1. Matthew 12:40 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What do the three days and three nights in the heart of the earth refer to?

Matthew 12:40 (ESV)

40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

In short

Two views of what the three days and three nights in the heart of the earth refers to:

  1. The phrase Three days and three nights is a fixed expression for three days— not three times twenty-four hours, for on the third day the three days are complete (see Esther 4:16, with Esther 5:1). This use of the phrase day and night is also found in Jewish tradition. The heart of the earth is not the grave, but Hades, the realm of the dead (see heart of the sea, Jonah 2:2–3). After his crucifixion, Jesus descended into Hades (1 Peter 3:19). By our reckoning, Jesus lay in the grave the night of Friday to Saturday, Saturday itself, and the night of Saturday to Sunday—three days and two nights. Nothing is gained by saying Jesus died on 14 Nisan, for the day of his death was definitely a Friday. The simplest explanation is that Jesus took up the wording of the Old Testament and applied it to himself. The main point is that, in line with Scripture and the type of Jonah, this is Jesus’ first prophecy of his burial and resurrection.

  2. The expression heart of the earth does not first of all mean Jesus’ death, but his suffering from the time he is arrested. Captives who are thrown into prison are consigned to the heart of the earth until they are brought out again. Matthew 12:40 thus gives only a vague description of what will happen to Jesus during his stay in the heart of the earth. What is clear is his isolation—withdrawn from the ordinary course of life. That, according to John’s Gospel, is his hour—a limited period in which he is handed over to the power of darkness.


Interpretation 1:
The phrase Three days and three nights is a fixed expression for three days. It does not mean three times twenty-four hours, for on the third day the three days are complete (see Esther 4:16 with Esther 5:1). This use of the phrase day and night is also found in Jewish tradition (SB 1, 649). The heart of the earth is not the grave, but Hades, the realm of the dead (see heart of the sea, Jonah 2:2–3). After his crucifixion, Jesus descended into Hades (1 Peter 3:19).1
According to our reckoning, Jesus lay in the grave the night from Friday to Saturday, Saturday itself, and the night from Saturday to Sunday. Including Friday evening and Sunday morning, this amounts to three days and two nights. Nothing is gained by supposing Jesus died on 14 Nisan, for the day of his death was in any case a Friday. We need not pursue the various proposals made to solve this difficulty. The simplest explanation is that Jesus simply takes over the wording of the Old Testament and then applies it to himself. The main point is that, in line with Scripture and the type of Jonah, Jesus here gives a first, though still veiled, prophecy of his burial and resurrection.2
Interpretation 2:
The expression heart of the earth does not in the first place refer to Jesus’ death, but to his suffering from the time he was arrested. Captives who are thrown into prison are likewise consigned to the heart of the earth until they are brought out again. Matthew 12:40 therefore gives only a vague description of what will happen to Jesus during his stay in the heart of the earth. What is clear is his isolation. He is withdrawn from the ordinary course of life. That, according to the Gospel of John, is his hour; in other words, the time in which he is handed over to the power of darkness will be of limited duration. Even then, he remains the one who determines Israel’s destiny.3