Skip to main content

Things I Write On The Blank "Notes" Pages In My Bible - Hours and Watches.

What do you write on the blank "Notes" pages in the back of your Bible? Seriously, I'd like to know. Please leave a comment on this.

Mine stayed blank for years! Then I found myself looking up the same information that I couldn't remember over and over again. So, I now record things that I want to remember that isn't already in the reference pages. I write down concepts from Bible studies that I feel will help me to review.

One of my most referenced pieces of information in my "Notes" is a simple list - a chart of the hours of the day and the watches of the night so I can tell "Biblical time" while I'm studying the Word. Just in case this might help you, I've included this information below.

The Biblical “Hours”:

John 11:9 refers to 12 hours of daylight.
Matthew 20:3-12 refers to hiring at the 3rd, 6th 9th and 11th hours.
Matthew 27:45 refers to darkness from 6th to 9th hour.
Matthew 27:46 refers to Jesus calling out at 9th hour.
Acts 23:23 refers to “9 tonight”.
Revelation 8:1 refers to half an hour.
Revelation 9:15 refers to hour, day, month, year.

1st hour – 7 AM 7th hour – 1 PM
2nd hour – 8 AM 8th hour – 2 PM
3rd hour – 9 AM 9th hour – 3 PM
4th hour – l0 AM 10th hour – 4 PM
5th hour – 11 AM 11th hour – 5 PM
6th hour – 12 PM 12th hour – 6 PM



The “Watches of the Night”:

The night was divided into military watches instead of hours. Each watch represented the shift of duty for the watchman. According to one of my resources, the Jews recognized three watches, called the first or “beginning of the watches,” (Lamentations 2:19) the middle watch, (Judges 7:19) and the morning watch. (Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11) After the establishment of the Roman supremacy, the number of watches was increased to four, which were described either according to their numerical order, as in the case of the “fourth watch,” (Matthew 14:25) or by the terms ‘even,” “midnight,” “cock-crowing” and “morning.” (Mark 13:35)

Pre-Rome – 3 watches:

beginning of the watches – sunset – 10 PM
middle watch – 10 PM – 2 AM
morning watch – 2 AM – sunrise


After Roman Supremacy – 4 watches:

Even – sunset – 9 PM
Midnight – 9 PM – midnight
Cock-crowing – midnight – 3 AM
Morning – 3 AM – 6 AM

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Homiletics Training: Content

Homiletics .   By definition, “homiletic” is the art of preaching or writing sermons.   I think we would all agree that our pastors study the Bible thoroughly to deliver sermons every Sunday to their congregations.   The beautiful news is that every child of God can use this discipline to study the Bible for themselves. As a member of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) Leadership, part of my required preparation each week is to prepare homiletics for the passage we are studying.   BSF offers an engaging seminar on how to use this method to study the Scriptures.   I’ve taken the seminar several times under two different leaders and I’ve learned something new every time I’ve attended.   I’ve also been doing the process of homiletics for over ten years and I can say that there is no better teacher than the Holy Spirit in this process!   So keep practicing.   Keep sharing and discussing.   I’ve been posting my homiletics on this blog for quite a while, now.   And I would like to share wit

Homiletics: John 10

Contents ( not sentence, direct verbiage from Scripture ): 1 1-2 VT ITY Phar, any1 enter shp pn by gate=thief/robbr; 1 enters by gate=shepherd 2 3-4 Gatekpr opns gate 4 hm/shp listn/he calls shp by name/leads out/shp follo bec kno voce 3 5-6 They nvr follo stranger, run away bec recog voce; J used fig o spch, Phar understd 4 7-8 Thrfr J: VT ITY I gate 4 shp; all who cm b4 me=thievs/robbrs, shp listn them 5 9-10a I gate, whoevr entr thru me savd/they cm/go/find pasture; thief cm only steal/kill/destry 6 10b-12 I gd shepd, lay dn life 4 shp; Hird hd shepd/own shp, see wolf/abandn shp/wlf attck/scattr 7 13-15a Man run bec care nthg 4 sheep; I gd shep; kno sheep/sheep kno me as Fr kno me/I kno Fr 8 15b-16 I lay dn life 4 sheep; have othr sheep of this pen

Homiletics: John 12

Contents ( not sentence, direct verbiage from Scripture, fit on one line ): 1 1-3 6d b4 Pass J2Beth dinr Marth servd, Laz@tbl; Mary $$$$ perf J ft, wipe w/hair, hs filld frag 2 4-6 Judas, l8r betray obj: why wasn’t perf sold, wrth 1y wages, didn’t care abt poor, thief 3 7-9 Lv alone, she sv perf 4my burial, u alwys hv poor; MW lg crwd came bec of J & 2C Laz 4 10-13 CP md plans kill Laz-on acct o hm mny bel; Nxt dy grt crwd: Hos! Blest=He cm in nom o L 5 14-16 J fnd dnky, sat, as writn: Dtr Zion, c ur king cming seatd on dnky colt; @ 1 st Disc undrstd 6 17-19 crwd w/Him whn Laz raisd spread wd; Mny went 2 Him; Phar: lk how wrld gone aftr Him 7 20-23 Som Gks to Phil: we like 2CJ; Phil 2 Andrw, Phil&Andrw told J: hr cm 4 SoM be glrfd 8 24 VTITY unle