Regarding "on" or "after" 3 days
Most verses in the bible state that Jesus rose "on" the third day, (e.g. Luke 18:33, 1 Cor 15:4). And 1 Cor 15:4 explicitly states that scripture says it is "on" the third day. The prophecy in Hosea 6:2 also says "on" the third day. So what about the verses that say "after", are they contradicting? No because "after" and "on" mean the same thing and are used interchangeably, because part days are counted as whole days. This is also seen in 2 Chron 10:5 which says "after" 3 days, but verse 12 says it occurred "on" the third day. So "after" 3 days can mean "after the 3rd day has started", and mean the same thing as "on" the third day.
Regarding "days and nights"
Possible explanation #1:
Part days represented a complete 24 hour period (day and night). Thus, a few hours into a day, can be referred to as "day and night". Friday is the first day, Saturday is the second day, and Sunday is the third day. Now "days" and "days and nights" can mean the same thing, and we should not think they are two different time periods because they can be used interchangeably as other scriptures: 1 Sam 30:12,13.. Gen 7:12, 17, Esther 4:15-16, 5:1 show.
Possible explanation #2:
"days and nights" is a Jewish expression to mean that something will occur with certainty and definiteness, and is not meant to be taken as a literal time period of 72 hours. A scriptural example is Esther 4:15-16 where it says she would go to the king after 3 days and 3 nights of fasting.. but it was ON the third day (5:1) that she went. To say they would fast for 3 days and nights, places additional emphasis on the fasting, and does not impose a 72 hour time period on the event.
So when Jesus said He would be dead for 3 days and 3 nights.. he meant he would certainly and emphatically be dead. It comes from an ancient idea that the soul took 3 days and nights to travel to the after-life, and he used this expression to ensure they understood he would certainly be dead and it would be near impossible for him to come back to life. To raise someone from the dead was not unheard of, Jesus was not the first person to rise from the dead.. but he was the first and only person to rise from the dead after "3 days and nights", meaning to raise someone who was truly dead for 3 days and nights, to bring their soul back from the afterlife was unheard of and would truly be a miracle.
Possible explanation #3:
The first day is not when Jesus was crucified and placed in the tomb, but when Jesus's suffering started, as Luke 9:22, Matt 17:22 and Mark 10:34 seems to indicate. It is a misconception that "heart of the earth" means the tomb. The expression "heart of the Earth" can refer to when Jesus's suffering started, when he was betrayed on the Thursday night and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus taking the penalty for our sins did not start when he died on the cross and placed in the tomb, but when he was betrayed, rejected, beaten, mocked, whipped etc and the blood started to flow (Isaiah 53:5). In this way the crucifixion can still occur on the Friday, and Jesus spends literal 3 days and 3 nights (72 hours) bearing our sins, or in the "heart of the earth".
That "heart of the Earth" can refer to when Jesus bore our sins.. is proved by the verses that show that the Earth is man's heart (see parable of lazy servant who buried his talents in the Earth, i.e. kept his giftings to himself in his heart") and 1 Cor 15:47 that Adam was a man of the earth. So for Jesus to be in the heart of the Earth means he was a man bearing the sins of the world for 3 days and 3 nights starting with his suffering, not with his death.
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