Going back for a moment regarding Sundays and the original references to the "first day of the week":
I see nine uses of that phrase in the KJV, as follows:
https://www.biblegateway.com/quickse...qs_version=KJV
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Matthew 28:1
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Mark 16:2
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Mark 16:9
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Luke 24:1
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John 20:1
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John 20:19
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Acts 20:7
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1 Corinthians 16:2
I've already addressed
Acts 20:7 and
1 Corinthians 16:2 and have shown how a change in translation seems warranted (See:
here and
here.)
The question then is, the other seven references from the Gospels. In each case, note that they refer to the empty tomb scene after Jesus was crucified and buried. Does this mean that this scene took place on a Sunday, Jesus having been crucified and buried on a Friday?
Traditionally, that is the consensus. But what if something else occurred? Note the following text from
Matthew 28:1:
Ὀψὲ δὲ σαββάτων τῇ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ εἰς μίαν σαββάτων
(
opse de sabbatōn tē epiphōskousē eis mian sabbatōn)
A literal reading is found here:
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/28-1.htm
But note, the Greek word
sabbatōn is the same in both instances, and in both cases, is Genitive Neuter Plural. It would seem to make the most sense to translate each instance identically.
But instead we get: In the end of the
sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the
week...
Why the change? I think it's unnecessary to say the least. First, note as I said previously in post #10, that the Greek word for "day" isn't even in the text, it's supplied by the translators. That leaves us with
mia the feminine form for the number 1 in Greek. Second, we must remember that for ancient Israel, they were commanded to keep certain festivals every year, one of them being Passover and another being Unleavened Bread.
These festivals were considered sabbaths of a sort, even if or though they did not fall upon the actual seventh day of the week. From Passover to the end of Unleavened Bread, every day was a high day, or special sabbath to the LORD (See
Leviticus 23:1-8). It makes for a total of eight high days or special sabbaths. The first high day or special sabbath was on Passover. Then, seven more high days or special sabbaths lasting for the duration of Unleavened Bread were held.
This explains the reference in
Matthew 28:1 regarding the first use of
sabbatōn and why it's plural. It's a reference to the special week of special sabbaths that occurred during the first part of the festival.
From
John 19:31, we know Jesus was crucified on the Preparation, that is, the day prior to the beginning of Passover, that is, the 13th day of the first month, otherwise in Hebrew called the
Chagigah. Further, it need not be assumed that Jesus literally spent 72 hours in the grave. The custom of the times indicated that only a part of a day needs to pass for it to be considered one day. This is reasonable and makes sense to us, because if I say upon this very day, December 29th, 2019, that New Year's Eve is in three days, meaning I am counting today as one of the three, even though much of today has already passed as of this writing, I do not mean 72 exact hours. Because in actuality as of this writing, it's more like 33 hours, even though 33 hours doesn't exactly equal three days in the most literal sense.
The same is true for the Lord's time in the grave. So, if Jesus was crucified on a high day or special sabbath, that is, on the Preparation, the day before Passover, and was buried the same day, and he was, then spent all of the next high day or special sabbath of Passover in the tomb, and He did, and earlier the next morning rose from the dead, and He did, that makes for three days. It also makes it the morning of Unleavened Bread, the beginning of a new set of special sabbaths, which I submit to you, is the meaning of the second use of
sabbatōn.
So, first plural use is for Preparation and Passover. Second plural use is for Unleavened Bread. Which means no Sunday in sight.
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