# Three Days and Three Nights **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886 "2012-09-26T14:59:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rstrats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@rstrats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rstrats)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/1 "2012-09-26T14:59:56Z")
Does anyone have documentation from the first century or before that shows that the phrase “three days and three nights” has been used where it absolutely doesn’t refer to at least parts of three nighttime periods and at least parts of three daytime periods? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/2 "2012-09-26T19:11:38Z")
None of those words existed in the first century or before. What language are you asking about? ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/3 "2012-09-28T02:10:16Z")
Aramaic? Greek? ---
**Author:** ![rstrats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@rstrats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rstrats)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/4 "2012-09-28T12:44:59Z")
njtt, re: “What language are you asking about?” What ever language was used that resulted in the phrase “three days and three nights” when translated into English. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/5 "2012-09-28T12:52:43Z")
How about the Bible, Esther 4:16: “… Do not eat and do not drink for three days, night and day…” Is that close enough? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/6 "2012-09-28T12:54:49Z")
> [@rstrats](#): > > … where it absolutely doesn’t refer to at least parts of three nighttime periods and at least parts of three daytime periods? I really have no idea what you’re looking for here. Are you looking for where it means 72 consecutive hours, or where it DOESN’T mean 72 consecutive hours? ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/7 "2012-09-28T13:04:04Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I really have no idea what you’re looking for here. Are you looking for where it means 72 consecutive hours, or where it DOESN’T mean 72 consecutive hours? I think it’s about Easter. Jesus was supposed to be in the tomb for three days, but we observe the burial on Good Friday and the resurrection on Sunday morning. If the Biblical account tallies with modern observation, that’s less than 48 hours, and doesn’t include three nights. One way people try to account for it is saying that “they counted things differently back then”, as in this article: [http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-04-13-easter-crucifixion-resurrection.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-04-13-easter-crucifixion-resurrection.htm) > [@](#): > > The chronology conundrum is “a bit of a puzzle,” said Marcus Borg, a progressive biblical scholar and co-author of “The Last Week,” a book about Holy Week. > > But Borg and other experts say the puzzle can be solved if you know how first-century Jews counted time, and grant the four evangelists a little poetic license. > > Jews of Jesus’ time followed a lunar calendar, meaning that days began at sunset. For them, Saturday night was actually Sunday, a schedule that still guides Jewish holy days, such as Shabbat. > > Ancient Jews also used what scholars call “inclusive reckoning,” meaning any part of a day is counted as a whole day, said Clinton Wahlen of the Seventh-day Adventist Biblical Research Institute in Silver Spring, Md. > > Using these counting methods, a backward calculation from Sunday morning to Friday afternoon makes three days. Seems like a scam to me, but people are committed to that “three days” thing. The OP is evidently looking for some sort of confirmation that they really did count days that way in the first century, preferably by someone who isn’t trying to make the Biblical saccount of Jesus’ burial add up right. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/8 "2012-09-28T13:18:36Z")
This guy is even more adamant about three days not being right, with relevant bible citations: > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/9 "2012-09-28T13:38:42Z")
The reference to “three days and three nights” that I know of in the Bible is from Jonah, who was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. I assume the OP is talking about the resurrection of Jesus, but does anyone actually say three days and three nights when referring to that? The New Testament cites I’m familiar with say “on the third day.” My favorite bit about this is from the Mr. Deity video, where Mr. Deity is trying to convince [del]Jesse[/del]Jesus to be on-board with this crucifixion thing. “Friday afternoon to Sunday morning - 36 hours, tops. 35 if we do it on a weekend when the time changes!” ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/10 "2012-09-28T13:49:52Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > The reference to “three days and three nights” that I know of in the Bible is from Jonah, who was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. > > I assume the OP is talking about the resurrection of Jesus, but does anyone actually say three days and three nights when referring to that? The New Testament cites I’m familiar with say “on the third day.” > > My favorite bit about this is from the Mr. Deity video, where Mr. Deity is trying to convince [del]Jesse[/del]Jesus to be on-board with this crucifixion thing. “Friday afternoon to Sunday morning - 36 hours, tops. 35 if we do it on a weekend when the time changes!” Certainly parallels have long been drawn betwen Jonah’s three days and three nights and Jesus’ three days and nights in the tomb.But Jonah was written well before the vfirst century. The OP is clearly asking about Jesus. As the second cite I give points out, the reference to Three Days and Three Nights is in Matthew. ---
**Author:** ![rstrats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@rstrats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rstrats)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/11 "2012-09-28T14:00:24Z")
Keeve, re: “How about the Bible, Esther 4:16: ‘… Do not eat and do not drink for three days, night and day’”. The phrase “three days, night or day” is not the same as the phrase “three days and three nights”. But even if it were the same, the use of Esther to support the idea that 3 days and 3 nights is not to be taken literally, is not appropriate. Nothing in the Esther references precludes at least parts of 3 nighttime and at least parts of 3 daytime periods. ---
**Author:** ![rstrats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@rstrats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rstrats)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/12 "2012-09-28T14:05:06Z")
Keeve, re: “I really have no idea what you’re looking for here. Are you looking for where it means 72 consecutive hours, or where it DOESN’T mean 72 consecutive hours?” I’m looking for an instance where” three days and three nights” is used where it HAS to be referring to a period of time that doesn’t include at least parts of three daytime periods and at least parts of three nighttime periods. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/13 "2012-09-28T14:06:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think it’s about Easter. Jesus was supposed to be in the tomb for three days, but we observe the burial on Good Friday and the resurrection on Sunday morning. If the Biblical account tallies with modern observation, that’s less than 48 hours, and doesn’t include three nights. But was he supposed to be in the tomb for three days, or for three days and three nights? If the latter, then you have a good point, but if it simply says “three days”, then I don’t know if it’s really a big deal that it’s referring to part of Friday, and Saturday, and part of Sunday. Even today, a “three day vacation” is understood as referring to “three days and two nights”. It’s often explicitly pointed out, but not always. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/14 "2012-09-28T14:10:27Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > But was he supposed to be in the tomb for three days, or for three days and three nights? If the latter, then you have a good point, but if it simply says “three days”, then I don’t know if it’s really a big deal that it’s referring to part of Friday, and Saturday, and part of Sunday. > > Even today, a “three day vacation” is understood as referring to “three days and two nights”. It’s often explicitly pointed out, but not always. Matthrew 12:40 says “three days and three nights”, explicitly comparing it to the languiage used in Jonah: > **[Matthew 12:40 - The Sign of Jonah](https://biblehub.com/matthew/12-40.htm)** > > For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ---
**Author:** ![rstrats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@rstrats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rstrats)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/15 "2012-09-28T14:11:49Z")
CurtC, re: “I assume the OP is talking about the resurrection of Jesus, but does anyone actually say three days and three nights when referring to that?” Yes; Matthew 12:40. ---
**Author:** ![rstrats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@rstrats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rstrats)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/16 "2012-10-01T19:14:56Z")
Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/17 "2012-10-01T19:33:05Z")
Either the postdiction(prediction written after the fact) is wrong, or the description of Jesus’ death and ressurection is wrong. There’s your answer. ---
**Author:** ![rstrats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@rstrats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rstrats)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/18 "2012-10-01T19:37:44Z")
Czarcasm, re: "There’s your answer. " I’m afraid I don’t see how your reply supplies the information requested in the OP. I wonder if you might explain? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/19 "2012-10-01T19:47:04Z")
> [@rstrats](#): > > Czarcasm, > > re: "There’s your answer. " > > I’m afraid I don’t see how your reply supplies the information requested in the OP. I wonder if you might explain? Is the OP looking for a solution(i.e. one of the two statements is incorrect), or is the OP look for a reconciliation between the two statements(i.e. evidence that “three days and three nights” means something other that what is stated)? ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886/20 "2012-10-01T20:28:46Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is the OP looking for a solution(i.e. one of the two statements is incorrect), or is the OP look for a reconciliation between the two statements(i.e. evidence that “three days and three nights” means something other that what is stated)? The latter. However this is quite a difficult question. A respondent in the affirmative would not only need to know the ancient Greek phrase which appears in Matthew, but would need to be familiar enough with _other_ ancient Greek texts to know where else the phrase appears, what it meant, and how it has been translated. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-days-and-three-nights/635886.md?page=2)