Are There Two Bible Evenings?
By Arthur L. Manous
When Does the Evening Begin?—And When Does the Sabbath Day Begin?
“AND when it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.” Matt. 14: 15. “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone.” Verse 23. Unfortunately, some are teaching an error in reference to these scriptures. For example, one writer says: “15. The first evening, which commenced at three o’clock. The second evening, which began at sunset, is that mentioned in verse 23.” Another says: “Verse 15. Evening. That the first evening, which began at three, is here meant, is plain from verse 23 of this chapter, where another evening is said to have come after the people were fed and dismissed, namely, the second evening, which began at sunsetting.” So far as the writer’s knowledge goes, he must say, with all due respect to those who differ, that this theory of an evening beginning at three o’clock is a wresting of the text; for it is Scripturally evident that the Biblical evening of the day begins, not at three o’clock, but when the sun sets. A few texts only will suffice to prove this truth. “In the evening, at the going in of the sun.” — Young’s translation. “At even at the setting of the sun.”—Septuagint version, Greek and English. “At even when the sun was doune.”—Tyndale’s translation, 1526. “Evening being come, when the sun had gone down.”—Darby’s translation. “In the evening, after sunset.”—Wakefield’s translation, 1820, second London edition. “In the twilight, in the evening [Hebrew, ‘in the evening of the day,’ margin], in the black and dark night.” Prov. 7: 9. But it was not “after sunset,” nor yet even sundown, when the disciples came to Jesus, of which it is said, “And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him.” From these facts, we may profitably study this expression. The Greek word ginomai, here translated, “when (it) was,” is also rendered by the king’s translators thus: From this usage of the original, it would seem that its meaning in Matt. 14: 15 is that the day was then “turned” toward the evening; that the evening was coming on, or “drawing nigh.” In harmony with this idea, others translate the expression “when it was evening,” thus: “And when the even drew on.”—Cranmer’s translation, 1539. “But when the evening drew near.”—S. Clarke’s Paraphrase, 1795. “And towards evening.”—Boothroyd’s translation, 1853; also Thomson’s and Campbell’s. “But when evening was approaching.”—Weekes’s translation, 1897. These translations of the expression in Matt. 14: 15 are in full accord with the records of Luke and Mark of the same time and event, as rendered by the King James translators: “And when the day began to wear away.” Luke 9: 12. With all these harmonious facts before us, there is surely no excuse for wresting Matt. 14: 15 into teaching that there is a Biblical evening beginning at three o’clock. If this erroneous theory were the truth, instead of an error, there might be some question as to which evening should begin and close the Sabbath. But since there is no Biblical evening beginning at three o’clock, we have no question as to when to observe the Sabbath. “From even unto even [margin, ‘From sundown to sundown’], shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” Lev. 23: 32, the Newberry Bible.