Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 36:142 (Apr 1879)
Article: The Last Days Of Christ; Exegetical Notes On The Basis Of Mark 14:17-16:20.
Author: Horatio B. Hackett

BSac 36:142 (April 1879) p. 342

The Last Days Of Christ; Exegetical Notes On The Basis Of Mark 14:17-16:20.

Rev. Horatio B. Hackett

Verses 17-21. — At The Last Supper, Christ Foretells The Treachery Of Judas, And Compels Him To Leave The Room

Ver. 17. The evening here (so also Matthew and Luke) was that of the first day of the Passover or feast of unleavened bread (see ver. 12). The Passover began on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, near the middle of our April, and continued a week, i.e. till the twenty-first of the month. With reference to the day of the week, therefore, on which Christ was crucified, Matthew 26:17) and Luke (22:7) agree perfectly with Mark. Our Lord was crucified on the day before the Jewish Sabbath, i.e. our Friday, and rose again on the third day, i.e. our Sunday, which, of course, commemorates that event. No difference exists between the four evangelists with reference to the order of the days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) of the Passover week on which the crucifixion, the rest in the tomb, and the resurrection took place. The chronological difficulty alleged to exist as to the day of the month on which the Passover was observed by Christ, and he himself was crucified, is one which requires special notice. It is alleged by some that the synoptists represent the day of Christ’s death as the fifteenth of Nisan, the great festival on the evening before which the Jews cele-

[Note. — Professor Hackett’s Notes on the Last Days of Christ are not published here without his consent. He gave this consent while he retained his Professorship at Newton. He then recommended Mr. George H. Whittemore as eminently fitted to prepare and edit the Notes. He afterwards, while at Rochester, revised his Lectures, and the Notes now published are the result of that Revision. Mr. Whittemore was a favorite pupil, a colleague, and an intimate friend of Prof. Hackett, and has edited these Notes with conscientious fidelity.—Eds.]

BSac 36:142 (April 1879) p. 343

brated their Passover, while according to John it is said that Jesus was crucified on the day before that, the fourteenth of Nisan, and died at the moment when the Jews sacrificed the Paschal lamb, and were preparing to eat the Passover. The passages in John said to require this view are chiefly 13:1; 18:28; 19:14, 81. The three positions here which interpreters have taken are, first, that the writers contradict e...