When responding to the Pharisees, why do you suppose the Messiah made the specific point that He would be in the "heart of the earth" for 3 days and 3 nights?
When responding to the Pharisees, why do you suppose the Messiah made the specific point that He would be in the "heart of the earth" for 3 days and 3 nights?
What is your source for thinking that? None out of some 50 translations/versions that I looked at have it that way.The "three nights" is an emendation. The "three days" may also be an emendation. It likely originally read:
“For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth."
And out of those 50, only the Weymouth has it like that.Or:
“For as Jonah was three days in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days in the heart of the earth.
The earth don't have a heart .... so we know it is symbolic language.When responding to the Pharisees, why do you suppose the Messiah made the specific point that He would be in the "heart of the earth" for 3 days and 3 nights?
So you don't see any significance in the 3 days and 3 nights that the Messiah told the Pharisees He would spend in the tomb. That the period of time was irrelevant.The earth don't have a heart .... so we know it is symbolic language.
Jesus says that the Son of Man will “be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” ... meaning in the tomb.
Like .... Jonah 3 days 3 nights .... Jesus 3 days 3 nights.So you don't see any significance in the 3 days and 3 nights that the Messiah told the Pharisees He would spend in the tomb. That the period of time was irrelevant.
I think the Jonah account is generally considered to be the type and the crucifixion/resurrection account to be the antitype. And I'm asking why it's relevant - what is it that is important about that timeframe?Like .... Jonah 3 days 3 nights .... Jesus 3 days 3 nights.
The timeframe is relevant else Jesus would not have mentioned it.
It would be more desirable to write: "the three nights" is *possibly* an emendation". Flatly declaring it an emendation without evidence doesn't work. You did fine with your comment the three days *may* also be an emendation. I have often thought of that too but there are no manuscripts of Matthew, early or late, that omit any of those words. The sign of Jonah is mentioned elsewhere in the gospels and they omit the three days and three nights entirely. But proving those words do not belong in Matthew 12:40 would be very difficult. It is crucial to understand that only Matthew mentions the resurrection of many saints on the same weekend Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection itself wasn't the sign, it was Jesus who was describing the amount of time that passed between his death and resurrection.The "three nights" is an emendation. The "three days" may also be an emendation. It likely originally read:
“For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth."
Or:
“For as Jonah was three days in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days in the heart of the earth.
It would be more desirable to write: "the three nights" is *possibly* an emendation". Flatly declaring it an emendation without evidence doesn't work. You did fine with your comment the three days *may* also be an emendation. I have often thought of that too but there are no manuscripts of Matthew, early or late, that omit any of those words. The sign of Jonah is mentioned elsewhere in the gospels and they omit the three days and three nights entirely. But proving those words do not belong in Matthew 12:40 would be very difficult. It is crucial to understand that only Matthew mentions the resurrection of many saints on the same weekend Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection itself wasn't the sign, it was Jesus who was describing the amount of time that passed between his death and resurrection.
The question rstrats asks also deserves a response. Here is his question:
Rstrats:
I think the Jonah account is generally considered to be the type and the crucifixion/resurrection account to be the antitype. And I'm asking why it's relevant - what is it that is important about that timeframe?
SABER TRUTH TIGER
It is relevant for Matthew, but not so relevant for the other gospel writers. When one reads the gospel of Matthew he makes frequent references to the Hebrew Scriptures and prophecy fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. He makes repeated references to the Hebrew Scriptures and ties them in with Jesus. To Matthew, Jonah was said to have been in the whale's belly for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17) so Matthew ties this in with Jesus being in the heart of the earth. Jesus may have said those words attributed to him but they are not repeated in the other gospels.
One can begin with the book of Matthew and read it carefully and use fluorescent markers to mark every occasion he makes a reference to a prophecy or story in the Old Testament and you will come to see he is very occupied with lining things in Jesus's life with events in the Hebrew Scriptures.
I believe in the Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection of Jesus but I am at a total loss to explain the "three days and three nights". It doesn't fit the Friday to Sunday scenario. So, it may very well be an emendation but I can't prove that. I don't know how to answer that.
But was there a specific reason for it being 3 daytimes and 3 night times?Is it not important, relevant, that Jesus gave only one sign at that time to those who were seeking one?
How is it different and what is your point with regard to this topic?It seems , and maybe it is just the English way it is put, that 3 daytimes and 3 night times
is not the same (in meaning(s), or maybe motives?, and/or intents?)
as 3 days and 3 nights.
So the sign could have been any number of days and nights, e.g. 1 day and 1 night, or 1 day and no night, etc.? It was just the first number that popped into the Messiah's head.In the original three days and three nights meant a specific time period of 72 hours, for Jesus and for Jonah.
Three day times (in English) could refer to : three day times : August 9, August 21, August 27.
Three night times , again in English, could likewise refer to three separate nights.
For instance. i.e. not a particular specific span of time or length of time.