[B-Greek] EWS THS TRITHS hHMERAS in Mt 27:64
Iver Larsen
iver at larsen.dk
Tue May 30 15:55:11 EDT 2006
>
> On May 30, 2006, at 7:39 AM, Joe Ripley wrote:
>
>> They said that Jesus had said that he would rise META TREIS hHMERAS
>> -after three days, so they asked for a guard to be set hEWS THS
>> TRITHS hHMERAS -until the third day; what would that prove? They
>> would have left before the action was to begin.
>> If I asked to hire a car 'until the third day', apart from anything
>> else, the car hirers would have to ask for further explanation.
>> It would have been worse for Pilate - who was probably hoping for a
>> quiet Sabbath, "What third day, from when, what sort of day -
>> Roman, Jewish, daylight 12 hours or what?" Could THS TRITHS hHMERAS
>> just be short for Tuesday?
>> If there was no resurrection by Tuesday then their case would be
>> proven and if you are a Wed. or Thur. or Fri. crucifixion proponent
>> then you could still be happy with that.
>
> Your question is not really about the Greek but about the consistent
> retention of ancient time-reckoning in the phrasing of translations
> about the resurrection accounts. What you need to realize is that all
> these phrases ("after 3 days," "on the 3rd day," "until the third
> day") are based upon standard ancient INCLUSIVE time-reckoning such
> that Friday through Sunday constitute three days. Resurrection on
> "the third day" means on the third day of a three-day count that
> begins with the day of death.
>
> Carl W. Conrad
Just a small addition. The inclusive reckoning is not just ancient, but is still used today in Africa and probably other
parts of the world, but I don't know how many. And it is not just when counting days. If you stand at a street corner
and is told to take the third street on the left, be sure to count the street you are standing on as the first one, if
you are in Africa (or at least the part of Africa I am familiar with).
Iver Larsen
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