# How do we figure Jesus was dead for 3 days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544 "2009-04-09T18:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uzzah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/db5fbb/32.png) [@Uzzah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzzah)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/1 "2009-04-09T18:19:16Z")
It is a point of Christian doctrine that Jesus rose on the third day after his crucifixion, which we are taught was on Good Friday. When Mary went to the Tomb on the morning of Easter Sunday, it was empty. That’s not 3 days. I don’t think the Gospels say so, but I assume that the crucifixion, following the trial and hike to Calvary, took place in the afternoon on Friday. Do we count Friday as a full day nonetheless? And do we count Sunday, even though the tomb was empty first thing in the morning? Since when do you count the day something happens when counting the days “after” it has occurred? Nobody would say that Wednesday – much less Wednesday morning – is the “third day” since something happening on Monday afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/2 "2009-04-09T18:21:58Z")
Well, you say it in your own post - he rose on the third day. It’s not that he was dead for three days necessarily, just that he died on Friday, was still dead on Saturday and was risen on Sunday, the third day. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/3 "2009-04-09T18:26:05Z")
It always bugged me, too. But the explanation has always been that “on the third day” means three days counting the day he was buried and the day he rose. I don’t like it any more than you do. It sounds as if the “three days” was important, and they shoehorned it in to traditions they had from elsewhere, even though it’s really only two days later by the usual definition. As I’m no longer a believer, the fact that they seem to have done this doesn’t bother me as much. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/4 "2009-04-09T18:27:06Z")
This is the way it was explained to me: he died on Friday, so he was dead some of Friday. He was dead all of Saturday. Nobody saw him until sometime on Sunday, so he was (as far as we know) dead some of Sunday. Friday + Saturday + Sunday = three days The thing of it is, it’s tradition. It’s not supposed to be mathematically accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/5 "2009-04-09T18:34:24Z")
Putting the word “after” in there is an error. The custom of the time and place was to count each day involved in the telling of a story. So here we have death on Friday, the first day; Saturday in between, the second day; and resurrection on Sunday, the third day. It matters not whether Friday or Sunday are full 24-hour days; the point is that they were days that had significance in the event being related. It’s just a different way of accounting from what we’re used to today, where one might say “He was dead for 1 1/2 days.” ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/6 "2009-04-09T18:34:43Z")
The Bible doesn’t say what day he was crucified on. The Friday/Sunday thing came much later. The Sabbath back then was on Saturday. There’s some debate about this, but a lot of folks think Jesus was most likely crucified on Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/7 "2009-04-09T18:42:06Z")
> [@](#): > > but a lot of folks think Jesus was most likely crucified on Wednesday. Who says that? I’ve never heard this before. It isn’t consistent with the Biblical verses that say that the body had to be taken down before the Sabbath (which would begin at sundown on Friday). If he was on the cross on Wednesday they could’ve left him up there for three days yet. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/8 "2009-04-09T18:44:55Z")
It’s the same sort of math used for a 3 day jail sentence, where one ends up checking in at 11:58 PM on a Friday night, and leaving 12:02 AM on a Sunday morning. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/9 "2009-04-09T18:46:14Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The Sabbath back then was on Saturday. It still is. Christians don’t celebrate Sabbath, Jews do. Christians celebrate on Sunday because that’s the day Jesus rose. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/10 "2009-04-09T18:47:18Z")
To expound a little on my reply above, what I’ve always heard is “He rose on the third day,” not “He rose on the third day after his crucifixion” or “He rose after three days.” It’s tempting for us to assume that the word “after” is implicit, but that’s imposing a 21st century Western language pattern onto a 1st century Middle-Eastern narrative. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/11 "2009-04-09T18:47:52Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The Bible doesn’t say what day he was crucified on. The Friday/Sunday thing came much later. The Sabbath back then was on Saturday. There’s some debate about this, but a lot of folks think Jesus was most likely crucified on Wednesday. On Joseph of Arimathea taking down Jesus’s body… > [@Luke 23:54](#): > > It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. I’m off to hunt around but I’ve never heard the Wednesday theory before. Any info? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/12 "2009-04-09T18:52:50Z")
> [@MonkeyMensch](#): > > On Joseph of Arimathea taking down Jesus’s body… Thanks, **MonkeyMensch** , I was having a … um … devil of a time finding that. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/13 "2009-04-09T18:55:51Z")
Remember that Romans used inclusive counting: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting#Inclusive\_counting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting#Inclusive_counting), fairly common in calendar systems. I thought your question was going to be “how do we know he was really dead and not just hanging out, recuperating in a cool, dark cave.” ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/14 "2009-04-09T19:08:08Z")
It’s the same problem with counting years and centuries: are we using cardinal or ordinal numbers? Or similarly, are we counting or measuring an interval? ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/15 "2009-04-09T19:15:44Z")
From the Nicene creed: “. . . was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures.” That doesn’t strike me as “after” three days. I interpret that as the third day of the event. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/16 "2009-04-09T19:17:34Z")
It should also be pointed out that “3 days” is just one option of many. 3, 40, 150, there’s no clear consensus in the Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/17 "2009-04-09T19:22:04Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Putting the word “after” in there is an error. The custom of the time and place was to count each day involved in the telling of a story. So here we have death on Friday, the first day; Saturday in between, the second day; and resurrection on Sunday, the third day. It matters not whether Friday or Sunday are full 24-hour days; the point is that they were days that had significance in the event being related. It’s just a different way of accounting from what we’re used to today, where one might say “He was dead for 1 1/2 days.” **Matthew 27:63** “Sir,” they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again. **Mark 8:31** He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. **Mark 9:31** because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/18 "2009-04-09T19:25:40Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The Bible doesn’t say what day he was crucified on. The Friday/Sunday thing came much later. The Sabbath back then was on Saturday. There’s some debate about this, but a lot of folks think Jesus was most likely crucified on Wednesday. All four Gospels say Jesus was crucified the day before the sabbath (i.e. friday) and raised the day after (i.e. sunday). ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/19 "2009-04-09T19:38:34Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Remember that Romans used inclusive counting: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting#Inclusive\_counting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting#Inclusive_counting), fairly common in calendar systems. This bit on inclusive counting is, I believe, the standard answer you’ll get from Christians. For a bit of inclusive counting in modern-day society, consider three-day vacation packages. They don’t always last 72 full hours either. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544/20 "2009-04-09T20:07:52Z")
“et resurrexit tertia die” (and was resurrected on the third day) Not sure which part of the original Greek this is the Latin translation of… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-figure-jesus-was-dead-for-3-days/492544.md?page=2)