Introduction

There are several reports in the Gospels of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) statements regarding the suffering he was to endure and, in particular, how long he was to be in the grave.  The references given to the period of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) death may be divided into two types: primary reports of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) actual statements, and secondary reports. The term primary report is used here to mean that it is the report of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) actual words rather than a report from another person of what Jesus had said. For example, Matthew 12:39-40 are reports of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) speaking, whereas Mark 15:29 is a report of the people scoffing at Jesus as he was on the cross, repeating his statement concerning three-day temple rebuilding. Nonetheless, all of the statements which we know refer to Yeshua’s (Jesus’) death must apply to the same length of time. However, we must be careful to consider that no reckoning of the length of time can be allowed to deviate from that given by Jesus Himself: a primary report.

Inclusive reckoning

Much has been made of the concept of the ancient method of counting inclusive reckoning, to try and reconcile the “Friday crucifixion – Sunday resurrection” scenario prevalent in Christian understanding. In such reckoning both the day, year, etc. on which a particular period began and ended is included in the reckoning, no matter how small a fraction of the day, year, etc. is involved. This method of reckoning is a mathematical device similar to the concept of rounding. When the period is counted in days, and the beginning of the period, begins with any time left of the previous day, then the period would be rounded-up to include that day. Similarly if the end of the period extends any time into the next day, then the period would be rounded-up to include that day.

It is important to note that when using inclusive reckoning, as with rounding, the accuracy in determining an exact period is dependent upon the units used. Consider the time period shown in Illustration 1.

Illustration 1: A three year period using inclusive reckoning.
The time period shown in Illustration 1 would be described as three years using inclusive reckoning. In real terms the actual period is 367 days which is two days over a year. This means that when trying to determine this time period, as reported using inclusive reckoning, it could be considered to represent any period from 367 days up to 364+364=728 days. This period is only two days short of a two year range. This means that there could be a two year error when determining an approximately one year period which has been recorded using inclusive reckoning. (This level of inaccuracy is of less significance when a large number of years is considered.) If the reporter of the period wishes to ensure that the length of time is determined as accurately as possible, he must use smaller units, and or provide more information to allow the beginning and end periods to be known more exactly. For example, if the length of time reported in Illustration 1 was given in days and not years, then the rounding up would be in terms of days, rather than years. For instance, if the start of the period was hours within the last day of Year 1 and the first day of Year 2. In this case the period determined would be between 367 and 369 days. So it can be seen that the smaller the units used to define the period, the greater the accuracy in determining the period.

Tomb period Specified

The New Testament provides several references to the duration of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) time in the tomb. A three-day period is expressed in various ways. These are shown below in Table 1.

Book	“In three days”	“After three days”	“The third day”
Matt.	26:61; 27:40	27:63	16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64
Mark	14:58 (within); 15:29	8:31	9:31; 10:34
Luke			9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46
John	2:19-21
1 Cor.			15:4

Table 1: Three-day expressions in the New Testament of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) time in the tomb, revised from [1]. The most accurate expression, Matthew 12:40 refers to “three days and three nights” and does not fit into the above categories.

As previously mentioned, all these statements must refer to the same time period. If only a three-day period was expressed then using inclusive reckoning it would mean that the actual duration could be as small as just over one day ranging to a maximum of three days. This means there would be an error range of approximately two days. This is shown below in Illustration 2.

Illustration 2: Inclusive reckoning of three days: the actual period is 25 hours, just over one day.

If more accurate information regarding the duration of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) sojourn in the tomb had not been given, this might suggest that the bible record provided by God attached little importance to the duration of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) time in the tomb. However, this is not the case as along with the other expressions given in the New Testament is the statement of Jesus himself found in Matthew 12:40:

”For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40)

This statement is significant in three special ways:

1. It is a primary report of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) actual words.

2. It refers to a similar period in the Old Testament.

3. It uses smaller units than a twenty-four hour day.

The importance of the first point was discussed above in that it is a report of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) actual words as opposed to the report from a third party of what Jesus had said. The fact that Yeshua (Jesus) refers to an event in the Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, provides incontrovertible definition to his intended meaning. We can turn to the account of Jonah and see that Jesus uses the exact same time expression as was used in Jonah 1:17. The third point, the most important, is the use of units. As the expression used in Matthew 12:40 defines the time period in terms of days and nights this means that the units used are half-day periods measuring twelve hours. This means that the margin for error in determining the duration is reduced, as explained above. Consider Illustration 3 below.

Illustration 3: Inclusive reckoning of three days and three nights. The actual period is 49 hours: just over two days.
The time period shown in Illustration 3 above would be described as three days and three nights using inclusive reckoning. In real terms the actual period is 49 hours. This time period, determined using inclusive reckoning, could be considered to represent any period from just over four half-day periods to six half-day periods. This means that the error in determining the duration of the period is just under two half-days. In terms of days the minimum duration that could be represented by the inclusive reckoning period is just over two days. A reduction by half in the level of error is achieved when determining the duration of a period recorded using inclusive reckoning with half-day counting rather than day counting.

The period of three days and three nights rendered using inclusive reckoning can now be applied to the period of time that Jesus spent in death. This is shown below in Illustration 4.

Illustration 4: The three days and three nights period using inclusive reckoning. The top line represents the Pagan day names and times. The minimum period Yeshua (Jesus) could have spent dead is just over two days.
The New Testament provides additional information regarding the beginning and end points of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) time dead. We are told that Yeshua (Jesus) died at the ninth hour (Matthew 27:46-50; Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46; the Jewish day begins at 6 am, so the ninth hour would be 3 pm), his body was then taken down in the evening. (Matthew 27:57; Mark 15:42) It is possible that Yeshua (Jesus) was talking about his time in the tomb, rather than his time in death, there being about three hours difference between these times, but let us consider here the starting point as the time of his death. We are also told that he was raised before dawn. (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). Placing the start of the period before the evening of the sixth day, and the end of the period at the dawn of the first day we can see that Yeshua (Jesus) was raised on the third day after his death. We see, therefore that this period corresponds with the “in three days” and “The third day” expressions of the three-day period. We can also see that Yeshua (Jesus) could not have been crucified on the sixth day. This is because after spending a minimum of just over two days dead, he would have been raised at the beginning (evening) of the second day, and we know that he was raised before then.

If we use the maximum possible duration for three days and three nights – exactly 72 hours, and assuming that Yeshua (Jesus) was referring to his time in the tomb, then Yeshua (Jesus) would have raised on the third day at the end of the Sabbath, that being the third day. This is shown below in Illustration 5.

Illustration 5: Another possible timing using the full possible duration of three days and three nights using inclusive reckoning (72 hours).
This is in keeping with all the expressions of the the period of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) death. In addition this corresponds with a Wednesday crucifixion, and Yeshua’s (Jesus’) death preceding the Passover, followed by another preparation day before the Weekly Sabbath.

“In the heart of the earth”

The phrase “heart of the earth,” found in Matthew 12:40, is indeed an interesting term. It has been suggested the the phrase could apply to Yeshua’s (Jesus’) capture in the Garden of Gethsemane. The three days and three nights period would then encompass his trial, crucifixion leading to his resurrection on the first day of the week. However, the use of the phrase is well defined and there is no justification for trying to change that definition. The phrase, “Heart of the earth” is not used anywhere else in the Bible (KJV), so Matthew 12:40 sets the precedent for its usage and as such defines its meaning. Its meaning is further clarified by the direct simile employed regarding Jonah’s experience. Jonah was inside the belly of the whale, and Yeshua (Jesus) was to be in the heart of the earth, i.e. inside something as was Jonah. Moreover, Yeshua (Jesus) talked about his death several times in the Gospels, and he never confused the suffering and humiliation he was to endure with the time his body would spend in the tomb. This makes it abundantly clear that he was taking specifically about his death.

Conclusions

It was shown that it is possible to reconcile all expressions relating to the period of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) death found in the New Testament. This is the case even when using inclusive reckoning. It was also shown that determining the duration of a period recorded using inclusive reckoning can be very inaccurate, but that inaccuracy in the determination is reduced when smaller units are used. In addition, establishing the timing of events is enhanced when information regarding the beginning and end points of the recorded period are provided. When Yeshua (Jesus) employed the, “Three days and three nights” expression half-day units where used, thus reducing the inaccuracy of inclusive reckoning, and fixing the minimum time for Yeshua (Jesus) to be in, “The heart of the earth” to just over two days. This shows that it is impossible for Yeshua (Jesus) to have been buried on a Friday evening then raised early on the Sunday.