When it comes to understanding the calendar, one of the most important principles is time. We know time today by what is referred to as “fixed time” but this was not always the case.
Mark 14:37 KJV
And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
Hours were the governing body of the unit of measurement for time over seconds or minutes. This is due to the fact that during these earlier periods of time, humanity used what is referred to as sundials. The digital and analog clocks of today wouldn’t come into existence until much later.
“Moment that finally enabled mechanical analogue clocks to function correctly came with Jacob Zech of Prague in 1525 (he based his device on earlier designs that were not used in clocks), and were greatly expanded with the works of Galileo Galilei and Christiaan Huygens who introduced pendulum.”
http://www.historyofwatch.com/clock-inventors/who-invented-clock/#:~:text=Moment%20that%20finally%20enabled%20mechanical,Christiaan%20Huygens%20who%20introduced%20pendulum.
The sundial was the heart of time keeping for most of man’s history. And because it relied on the sun, which is a moveable, not fixed object. Every hour (especially in different seasons) was not fixed to an hour being exactly 60 minutes with exactly 60 seconds every minute. Leap years and daylight savings time are the adjustments to these dilemmas.
“sundial, the earliest type of timekeeping device, which indicates the time of day by the position of the shadow of some object exposed to the sun’s rays. As the day progresses, the sun moves across the sky, causing the shadow of the object to move and indicating the passage of time.”
Acts 2:15 KJVS
For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
At first it can be difficult to understand the meaning used in the phrase “third hour of the day”. As we have nothing of relevance to relate it to other than 3:00am, naturally. To understand this better we need to recall not what we know, but what man knew then. We need to know when the first hour began to know the subsequent hours to follow. Particularly, at that time, to understand when the third is. For that I have a diagram.
Hour | Time |
1st hour 2nd hour 3rd hour 4th hour 5th hour 6th hour 7th hour 8th hour 9th hour 10th hour 11th hour 12th hour | 7:00am 8:00am 9:00am 10:00am 11:00am 12:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm 5:00pm 6:00pm |
With the diagram above, you have the key to understand the hours as described in the Bible. So now we better understand so that it makes sense as to why in the book of Acts 2:15 the men were not drunk, because it was too early in the day! It was around 9:00am, certainly not a time when most people drink, let alone get drunk! Especially, at that time.
Matthew 27:44-45 KJVS
The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. [45] Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Here we see another example of the hours of the day being referenced. Were you able to calculate the time? If you figured 9:00am-12:00pm you guessed right! That would be the sixth to the ninth hour of the day.
Daniel 3:6 KJVS
And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Remember, time was not fixed to 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour as we know today. This was “fixed” later in for ease of synchronization and communication especially when traveling or making business arrangements. Everything was quite literally dependent on the sun to measure the passing of the day. Being divided into two 12 hour cycles we know as day and night. So it was common to perceive time “within the hour” rather than “within the minute or second”.
John 11:9 KJVS
Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
Why would Christ say twelve hours in a day versus twenty four? Because he understood what I am teaching you now. We have roughly twelve hours of daytime and roughly twelve hours of night. And if you do the math and add it together you get twenty-four hours to make up a complete day cycle.
The duration of a day, the interval between two sunrises or sunsets, or two successive noontimes, is not regular either. It varies between 23 hours, 59 minutes,
39 seconds and 24 hours, o minutes, 30 seconds. The
24-hour day is an approximate average. Neither a lunar month nor a year is made up of whole days. "The Calendar: History, Lore, and Legend" Jaqueline de Bourgoing AN ANCIENT CHALLENGE pg. 17
“In even earlier systems of timekeeping, an hour was 1/12 of a period of daylight or darkness—hence, variable in length with seasonal changes in the length of day and night. The custom of dividing the cycle of day and night into 24 periods seems to have originated with the ancientEgyptians.”
As far as man can reasonably date. We have been observing things in this nature from the beginning of man’s history.
Genesis 1:5 KJVS
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
God already intended for the governing of time to be divided between cycles even before he made the ordinances that creation needs to measure it. Remember God does not have need for the sun, moon and stars. He made these things for the creation to keep track of time (days,seasons etc.) not him as the creator. Some may argue well, he didn’t make the sun and the moon yet. But that’s the point, HE doesn’t NEED it. No different than an architect designing a building before it is built. I am setting the parameters first that will be followed by the construction later. The architect doesn’t build the home first and then see how he wants to set it up later.
Now you may wonder, what did they do at night? Well they used sand or water to measure the passing of time in hour glasses. Using different quantities of sand in conjunction with different sized glasses to divide for one hour or several hours. At night, the division of hours was divided into “watches” which our forefathers first divided into three watches each four hours long and later during the time of the Romans adopted four watches, each three hours long.
“Their day was divided into 10, with 2 additional hours for the morning and evening twilight. Because the amount of daylight a location receives varies over the course of a year, the length of nighttime versus daylight hours grew and shrank in proportion to each other as the seasons progressed. Similarly, 12 hours elapsed between sunrise and sunset in ancient Rome, and the night was divided into four watches. As with the Egyptians, the hours were of unequal length. Both the Egyptians and the Romans used sundials during the day and water clocks, which were useful because they didn’t rely on the sky, for timekeeping purposes at night.”
Calendar
“Days were subdivided into hours and watches. The Hebrews divided nights into three watches (Exod. 14:24; Judg. 7:19; Lam. 2:19).”Zondervan Compact Bible Dictionary - Calendar
“Watches of the Night, the divisions into which the 12 hours of the night were divided. The Jews had a threefold division (Judg. 7:19), while the Romans had four watches (Mark 6:48). Watchman, one who guards a city or the headquarters of an army (I Sam. 14:16; II Sam. 18:24-27). Such watchmen were set on city walls or on hilltops (Jer. 31:6).”- Zondervan Compact Bible Dictionary pg 602-603
Watch | Time | Scriptural Reference |
1st Watch | Even (Sunset) - 6:00pm to 9:00pm | Mark 6:47-48; 13:35-37 |
2nd Watch | Midnight - 9:00pm to 12:00am | Luke 12:38; Prov. 7:9 |
3rd Watch | Cock-crowing - 12:00am to 3:00am | Luke 12:38 |
4th Watch | Morning (Sunrise) - 3:00am to 6:00am | Matt. 14:25; Mark 6:48 |
Old Testament Watches
Lamentations 2:19 KJVS
Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.
The beginning watch started around 6:00pm and ended at 10:00pm.
Judges 7:19 KJVS
So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
The middle watch started around 10:00pm and ended at 2:00am.
1 Samuel 11:11 KJVS
And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
The morning watch began around 2:00am and ended around 6:00am.
Judith 10:11KJVA
Thus they went straight forth in the valley: and the first watch of the Assyrians met her,
Judith went down and met the Assyrians during the first watch. So we know this was between 6:00pm and 10:00pm.
Judith 12:5 KJVA
Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watch,
Here we see Judith stayed in the camp and slept until midnight, which is still considered the middle watch. But she didn’t get up until it was closer to the morning watch. So it wasn’t quite around 2:00am but she was closer to the time of the morning watch with little time remaining in the middle watch.
Exodus 14:24 KJVS
And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
Likewise, when we came out of Egypt we left at night and it was in the night but specifically the morning watch when The Most High divided the Red Sea and had us cross over on dry land and collapsed the sea on the enemy.
New Testament Watches
Luke 12:37-39 KJVS
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. [38] And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. [39] And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Here we see Christ describing his second coming by the order of The Most High as a thief in the night. In so much, that he lists his coming not only in the night but possibly within various times, those times being divided into watches. However, he only makes mention of the second or third.
Mark 13:35 KJV
Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Here we see a thorough layout of the watches in a way that lays out what we see the Romans use and the standard of those times and the New Testament; four watches divided and broken up into even, midnight, cockcrowing, and morning. The table for which we showed earlier in this article.
Mark 6:48 KJV
And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.
There are a total of four watches in which were used to signify the hours of the night. With hour glasses primarily being the tools used to track such passing of time.
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