It was the third hour, and they crucified him.
Parallel Translations
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It was the third hour, and they crucified him.
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And it was aboute the thyrde houre and they crucified him.
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And it was the third houre, when they crucified him.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Mark 15:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 19:14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
- Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
- Mark 15:33 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- Acts 2:15 For these aren’t drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is only the third hour of the day.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 24 And when they had crucified him, they parted…
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
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Ver. 25. They crucified him] i.e. they began to crucify him, but nailed him not to the tree till the sixth hour, Joh 19:14.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And with him they crucified two thieves,.... For his…
And with him they crucified two thieves,.... For his greater reproach;
the one on his right hand, and the other on his left; as if he had been one of them, and a principal among them; See Gill on Mat 27:38.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 25. The third hour] It has been before…
Verse 25. The third hour] It has been before observed, that the Jews divided their night into four watches, of three hours each. They also divided the day into four general parts. The first began at sunrise. The second three hours after. The third at mid-day. The fourth three hours after, and continued till sunset. Christ having been nailed to the cross a little after mid-day, Joh 19:14-16; Joh 19:17, and having expired about three o'clock, Mr 15:33, the whole business of the crucifixion was finished within the space of this third division of the day, which Mark calls here the third hour. Commentators and critics have found it very difficult to reconcile this third hour of Mark, with the sixth hour of John, Joh 19:14. It is supposed that the true reading, in Joh 19:14, should be τριτη, the third, instead of εκτη the sixth; a mistake which might have readily taken place in ancient times, when the character γ gamma, which was put for τριτη, three, might have been mistaken for Ϛ episema, or sigma tau, which signifies six. And τριτη, the third, instead of εκτη, the sixth, is the reading of some very eminent MSS. in the place in question, Joh 19:14. See Bengel, Newcome, Macknight, Lightfoot, Rosenmuller, &c., on this perplexing point.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And it was the third hour ... - In…
And it was the third hour ... - In Joh 19:14 it is said, “And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour, etc. Much difficulty has been felt in reconciling these passages, and infidels have usually adduced them to prove that the evangelists have contradicted themselves. In reconciling them the following remarks may perhaps make the matter clear:
(1) The Jews divided both the night and the day into four equal parts of three hours each. See the notes at Mat 14:25. The first division of the day commenced at six o’clock in the morning, and ended at nine; the second commenced at nine and ended at twelve, etc. “The third” hour mentioned by Mark would therefore correspond with our nine o’clock; the “sixth” hour mentioned by John would correspond with our twelve, or noon.
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(2) Mark professes to give the time accurately; John does not. He says “it was about the sixth hour,” without affirming that this was exactly the time.
(3) A mistake in “numbers” is easily made; and if it should he admitted that such an error had crept into the text here, it would be nothing more than has occurred in many ancient writings. It has been proved, moreover, that it was common not to write the “words” indicating numbers at “length,” but to use “letters.” The Greeks designated numbers by the letters of the alphabet, and this mode of computation is found in ancient manuscripts. For example, the Cambridge manuscript of the New Testament has in this very place in Mark, not the word “third” written at length, but the Greek letter gamma (γ), the usual notation for third. Now it is well known that it would be easy to mistake this for the Greek letter sigma (ς), the mark denoting “six.” An error of this kind in an early manuscript might be extensively propagated, and might have led to the present reading of the text. Such an error is actually known to exist in the “Chronicon” of Paschal, where Otho is said to have reigned ς, (six) months, whereas it is known that he reigned but three, and in this place, therefore, the γ, three, was mistaken for ς, six.
(4) There is some external authority for reading “third” in Joh 19:14. The Cambridge manuscript has this reading. Nonnus, who lived in the fifth century, says that this was the true reading (Wetstein). Peter of Alexandria, in a fragment concerning the Passover, as quoted by Usher, says, “It was the preparation of the Passover, and about the “third” hour, as,” he adds, “the most accurate copies of the Bible have it; and this was the handwriting of the evangelist (John), which is kept, by the grace of God, in his most holy church at Ephesus” (Mill). It is to be admitted, however, that no great reliance is to be placed on this account. That a mistake “might” have occurred in the early manuscripts is not improbable. No man can “prove” that it did “not” so occur, and so long as this cannot be proved, the passages should not be adduced as conclusive proof of contradiction.
After all, perhaps, without the supposition that there is any error in the text, the whole difficulty may be removed by the following statements:
(1) Calvary was “without” the walls of Jerusalem. It was a considerable distance from the place where Jesus was tried and condemned. Some time, more or less, would be occupied in going there, and in the preparatory measures for crucifying him.
(2) It is not necessary to understand “Mark” as saying that it was precisely nine o’clock, according to our expression. With the Jews it was six until seven; it was the third hour until the fourth commenced; it was the ninth until it was the tenth. They “included” in the “third” hour the whole time from the third to the fourth. The same mode they adopted in regard to their days. See the notes at Mat 12:40.
(3) It is not unduly pressing the matter to suppose that Mark spoke of the time when the process for crucifixion commenced - that is, when he was condemned - when they entered upon it - when they made the preparation. Between that and the time when he was taken “out” of Jerusalem to Mount Calvary, and when he was actually nailed to the tree, there is no improbability in supposing that there might have been an interval of more than an hour. Indeed, the presumption is that considerably more time than that would elapse.
(4) John does not profess, as has been remarked, to be strictly accurate. He says “it was about the sixth hour,” etc.
(5) Now suppose that John meant to indicate the time when he was “actually” suspended on the cross - that he spoke of the “crucifixion” denoting the “act of suspension,” as it struck “him” - and there is no difficulty. Any other two men - any witnesses - might give just such an account now. One man would speak of the time when the process for an execution commenced; another, perhaps, of the very “act” of the execution and would “both” speak of it in general terms, and say that a man was executed at such a time; and the circumstantial variation would “prove” that there was no collusion, no agreement to “impose” on a court - that they were honest witnesses. That is “proved” here.
(6) That this is the true account of the matter is clear from the evangelists themselves, and “especially from Mark.” The three first evangelists concur in stating that there was a remarkable “darkness” over the whole land from the “sixth” to the “ninth” hour, Mat 27:45; “Mar 15:33;” Luk 23:44. This fact - in which Mark concurs - would seem to indicate that “the actual crucifixion” continued only during that time - that he was, in fact, suspended at about the sixth hour, though the preparations for crucifying him had been going on (Mark) for two hours before. The fact that Mark Mar 15:33 mentions this darkness as commencing at the “sixth” and not at the “third” hour, is one of the circumstances undesignedly occurring that seems to signify that the crucifixion then had “actually” taken place, though the various arrangements for it Mar 15:25 had been going on from the “third” hour.
One thing is conclusively proved by this - that the evangelists did not “conspire together” to impose on the world. They are independent witnesses, and they were honest men; and the circumstance adverted to here is one that is allowed to be of great value in testimony in courts of justice - “circumstantial variation with essential agreement.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain St. Mark is the only evangelist who says it…
St. Mark is the only evangelist who says it was the third hour. St. John says it was the sixth. But these may easily be reconciled by supposing that he was crucified towards the end of the third hour, that is, about eleven of the clock, or half-past eleven, which being near the sixth hour, or twelve, the evangelist might say it was the sixth hour. (Nicholas of Lyra) --- The third hour. The ancient account divided the day into four parts, which were named from the hour from which they began: the first, third, sixth, and ninth hour. Our Lord was crucified a little before noon; before the third hour had quite expired; but when the sixth hour was near at hand. (Challoner)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 25–38. The Death
25–38. The Death
25. it was the third hour] or nine o’clock. St John’s words (Joh_19:14) clearly point to a different mode of reckoning.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (25) It was the third hour.—The precise statement of…
(25) It was the third hour.—The precise statement of the hour is peculiar to St. Mark, but it agrees with the narrative common to him with St. Matthew and St. Luke of the darkness that came over the land at the “sixth hour.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And it was the third hour, and they crucified…
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. The third hour would literally be nine o"clock. But we gather from ver. 33 that our Lord was on his cross, and still alive, at the sixth hour, that is, at twelve o"clock. The simplest mode of solving the chronological difficulty seems to be this: The Jews divided their day into four parts, which they called hours, namely, the first, from six to nine; the third, from nine to twelve; the sixth, from twelve to three; and the ninth, from three to six. It was, then, within the third hour, that is, between nine and twelve, that they crucified him; and it was from the sixth to the ninth hour that he was actually upon his cross. St. John employs the Asiatic mode of computing time.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain And they crucified Him.
Mar_15:25
And they crucified Him.
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The mystery of eternity
It was a death of horror; yet inflicted on Jesus, the Son of God, whose crime was mercy, whose mission here was one of redeeming love.
I. All the mysteries of human nature are here.
1. Sin.
2. Freewill.
3. Judgment. After these things must there not be some reckoning?
II. The mysteries of Divine revelation.
1. Gods love.
2. Gods meekness.
3. Gods method of curing sin. By enduring its strokes He shames and vanquishes transgression.
III. The mysteries of salvation.
1. Atonement.
2. Reconciliation. In the cross our love meets Gods love, and we are reconciled.
3. A great inspiration. Ever since, the cross has been the pattern on the mount which holy lives have copied, and it has inspired love and sacrifice into countless hearts.
IV. All mysteries of consolation. Had Christ evaded death, who would have dared to face it? He has changed Jordans streams into still waters, and its banks to green pastures. Death fixed its sting in Christ, and left and lost it there. Thus Christs cross is our Alpha and Omega, glowing with law and gospel, comfort and restraint, power and peace; it is the new Tree of life in the midst of lifes wilderness. (R. Glover.)
Crucifixion of Christ
I. The death of crucifixion.
1. Degrading.
2. Involving self-abasement on Christs part.
3. Conformity in will on ours.
II. The place of crucifixion.
1. Common execution ground for felons and outlaws. A place of desolation and horror.
2. We have to bear His reproach.
III. The blindness of hate. They did all in their power against Him. But with what result?
1. That was the salvation hour for the whole world.
2. Jesus went into the realm of the dead, and revolutionized it, opening the door of Satans stronghold and setting the captives free.
3. He has changed the aspect of death forever-rolled away its sting. (F. B. Proctor, M. A.)
Our part in Christs crucifixion
A traveller ascends a hill: having reached the summit and seen the view, he descends. As he descends he sees at the foot of the hill a little cottage from which cries of lamentation proceed. He enters. He sees the mangled form of a strong man surrounded by a weeping wife and children, He sympathizes. He pities. But when, on inquiry, he learns that a stone rolling down the hill put an end to that mans life, how different are his feelings-not sympathy, but shame; not pity, but anguish: for he remembers that he wilfully (for there was a notice up, warning him) hurled a boulder down the hillside for his own gratification. (G. Calthrop, D. D.)
Whitfield and the execution
During one of the visits which the Rev. George Whitfield paid to Edinburgh, an unhappy man, who had forfeited his life to the offended laws of his country, was executed in that neighbourhood. Whitfield mingled with she crowd that was collected on the occasion, and was struck with the solemnity and decorum which were observable at so awful a scene. His appearance, however, drew the eyes of all upon him, and raised a variety of speculations as to the motives which had induced him to join the crowd. The next day being Sunday, he preached to a very large congregation in a field near the city; and in the course of his sermon he adverted to the event of the previous day. I know, said he, that many of you will find it difficult to reconcile my appearance yesterday with my character. Many of you, I know, will say that my moments would have been better employed in praying for the unhappy man, than in attending him to the fatal tree; and that, perhaps, curiosity was the only cause that converted me into a spectator on that occasion; but those who ascribe that uncharitable motive to me are mistaken. I went as an observer of human nature, and to see the effect that such an example would have on those who witnessed it. I watched the conduct of those who were present on that awful occasion, and I was highly pleased with their demeanour, which has given me a very favourable opinion of the Scottish nation. Your sympathy was visible on your countenances, particularly when the moment arrived that your unhappy fellow creature was to close his eyes on this world forever; and then you all, as if moved by one impulse, turned your heads aside and wept. Those tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance. How different it was when the Saviour of mankind was extended on the cross! The Jews, instead of sympathizing with the Divine Sufferer, gloried in His agony. They reviled Him with bitter words,-ay, with words more bitter than the gall and vinegar which they handed Him to drink. Not one, of all that witnessed His pains, turned his head aside, even in the last pang. Yes, my friends, there was one; that glorious luminary, pointing to the sun, veiled his brightness, and travelled on his course in tenfold night.
Jesus crucified
I. Why Christ was crucified. The sufferings of our Lord were not less because He was the Son of God. His was a Divine sorrow. Natures most sensitive to all that is holy and true, most keenly aware of all that is false, suffer sharpest torture when rudely invaded. These sufferings came upon Him from the first. To John the Baptist He appeared as the Lamb of God. Christs sufferings were public and ignominious. It was in the broad, open day, and in the most public place, that He was crucified. His most sacred sufferings were made a public spectacle. It was a part of His degradation that He did not suffer alone. Two wretched criminals from the city were crucified with Him. For one moment He lost sight of His Fathers face. In that hour He was linked to all that is worst and vilest in our common humanity.
II. How Christ suffered. Through it all He showed the faith of the Son of God-My God. He suffered as a king might suffer.
III. Why Christ suffered. He suffered in order that He might obey the Father. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death. He suffered to make known the Father. He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. He suffered that men might be redeemed. (E. B. Mason.)
The sufferings of Christ
Our Lords sufferings were inexpressibly great and exquisitely painful. They may be said to have commenced at the very first moment He came in contact with our nature, He suffered in every possible way, and in every possible degree, he suffered in His body and in His soul; He suffered personally, and He suffered relatively. If we had been told that the Son of God was to come into our world, and to save us by His sufferings, we naturally would have supposed that He was to die, and if to die, that He would die in a state of glory-if He were to fall, that He would fall in the field of war: and that, when He died. His praises would be shouted by the whole world. But how different a lot was assigned to the Saviour of sinners. Moreover, He suffered under the seal of the curse. Crucifixion was, among the Romans, the death awarded only to slaves, and by the Jews it was held in execration. Remember, too, that the influence of many, and of various characters, contributed to our Lords last sufferings. Here, above all the rest, was to be seen the supreme hand of God allotting to Him the various parts of His suffering, and overruling those who had an instrumental hand in bringing it about. Then again, there are wonderful things to be seen in the manner and circumstances of our Lords crucifixion. We see here God withdrawing, and yet God supporting; the Redeemer sinking under His sufferings, and, at the same time, rising triumphantly above them all. And, once more, we observe in the last sufferings of Christ a remarkable accomplishment of the Word of God. In Him all the ancient predictions of the Jewish prophets were fulfilled. So much in relation to the history of the death and last sufferings of our Saviour. Let these things be deeply impressed upon your minds. But beware of regarding them in the mere light of history. You may be acquainted with all the historical facts relating to our Lords sufferings and death, and yet you may obtain no interest whatever in their benefits. They may float in your understanding without ever sinking into your heart, or influencing your conduct. Yet the bare history, the minute facts of the Saviours life are of such importance that they ought to be known. Traced in their connection one with another, they throw a flood of light over the Bible. (Thos. McCrie, D. D.)
Lessons at the cross
I. We may learn something from the fact that our Lord was actually put to death like an ordinary criminal. All of the evangelists call attention to the circumstance of Christs having been associated with two malefactors crucified at the same moment. Thus Pilate makes the two robbers intensify Jesus shame in the eyes of the multitude. Each one of the common people who saw the sad spectacle, would inevitably draw the conclusion that Christ was the chief malefactor of them all. The terrible humiliation of the death which our Saviour suffered is thus made apparent. But the power of this scene is, singularly enough, deepened by this very particular. We call to mind as an illustration of such a statement the tale of Colonel Gardiners conversion,-a tale so remarkable that it has remained historic for more than a hundred and fifty years. He was a gay military man, without any virtues to commend him, licentious, profane, and intemperate. One Sabbath evening he had been carousing in company with some roystering comrades; late at night he retired to his chamber. There his eye accidentally lighted upon a book entitled The Christian Soldier; or, Heaven taken by storm. He took it up to ridicule it, but fell asleep while it lay in his hand. He dreamed: he thought he saw a prodigious blaze of light shining upon the volume; raising his eyes to know what was so suddenly bright overhead, he saw suspended in the air a vivid representation of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross; distinctly then he heard someone saying, This I did for thee; what hast thou done for Me? Struck to the very depth of his conscience, he was wakened instantly; at once, filled with contrition, as a sinner he sought peace and found pardon for his soul
II. We may learn, also, something from the record that this form of death was a fulfilment of prophecy. Mark says that when Jesus was numbered with transgressors, the scripture was fulfilled.
III. We may learn, once more, something from the account given of the taunts which our Lord received. It would appear that all sorts of people joined in this sarcasm. The passers-by railed, the rulers derided, the soldiers mocked; even the thieves reviled Him. The utmost ingenuity in invention of jibes and epithets seemed to grow in demand that awful morning. The lesson here is plain; the patience of our Lord is simply wonderful. How He could bear all this contumely and reproach passes understanding.
IV. In like manner, we may learn something from the sudden darkness which Jesus endured on that day. This darkness is to be understood as symbolical of Gods horror of sin even when borne vicariously by an innocent Christ. How an impenitent man can hope to have audience with his Maker, so as to implore and obtain pardon, when even Christ was left in the darkness unpitied, passes all comprehension.
V. We may likewise learn something from the grief of our blessed Lord when He found Himself deserted.
VI. We may learn something, also, from our Lords rejection of the draught proffered for His relief. What an example of self-sacrificing fidelity there is here for us! How little courage we have when our day of trial comes on! Jesus had always been the embodiment and pattern of dutifulness and affection in His Fathers sight; He was not going to shirk and shrink and fail now. He told His disciples once in simple sincerity just what was His purpose: I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.
VII. Finally, we may learn something from the cry which oar Lord uttered as His great voice at the last. It was really a shout-a shout of triumph. There is great significance in the fact that not one of the inspired biographers says Jesus died; they all agree in an unusual form of speech which preserves the notion of His entire voluntariness in the surrender He made to deaths power. He yielded His soul, He gave up His breath-such are the expressions; but the adversary did not gain the victory: it was Death that died in the conflict. What this cry was is told us in the Gospel of John-It is finished! His entire work was done. The Lord standeth sure now for the believer. It is recorded of a dying minister, one of the faithfullest of modern times, that in his last hour his son asked him, Father, are you comfortable now? And he answered, Certainly: why not? for I lie most comfortably resting upon the finished work of my Lord Jesus Christ. (C. S. Robinson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain third hour
third hour
Cf. Joh 19:14. John used the Roman, Mark the Hebrew, computation of time.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the third hour
the third hour
"Third" here is a ordinal number. This refers to nine o'clock in the morning. AT: "nine o'clock in the morning" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
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On a sign
The soldiers attached this sign to the cross above Jesus. AT: "They attached to the cross above Jesus' head a sign on which" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
the charge against him
"the crime they were accusing him of doing"
one on the right of him and one on his left
This can be written more clearly. AT: "one on a cross on the right side of him and one on a cross on the left side of him" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
crucify
King of the Jews
thief
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:25 Mark records Jesus’ crucifixion as occurring at the…
15:25 Mark records Jesus’ crucifixion as occurring at the third hour, or nine o’clock in the morning. John 19:14 gives the time as around the sixth hour, or noon. These are rough estimates of time, and events in the later morning were typically described as occurring around either the third (Matt 20:3; Acts 2:15) or sixth hour (Mark 15:33; Matt 20:5; 27:45; Luke 23:44; John 4:6; 19:14; Acts 10:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.