the day of jesus' death: wednesday or friday? by alfred palli.

In connection with the fact that the subject of determining the day of Jesus' death is debatable, I decided to paste a commentary rich in substance, the analysis of Alfred Palli, whom my regular readers know both from the book recommended by me by this Christian writer from Koszalin, titled "The invisible war for your life" and the text of "Queen of heaven".

Alfred Palla is an Adventist.

This text is a confrontation with a text from a few days ago. I would like to take this opportunity to point out to new readers that I am not a denominationalist, nor a professor always sure of the ultimate truth, but rather I am a researcher and as the name of the blog suggests a truth detective. Detective from the English "detect" which means "to detect" and "detective" detective. - truth detector.

Hence, he sometimes presents several different positions without relying on one, my most mine :-). however, the basis is truth. Pilate asked Jesus: "what is truth?"

John 17 tells us what is true:

“(17) Dedicate them to the truth. Your word is truth'

 

So I present the truth according to A. Palli based on quotes from the Bible:

 

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Some advance the view that Jesus died on Wednesday, not Friday, because the Bible speaks of three days and nights spent in the tomb, and there could not have been three days and nights between Friday and Sunday. On the other hand, according to the Bible, the resurrection day was the "third" day after His death (Luke 24:21), and the period from Wednesday to Sunday includes five days and four nights.
Where does the problem lie? Dating the crucifixion to Wednesday stems from ignorance about the ancient way of counting time in the Middle East. According to it, the period from Friday to Sunday could be called three days and nights. How is this possible?
The inclusive way of counting time occurs frequently in the Bible. It is characterized by the inclusion of the first and last units of time in a given period. For example, Joseph put his brothers under guard for three days (Genesis 42:17), and then we read that he spoke to them on the third day and set them free (Genesis 42:18). In the Book of Samuel, the phrase "three days and three nights" and "three days" are used interchangeably (1Sm 30:12-13).
After King Solomon died, the Israelites turned to Roboam for tax relief. The king asked them to leave for "three days" (1Kings 12:5), and they returned "after three days" (2Krn 10:12). By today's standards of time reckoning this would be three days, but by the standards of the time it was the third day (1Kings 12:12; 2Krn10:12), which could mean less than two days.
An example that helps to understand the inclusive reckoning of time is the episode from the time of Queen Esther, who was informed by Mordecai of the plan to destroy the Jews, to which she replied: "Go and gather all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me; for three days night and day do not eat or drink; also I and my handmaidens shall so fast, and then I will go to the king, though it is against the law" (Est 4:16). By our reckoning she planned to go to the king after three days, but she did not, but "on the third day Esther dressed herself in the clothes of a queen and stood in the inner court of the king's palace" (Est 5:1).
The Greeks also used this method, which is why they called the four-year period between Olympic games pentaeteris, or the five-year period. It was also known to the Romans, who had market days called nundinae, after the number nine, although they were actually held every eight days. Remnants of this method of counting are musical intervals such as the octave, whose name comes from the Latin word for "eight," although it contains seven notes.
According to the inclusive reckoning of time, in antiquity the two nights and part of the third day were counted as three days, or even as three days, which explains the apparent contradiction between the texts according to which the Lord Jesus rose from the dead "in three days" (Matthew 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; John 2:19-21), "after three days" (Mt 27:63; Mk 8:31), "on the third day" (Mt 27:64; Lk 24:7.21.46). Each time, the reference is to the third day from Friday, and thus to Sunday, for according to the reckoning used in Jesus' day, three days elapsed from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning, and one could even say, "three days and three nights" (Matthew 12:40). Friday also included night, even though Jesus died in the evening, because according to the Bible the day begins at dusk (e.g., Genesis 1:5.8). Likewise, Sunday included the bright time of day, even though Jesus rose from the dead "while it was still dark" (J 20:1).
Today we would say that Jesus rose from the dead after two days and two nights, but in ancient times it was different. The day began at dusk, not midnight, and time was counted inclusively, so the period from Friday evening to Sunday morning could be called three days and nights, whereas it would be impossible to apply these words to the period from Wednesday to Friday. Ignorance of these facts causes some to try to make the day of the crucifixion Wednesday instead of Friday. However, there is no method of reckoning time by which only three days and three nights would pass from Wednesday to Sunday. The period covers at least four days and four nights. The Bible says that Resurrection Sunday (Luke 24:21) was the "third day" after the crucifixion.
The Lord Jesus as Creator rested on the Sabbath after the work of creation was completed (Genesis 2:2-3), and as Savior He rested on the Sabbath after the work of salvation was completed. The Sabbath fell between the day of the crucifixion, or Friday, called "the day of preparation" in the Bible (John 19:31), and the day of resurrection, or Sunday (John 20:1). This Sabbath was a special high Sabbath, as the apostle John wrote (John 19:31), because it coincided with the annual festival associated with the Passover, called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Jesus was crucified on 14 Nisan, a Friday. On this day, which began on Thursday, a supper of unleavened bread was eaten at dusk. Jesus ate it with his disciples. The Easter Lamb was sacrificed on 14 Nisan and eaten at dusk, which was 15 Nisan. This was the case during the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Jesus died as the fulfillment of this typology on 14 Nisan. He rested in the grave on the Sabbath day, and rose again on 16 Nisan, when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits (the first harvest), for He was the firstfruits of all the saved.
In 31, the first Jewish month, Nisan, fell on April . According to NASA's astronomical observatory, the lunar conjunction, which is the time when the moon, earth and sun are in alignment, fell on April 10. Many try to date the year and day of Jesus' death by adding one day to this date because they assume that the sickle of the moon was visible in the night sky the very next evening, which was April 11, and therefore they count the new moon from April 12. Two weeks later was the 14th of Nisan, dated by them as April 25, 31, which by our calendar fell on a Wednesday. From this some conclude that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, not Friday.
This erroneous conclusion is due to overlooking the difference between the lunar conjunction and the new moon crescent visible to the naked eye. The above-mentioned researchers added only one day to the lunar conjunction, because with the proper equipment it is now possible to calculate the exact date of the new moon, but they forgot that in ancient times observations were made with the naked eye, so it was not possible to see the new crescent with the naked eye only one day after the conjunction. In the first two days after it, the sickle of the new moon is thin, appears for a short time low in the western sky, and is made difficult to see by the dawn light. Although it is impossible in practice to see the moon with the naked eye just one day after conjunction, the date of 14 Nisan falling on Wednesday, April 25, 31 is based on this erroneous assumption.
Jews of the Karaite faith wrote as follows regarding the sighting of the new crescent: "The ancient Israelites had considerable experience in observing the new crescent. In ancient societies, people worked from dawn to dusk, so they noticed the old moon as getting smaller and smaller in the morning sky. When the morning moon disappeared from sight, the Israelites awaited its appearance 1.5 to 3.5 days later in the evening sky" . So the Jews, who have knowledge of this dating back to antiquity, report that up to 3.5 days may have elapsed from the lunar conjunction to the first sighting of the new crescent. This difference may sometimes have been less, due to the moon's elliptical orbit, but not less than 1.5 days.
Therefore, although the conjunction on the 31st began on April 10, it is a mistake to add only one day to the assumed time when the new moon became visible to the naked eye. Astronomical observatories report that this requires more time. Karaite Jews reported that it required up to 3.5 days. When we add 3.5 days to April 10, then we find that the sickle of the new moon became visible to the naked eye on April 14. To this must be added 14 days because "in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is the Passover for the Lord" (Leviticus 23:5). Thus, the 14th of Nisan fell on April 27, which is a Friday. Astronomically, the full moon was April 25 this year, but to the naked eye the difference between the 100% and 90% full moons is virtually imperceptible, meaning that the full moon is observed by the naked eye for at least 3 days, so it could have been from April 25 to 27.
Thus, there is no obstacle to dating Jesus' crucifixion to Friday, April 27, 31, which is also in agreement with Daniel's prophecy of 70 weeks of years (Dan. 9:26-27).
Alfred Palla (material taken from the book Treasures of the Temple)

 

 

 

source plus interesting comments:

facebook.com/alfred.palla.1

 

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The key is this inclusiveness of how time is counted. Whether or not it was a full 3 days and 3 nights.

We either believe the option above or the one below: