231. At What Hour Did the Crucifixion Take Place?

Mark says (15:25) it was about the third hour, or, as we should say, nine o'clock. Again, the sixth hour is referred to by three of the evangelists (Matt 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44), when Jesus had apparently been three hours on the cross. In the next verses, in all three cases, the ninth hour is mentioned as the time of death, which would be three o'clock. The statement of John (19:14) is believed to be due to a copyist's error, or to his using the Roman method of reckoning.