Sermonette: Wavesheaf Day in the New Testament
Understanding 'the first day of the week'
#868s
David C. Grabbe
Given 16-Feb-08; 14 minutes
description: (hide) The phrase "first day of the week" in the various gospel accounts of Jesus Christ's appearance should be translated "first of the weeks" (mia sabbaton). This is the wavesheaf day — the day after the Sabbath within the Days of Unleavened Bread which begins the count (of weeks) to Pentecost. In Acts 20:6-7, the mia sabbaton (first day of the weeks), the wave sheaf day, occurred after the Days of Unleavened Bread in a year when the Passover fell on the weekly Sabbath, proving that the instructions for counting to Pentecost mean that it is the Sabbath that must occur during the Days of Unleavened Bread rather than the "morrow after."