The death of Christ

[Jonah]

Catholics recognize 3PM as the death of Jesus. However in Mark 15:33-34 says he died in the ninth hour. So when did he die?

MARK33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

 

[JaMc]

The 3:00 time is an estimation, much like we fix the birth of Christ on December 25, Year 1, even though we now have quite a bit of evidence to the contrary (I think the now-prevailing theory is that it was sometime in the early summer of 3 B.C.). Although, one should note, it says “Ninth Hour,” not “Nine O’clock.”

I believe biblical archaeologists and astronomers, looking at the way time was kept in that era, in addition to the eclipse and earthquake, have determined yet another time of day, rather than applying the biblical texts to our current timekeeping system. I forget what they came up with, though…

The exact time and date, however, are not important - all that really matters is what happened, rather than when. However, given that 9:00 is nighttime (at least, after sunset), if there was a choice between the two, 3:00 makes more sense.

 

[Jonah]

I was thinking that maybe the 9th hour was the 9th hour of day light. Since they did not have “clock time”. Then I could see why we would say that His death was at 3PM…

 

[RUINATION_IPA]

I believe hours were divided into ‘watches’ - 1st watch thru 4th. The first hour was considered 6 am (day break) and counted from that point on so the 9th hour from 6am would be 3pm.

 

[Godfollower]

Romans measured their hours from dawn. “The ninth hour” would be consistent with mid-afternoon.

Here’s a site I found on the subject:

V. The Hours of the Day
A. The Romans counted 24 hours in a day.
B. Each day day was divided into two parts: 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime.

C. **But they measured their hours from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn. **As the amount of daylight changed over the course of the year, this meant that the length of time an hour took varied (i.e., in midwinter, the hours were shorter and in high summer longer than 60 minutes).

. . . .

abacus.bates.edu/~mimber/Rciv/roman.cal.htm

A comment in the Douay-Rheims Bible makes this note at Mark 15:25:

“The third hour”… The ancient account divided the day into four parts, which were named from the hour from which they began; the first, third, sixth, and ninth hour. Our Lord was crucified a little before noon; before the third hour had quite expired; but when the sixth hour was near at hand.

 

[dcrowmik]

Catholics recognize 3PM as the death of Jesus. However in Mark 15:33-34 says he died in the ninth hour. So when did he die?

Here is how the hours were structured in that day (with the corresponding time to how we structure them today):

 

[Jonah]

rapturechrist.com/did_christ_die_on_friday.htm

I was reading the above, thus my question. … But I would rather stick to the Catholic tradition; for that is what I know.

 

[dcrowmik]

rapturechrist.com/did_christ_die_on_friday.htm

I was reading the above, thus my question. … But I would rather stick to the Catholic tradition; for that is what I know.

The website in question is, unfortunately, mistaken in a number of things. Here are only a couple to mention…

1. Unlike today when we divide the new day from the old day at midnight, in that time the ending of one day and the beginning of the new day were at sunset.
2. When the Passion events unfold is when to start counting days. Thus, the Last Supper, agony in the garden and arrest of Jesus (occurring after sunset) all through the crucifixion and burial of Jesus (all occurring before sunset) were the first day. The sabbath day of rest was the second day (remember, starting from that sunset and lasting until the following sunset). The resurrection then occured on the third day (again, the “day” beginning after sunset). Therefore, Mary going to the tomb before the light of day still means it was the third day – Easter – the first day of the week.

The website goes on to contradict itself when reckoning hours. Simply take 30 minutes to read all the gospel accounts of the Passion and you will find they state Jesus was crucified around midday and that darkness came upon the land during the sixth to ninth hour (today’s 12:00-3:00) at which time Jesus died.

Your sticking to the Catholic tradition is correct in that it is also the fact.