Biblical Contradiction #1 explained

“How is it that Mark says Jesus was crucified the day after the passover, and John says that he was crucified on the day of preperation of the passover... both cannot possibly be correct because that is impossible. So one is in error. That does not mean that it did not happen, it just means that the Bible is not perfect…”

Here are the pertinent verses which establish an apparent contradiction:

Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!"

John 19:14 (New American Standard Bible)

and

When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath

Mark 15:42


In English and out of context, these do appear to be contradictions. However, closer examination will reveal there is no error.

Let’s look at the underlined portion and how it was translated. First, from John, the day of preparation for Passover was derived from the ancient Greek word “paraskeue”. This means “Friday”. This is further supported in this verse, where Matthew mentions the day after preparation as being Saturday (the underlined portion) when translated from ancient Greek:

Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate

Matthew 27:62

Mark clearly says the day before the Sabbath, which is also Friday. There is no contradiction for the day of Christ’s crucifixion.