Did John Use Roman Time? -short reply
Farrell Till jftill@midwest.net
Thu, 04 Dec 1997 11:01:59 -0800 (00881283719, 2.2.32.19971204190159.0068e2e0@midwest.net)
At 01:22 AM 12/4/97 +0500, ducq wrote:
>Short reply that addresses Farrell & Michael's comments on Roman
>and Jewish time... (yes i'm working on the other issues but these
>posts keep coming in...)
>
>The distiction is this: what i am calling "Jewish" time starts
>at 6:00. Both a.m. and p.m. So if it's the "third hour" then it
>could be 9:00 a.m. or 9:00 p.m. The term "Jewish time" may not
>be the correct term, but the mechanics work for all cases at which
>i've looked so far.
>
>What i am calling "Roman" time starts at 12:00. Both a.m. and
>p.m. So if it's the "third hour" then it could be 3:00 a.m. or
>3:00 p.m. "Roman" time may not be the correct term but the
>mechanics work in all cases of John's Gospel at which i've looked.
>
>That addresses both your objections; for example, Jesus was at
>Jacob's well (John 4) at 6:00 p.m., not 6:00 a.m.
>
TILL
See the posting I sent in response to Nancy Todd's correction of the mistake
I made in assuming that the Romans, whose civil day began at midnight, also
calculated "hours" from midnight. It will show that I was wrong in assuming
this and that you are wrong in assuming that the "sixth hour" of John 19:24
can be explained away on the grounds that the writer was using Roman time.
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net