What is the sixth hour in John 19:14?

According to the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Jesus was crucified at the third hour, and there was darkness over the land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour.

Mar 15:25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

Mat 27:45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.

Mar 15:33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Luk 23:44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

It is generally accepted that the Jews counted the hours of the day from sunrise. Thus, Jesus was crucified at 9am and there was darkness over the land from noon till 3pm.

But John says that Jesus was before Pilate at the 6th hour (noon by Jewish time), which contradicts the synoptic gospels.

Joh 19:14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
Joh 19:15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

What is the explanation?

A very unlikely explanation

Some Bible commentaries argue that the original Greek text became corrupt and that John 19:14 should read “the third hour”. Even allowing for a textual corruption, which is very unlikely, this explanation has a problem.

Looking at Mark 15:14-15, Mark 15:25, the order of events was:

The crowd crying out “Crucify Him”
The scourging of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus at the third hour

Mar 15:14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”
Mar 15:15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Mar 15:25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

According to John 19:14-15, the crowd cried “Crucify Him” about the sixth hour. The problem is, if this “sixth hour” is actually the “third hour”, (which is when the crucifixion happened) then there is no time for the scourging.

A possible explanation

One possible explanation is that John was using Roman time (similar to modern time) which means that the “sixth hour” was 6:00am. This is supported by John 18:28 which tells us that Jesus was led before Pilate early in the morning.

Joh 18:28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

But was John consistent in using Roman time? There are three other places in John’s gospel where an hour of the day is mentioned.

The first place where an hour of the day is mentioned is when two of John the Baptist’s disciples met Jesus.

Joh 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
Joh 1:39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

At the tenth hour (4pm Jewish time, 10am Roman time) they remained with Jesus after asking where he was staying. For the disciples of John to ask Jesus where he was staying makes more sense if the time was at the end of the day. So, John was probably using Jewish time.

The second place where an hour of the day is mentioned is when Jesus met the woman of Samaria at the well.

Joh 4:6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Joh 4:7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
Joh 4:8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

At the sixth hour (noon Jewish time, 6am or 6pm Roman time) Jesus was wearied from travelling and His disciples had gone to buy food. This makes more sense if the time of day was noon. So again, John was probably using Jewish time.

The third place where an hour of the day is mentioned is when Jesus healed a nobleman’s son.

Joh 4:51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”
Joh 4:52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
Joh 4:53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.

At the seventh hour (1pm Jewish time, 7am or 7pm Roman time) the son was healed. 1pm is a much more likely time of day that Jesus would be healing people. So again, John was probably using Jewish time.

If John used Jewish time in these three places, why would he switch to Roman time in John 19:14? This is a weakness of this explanation.

Another possible explanation

Another explanation is that in John 19:14 the phrase “and about the sixth hour” does not refer to the time of day, but rather to the amount of time that had passed from the initial arrest of Jesus till the time the Jews cried out, “crucify him”.

After the final Passover that Jesus shared with His disciples they went to the garden of Gethsemane in the mount of Olives where Jesus prayed but the disciples fell asleep because they were so tired. The company of people who came to arrest Jesus came with lanterns, so it must have still been dark.

Joh 18:3 Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

If Jesus was arrested about 1am or 2am, six hours later would be 7am or 8am when the crowd cried, “crucify him”. This allows time for the scourging before the crucifixion at 9am.