Why is Jn 19:31 sabbath translated as a "high day"?

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ericc

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I am reconciling the passover events between John vs the other Gospels. I am stuck on the “high day” . The Greek is “megalē” which is typically translated as “great”.

The problem with the “high” translation is that it may force a reading of conjunction of one of the 7 festivals of which there are 3 that is around that period,namely:

Passover proper 14 Nisin
1st and 7th day of Unleavened Bread. 15 -21 Nisin.
First Fruits 16 Nisin
  1. My first question is why is the translation not “great” but “high”. Since the sabbath falls in the Unleavened Bread week, would that suffice to render a “great” translation “rather” than “high”?
  2. The 7 festivals calls for a day of worship and rest. Terms used are “holy assembly” or “holy convocations”, I have not read that these festivals are also called sabbaths since the term sabbath (shabbat) is normally referred to the weekly sabbaths. Were these 7 festivals(on the relevant days) ever referred to as Sabbath/Shabbat?
  3. Was “high day” sabbath ever mentioned by Jewish authorities other than John?
For obvious reasons forcing 15 Nisin 1st day of unleavened bread to coincide on the weekly sabbath contradicts the timing on the rest of the Scriptures. Except for this “high day” translation, my analysis stays true with the traditional sequence of Good Friday-Easter Sunday. It is easy if one work backwards from Easter Sunday since the 4 Gospels agree on that same day. Sunday (1st day of the week), Sabbath, Friday (Preparation Day). To preempt advocates of the 3 day 3 night scheme i.e. Thursday crucifixion, it would render a 4th day reading or that Jesus rose on 3pm on a Sabbath day. Anything after 3pm on Saturday is no longer 3 days 3 nights i.e. 72 hrs. The walk to Emmaus will give the clue on meaning of 3 days 3 nights.

I will ignore those posts that say “it doesn’t matter” to our salvation because that is not the intent of this post. To me it does, as simple as that.

A history on the “high day” usage and meaning especially dated to OT times will be highly appreciated.
 
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Actually, you are correct that there is something “weird” with this part of many translations. Brant Pitre talks a lot about this issue in his book about reconciling the Passover accounts. He also talks about all sorts of hypotheses about it by other scholars, and gives a big big bibliography to let you read what other scholars say, along with tons of footnotes. His own theory is very sharp, though. I think he may have gotten at the truth of matters.

Pitre is a very interesting Catholic scholar, because he has done a lot more work with Jewish Second Temple beliefs and practices than most people.

So yeah, the book you want is Jesus and the Last Supper by Brant Pitre. Check your local library first, both the physical and digital holdings – as some of his books are available on Overdrive and that will save you some money! But I dropped the cash on an ebook version for myself, and it was worth it.
 
ericc said:
I am reconciling the passover events between John vs the other Gospels. I am stuck on the “high day” . The Greek is “megalē” which is typically translated as “great”.

The problem with the “high” translation is that it may force a reading of conjunction of one of the 7 festivals of which there are 3 that is around that period,namely:

Passover proper 14 Nisin
1st and 7th day of Unleavened Bread. 15 -21 Nisin.
First Fruits 16 Nisin
  1. My first question is why is the translation not “great” but “high”. Since the sabbath falls in the Unleavened Bread week, would that suffice to render a “great” translation “rather” than “high”?
  2. The 7 festivals calls for a day of worship and rest. Terms used are “holy assembly” or “holy convocations”, I have not read that these festivals are also called sabbaths since the term sabbath (shabbat) is normally referred to the weekly sabbaths. Were these 7 festivals(on the relevant days) ever referred to as Sabbath/Shabbat?
  3. Was “high day” sabbath ever mentioned by Jewish authorities other than John?
For obvious reasons forcing 15 Nisin 1st day of unleavened bread to coincide on the weekly sabbath contradicts the timing on the rest of the Scriptures. Except for this “high day” translation, my analysis stays true with the traditional sequence of Good Friday-Easter Sunday. It is easy if one work backwards from Easter Sunday since the 4 Gospels agree on that same day. Sunday (1st day of the week), Sabbath, Friday (Preparation Day). To preempt advocates of the 3 day 3 night scheme i.e. Thursday crucifixion, it would render a 4th day reading or that Jesus rose on 3pm on a Sabbath day. Anything after 3pm on Saturday is no longer 3 days 3 nights i.e. 72 hrs. The walk to Emmaus will give the clue on meaning of 3 days 3 nights.

I will ignore those posts that say “it doesn’t matter” to our salvation because that is not the intent of this post. To me it does, as simple as that.

A history on the “high day” usage and meaning especially dated to OT times will be highly appreciated.
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Re: Jn 19:31

from the Greek bible’
http://bibleapps.com/greek/4521.htm and http://bibleapps.com/greek/3904.htm
 
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