The problem ....as I see it.......the seven Sabbaths between Passover and Pentecost would be referred to in the plural (SABBATWN).....as the Greek indeed shows. The days of the week would not be....but referred to as first day of the SABBATON, Second day of SABBATON....etc. Every time SABBATWN is used in scripture it designates mention of Holy Days (plural) or noted Sabbaths (plural). SABBATON doesn't!
As you can see....all the resurrection passages use the term SABBATWN.....not SABBATON. To call it the "first of the Sabbaths" and mean one particular day would be kind of awkward. To say "First of the Sabbaths" and mean the first Sabbath in the seven Sabbath count to Pentecost.....would not be awkward. The 50 day "Count of the Omer" would by necessity include seven Sabbath days. Since they were part of this "Feast of Weeks" (Seven Weeks) they were considered special Sabbaths. And, of course....since The Lord resurrected on the First of these Sabbaths....it is now considered even more special.
The fact that the Greek for "Week" is EBDOMA...and appears nowhere in the New Testament does not seem to be a problem for many. The resurrection texts are referring to the First Sabbath day between Passover and Pentecost. As an added note.....the Greek word for "day" (HEMERA) appears no where in the resurrection texts either.
I'm trying to understand this but I feel like laughing when you guys tell me (and others) that it is a stretch for our views to work and yet you are trying to make sense of a verse that you say is translated as:
After the Sabbath they returned to the tomb before the first of Sabbaths began.
Why would they phrase it like this or even attempt to do so when it makes no sense at all?
You can not say --- after the first, the first began.
Especially when, as Diego said, this is not a count down to Pentecost (which I think is a possibility). I would have to say that it would be phrased telling us that the 1st Sabbath ended and the next was about to begin. It doesn't make any attempt at this and that makes me question it.
Also, my number of days (1st of Sabbath, 2nd of Sabbath (in numbering days of the week was referenced by Lightfoot and you can also find it in the Siddur [it is Jewish culture and you should know this]). None the less I think this study is interesting and I commend you on the time and effort you have put into it. I just think there are many questions still remaining. I have read over other theories as well that back up, from a Jewish perspective, the Friday-Sun resurrection as well as Thursday - Sunday. Everybody has good solid study put into it but in the end it may be just as His birth was. We know it happened but we don't exactly know when. Being okay with not knowing every aspect of every little detail and having complete comfort and faith in it is a Hebrew mindset. Needing every little detail answered before you are okay with it is a Greek mindset. I've been working very hard to continue with seeing things in a Hebrew mindset, I'm not willing to go back to the Greek way of thinking.
Here are some studies to look at:
http://tikvatdavid.com/Tikvat_David/Torah_Learning_files/Passover%20and%20Yeshua%27s%20Crucifixion.pdf
http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3157
Jay