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Every 24-hour day of the month has a night that follows it according
to the sunset-to-sunset reckoning of the day, which is clearly
Biblical – not deducted.

The following verse refers to the 15th day of Abib, not the 14th as
Bacchiocchi suggests. The 15th Nisan was the Holyday; the 14th
was not a Holyday. This is clear in Numbers 33:3. Numbers 33:3
clearly says that the Israelites departed <commenced their
journey> in the first month <Abib> on the 15th day of the month.
Therefore, Exodus 12:17 refers to the 15th day of the month. One
always allows the clear scriptures to interpret the unclear ones.
The answer is in understanding that the Passover was slain on the
14th day of the month before sunset and eaten on the 15th day of
the month after sunset. The night that began the 15th Nisan was
the night that God slew the firstborn of Egypt; and it was the
morning of the 15th that they began their journey out of Egypt.

Exodus 12:17 And ye shall observe [the feast of] unleavened bread; for in
this selfsame day (15th Abib/Nisan) have I brought your armies out of the
land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day (15th Abib/Nisan) in your
generations by an ordinance forever.

Numbers 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the
fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the Passover the children
of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

The night of observation (Exodus 12:42) was the beginning of the
15th of Abib. Nothing here suggests that it was still the 14th. All it
takes is one moment to pass from the 14th to the 15th. The
Passover was slain on the 14th and eaten on the 15th during the
night of observation when God slew the firstborn of Egypt. The
following morning, still the 15th, they departed from Rameses on
their journey out of Egypt. The selfsame day of verse 51 is the 15th
of Abib.

Exodus 12:42 It [is] a night to be much observed unto the LORD for
bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this [is] that night of the LORD to
be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.

Exodus 12:51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, [that] the LORD did
bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

Of course, one can find an “authority” for any theory one wants.
The criterion that determines whether a theory is correct is
whether all of its parts fit together without contradiction.
Bacchiocchi has been honest enough to admit that there are
contradictions with the sunrise reckoning theory. This in itself tells
us that we need to look deeper. For until a theory has withstood the
questions it engenders, one should not receive it as truth.

Only subjective reasoning and faulty deduction causes one to accept
the laws concerning when one was to eat the Passover as suggesting
a sunrise-to-sunrise reckoning of the day.

The bible never tells us that the Israelites ate the lamb on the 14th.
The bible never tells us that the Israelites departed Egypt on the
14th. Rather, the scriptures are quite frank that the departure was
on the 15th and the days of unleavened bread began at the point the
sun had set of the 14th day. Bacchiocchi admits that other places
indicate the use of the sunset reckoning. We cannot have a
contradiction in the word of God.

Bacchiocchi continues his probe for a sunrise reckoning of the day in
order to substantiate the idea that the resurrection took place on
the 1st day of the week. Here he uses Mark 14:12 in his search.

He says, “the Passover lamb and the feast of Unleavened Bread are
both placed on the same day:” in reference to Mark 14:12.

When one looks at the Greek and ponders how one could translate
this verse, the answer becomes clear. Consider the free translation
below. The word <first> means the beginning or early part of an
interval of time. The word <day> means time in general unless the
context requires it to be specific. The context here is not specific.
The KJV is an unfortunate translation of this verse, and is obviously
wrong. For it was not the 14th of Abib/Nisan.

KJV:
Mark 14:12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the
Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and
prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover?

Free Translation:
Mark 14:12 Early in the season of unleavened bread, during which they
killed the Passover, His disciples said to Him, Where will you that we go and
prepare that you may eat the Passover?

By New Testament times, the season of unleavened bread –
culturally speaking – began on the 10th Nisan when the Jews put up
(penned) the lambs for the Passover sacrifices. The Jews reckoned
the interval of time from the 10th Nisan until the 15th Nisan part of
the season of unleavened bread. The Jews used this space of time
to prepare for the 7 literal days of unleavened bread the 15th to and
including the 21st Nisan. They killed the Passover in the afternoon
of the 14th Nisan and ate the Passover Feast, which started the
days of unleavened bread that night after sunset, which began the
15th Nisan. The term Passover is currently more common than
Days of Unleavened Bread for this entire season. However, the
biblical writers did use the longer designation.

Exodus 12:3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
[day] of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to
the house of [their] fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour
next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man
according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it
out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the
whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening
(between the two evenings).

The Israelites never killed the Passover on one of the days of
unleavened bread. It was slain in preparation for the days of
unleavened bread and eaten at the beginning of the 1st day of
unleavened bread after sunset of the 14th day. In other words,
when the 14th day of the month was over, as soon as the lambs were
roasted, they ate the Passover lambs on the 15th day of the month
of Abib. We have been somewhat repetitive with this subject
because it is not familiar with our current culture. We hope to give
enough perspectives so the reader will not draw wrong conclusions
concerning the intent of the scriptures.

The poor translation of the KJV for this verse suggests that the
lambs were slain on the 1st day of unleavened bread. However, a
proper translation shows clearly that this was in the early part of
the <season> of unleavened bread – the preparatory part of the
season that included the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. The actual
day that the Messiah sent the disciples to prepare for Passover was
no later than the 12th of Abib. This would mean that it was on the
middle day of the early preparatory part of the season of
unleavened bread when Christ sent them to prepare for the
Passover. The fact that preparation was still going on makes this
clear. The verse does not say that it was the first day of the official
7 days of unleavened bread, but early in the season of unleavened
bread.

Here again, there is no substance for a sunrise reckoning of the
day. Had the KJV translators been keeping the Passover and days
of unleavened bread, they would have been in a better position to
understand what they were translating. The verse in the Greek
clearly supports a sunset reckoning of the day.

Bacchiocchi gives several verses where the scriptures mention the
day before the night in his effort to substantiate a sunrise-to-
sunrise reckoning of the 24-hour day. His goal is to find some
evidence for a first day of the week resurrection of the Messiah.
Let us study these verses.

Green’s Literal Translation for Acts 9:24 translates the KJV term
“day and night” as “both by day and by night”. The verse does not
indicate when a day begins. The daylight part of the day is man’s
principal time for activity. It is only natural that a writer would
mention the daytime first unless he had a technical reason for doing
otherwise. Night is the time for sleeping and a time when all
activity ceases. It would be only natural for these men to watch for
Paul in the daytime, but they also watched for him by night.

Green’s translation makes this clear. They carefully watched the
gates both by day and by night so they could catch Paul. The time
is general, and does not matter whether the writer mentions day or
night first.

KJV:
Acts 9:24 But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the
gates day and night to kill him.

LIT:
Acts 9:24 But their plot was known to Saul. And they carefully watched the
gates both by day and by night so that to do away with him.

KJV:
Acts 26:7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day
and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am
accused of the Jews.

Revelation 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him;
and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Revelation 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him
day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell
among them.

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his
Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night.

Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.

One also finds the night and day structure used in the scriptures.
Therefore, one cannot use these two terms to prove when the day
begins, as they tend to cancel each other out. One could conclude
that the style of the writer would determine his phrase in this
matter. Certainly, one cannot create a sunrise-to-sunrise structure
for the civil day based on these verses of general time.

Mark 5:5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the
tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

Luke 2:37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which
departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night
and day.

Acts 20:31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I
ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for
labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of
you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

1 Thessalonians 3:10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see
your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?

2 Thessalonians 3:8 Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but
wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be
chargeable to any of you:

1 Timothy 5:5 Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in
God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.

2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure
conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers
night and day;

However, we might search another category where the writer puts
days for nights and nights for days! At the very heart of our
discussion, we see that Jonas was three days and three nights in the
belly of the whale and the Son of man was to be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.

However, what are the facts? The Messiah was in the heart of the
earth three nights and three days rather than three days and three
nights! Therefore, the written usage of days and nights when
fulfilled can mean nights and days.

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.

The answer for why day comes before night in certain scriptures
could be that the daylight part of the day was the beginning of such
activity. For instance in the case of Acts 9:24 it could be that the
watching began with the daylight part of the day. If that were the
case, there would be reason for using the word <day> first instead
of night.

When one uses deduction to arrive at his answer, he must ask as
many questions as possible to bring to his mind the many reasons a
thing could have been said or done. The fact that day was used
first instead of night has other reasons than to suggest a sunrise
reckoning of the day. A sunrise reckoning of the day may be on the
inquiring mind. However, what was on the mind of the writers who
used this structure?

The following two verses are very general indeed. The Bible uses
both terms <day and night> and <night and day> to express our
need to pray to God. In other words, we do not need to understand
the correct time for the beginning of the 24-hour civil day in order
to pray to God. Anytime is right to pray to God. Only if the writer
tied these verses to the weekly or monthly structure would they
have any merit in telling us when the day began. They are so
general that they are without value in making such a
determination. Moreover, as we saw above, sometimes the writer
uses the day-night structure to refer to a night-day event!

Luke 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night
unto him, though he bear long with them?

2 Timothy 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from [my] forefathers with pure
conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers
night and day;

One reason for the difference of the above phrases could be that
Luke was a Greek and Paul was Hebrew. Their cultures had been
different and therefore influenced the way they expressed
themselves in this phrase. Paul used the Hebrew structure and
Luke used the structure of the Greek culture.

So we have #1) day-night; #2) night-day; #3) day-night used for
night-day. Neither of these structures proves when the 24-hour
day begins. We know when the 24-hour day begins biblically. It
begins the moment that the sun has set, commonly called “sunset”.

The driving force behind all of this tedium is that one needs some
information to “prove” that the Messiah rose the first day of the
week. The facade of information is so slim that one has to search
for deductions that could indicate that the 24-hour day <might>
have begun at sunrise as well as at sunset! If one assumes that the
scriptures support two basic structures for the beginning of the 24-
hour civil day, one would never know which structure to apply to a
given passage! In that case, one could construct a given doctrine
around one day-structure; or he could construct the doctrine
around the other day-structure! In other words, confusion would
reign and one could not determine truth. A theory that requires a
double standard of the biblical 24-hour day is akin to duplicity.
However, God is not the author of confusion.

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace,
as in all churches of the saints.

In point five, Bacchiocchi tends to make the same mistake noted
earlier that <tomorrow> indicates a new day. In a sunset-to-sunset
reckoning of the day of the month, tomorrow or morrow just
indicates a continuation of the day of the month that began at
sunset the previous evening. Seemingly, Bacchiocchi is projecting
his unproven sunrise-to-sunrise theory to the scriptures, in this
situation, rather than accepting them in the sunset-to-sunset mode.

The following verse does not intend to establish when the day
begins. Therefore, whatever we understand from this verse in that
regard must be by deduction. Tomorrow means future time in the
sense of daylight time. As it was already night, the morrow would
simply be the following daylight part of the same day of the month
that the preceding sunset began. It would not be a new day in the
sense of the day-of-the-month.

This would probably sound odd to someone used to going to bed one
day and waking up to a new day, as is the circumstance in our
culture. Nevertheless, nothing here suggests a sunrise reckoning of
the 24-hour day.

Bacchiocchi says, “The fact that at night Michal referred to the
next morning as “tomorrow” clearly suggests that the new day
began in the morning.” In what way is this true? If we assume a
sunrise-to-sunrise day, then we would perceive that implication, but
if we begin with the sunset-to-sunset day in our mind, there is
nothing here that suggests a new day of the month. In sunset
reckoning of the day of the month, tomorrow just means the
daylight part of the day that began with the previous sunset!

1 Samuel 19:11 Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch
him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him,
saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.

Tomorrow or morrow refers to the daylight part of the day,
regardless of whether we attach the previous night to it or if we
attach the following night to it. As 1Sam 9:11 does not tell us which
night attaches the morrow, we cannot make a proper deduction in
that regard.

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