Hours Of The Day

by Wayne Blank
Mechanical or electronic clocks did not exist in ancient times, however the people of Bible History still measured the time of day by "hours." The equivalent term for hour is first found recorded in the Scriptures in the book of Daniel, and later, in the words of Jesus Christ Himself, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" (John 11:9 KJV).

Hours Of The Day

Sundial The term "hour" referred to a period of time, one-twelfth of the daylight part of the day. While daylight is longer in summer than in winter, and therefore summer "hours" were longer than winter "hours," as a general rule the first hour was equivalent to 6 to 7 am on a modern-day clock, and so on:

The first hour = 6 to 7 am
The second hour = 7 to 8 am
The third hour = 8 to 9 am
The fourth hour = 9 to 10 am
The fifth hour = 10 to 11 am
The sixth hour = 11 am to 12 pm
The seventh hour = 12 to 1 pm
The eighth hour = 1 to 2 pm
The ninth hour = 2 to 3 pm
The tenth hour = 3 to 4 pm
The eleventh hour = 4 to 5 pm
The twelfth hour = 5 to 6 pm

Jesus Christ was crucified at the time of year near the spring equinox, when daylight and darkness are roughly of equal duration. He was hung on the cross (see Crosses) during the third hour (8 to 9 am), darkness come over the land during the sixth hour (11 am to 12 pm) and lasted until the ninth hour (2 to 3 pm) at which time the Messiah was killed, as a fulfillment of all of the God-specified rules for the Passover lamb: no bones were to be broken, death by shed blood, not strangulation, and to be actually killed, not found dead of itself - see How Did Jesus Christ Die? below:

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