Yahshua was impaled on Passover (Thursday) and was placed in the tomb before the “sabbath,” this case being the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This day would have been a Friday. The following day (Saturday) was the weekly sabbath. Yahshua would have been in the tomb over these two days before rising on the third day (Sunday), the Feast of Firstfruits. There were two successive sabbath days that week, explaining why the women had to wait until the third day to check the tomb.
The following comparison of 53 versions will illustrate the confusion translators have when regarding the end of the sabbath (ie., sundown vs. midnight) and over how many sabbaths there were that week.
Versions Compared
- AAT – An American Translation (Beck)
- AB – Amplified Bible
- ANT – The Authentic New Testament
- BNT – Barclay New Testament
- CEV – Contemporary English Version
- CJB – Complete Jewish Bible
- CLNT – Concordant Literal New Testament
- CNT – Cassirer New Testament
- CTNT – Centenary Translation of the New Testament
- DHB – Darby Holy Bible
- DRB – Douay-Rheims Bible
- EBR – The Emphasized Bible
- GW – God’s Word
- HBME – The Holy Bible in Modern English
- HBRV – Holy Bible, Revised Version
- IB – Interlinear Bible
- IV – Inspired Version
- KJV – King James Version
- LB – Living Bible
- LBP – Lamsa Bible
- MCT – McCord’s New Testament Translation
- MNT – Moffatt New Translation
- MRB – Modern Reader’s Bible
- MSNT – The Modern Speech New Testament
- NAB – New American Bible
- NAS – New American Standard Version
- NBV – New Berkeley Version
- NCV – New Century Version
- NEB – New English Bible
- NET – New Evangelical Translation
- NIV – New International Version
- NJB – New Jerusalem Bible
- NKJ – New King James Version
- NLV – New Life Version
- NNT – Noli New Testament
- NRS – New Revised Standard Version
- NSNT – Norlie’s Simplified New Testament
- NWT – New World Translation
- PRS – Phillips Revised Student Edition
- REB – Revised English Bible
- RSV – Revised Standard Version
- SGAT – An American Translation (Smith-Goodspeed)
- SNB – Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible
- SSBE – Sacred Scriptures, Bethel Edition
- SV – The Scholar’s Version
- TDB – The Dartmouth Bible
- TEV – Today’s English Version
- TM – The Message
- WAS – Worrell New Testament
- WET – Wuest Expanded Translation
- WMF – The Word Made Fresh
- WNT – Williams New Testament
- YLR – Young’s Literal Translation, Revised Edition
Matthew 28: 1
AAT – After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary from Magdala and the other Mary went to look at the grave.
AB – Now after the Sabbath, near the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to take a look at the tomb.
ANT – When the sabbath was over, as the day after the sabbath began to dawn, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to inspect the burial place.
BNT – Late on the Sabbath, just as the day was breaking on the Sunday, Mary from Magdala and the other Mary came to look at the tomb.
CEV – The Sabbath was over, and it was almost daybreak on Sunday when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
CJB – After Shabbat, toward dawn on Sunday, Miryam of Magdala and the other Miryam went to see the grave.
CLNT – Now it is the evening of the sabbaths. At the lighting up into one of the sabbaths came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to behold the sepulcher.
CNT – The day after the Sabbath, as the first light of another week began to dawn, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went forth to look at the grave.
CTNT – At the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came down to see the sepulcher, … .
DHB – Now late on the sabbath, as it was dusk of the next day after sabbath, came Mary of Magdala and the other Mary to look at the sepulchre.
DRB – And in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.
EBR – And <late in the week when it was on the point of dawning into the first of the week> came Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to view the sepulchre.
GW – After the Sabbath, as Sunday morning was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
HBME – After the Sabbaths, towards the dawn of the day following the Sabbaths, Mary, the Magdalene, and the other Mary, came to examine the tomb.
HBRV – Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
IB – After the sabbaths, at the dawning into the first of the sabbaths, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the grave.
IV – In the end of the Sabbath day, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, early in the morning, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
KJV – In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
LB – Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to the tomb.
LBP – In the evening of the sabbath, when the first day of the week began to dawn, there came Mary of Magdala and the other Mary to see the tomb.
MCT – After the sabbath, as Sunday dawned, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to see the tomb, … .
MNT – At the close of the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
MRB – Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
MSNT – After the Sabbath, in the early dawn of the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre.
NAB – After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
NAS – Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
NBV – After the close of the Sabbath, with the dawning of the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to look at the tomb.
NCV – The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.
NEB – The sabbath was over, and it was about daybreak on Sunday, when Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
NET – After the Sabbath, as Sunday was dawning, Mary from Magdala and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
NIV – After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
NJB – After the Sabbath, and towards dawn on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to visit the sepulchre.
NKJ – Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
NLV – The Day of Rest was over. The sun was coming up on the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the grave.
NNT – After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
NRS – After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
NSNT – Now, late on the sabbath, as dawn was appearing on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb.
NWT – After the sabbath, when it was growing light on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to view the grave.
PRS – When the Sabbath was over, just as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary from Magdala and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
REB – About daybreak on the first day of the week, when the sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to look at the grave.
RSV – Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre.
SGAT – After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
SNB – And late in the week when it was on the point of dawning into the first of the week, came Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to view the sepulchre.
SSBE – Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Miriam Magdalene and the other Miriam to see the sepulchre.
SV – After the sabbath day, at first light on the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to inspect the tomb.
TDB – [Omitted.]
TEV – After the day of worship, as the sun rose Sunday morning, Mary from Magdala and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
TM – After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb.
WAS – Now, in the end of sabbaths at the dawning toward the first day of sabbaths, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
WET – Now, the sabbath having passed, as it was growing light toward the first day of the week, there came Mary, the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to inspect the tomb.
WMF – After the sabbath day had passed Miss Alabama and the other Mary came at the crack of dawn … .
WNT – After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to get a look at the tomb.
YLR – And on the eve of the sabbaths, at the dawn, toward the first of the sabbaths, came Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre, …
Conclusion
The Interlinear Bible (IB) starts well, but then makes the mistake of calling the “first day” a sabbath day. The two previous days were sabbaths; therefore the plural is correct. However, Sunday, the first day of the week (Firstfruits), cannot be a sabbath. Young’s Literal Translation (YLR) reads the same.
The passage in the Darby Holy Bible (DHB) is confusing, even when considering the differences in the sabbaths. Also, dusk cannot be the proper time period. A footnote offers little help:
“Now, late on the sabbath, as it was dusk of the next day after the sabbath … .’ or ‘the first day of the week’ as Mark 16: 2.”
The Holy Bible in Modern English (HBME) translates the passage well. However, the footnotes are questionable. The footnote reads,
“The Greek original is in the plural, ‘Sabbaths,’ which is retained. Readers should remember that all seven days of the Paschal week were ‘sabbaths’ in the old Hebrew Kalendar. – F. F.”
On the contrary, only the first and seventh days of that week would be sabbaths (Leviticus 23: 6-8), in addition to the usual weekly sabbath. Also, keep in mind that the Jewish people could not kindle fire or prepare their meals on sabbath days. Try that one for a week!
The Worrell New Testament (WAS) takes the issue one step further by introducing a doctrinal change. In his footnotes, the translator states:
“The end of sabbaths:” meaning either the end of the sabbaths of the week just preceding Christ’s resurrection (including the passover and the Jewish Sabbath, or Saturday) or more likely, the end of the Jewish Sabbaths (including the Saturday, or Jewish Sabbath, the special sabbaths, fast sabbaths, sabbath years, etc.). All these typical sabbaths came to their end, when the God-man arose from the grave: the types giving place to their anti-type.
“The first day of sabbaths:” the chief of sabbaths; the day that celebrates the redemption of man through the death and resurrection of Christ. This is most likely, the Edemic sabbath, which is the same as the creation sabbath. The right translation of Matthew 28: 1 and of kindred scriptures, gives us the Christian Sabbath, and leaves Saturday-worshipers without a foundation to stand upon.
The New Testament never refers the Sabbath being moved from the seventh day to the first day. Meeting together to worship on the first day of the week does not mean that the Sabbath has changed.
The reader may now appreciate the difficulties the translators have in explaining Matthew 28: 1. Viewing Biblical passages from a “Western” point of view can be confusing. In order to avoid misinterpretations, we should be careful not to remove the Jewishness from the Scriptures. As seen in this comparison, a simple misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge of the Jewish customs as found in the Old Testament can lead to frustration – or even a new doctrine.
