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● Jonah 1:17 . .The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah
was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
● Matt 12:40 . . As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a
huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth.
● John 2:19 . . Jesus answered and said to them: Destroy this temple and in
three days I will raise it up.
General use of the word "day" is somewhat ambiguous in the Bible. For
example, at Gen 2:4, day indicates the entire creation endeavor.
I suggest we narrow the meaning of day down to just one relative to
crucifixion week by falling in line with Jesus Christ. Who, than he, is better
qualified to tell us how to understand a day as it was understood during the
years when he himself was living in Israel?
● John 11:9 . . Jesus answered: are there not twelve hours in the day? A
man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light.
Days divided into twelve equal periods of sunlight were regulated by what's
known as temporal hours; which vary in length in accordance with the time
of year. There are times of the year at Jerusalem's latitude when days on
earth consist of less than 12 normal hours of daylight, and sometimes more;
but when Jesus was here; the official number of hours was always twelve
regardless.
I don't exactly know why the Jews of that era divided their days into twelve
equal periods of sunlight regardless of the seasons, but I suspect it was just
a convenient way to operate the government and conduct civil affairs;
including the Temple's activities (e.g. the daily morning and evening
sacrifices)
In order to avoid confusion; I highly recommend working with the 12-hour
day that Jesus Christ gave us in his statement at John 11:9, i.e. let Day be
daytime and let Night be nighttime; viz: Days are when the sun is up, and
Nights are when the sun is down.
So, the three days and three nights of Jonah 1:17, Matt 12:40, John 2:19-
22 indicate three times when the sun was up, and three times when the sun
was down.
/
● Jonah 1:17 . .The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah
was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
● Matt 12:40 . . As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a
huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth.
● John 2:19 . . Jesus answered and said to them: Destroy this temple and in
three days I will raise it up.
General use of the word "day" is somewhat ambiguous in the Bible. For
example, at Gen 2:4, day indicates the entire creation endeavor.
I suggest we narrow the meaning of day down to just one relative to
crucifixion week by falling in line with Jesus Christ. Who, than he, is better
qualified to tell us how to understand a day as it was understood during the
years when he himself was living in Israel?
● John 11:9 . . Jesus answered: are there not twelve hours in the day? A
man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light.
Days divided into twelve equal periods of sunlight were regulated by what's
known as temporal hours; which vary in length in accordance with the time
of year. There are times of the year at Jerusalem's latitude when days on
earth consist of less than 12 normal hours of daylight, and sometimes more;
but when Jesus was here; the official number of hours was always twelve
regardless.
I don't exactly know why the Jews of that era divided their days into twelve
equal periods of sunlight regardless of the seasons, but I suspect it was just
a convenient way to operate the government and conduct civil affairs;
including the Temple's activities (e.g. the daily morning and evening
sacrifices)
In order to avoid confusion; I highly recommend working with the 12-hour
day that Jesus Christ gave us in his statement at John 11:9, i.e. let Day be
daytime and let Night be nighttime; viz: Days are when the sun is up, and
Nights are when the sun is down.
So, the three days and three nights of Jonah 1:17, Matt 12:40, John 2:19-
22 indicate three times when the sun was up, and three times when the sun
was down.
/