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was simply a COLLOQUIALISM used to cover any part of the first and third days. States John
Gilchrist --

The important thing to note is that an equal number of days and nights were always spoken
of, even if the actual nights were one less than the days referred to. As we do not use such figures
of speech today we cannot pass HASTY JUDGMENTS on their meaning, nor can we force them to
yield the natural interpretations that we would place on them" (What Indeed Was the Sign of
Jonah?).

The Bible itself offers conclusive proof that when Jesus told the Jews he would be three
days and three nights in the ground, they took this to indicate that the fulfillment of the prophecy
could be expected after only TWO NIGHTS. On the day after His crucifixion (Nisan 15), that is,
after only ONE NIGHT, the Jewish authorities went to Pilate and said:

Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, "After three days I
will rise." Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the THIRD DAY, lest
His disciples come by night and steal Him away...(Matthew 27:63-64).

We today would understand the expression "after three days" to mean any time on the fourth
day but, according to the idiomatic use, the Jews knew this referred to the THIRD DAY and were
not concerned to keep the tomb secured through three full nights but only until the third day after
just two nights. It should be clear, therefore, that the expressions "three days and three nights" and
"after three days" did not in any way mean a full period of 72 hours as we would understand them
-- but any period of time covering a period of up to three days!

If someone told you on a Wednesday afternoon that he would return to you after three days,
you would probably not expect him back before the following Sunday at the earliest. The Jewish
authorities, however, anxious to prevent any fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy (whether actual or con-
trived), were only concerned to have the tomb secured until the third day (i.e., Friday in our time)
because they knew that the expressions "after three days" and "three days and three nights" were
not to be taken literally but used according to the figures of speech that they used in their day.

Explains John Gilchrist --

The important question is, not how we read such colloquialisms which have no place in
our figures of speech today, but how the Jews read them according to the terminology of
their times. It is very significant to note that when the disciples boldly claimed that Jesus
had risen from the dead on the third day...after only two nights had passed (e.g. Acts
10:40), NO ONE ever attempted to counter this testimony...by claiming that three nights
would have to pass before the prophecy could be deemed to be fulfilled. The Jews of
those times knew their language well...(What Indeed Was the Sign of Jonah?).

Some might continue to argue that the phrase "three days and three nights" (Matthew 12:40)
proves that the Wednesday through Saturday theory is the correct one. This statement, however, is
wholly based on assumption -- not fact! First of all, the way that the Wednesday-Saturday theory is
counted demands that the phrase be inverted from the way it actually is. The count to this theory

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