How Did Peter Know the Time?

The Jews divided the day into twelve hours

The day began at sunrise, around 6 a.m., and was divided into twelve hours (John 11.9). Thus:

• first hour: about 7 a.m.;
• third hour: about 9 a.m.;
• sixth hour: about noon;
• ninth hour: about 3 p.m. (Matthew 27.45; Acts 3.1).

These were not fixed hours like ours, but approximations based on the position of the sun.

In the case of Acts 3.1, the question is more delicate, for Luke states:

“Peter and John were going up together to the Temple at the hour of prayer — show definition INF328: it was the ninth hour” (Acts 3.1).

The ninth hour corresponds approximately to 3 p.m. How could the apostles know this hour?

The Temple rites provided time markers

The most likely answer is that the hours of prayer were closely tied to the daily service of the Temple. The evening sacrifice was offered around the ninth hour (Exodus 29.38-42), and this hour was known to all devout Jews. A large crowd then went to the Temple for prayer (Luke 1.10).

Peter and John therefore did not need a clock. The movement of the worshippers, the activities of the priests and probably the trumpet blasts announcing the different phases of worship all served as time markers. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus moreover mentions the use of trumpets to signal certain important moments of the Temple service.

Observing the sun

Like all inhabitants of the ancient world, the apostles could also estimate the time by the position of the sun. The ninth hour did not correspond to exactly 3 p.m. in the modern sense, but to a period in the middle of the afternoon.

Why does Luke specify the hour?

It is probably not an insignificant detail. Luke wants to show that Peter and John continued to take part in Jewish religious life. The first Christian community did not yet consider itself separate from Judaism. The disciples attended the Temple daily (Acts 2.46) and observed the traditional hours of prayer. The healing of the lame man — show definition INF330 thus takes place at a time when a great many worshippers were present, which explains the size of the crowd that then gathered around the apostles (Acts 3.11).

From a practical standpoint, it is therefore very likely that Peter and John knew the approach of the ninth hour through the regular course of Temple worship, rather than by means of a precise measuring instrument.