As St John's account of the hour at which the crucifixion took place appears to differ from that named by the other Evangelists, it may be well to explain why St. John says, "the _sixth_ hour," and St. Mark "the _third_." St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, speak according to the Jewish mode of computing time. The Jews reckoned the day to begin at one sunset, and end at the next; so that their night came before the day, instead of after, as with us. From sunset, (about 6 o'clock of our time,) they divided the night into four equal portions or watches, of three hours each. The First from 6 o'clock P.M. to 9 o'clock; the Second from 9 P.M. to 12 o'clock, or midnight. The Third watch, called also the First Cock Crowing, ended at what we call 3 o'clock A.M.; and the Fourth and Last, called the Second Cock Crowing, at our 6 o'clock A.M. The next hour after 6 o'clock was called the 1st hour, and so on; the 3rd hour answered, therefore, to our 9 o'clock A.M.: and this was the hour at which St. Mark states that they crucified Jesus. It must be remarked, that the Jews also divided their day into four portions, calling each by the name of the hour at which it began: thus the 3rd hour, being the beginning of a portion, would include the other two hours in that portion. In this manner, the 3rd hour, our 9 o'clock, would include the 4th and 5th hours, or our 10 and 11 o'clock. Then the 6th hour, answering to our 12 o'clock mid-day, would extend to 3 o'clock, the 9th Jewish hour, and so on. St. John, on the other hand, reckoned the time according to the Roman and Asiatic mode, still used by us. Thus the day, as spoken of by him, began at midnight; and therefore, his 6th hour was our 6 o'clock in the morning, or 6 o'clock P.M. But the Romans also divided their time into watches of three hours each, speaking of the whole three hours under the name of the hour with which the watch began. Thus the 6th hour, or 6 o'clock A.M., would include all the time up to 9 o'clock, which according to the Romans was the 6th hour, and according to the Jews the 3rd hour. St. John further says, that it was "_about_ the sixth hour when they crucified him"; now _about_ may mean a little before, or a little after, the time mentioned; and therefore, we find that all the Apostles mean the same thing; viz., that Jesus was crucified soon after 9 o'clock in the morning. The following table may help us to understand clearly the time at which the different events happened; beginning with the Passover, which Jesus ate with His disciples:--