Why did Jesus say He would be in the tomb for "three days and three nights" (Matthew 12:40) when He was only buried from Friday to Sunday?

The Context of Jewish Time Reckoning

In the cultural context of first-century Judaism, any part of a day was commonly counted as a whole day. This inclusive method of counting is evident throughout Scripture and other Jewish writings. For example, in Esther 4:16 and 5:1, the people fast for “three days,” but the text later shows the fast concluding on the third day itself. Similarly, rabbinical sources illustrate that if an event spanned a portion of a day, it was still referred to as if it occupied the entire day, thus encompassing both “days” and “nights” in certain idiomatic expressions.

The Expression "Three Days and Three Nights" and Hebraic Idiom

Jesus’ reference in Matthew 12:40—“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”—draws from an Old Testament parallel (see Jonah 1:17) and uses a common Jewish idiomatic expression. Rabbis and early Jewish commentators often employed “three days and three nights” as a figure of speech to mean any part of three separate calendar days. The Gospel accounts show that Jesus was crucified and laid in the tomb on the day of Preparation (Friday before sundown), remained there through the Sabbath (Saturday), and rose on the first day of the week (Sunday). All or part of these three days—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—were accounted as “three days and three nights” under this customary reckoning.

Parallel to Jonah's Experience

The Gospel of Matthew directly connects Christ’s burial to Jonah’s time inside the fish. In Jonah’s context, “three days and three nights” was a Hebrew idiom describing a period that covered parts of three days. Hence, the parallel to Jonah focuses more on the significance of a three-day confinement and subsequent deliverance, rather than on calculating continuous 72-hour intervals. Early Jewish audiences would naturally understand the intent of Jesus’ analogy by recalling how partial days were counted in such expressions.

Consistency with the Gospel Accounts

Each Gospel writer describes Jesus’ prediction to rise on the “third day” (Matthew 20:19; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:22). Luke 24:21–23 recounts disciples on the road to Emmaus saying, “Moreover, it is the third day since all this took place,” illustrating their understanding that Sunday (the day of the Resurrection) was recognized as the third day following Friday’s crucifixion. This inclusive reckoning method remains consistent throughout Scripture. As also stated in 1 Corinthians 15:4, Jesus “was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Historical and Archaeological Corroboration

Multiple lines of evidence from Jewish literature outside the Bible confirm that partial days constituted full days in common speech. Ancient historians like Josephus demonstrate that events spanning part of a day were counted as though comprising the entire day. In archaeological records, inscriptions, and other documentary materials from ancient Judea, the cultural practice of inclusive day reckoning appears frequently, emphasizing that the timeline from Friday to Sunday fulfills “three days” in that historical setting.

Additionally, Christian apologists often point to the unified testimony of all four Gospels and the early creeds (e.g., cited by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5) as weighty evidence that the earliest believers unanimously affirmed not only Christ’s crucifixion and burial but also His resurrection “on the third day.” This shared testimony, combined with external documentation of Jewish time-keeping, supports the simplest explanation for the “three days and three nights” phrase without contradiction.

Conclusion

Jesus’ statement about being in the tomb “three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40) fits perfectly within the Hebrew idiomatic tradition and inclusive method of counting time. Although the modern Western concept of a 72-hour period might lead to confusion, first-century Jewish customs rendered any part of a day or night as inclusive of the whole. Thus, Jesus being buried on Friday, remaining in the tomb through Saturday, and rising on Sunday fulfilled the “three-day” timeline. The scriptural narrative, early Jewish idioms, and historical-cultural background all converge to make this a consistent and coherent explanation of why Jesus spoke of “three days and three nights” while the burial itself spanned parts of three calendar days.