9. (a) How did the division of the day into 24 hours of 60 minutes each originate? (b) What time indicators are mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures?

⁹ Hour. The division of the day into 24 hours is traced to Egypt. Our modern-day division of the hour into 60 minutes originated from Babylonian mathematics, which was a sexagesimal system (based on the number 60). There is no mention of division into hours in the Hebrew Scriptures.a Instead of dividing the day into specific hours, the Hebrew Scriptures use expressions such as “morning,” “noon,” “midday,” and “evening time” as time indicators. (Gen. 24:11; 43:16; Deut. 28:29; 1 Ki. 18:26) The night was divided into three periods called “the night watches” (Ps. 63:6), two of which are specifically named in the Bible: “the middle night watch” (Judg. 7:19) and “the morning watch.”​—Ex. 14:24; 1 Sam. 11:11.

10. How did the Jews count hours in Jesus’ time, and how does knowing this help us fix the time of Jesus’ death?

¹⁰ There is, however, frequent mention of the “hour” in the Christian Greek Scriptures. (John 12:23; Matt. 20:2-6) Hours were counted from sunrise, or about 6 a.m. The Bible mentions the “third hour,” which would be about 9 a.m. The “sixth hour” is mentioned as the time when darkness fell on Jerusalem at Jesus’ impalement. This would correspond to our 12 noon. Jesus’ expiration in death on the torture stake is stated to have occurred “about the ninth hour,” or about 3 p.m.​—Mark 15:25; Luke 23:44; Matt. 27:45, 46.b