220 ABROGATION OF THE SABBATH. 



A careless translation corrected. John xx. — No Sabbath suggested. 



But "notice the emphasis/' says J. N. B. (p. 184): ''Then 

 tlie same clai/, at evening, being the first day of the 

 WEEk/' His " emphasis'' is purely fancifiil : '^ being the 

 first day," is not in the original. It is a careless translation. 

 The true reading is : " It being evening.'' This was the liisto- 

 rian^s '^ emphasis.'' The passage is as follows : Ovarn ow o^mj 

 tvj lyiitf^a sxstvrj irj fiia thov GaSSatuv : whichj literally rendered, 

 is : "It being then evening to that day — the first of the week.'' 

 The word jwia (the " first" day) has no grammatical construc- 

 tion whatever with the word o4-iaj (" evening") ; it is solely in 

 apposition with ijjuj^a (that " day"). This is very different 

 from saying, with our version, that the evening was "the^irs^ 

 day" or "the same day." It was "evening" on to that day. 



In vain will it be said that to us who adopt the Roman 

 division of the day, the evening belongs to Sunday : this is 

 altogether foreign to the purpose. All who were present ou 

 that occasion were Jews ; and to them, the evening on Sunday 

 was as much " the second day" as the noon of Monday. It 

 was impossible, therefore, that the disciples could have under- 

 stood the presence of Jesus at that time as an intentional 

 distinction of " the ^irs^ day." 



7. The seventh text is John xx. 26, 29 : " And after eight 

 days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas ivith them : 

 then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, 

 and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, 

 Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and reach 

 hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side ; and be not faith- 

 less, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, 

 My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because 

 thou hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that 

 have not seen, and yet have believed." This day, in conse- 

 quence of having been thus distinguished as one on which an 

 apostle's incredulity was dissipated by the irresistible evidence 

 of sense, may be assumed to be a day of rest ; from which it 



