“third hour”, “sixth hour” and “ninth hour”

9AM, Noon, 3PM.

visionary said:

so you are saying their midnight is 6 o'clock?

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Yes. 6PM

visionary said:

Which is sunset in Jerusalem.... hence the start of another day.

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visionary said:

John 19:14
And it was the preparation of the passover and about the sixth hour; then he said unto the Jews, Behold your King!

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visionary said:

So at the time of the Passover [twilight]... between the evenings....
Mark 15:34
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

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I'm curious: So what's your driving point in all this. I noticed there were some debating the significance of the hours in another thread, but I didn't take time to read it.

What is the difference between the 3rd watch and the 3rd hr ?

Is an hr at Jerusalem in winter the same time length as an hr in summer ? Biblically speaking .

visionary said:

Mark 13:35 names the watches:

First Watch -- the evening (6:00 - 9:00 p.m.)
Second Watch -- at midnight (9:00 - midnight)
Third Watch -- at the crowing of the rooster (midnight - 3:00 a.m.)
Fourth Watch -- the morning watch (3:00 - 6:00 a.m.)

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IMO Hrs are for light/day and watches are for night/dark .. Biblically speaking ..

Ezekiel 5:5 Ezekiel 38:12 Jerusalem the center of the world .. Or should I say the heart

EVENING

The idea that “between the evenings” should be interpreted as meaning from noon to 6 pm (6th hour to 12th hour of a 12 hour day) is not substantiated by scripture (only unsubstantiated opinion). Besides in mid-April the sunset/sundown doesn't occur until about 7:08 pm ... over 1 hour beyond the 12th hour of a 12 hour day. This 1 hour period before sunset could be the 1st "twilight" before sunset/sundown as well as the hour after sunset/sundown being a 2nd "twilight". Because the Hebrew 24 hour day begins at sunset/sundown (not in the morning) the ancient Hebrews may have viewed what i've referred to as the golden hour before sunset as their 1st Twilight. Just postulating

You asked what is the difference between sunset and sundown. Growing up as a farm boy who was entranced by many settings of the sun i'll give you my take. To me sunset means when the globe of the sun first touches the horizon and sundown occurs when the top of the sun's globe is no longer visible at the horizon.

So you see all this is a matter of secular belief and religious bias ... such as "between the evenings" being interpreted as the declining of the afternoon sun from noon to 6 pm. IMO the religious interpretation to a period of Yeshua's crucifixion shouldn't be used to redefine a phrase or word when previously had a different meaning at least 1,000 years previous to Yeshua's time on the cross. A period of time that some use to justify redefining "between the evenings" as meaning the decline of the afternoon sun from noon to the 12th hour (which is still a good hour before sunset/sundown in mid-April.

Thus the Hebrew word "ereb" could refer to the time of the day *immediately preceding and following the setting of the sun ... possibly up to two hours in duration. Perhaps some foreign indentured field servants didn't have to work as strenuously during the 1st twilight an hour before sunset/sundown. While other slaves worked their fingers to the bone into the 2nd twilight while some daylight still remained.

"A Hebrew Hour is defined as 1/12 of the time between sunset and sunrise, or 1/12 of the time between sunrise and sunset. The only Scriptural reference to there being 12 Hebrew Hours in a Hebrew Day is found inJohn 11:9 where יהושע the Messiah asked a famous question, "Are there not 12 hours in a day?" The diagram below is a working timepiece where the sun's position indicates the current Hebrew Hour at Jerusalem. One Hebrew Hour ends and another begins when the center of the sun crosses an hour line."
TorahCalendar.com
if this is true, in the winter when the days are shorter and the nights are longer --- the shorter day is divided by 12 and the longer night is divided by 12 --- making the 1/12 of the day much shorter than our hour and the 1/12 of the night much longer than our hour...

Bibliography Information
Easton, Matthew George. "Entry for Hour". "Easton's Bible Dictionary". .

Dictionaries - Smith's Bible Dictionary - Hour
Hour. [E]
The ancient Hebrews were probably unacquainted with the division of the natural day into twenty-four parts; but they afterwards parcelled out the period between sunrise and sunset into a series of divisions distinguished by the suns course. The early Jews appear to have divided the day into four parts, ( Nehemiah 9:3 ) and the night into three watches, ( Judges 7:19 ) and even in the New Testament we find a trace of this division in ( Matthew 20:1-5 ) At what period the Jews first became acquainted with the division of the day into twelve hours is unknown, but it is generally supposed they learned it from the Babylonians during the captivity. It was known to the Egyptians at a very early period. They had twelve hours of the day and of the night. There are two kinds of hours, viz. (1) the astronomical or equinoctial hour, i.e. the 24th part of a civil day, and (2) the natural hour, i.e. the 12th part of the natural day, or of the time between sunrise and sunset. These are the hours meant in the New Testament, ( John 11:9 ) etc., and it must be remembered that they perpetually vary in length, so as to be very different at different times of the year. For the purpose of prayer the old division of the day into four portions was continued in the temple service. as we see from ( Acts 2:15 ; 3:1 ; 10:9 ) [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary