Matthew 12:40

Why not just look into the obvious, as in what significance the number 3 has in OT theology? A lot of straining at gnats going on here ...

"Three
Three signifies completeness and stability, as represented by the three Patriarchs and the three pilgrimage festivals –Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot (I Kings 17:21; Daniel 6:10).

3+1
This is a number cluster that signals the fulfillment of God’s plans (Amos 1; Daniel 7:25)."

Judaism and Numbers | My Jewish Learning

.... and as applied to the NT and the neo -Jewish theology, best answer is ...

"The number three symbolizes a harmony that includes and synthesizes two opposites. The unity symbolized by the number three isn’t accomplished by getting rid of number two, the entity that caused the discord, and reverting to the unity symbolized by number one. Rather, three merges the two to create a new entity, one that harmoniously includes both opposites. On its own, Entity A leaves no room for Entity B, and Entity B does not allow for the existence of Entity A. Entity C demonstrates how A and B really are compatible, and even complementary. Bringing together two opposites (A and B) requires the introduction of an entity or common goal (C) that is greater than both of them."

On the Meaning of Three

It should be easy enough to get the allegory re life, death, and rebirth, the Trinity, etc., from the above, as well as the links back to the OT and Torah, as represented by Jesus's ministry of '3 years' and other symbolic references, following the Torah pattern and seeking a return to the dynamism of Moses and the Laws, and much more, in a single reference without interrupting the flow of the main narrative of Mathew's chapter with a lot of confusing divergences into a multitude of issues, which could all be cross-referenced and pondered at later convenience. Filling in One and Two is also easy in the context of Mathew as well.

A couple more examples of significance of the number 3:

Meaning of the Number 3 in the Bible

"The Meaning of Numbers: The Number 3
The number 3 is used 467 times in the Bible. It pictures completeness, though to a lesser degree than 7. The meaning of this number derives from the fact that it is the first of four spiritually perfect numerals (the others being 7, 10 and 12). The 3 righteous patriarchs before the flood were Abel, Enoch and Noah. After the deluge there was the righteous "fathers" Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (later renamed Israel).

There are 27 books in the New Testament, which is 3x3x3, or completeness to the third power.
Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. He was placed on the cross at the 3rd hour of the day (9 a.m.) and died at the 9th hour (3 p.m.). There were 3 hours of darkness that covered the land while Jesus was suffering on the cross from the 6th hour to the 9th hour. Three is the number of resurrection. Christ was dead for three full days and three full nights, a total of 72 hours, before being resurrected on Saturday, April 8, just before sunset.

Appearances of the number three
There were only three individuals who witnessed Jesus' transfiguration on Mount Hermon. Those who saw Jesus' glory on the mount were John, Peter and James.

The apostle Paul was an exceptionally well educated person. In three different occasions he quotes directly from Greek poets (Acts 17:28, 1Corinthians 15:33 and Titus 1:12). He also was privileged to visit the location of God's throne, which is in the third heaven (2Corinthians 12:2 - 4)."

... and more at the link. A little research can find much more implied in the number 3. Numerology is a big deal in biblical literature and theological references, yet it seems most ignore it entirely for some bizarre reason.
 
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Picaro,
re: "Why not just look into the obvious, as in what significance the number 3 has in OT theology?"

That would be a subject for a different topic. Perhaps you could start one.
 
Picaro,
re: "Why not just look into the obvious, as in what significance the number 3 has in OT theology?"

That would be a subject for a different topic. Perhaps you could start one.

Actually it fits this one perfectly. You might want to re-read your own OP.
 
Picaro,
re: "Actually it fits this one perfectly. You might want to re-read your own OP."

The topic title was poorly conceived with regard to the intent of the topic. Unfortunately the title couldn't be edited once it was posted. It was clarified in subsequent posts and most recently in post #113. Again, the topic question is with regard to the commonality of forecasting a daytime or a night time when no part of a daytime or no part of a night time could occur. So far no one has provided any examples.

1. The Messiah said that He would spend 3 nights in the "heart of the earth".

2. There are some who believe that the crucifixion took place on the 6th day of the week with the resurrection taking place on the 1st day of the week.

3. Of those, there are some who believe that the "heart of the earth" is referring to the tomb.

4, Of those, there are some who try to explain the resulting lack of a 3rd night by saying that the Messiah was using common idiomatic/figure of speech/colloquial language of the time.

5. If it was common , there would have to be multiple examples of such usage in order to legitimately assert that it was common to forecast a daytime or a night time being involved with an event when no part of the daytime or no part of the night time could occur.

6. I am simply asking anyone who falls in the above category to provide some of those examples which show that it was common usage.
 
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Indeependent,

re: "God."

Is He a 6th day of the week crucifixion advocate?
 
Indeependent,

re: "What’s 'crucification'?"


I have no idea. Any particular reason for asking?
 
Fun Fact: Contrary to popular myth, death by crucifixion was a popular punishment long before the Romans showed up in the ME.
 
Matthew 12:40) For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.


May I ask why it matters? Don't know about "6th day" folks.......seems to me we have Jesus crucified on Friday (daylight - before the beginning of Passover), then Saturday, then Sunday........known in Christianity as Resurrection Sunday generally...........I don't see what it matters though.......

Pretty sure the relevant part of the story would be the whole "died then rose again" thing, not PRECISELY how long it took to do it. Not like He was trying to beat the previous speed record, or something.
 
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I have heard it said that the significance of three days after death in both the resurrections of Jesus and Lazarus was related to an ancient Jewish belief about the time it took for the soul to separate from the body. In other words, after three days, the person in question was DEFINITELY dead, and therefore the resurrection could be nothing but a bona fide miracle.

Obviously, I'm not Jewish, so I have no idea if this is, or was, actually true. I will say that even if that wasn't part of their belief system, it does have the effect of making it definite that the person was really dead.
 
Cecillie1200,
re: "Pretty sure the relevant part of the story would be the whole 'died then rose again' thing, not PRECISELY how long it took to do it."

That would be an issue for a different topic.
 
Point #4 in post #145 should be changed to read: Of those, there may be some who try to explain the resulting lack of a 3rd night by saying that the Messiah was using common idiomatic/figure of speech/colloquial language of the time.
 
Whenever the three days and three nights of Matthew 12:40 is brought up in a “discussion” with 6th day crucifixion folks, they frequently argue that it is a Jewish idiom for counting any part of a day as a whole day. I wonder if anyone has documentation that shows that the phrase “x” days and “x”nights was ever used in the first century or before when it absolutely didn’t include at least parts of the “x” days and at least parts of the “x” nights?

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Michael Friedländer

In the Bible, the season of light (Gen. i. 5), lasting "from dawn [lit. "the rising of the morning"] to the coming forth of the stars" (Neh. iv. 15, 17). The term "day" is used also to denote a period of twenty-four hours (Ex. xxi. 21). In Jewish communal life part of a day is at times reckoned as one day; e.g., the day of the funeral, even when the latter takes place late in the afternoon, is counted as the first of the seven days of mourning; a short time in the morning of the seventh day is counted as the seventh day; circumcision takes place on the eighth day, even though of the first day only a few minutes remained after the birth of the child, these being counted as one day. Again, a man who hears of a vow made by his wife or his daughter, and desires to cancel the vow, must do so on the same day on which he hears of it, as otherwise the protest has no effect; even if the hearing takes place a little time before night, the annulment must be done within that little time. The day is reckoned from evening to evening—i.e., night and day—except in reference to sacrifices, where daytime and the night following constitute one day (Lev. vii. 15; see Calendar). "The day" denotes: (a) Day of the Lord; (b) the Day of Atonement; (c) the treatise of the Mishnah that contains the laws concerning the Day of Atonement (See Yoma and Sabbath).
DAY - JewishEncyclopedia.com
 

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