of any one nation, Jew or Gentile, but because of GOD'S Election of each one of HIS OWN.

You see, this is all you have…..no direct scripture but a bunch of excuses based on inference to justify your position. I see no Sabbath mentioned as a mandated observance for any servant of God until Moses was told about the manna and the double amount that was to be gathered on the 6th day so that Israel had food for the Sabbath day. That law was given to Israel, alone. It was not binding on Gentiles as the circumcision issue showed. Neither circumcision nor Sabbath observance was a requirement……yet there was no law against it either, so it was a choice rather than a law.

 

[Aunty Jane]

Mmm. Was murder a sin when Cain clobbered Abel in the back paddock? Was adultery a sin when Joseph ran away from Potiphar's wife? Did they need to be written down, obviously not. But they were most assuredly informed right?

OK, before you run away with yourself again…..God’s moral laws were imprinted on the human psyche from creation because we were “made in God’s image”…..it is instinctual in us to know right from wrong, but in our flawed condition it needed to be included in a written code so that no one could write their own rules.

We saw with the golden calf incident that humans can do the wrong thing but believe it’s the right one….the freed Israelites thought Moses had got lost on the mountain whilst he was receiving the 10 Commandments which formed the basis for all of God’s laws, so rather than patiently wait for further instructions, they decided to hold a “festival to Jehovah”….but they incorporated something they learned in Egypt….calf worship, but they called this calf, “Jehovah”….did this make what they were doing OK with God? He put the offenders to death….

Why would God keep the Sabbath, and yes,...t was a 24 hour day like the other 6, we've been observing the week since?

Neither science nor the Bible back that up. The creative days were not 24 hour periods…..that means that the Universe is only 6,000 years old…..surely you don’t believe that…?

The Hebrew language as well as in English use the word “day” in different contexts......”in my grandfather’s day” doesn’t mean a 24 hour period. Even the expression “in the day” means in a certain era.
The dawn of a new era is not the beginning of a literal day....so before you say another word, please consider what Genesis actually says that is backed up by the Bible itself, as well as by proven science.
YEC’s look pretty silly in the face of all the evidence. Were there dinosaurs on the ark? Why were many animal species extinct before man arrived?

The Universe came into existence with all its components as one a mighty act of creation....scientists call it the “Big Bang” but we get that picture...right? Genesis says that the “God created the heavens and the earth”, so it was delivered as one package. Only 6000 years ago.....? I hardly think so.

What Most wrote down in Genesis came first by word of mouth, handed down from father to son for 1000 years or more. How do you think Moses' parents explained the 6 day creation and the Sabbath, but with no reference to the 7 day week the entire world was familiar with?

How do you know that any of what you just said is even true? You are assuming, but you have no facts.....tell me what can be proven without facts? Is there a single verse in the Bible that says the Patriarchs observed a Sabbath? You know there isn’t, otherwise you would have provided them by now.

How do you know that Moses’ parents were able to pass much of anything to their son when he was taken into Pharaoh’s house and away from his mother when he was weaned. All the Egyptians knew was that she was his wet nurse. She may well have been put to death with her child if she confessed to being his mother.

Moses knew that he was a Hebrew, but we don’t know how much of what he knew of the God of his people.
Judging by their conduct once freed from slavery, they did not know him at all and throughout their entire history, they proved to be a bad example, way more than a good one.

You make these sweeping statements as if imagination were a genuine source of information. The Bible is our ONLY source of truth. So if a Sabbath observance is not mentioned in the Bible as mandated for any human before Israel was freed from Egypt, and it is not required of Christians.....why do you believe it?
Who told you it was a requirement?

 

[Phoneman777]

DUH. . . I asked for Scripture, chum

You've never read about what happened at "the end of the preparation day" as "the Sabbath drew on"?

Please, please tell me you think Jesus was crucified on Wednesday on a "yearly Jewish sabbath"...it's been a while since I've seen that!

 

[Hobie]

LOL….I am beginning to despair that your reading skills are in decline…..how many times have I said that the Sabbath given to the Israelites was based on the 7th day in Genesis, but they are two different Sabbaths.
How many different Sabbaths was Israel to observe? Not just one. Some other festive days in the year, as well as the 7th and 50th years, were also called sabbaths.

How long before? Not very long at all. Again the Sabbath observance was given only to Israel and it was incorporated into the Law given through Moses a short time later, along with all the other laws that God’s people were to observe….though his moral laws would have been made known to Abraham and the Patriarchs much earlier.

Until the giving of the manna in the wilderness, Israel had no idea of what a Sabbath was. Moses had to tell them what God had just told him, after their complaints about dying of famine in the wilderness……
Moses wrote Genesis, so how would they have known about the details that Moses included in his Genesis creation account? That information was given to Moses directly.

Again you assume this…..but where is it written that the Sabbath was part of any laws given to Abraham? Did he ever mention the Sabbath? Did any of God’s servants before Moses ever mention a Sabbath?

Before the Law of Moses, God’s dealings with the Patriarchs was individual. All that is written suggests that God spoke with them directly, probably through his Logos.
Out of all of God’s ancient servants, only Abraham was called “Jehovah’s friend”. (James 2:21-23) If the Sabbath observance was a command from God before Israel’s release from slavery then why can we find no mention of it in connection with him?


I think you mistake the NLT for the NWT, which is the translation we prefer.
Regardless of what translation we use, it is necessary to study like the Beroeans…..to prove to ourselves what is true and what isn’t. I have found so many translation errors by consulting Strongs and finding that they have rendered a word incorrectly, even though they admitted that it meant something else.
It is good to study these things instead of just flying blind and accepting a translation because everyone else does. Never have I found the NWT to be in error when translating the original language.
I ditched the outdated KJV decades ago. The errors are plain when you know the truth.

The original Bible was “inspired of God”…but translations are the work of men.

No fruit for those who are not fruitarians. The Bible is clear in its teachings…..Bible translations are ambiguous because they are designed to be….the translators in 99% of cases are trinitarians. Nuff said.

How interesting that you describe things this way……you admit that your sons are like their father, but are completely separate humans.
If both the Father and son of the Bible are like one another in character and personality traits, how come all of a sudden the son takes on the role of Almighty God when he never did? He was and always has been a “servant” of his God. (Acts 4:27) How is the servant now the equal of his God just because they share spirit “form” as Paul says in Phil 2:6…
”who, although he was existing in God’s form, did not even consider the idea of trying to be equal to God”.

Yes, that is what it says…..The Father “sent” his precious son to be “the Savior of the world”. We have to confess that Jesus is the “son of God”….not that Jesus is God. Jesus is “theos” not “ho theos” as the Greek Interlinear will testify. He had God’s spirit in him, no question…..but it was given at his baptism.
That spirit was shared with his apostles.

If you want it to…...but that is not what it says In Revelation 3:14.
”Beginning” (archē) means…"

1. “beginning, origin
2. the person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader”

If you look up all the verses where this word is used, it is always the commencement of something…..the first person or thing in a series. “In the beginning” means when something started…..God created his firstborn son…..his “only begotten”…the very first life form to exist apart from himself. Why would anyone need to force this word to mean something else?….only a false doctrine that needs propping up.

Scripture says that Jesus preexisted his human birth as the “logos” (one who speaks for God) and we see in all his interactions with sinful mankind that a mediator was required, because no sinful person can come to God directly…sin is a barrier between us and our Creator, necessitating the need for an intercessor. Jesus is our High Priest…the one who goes before God on our behalf, and delivers our prayers to him.
If he was “God” (capital “G”) then we would need a mediator between us and Jesus. But if Jesus is “a godlike one” (also the meaning of “theos”) as the Scriptures indicate, then he is God’s representative in every way.…showing us who the Father is in personality and character, and how we should worship the God that he himself serves, even in heaven. (Rev 3:12)

This is no way detracts from who Jesus is and always was…..God’s precious and obedient son. We owe him our obedience and love, but our worship goes only to his Father.

Aunty, thats the danger of throwing out what is tried and true, and putting what we want, then who is leading, man or God?

 

[Aunty Jane]

Aunty, thats the danger of throwing out what is tried and true, and putting what we want, then who is leading, man or God?

We just have a very different take on the scriptures that speak about the Sabbath.....and we see from those scriptures, a clear truth and it is obvious that we can’t both be right....

Time will tell, and as I have said before there are much bigger trees to bark up....the observance of a Sabbath is small in comparison.

 

[Hobie]

We just have a very different take on the scriptures that speak about the Sabbath.....and we see from those scriptures, a clear truth and it is obvious that we can’t both be right....

Time will tell, and as I have said before there are much bigger trees to bark up....the observance of a Sabbath is small in comparison.

Aunty, (and I mean that tenderly as in the islands), the thing is, the Holy Spirit is what guides us into all truth, and I've always held that nothing anyone says will be of any effect, only the Holy Spirit (and much prayer) can change a heart. You must pray and ask the Lord on this issue, as even some 'Bible versions' can hide or translate to their predisposed ideas, so we must turn to God on some these truths and allow the Holy Spirit to unveil what is 'clear truth' as you say as this one is like marriage, given from Creation.

 

[Phoneman777]

First, this is not QUOTE THE SCRIPTURE OF <this passage along with the other Gospels shows that Jesus died just before sunset on Friday aka "Preparation Day">! It shows that the grave was just closed and that the women afterwards went home, prepared the spices and ointments they had, "and began to rest the Sabbath according to the (Fourth) Commandment" - after sunset naturally.

Next, Luke 23:54, 54 καὶ ἡμέρα ἐκεινη ἦν Παρασκευῆς καὶ σάββατον ἐπέφωσκεν.

"That Day was the Preparation Day and the Sabbath drew on" : "the Sabbath drew on" refers to the weekly Sabbath that "drew near", correct.

WHEN?

Literally "That Day WAS (ἦν Imperfect) on the Preparation Day” (Παρασκευῆς <the yearly Feast Day sabbath>)

"while That Day … the Sabbath MID-AFTERNOON DAYLIGHT DREW NEAR" (ἐπέφωσκεν Imperfect).

I agree Jesus died on Friday, rested in the tomb during Sabbath, and rose sometime early Sunday.

 

[Phoneman777]

Why does Passover have to be on Friday?

It doesn't. It's like your birthday which falls on any day. This year, it's Wednesday, April 24.

BTW, the feast of unleavened bread started on the 15th with the 14th being the preparation day. The Last Supper was at the beginning of Passover the evening of the 13th which in Jewish time was the beginning of the 14th. These days don't land of the same day of the week each year. The Roman Catholic Church started "Good Friday."

During crucifixion week, Passover fell on Nisan 14 which began at sunset as Jesus and company were finishing up the Last Supper. They left the Upper Room on what we'd call "Friday night" and went to Gethsemane as night fell, Jesus was captured and endured mock trials and persecution and imprisonment until morning before being crucified and dying just before the sun set and Sabbath began.

BTW, we know no wine was served at the Last Supper because the Israelites would have already removed any and all yeast products in preparation for Passover according to the Mosaic Law, which is why it's just plain asinine for people to climb on this forum and try to use Jesus to justify drinking booze.

 

[Brakelite]

that means that the Universe is only 6,000 years old…..surely you don’t believe that…

No, I don't believe that. Clever straw man. KJV Genesis 1:1-2
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Jesus began creating with the earth already there. How long? Who knows? And maybe the material earth had been as science declares... Millions of years, or maybe not. But creation as described in Genesis, yep you said it. 6000 years, and yep, I believe that. No coincidence that the 7th millennium will be a Sabbath rest for the planet.

The Bible is our ONLY source of truth.

If only you actually believed that, and sourced your doctrines from the Bible only. Some things you have right. Like the state of the dead. But the nature of Jesus and Who He is? You have that very wrong, and that tells me you don't know Him. And worse, He doesn't know you, yet. I think you need to meet up.

 

[RedFan]

First, this is not QUOTE THE SCRIPTURE OF <this passage along with the other Gospels shows that Jesus died just before sunset on Friday aka "Preparation Day">! It shows that the grave was just closed and that the women afterwards went home, prepared the spices and ointments they had, "and began to rest the Sabbath according to the (Fourth) Commandment" - after sunset naturally.

Next, Luke 23:54, 54 καὶ ἡμέρα ἐκεινη ἦν Παρασκευῆς καὶ σάββατον ἐπέφωσκεν.

"That Day was the Preparation Day and the Sabbath drew on" : "the Sabbath drew on" refers to the weekly Sabbath that "drew near", correct.

WHEN?

Literally "That Day WAS (ἦν Imperfect) on the Preparation Day” (Παρασκευῆς <the yearly Feast Day sabbath>)

"while That Day … the Sabbath MID-AFTERNOON DAYLIGHT DREW NEAR" (ἐπέφωσκεν Imperfect).

ἐπέφωσκεν is used in Luke 23:54, but the same story in Matt. 28:1 uses ἐπιφωσκούσῃ, which the KJV renders "began to dawn." That suggests an early morning trip rather than a mid-afternoon one, and in Matt. 28:1 it's occurring after rather than before the Sabbath.

 

[GerhardEbersoehn]

ἐπέφωσκεν is used in Luke 23:54, but the same story in Matt. 28:1 uses ἐπιφωσκούσῃ, which the KJV renders "began to dawn." That suggests an early morning trip rather than a mid-afternoon one, and in Matt. 28:1 it's occurring after rather than before the Sabbath.

Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament



Quote begins:

Now late on the sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (opse de sabbatwn, th epipwskoush eiί mian sabbatwn). This careful chronological statement according to Jewish days clearly means that before the sabbath was over, that is before six P.M., this visit by the women was made "to see the sepulchre" (qeorhsai ton tapon). They had seen the place of burial on Friday afternoon (Mark 15:47; Matthew 27:61; Luke 23:55). They had rested on the sabbath after preparing spices and ointments for the body of Jesus (Luke 23:56), a sabbath of unutterable sorrow and woe. They will buy other spices after sundown when the new day has dawned and the sabbath is over (Mark 16:1). Both Matthew here and Luke (Luke 23:54) use dawn (epipwskw) for the dawning of the twenty-four hour-day at sunset, not of the dawning of the twelve-hour day at sunrise. The Aramaic used the verb for dawn in both senses. The so-called Gospel of Peter has epipwskw in the same sense as Matthew and Luke as does a late papyrus. Apparently the Jewish sense of "dawn" is here expressed by this Greek verb. Allen thinks that Matthew misunderstands Mark at this point, but clearly Mark is speaking of sunrise and Matthew of sunset. Why allow only one visit for the anxious women?

Quote ends

 

[1stCenturyLady]

It doesn't. It's like your birthday which falls on any day. This year, it's Wednesday, April 24.

During crucifixion week, Passover fell on Nisan 14 which began at sunset as Jesus and company were finishing up the Last Supper. They left the Upper Room on what we'd call "Friday night" and went to Gethsemane as night fell, Jesus was captured and endured mock trials and persecution and imprisonment until morning before being crucified and dying just before the sun set and Sabbath began.

BTW, we know no wine was served at the Last Supper because the Israelites would have already removed any and all yeast products in preparation for Passover according to the Mosaic Law, which is why it's just plain asinine for people to climb on this forum and try to use Jesus to justify drinking booze.

How could there be three days and three nights before Sunday morning.

Saw your bunny trail. What did Jesus turn water into at the wedding? Grape juice?

 

[GerhardEbersoehn]

ἐπέφωσκεν is used in Luke 23:54, but the same story in Matt. 28:1 uses ἐπιφωσκούσῃ, which the KJV renders "began to dawn." That suggests an early morning trip rather than a mid-afternoon one, and in Matt. 28:1 it's occurring after rather than before the Sabbath.

Re: <ἐπέφωσκεν is used in Luke 23:54, but the same story in Matt. 28:1 uses ἐπιφωσκούσῃ,>
Not nearly the same. ἐπέφωσκεν used in Luke 23:54 is a Verb, Imperfektum, meaning it has a Subject, and that Subject is the Sabbath which "was drawing near"---the Friday late, mid afternoon.
ἐπιφωσκούσῃ which Matt. 28:1 uses, is an Adverbial Noun Participle Compound meaning it has Gender Article and Case, as well as Time and Mode --- τῇ=in the | ἐπι=inclining | φωσ=daylight | ούσῃ=being ongoing. What was ongoing Ὀψὲ "late ON, SABBATH" // Ὀψὲ "in the end OF, THE SABBATH"? "SABBATH'S TIME was going on"=σαββάτων -ούσῃ .

 

[RedFan]

Re: <ἐπέφωσκεν is used in Luke 23:54, but the same story in Matt. 28:1 uses ἐπιφωσκούσῃ,>
Not nearly the same. ἐπέφωσκεν used in Luke 23:54 is a Verb, Imperfektum, meaning it has a Subject, and that Subject is the Sabbath which "was drawing near"---the Friday late, mid afternoon.
ἐπιφωσκούσῃ which Matt. 28:1 uses, is an Adverbial Noun Participle Compound meaning it has Gender Article and Case, as well as Time and Mode --- τῇ=in the | ἐπι=inclining | φωσ=daylight | ούσῃ=being ongoing. What was ongoing Ὀψὲ "late ON, SABBATH" // Ὀψὲ "in the end OF, THE SABBATH"---σαββάτων -ούσῃ "SABBATH'S TIME was going on".

My point was that the word has the connotation of "dawning" -- which may or may not mean, in an idiomatic sense, "beginning" or "approaching." But the idiom is English, not Greek.

 

[GerhardEbersoehn]

ἐπέφωσκεν is used in Luke 23:54, but the same story in Matt. 28:1 uses ἐπιφωσκούσῃ, which the KJV renders "began to dawn." That suggests an early morning trip rather than a mid-afternoon one, and in Matt. 28:1 it's occurring after rather than before the Sabbath.

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT IS, WHERE DO YOU GET IF FROM THAT <Luke 23:54... is... the same story in Matt. 28:1>?!

Luke 23:54 is about the end of the Burial on Friday with women and men involved; Matthew 28:1-4 is about the opening of the tomb on the Sabbath and neither men nor women involved.

 

[RedFan]

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT IS, WHERE DO YOU GET IF FROM THAT <Luke 23:54... is... the same story in Matt. 28:1>?!

Luke 23:54 is about the end of the Burial on Friday with women and men involved; Matthew 28:1-4 is about the opening of the tomb on the Sabbath and neither men nor women involved.

Fair point. I was combining the two trips.