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Matthew28:1–10

The Resurrection

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Matthew 28:1–10 — The Resurrection. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

1

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Opse sabbatōn tē epiphōskousē eis mian sabbatōn Mariam hē Magdalēnē kai hē allē Maria ēlthen theōrēsai ton taphon

Word by word19 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὈψὲOpseAfterG3796
√ ὀψέ — (adverbially) late in the dayPreposition
ὀψέ: late in the day A rare adverb (four verses). Whether it means "late on" the Sabbath or "after" it decides whether Matthew is counting days from evening (Jewish) or from sunrise (civil). Benson and Barnes take "after"; the Pulpit and Lange take "late on," concluding that Matthew thinks of the Sabbath as running to the following morning. The synthesis cannot settle it, and the resurrection does not depend on it.
σαββάτωνsabbatōn[the] SabbathG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounGenitive Neuter Plural
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
ἐπιφωσκούσῃepiphōskousēat dawnG2020
√ ἐπιφώσκω — to begin to grow lightVerbPresent Participle ActiveDative Feminine Singular
ἐπιφώσκω: to begin to grow light One of the rarest verbs in the Gospels, used only here and at Luke 23:54, where the same dawning marks the beginning of the Sabbath in which Jesus lay dead. Matthew's use closes the bracket Luke's opened: the light that came up on the burial comes up again on the empty tomb. Gill argues from rabbinic idiom that it is the night, not the day, that "grows light."
εἰςeisonG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
μίανmian[the] first [day]G1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveAccusative Feminine Singular
εἷς: one A cardinal, "one," where English needs the ordinal "first." Benson traces the idiom to the Septuagint: Genesis 1:5 has ἡμέρα μία, day one. Matthew Henry hears the whole of it, that on the first day of the first week God commanded light out of darkness, and on this day the Light of the world shone out of the darkness of the grave.
σαββάτωνsabbatōnof [the] weekG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounGenitive Neuter Plural
σάββατον: the Sabbath The week is named after its Sabbath, so the Greek literally reads "one of Sabbaths." Gill supplies the Babylonian Talmud's counting (second of the week, third, fourth) to show the usage was ordinary Jewish speech, not Christian invention.
ΜαριὰμMariamMaryG3137
√ Μαρία — Maria or Mariam (iNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
ΜαγδαληνὴMagdalēnēMagdaleneG3094
√ Μαγδαληνή — a female Magdalene, iNounNominative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἡhētheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
ἄλληallēotherG243
√ ἄλλος — "else," iAdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
ΜαρίαMariaMaryG3137
√ Μαρία — Maria or Mariam (iNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἦλθενēlthenwentG2064
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἔρχομαι: to come or go Aorist indicative, singular, with two named subjects. The grammar is not a slip: Greek regularly puts a compound subject under one verb when the action is one. Matthew's economy keeps them a single approach to a single stone.
θεωρῆσαιtheōrēsaito seeG2334
√ θεωρέω — to be a spectator of, iVerbAorist Infinitive Active
θεωρέω: to be a spectator of The verb of sustained looking, from which "theatre" comes. They came to keep watch over a grave, and Matthew has just used the cognate noun family of the soldiers set to keep watch over the same grave (v. 4, τηροῦντες). Two watches meet at this tomb, and only one of them is still standing at dawn.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
τάφονtaphontombG5028
√ τάφος — a grave (the place of interment)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
τάφος: a grave, the place of interment Matthew says τάφον here and μνημείου at v. 8. This is the burial place as a place of burial; μνημεῖον (v. 8) is the same hole in the rock named as a memorial. A rare word (seven verses), it ties this verse back to Matthew 27:61, where these same two women sat opposite the same τάφος.
2

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai idou egeneto megas seismos gar angelos Kyriou katabas ex ouranou kai proselthōn apekylisen ton lithon kai ekathēto epanō autou

Word by word20 · parsed
ΚαὶKaivvvG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἰδοὺidouSuddenlyG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἰδού: lo! behold! An imperative frozen into a particle, and Matthew's favorite hinge in this chapter. It does not report a speed; it demands attention. Its placement here, before any verb, makes the whole scene something shown rather than something merely narrated.
ἐγένετοegenetothere wasG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
γίνομαι: to come to be Aorist middle. Matthew uses the same verb, in the passive, of the guards at v. 4 (ἐγενήθησαν, "became"). One ἐγένετο makes an angel's arrival; the other unmakes armed men. The evangelist builds the verse on a single verb of becoming.
μέγαςmegasa greatG3173
√ μέγας — big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application)AdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
σεισμὸςseismosearthquakeG4578
√ σεισμός — a commotion, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
σεισμός: a commotion, a shaking A relatively rare noun (twelve verses) and the seismic word of the New Testament's endings. Matthew has used its cognate verb at the crucifixion (27:51, ἐσείσθη) and at the entry into Jerusalem (21:10, ἐσείσθη of the city). Gill calls it here "a prelude of the general resurrection, when the earth shall be shaken." The word is not committed to geology: Benson shows it covers tempest and whirlwind too.
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἄγγελοςangelosan angelG32
√ ἄγγελος — compare G34 (ἀγέλη)) (to bring tidings)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ἄγγελος: a messenger, one who brings tidings Anarthrous in Greek ("an angel of Lord"), yet Matthew gives him the divine-errand title. Cambridge notes the parallels do not match: Luke has "two men in shining garments," John "two angels in white sitting." Gill answers plainly that Matthew does not say there was only one. Barnes adds the Old Testament habit of calling such visitants men because that is how they appear (Genesis 18:2, 19:1).
ΚυρίουKyriouof [the] LordG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καταβὰςkatabasdescendedG2597
√ καταβαίνω — to descend (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
καταβαίνω: to descend Aorist participle. The direction of this whole unit is set by two motions: an angel coming down out of heaven, and a body coming up out of the grave. Matthew reports only the first, since (as the Pulpit says) no eye beheld the second.
ἐξexfromG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
οὐρανοῦouranouheavenG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
προσελθὼνproselthōnG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἀπεκύλισενapekylisenrolled awayG617
√ ἀποκυλίω — to roll awayVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἀποκυλίω: to roll away Rare (four verses), and every one of the four stands at this tomb: here, Mark 16:3, Mark 16:4 and Luke 24:2. The word belongs to the resurrection and to almost nothing else. Mark preserves the women's anxious question on the road, "Who shall roll away the stone for us?" Ellicott observes that this verse is the answer to it, since the thing "would have been beyond their strength."
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
λίθονlithonstoneG3037
√ λίθος — a stone (literally or figuratively)NounAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐκάθητοekathētosatG2521
√ κάθημαι — and (to sitVerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
κάθημαι: to sit The imperfect makes a settled throne of the grave-door. Gill reads the seated angel as custodian and witness at once, sitting "as the keeper of the sepulchre, that no corpse might be brought and laid in the room of Christ." The posture answers Matthew 27:66, where the same stone was sealed and a watch set. The seal held; the Sitter changed.
ἐπάνωepanōonG1883
√ ἐπάνω — up above, iPreposition
αὐτοῦautouitG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
3

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de autou hē eidea ēn hōs astrapē kai autou to endyma leukon hōs chiōn

Word by word14 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
εἰδέαeideaappearanceG2397
√ ἰδέα — a sight (comparative figuratively "idea"), iNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἰδέα: a sight, visible form Not the face but the whole aspect, as Barnes insists. Matthew describes an angel entirely in terms of what can be seen, and then in v. 4 describes the guards entirely in terms of what they felt. The one who is all sight unmakes the men who are all fear.
ἦνēnwasG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
εἰμί: to be, to exist The imperfect of continuous state. Light here is not an event but a condition.
ὡςhōslikeG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
ἀστραπὴastrapēlightningG796
√ ἀστραπή — lightningNounNominative Feminine Singular
ἀστραπή: lightning A rare noun (nine verses). In Matthew it has already been the sign of the Son of Man's coming (Matthew 24:27, lightning from the east shining to the west). Its return at the tomb makes the resurrection morning a small instalment of that last brightness. JFB reads the two images as a pair: the lightning "expressing the glory," the snow "the purity of the celestial abode from which he came."
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
ἔνδυμαendymaclothes [were]G1742
√ ἔνδυμα — apparel (especially the outer robe)NounNominative Neuter Singular
ἔνδυμα: apparel, especially the outer robe One garment, neuter singular. Barnes collects the canonical habit of clothing heavenly beings in white (Acts 1:10, Daniel 7:9, Revelation 4:4, 7:13) and reports the Jewish symbolism: "White, among the Jews, was the symbol of purity or innocence." Gill supplies the rabbinic material behind it, that ministering angels were held to be clothed in white.
λευκὸνleukonwhiteG3022
√ λευκός — whiteAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
λευκός: white Twenty-three verses, and heavily weighted toward vision literature and to the Transfiguration. Matthew uses the adjective here for the only time in his passion and resurrection narrative.
ὡςhōsasG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
χιώνchiōnsnowG5510
√ χιών — snowNounNominative Feminine Singular
χιών: snow Two verses in the New Testament. The other is Revelation 1:14, where the head and hair of the risen Christ are white as snow. That is the whole canonical resonance of this word: an angel at the tomb, and then the Lord of the tomb himself. Ellicott and Gill both hear Daniel behind it, and the honest reading is that Matthew's angel is dressed in the glory that Daniel saw on the Ancient of Days and that John will see on the risen Son.
4

The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de hoi tērountes eseisthēsan apo tou phobou autou kai egenēthēsan hōs nekroi

Word by word12 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
οἱhoiTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
τηροῦντεςtērountesguardsG5083
√ τηρέω — perhaps akin to G2334 (θεωρέω))VerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
τηρέω: to keep watch, guard A present participle: the watch is still notionally in force while it collapses. Matthew has been building this since 27:64, where the chief priests asked that the tomb be made secure. JFB turns the participle into a question: "Is the sepulchre 'sure' now, O ye chief priests?"
ἐσείσθησανeseisthēsantrembledG4579
√ σείω — to rock (vibrate, properly, sideways or to and fro), iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
σείω: to rock, shake to and fro A rare verb, five verses, and Matthew owns three of them: the city shaken at his entry (21:10), the earth shaken at his death (27:51), the guards shaken at his rising (28:4). Here it is passive, which is the point: the men set to hold the tomb steady are themselves the thing that gets moved. The Pulpit hears the cognate link to σεισμός in v. 2 and translates it "convulsed with terror."
ἀπὸapoinG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
ἀπό: from, out of A preposition of source. Their shaking comes from outside them.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
φόβουphoboufearG5401
√ φόβος — alarm or frightNounGenitive Masculine Singular
φόβος: alarm, fright The noun returns at v. 8, where the women leave the tomb "with fear and great joy." Matthew deliberately gives the same φόβος to the soldiers and to the women, and then adds χαρά to only one of the two. Fear is not what divides them; joy is. Matthew Henry states the division: the resurrection is "the terror and confusion of his enemies" and "the joy of his friends."
αὐτοῦautouof himG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐγενήθησανegenēthēsanbecameG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
γίνομαι: to become Aorist passive. The verse's arc is from watching to becoming, from a posted duty to a passive heap.
ὡςhōslikeG5613
√ ὡς — which how, iAdverb
νεκροίnekroidead [men]G3498
√ νεκρός — dead (literally or figurativelyAdjectiveNominative Masculine Plural
νεκρός: dead The word returns at v. 7, where Jesus is raised "from the dead" (ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν). Matthew sets the two uses two verses apart: the living guards become as the dead in the moment the dead Christ becomes living. The exchange is the evangelist's, not the synthesis's invention, and it is made only by repeating one adjective. Benson notes the guards were "Romans and soldiers," which sharpens it.
5

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de ho angelos Apokritheis eipen tais gynaixin Mē phobeisthe gar oida hoti hymeis zēteite Iēsoun ton estaurōmenon

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἄγγελοςangelosangelG32
√ ἄγγελος — compare G34 (ἀγέλη)) (to bring tidings)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ἈποκριθεὶςApokritheisvvvG611
√ ἀποκρίνομαι — to conclude for oneself, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἀποκρίνομαι: to answer, reply An aorist passive participle answering nothing spoken. Matthew records an angel replying to a silence, and both Ellicott and the Pulpit read the women's stunned faces as the question: "their amazed look, their blank surprise, were themselves interrogative." This is the first word of heaven's speech after the resurrection, and it is a response.
εἶπενeipensaidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ταῖςtaisto theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
γυναιξίνgynaixinwomenG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounDative Feminine Plural
ΜὴMē{Do} notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
μή: not, lest With the present imperative, a command to break off something in progress.
φοβεῖσθεphobeisthebe afraidG5399
√ φοβέω — to frighten, iVerbPresent Imperative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
φοβέω: to frighten, be afraid Present imperative, middle or passive: stop being terrified. The verb's noun was the soldiers' undoing one verse earlier (v. 4, φόβου) and will still be in the women at v. 8 (μετὰ φόβου). The angel's word does not delete their fear; it reassigns it, and then Jesus himself repeats the identical command at v. 10.
γὰρgarforG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
οἶδαoidaI knowG1492
√ εἴδω — used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι) and G3708 (ὁράω)VerbPerfect Indicative Active1st Person Singular
εἴδω: to know, to have seen οἶδα is a perfect with present force, "I know because I have come to see." Gill is careful about the angel's knowledge: it "might not be from immediate revelation, but from the observations he had made of them." The synthesis follows Gill in not making the messenger omniscient. Angels here are watchers who have been watching.
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ὑμεῖςhymeisyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Plural
σύ: thou, you An emphatic nominative plural. The whole pastoral force of the verse sits on this one redundant pronoun, which divides the guards from the women without a word of condemnation.
ζητεῖτεzēteiteare looking forG2212
√ ζητέω — to seek (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
ζητέω: to seek Present indicative: they are in the middle of seeking. Luke's angel turns the same verb into a rebuke ("Why seek ye the living among the dead?"); Matthew's angel uses it as a credential. Gill's comment is the honest one: the angel names them by what they are doing, not by what they believe.
ἸησοῦνIēsounJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
τὸνtonwhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἐσταυρωμένονestaurōmenonwas crucifiedG4717
√ σταυρόω — to impale on the crossVerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Singular
σταυρόω: to impale on a cross A perfect participle used as a name. This is the oldest Christian way of naming Jesus (Paul preaches "Christ crucified" with the same tense-formed participle), and it appears here, at the tomb, from an angel's mouth, before any human being has said it. Benson catches the affection in it: the angel mentions the crucifixion "the more to commend their love to him."
6

He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

estin ouk hōde gar ēgerthē kathōs eipen deute idete ton topon hopou ekeito

Word by word13 · parsed
ἔστινestinHe isG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
εἰμί: to be Present indicative, placed first in the Greek clause: He is, and then "not here." Even the negation begins with a word of being. The subject of the sentence is alive before the sentence says where he is not.
οὐκouknotG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
ὧδεhōdehereG5602
√ ὧδε — in this same spot, iAdverb
ὧδε: in this same spot A deictic adverb, "right here." The angel is sitting on the stone of a tomb and using the word for here to mean absence. The Pulpit's paraphrase is exact: "his bodily presence is removed from this his whilom resting place."
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἠγέρθηēgerthēHe has risenG1453
√ ἐγείρω — to waken (transitively or intransitively), iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
ἐγείρω: to waken, to raise up Aorist passive, the New Testament's standard resurrection form. "Was raised" points past the grave to the One who opened it, which is why Gill can say Christ rose "by the power of his Father, and by his own power" without choosing. Matthew repeats the identical form one verse later (v. 7, Ἠγέρθη) so that the announcement the women carry is word for word the announcement they received.
καθὼςkathōsjust asG2531
√ καθώς — just (or inasmuch) as, thatAdverb
καθώς: just as, according as The hinge of the verse. The empty tomb is not presented as a surprise but as a fulfilment of speech, and Matthew Henry draws the pastoral rule from it: "Let us never think that strange which the word of Christ has told us to expect."
εἶπενeipenHe saidG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
δεῦτεdeuteComeG1205
√ δεῦτε — come hither!VerbImperative2nd Person Plural
δεῦτε: come hither! The same summons as Matthew 11:28 ("Come unto me"). The risen Christ is absent from this verse in body and present in it by invitation: the first thing the resurrection does is issue a call to look.
ἴδετεideteseeG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
ὁράω: to see, to attend to Aorist imperative, a decisive single look. The future of the same verb closes v. 7 (ὄψεσθε, "you will see him") and v. 10 (ὄψονται). Matthew builds a chain of seeing: see the empty place now, see the living Lord later. Cambridge says the purpose was "in order that they might be convinced of the fact."
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
τόπονtoponplaceG5117
√ τόπος — a spot (general in space, but limited by occupancyNounAccusative Masculine Singular
ὅπουhopouwhereG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
ἔκειτοekeitoHe layG2749
√ κεῖμαι — to lie outstretched (literally or figuratively)VerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
κεῖμαι: to lie outstretched Imperfect, a past continuous state. Gill's meditation on this clause is the finest thing in the brief on it, tracing where else the Lord has lain (in the Father's bosom, in the Virgin's womb, in Jordan's water, in a borrowed grave) and concluding that the grave is now "perfumed and sanctified" by his having been in it.
7

Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai poreutheisai tachy eipate autou tois mathētais hoti Ēgerthē apo tōn nekrōn kai idou proagei hymas eis tēn Galilaian ekei opsesthe auton idou eipon hymin

Word by word25 · parsed
καὶkaiThenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πορευθεῖσαιporeutheisaigoG4198
√ πορεύομαι — to traverse, iVerbAorist Participle PassiveNominative Feminine Plural
πορεύομαι: to traverse, to go Aorist passive participle, feminine plural. Grammatically subordinate, theologically first: the women are sent. Matthew uses the same participial form for the eleven at v. 19 (πορευθέντες, "having gone, make disciples"), where again only the second verb is imperative, so the great commission is built in the identical shape as this errand, and this errand comes first.
ταχὺtachyquicklyG5035
√ ταχύ — shortly, iAdverb
ταχύ: quickly, without delay Repeated at v. 8. Command and compliance in one adverb.
εἴπατεeipate[and] tellG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
μαθηταῖςmathētaisdisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounDative Masculine Plural
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἨγέρθηĒgerthēHe has risenG1453
√ ἐγείρω — to waken (transitively or intransitively), iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
ἐγείρω: to raise up The same aorist passive as v. 6, now inside the message the women are to speak. Matthew makes the earliest Christian proclamation a quotation: what they preach is verbatim what they were given. Gill states the doctrinal weight plainly, that on this "depend the justification and salvation of God's elect."
ἀπὸapofromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τῶνtōntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Plural
νεκρῶνnekrōndeadG3498
√ νεκρός — dead (literally or figurativelyAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἰδοὺidouG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
προάγειproageiis going ahead ofG4254
√ προάγω — to lead forward (magisterially)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
προάγω: to lead forward, to go before Present indicative. This is the shepherd verb (compare John 10:4, the shepherd going before his sheep), and it is the exact word of Matthew 26:32, spoken on the night the flock scattered. The Pulpit reads the reversal: "The good Shepherd had been smitten, and the sheep scattered; now under his guidance they were to be reunited." The tense matters: he is not waiting in Galilee, he is walking there ahead of them.
ὑμᾶςhymasyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 2nd Person Plural
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ΓαλιλαίανGalilaianGalileeG1056
√ Γαλιλαία — Galilæa (iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
ἐκεῖekeiThereG1563
√ ἐκεῖ — thereAdverb
ἐκεῖ: there A single adverb that relocates the whole gospel. Both the angel (here) and Jesus (v. 10) name Galilee, the northern country, and not the temple city, as the place of meeting. The Pulpit gathers the reasons offered (safety, the disciples' homes, the region where the works were done) and adds Acts 10:37, the word "beginning from Galilee."
ὄψεσθεopsestheyou will seeG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbFuture Indicative Middle2nd Person Plural
ὁράω: to see Future middle plural. The promise is sight, not explanation.
αὐτὸνautonHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἰδοὺidouSeeG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἰδού: behold The second in this verse, standing alone as a closing formula. An angel countersigning his own message is unusual, and Benson calls it "a solemn confirmation of what he had said."
εἶπονeiponI have toldG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
8

So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai apelthousai tachy apo tou mnēmeiou meta phobou kai megalēs charas edramon apangeilai autou tois mathētais

Word by word16 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiSoG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀπελθοῦσαιapelthousaithey hurried awayG565
√ ἀπέρχομαι — to go off (iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Plural
ἀπέρχομαι: to go off, depart Aorist participle. Matthew uses this same verb at v. 10 for what the brothers are to do (ἀπέλθωσιν, "that they may go away" to Galilee). The women's departure from the tomb and the disciples' departure to the meeting are the same motion in two stages.
ταχὺtachy. . .G5035
√ ταχύ — shortly, iAdverb
ἀπὸapofromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
μνημείουmnēmeioutombG3419
√ μνημεῖον — a remembrance, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
μνημεῖον: a remembrance, a memorial tomb Matthew's change of noun from v. 1 is quiet and real. The word carries memory in its root, and this is the moment the place stops being where a body is kept and becomes what the church will remember. The synthesis offers the contrast as a reading of Matthew's diction, not as a claim any commentator in this brief makes.
μετὰmetainG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
μετά: with, denoting accompaniment With the genitive, companionship rather than manner.
φόβουphoboufearG5401
√ φόβος — alarm or frightNounGenitive Masculine Singular
φόβος: fear The same noun that felled the soldiers at v. 4, and the same thing the angel forbade at v. 5. Matthew does not pretend the command worked instantly. Barnes analyses the residue honestly: awe at what they had seen, and "a confused state of mind, apprehensive, perhaps, that it might not, after all, be true."
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μεγάληςmegalēsgreatG3173
√ μέγας — big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application)AdjectiveGenitive Feminine Singular
χαρᾶςcharasjoyG5479
√ χαρά — cheerfulness, iNounGenitive Feminine Singular
χαρά: cheerfulness, joy Paired with φόβος under one preposition. The guards got the fear alone; the women get fear with joy. Matthew's other uses of this noun are few and weighted: the magi at the star (2:10), the seed received with joy that has no root (13:20), the man who sells all for the treasure (13:44), and twice the joy of the master into which the faithful servant is called (25:21, 25:23). This is its last occurrence in the Gospel, and it is carried at a run.
ἔδραμονedramon[and] ranG5143
√ τρέχω — compare G2359 (θρίξ))VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
τρέχω: to run The main verb of the verse, aorist indicative. Everything else in the sentence is participle or prepositional. What Matthew actually predicates of the first witnesses of the resurrection is that they ran.
ἀπαγγεῖλαιapangeilaito tellG518
√ ἀπαγγέλλω — to announceVerbAorist Infinitive Active
ἀπαγγέλλω: to announce, report back Aorist infinitive of purpose. Built on the same ἀγγελ- root as ἄγγελος (v. 2, v. 5): the women do with their feet exactly what the angel did with his. The messenger-word has been handed on, and Jesus will repeat the command in the imperative at v. 10.
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
μαθηταῖςmathētaisdisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounDative Masculine Plural
9

Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai idou Iēsous hypēntēsen autais legōn Chairete de hai proselthousai ekratēsan autou tous podas kai prosekynēsan autō

Word by word17 · parsed
καὶkaiSuddenlyG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἰδοὺidou. . .G2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἰδού: behold The third of Matthew's four in this unit, and the last of them introduces not an angel or an earthquake but Jesus himself.
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
ὑπήντησενhypēntēsenmetG5221
√ ὑπαντάω — to go opposite (meet) under (quietly), iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ὑπαντάω: to go to meet A rare verb, and the initiative in it belongs to him. The women were obeying an order to go elsewhere; he intercepted the errand. Matthew Henry states the pattern soberly: "God's gracious visits usually meet us in the way of duty."
αὐταῖςautaisthemG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Feminine 3rd Person Plural
λέγωνlegōn[and] saidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ΧαίρετεChaireteGreetingsG5463
√ χαίρω — to be "cheer"ful, iVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
χαίρω: to rejoice, be cheerful A present imperative. The first recorded word of the risen Christ in Matthew is a command to be glad, and it is spoken to two frightened women on a road. Its cognate noun χαρά was in their hands one verse earlier (v. 8, "great joy"): he commands what he has already given. The word's ugly twin is Matthew 27:29, where soldiers said Χαῖρε to a crowned and beaten man.
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
αἱhaiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
προσελθοῦσαιproselthousaiThey came to [Him]G4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Plural
προσέρχομαι: to approach Aorist participle, the same verb as the angel's approach in v. 2.
ἐκράτησανekratēsangraspedG2902
√ κρατέω — to use strength, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
κρατέω: to use strength, take hold The verb of holding fast. Ellicott raises the difficulty honestly: Mary Magdalene had already heard "Touch Me not" in John 20:17, and he supposes that "passionate and rejoicing love carried her, as it carried the others, beyond the limits of reverential obedience." The Pulpit reaches a different resolution, that these women were permitted, like Thomas, to verify the body by touch. The synthesis records the tension and does not resolve it.
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τοὺςtousG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
πόδαςpodasfeetG4228
√ πούς — a "foot" (figuratively or literally)NounAccusative Masculine Plural
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
προσεκύνησανprosekynēsanworshipedG4352
√ προσκυνέω — to fawn or crouch to, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
προσκυνέω: to prostrate oneself, do homage Matthew's Gospel opens with magi doing this to a child (2:11) and closes with disciples doing it on a Galilean mountain (28:17). Here, between them, two women do it at a pair of feet on a road. Gill gives the confessional reading, that he is "by his resurrection from the dead, declared to be the Son of God, with power; and so the proper object of religious worship" (compare Romans 1:4). Ellicott's caution stands alongside it: the disciples may only have grasped later that the gesture belonged to God alone.
αὐτῷautōHimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
10

“Do not be afraid,” said Jesus. “Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see Me.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Mē phobeisthe tote legei ho Iēsous autais hypagete apangeilate mou tois adelphois hina apelthōsin eis tēn Galilaian kakei opsontai me

Word by word20 · parsed
ΜὴMē{Do} notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
φοβεῖσθεphobeisthebe afraidG5399
√ φοβέω — to frighten, iVerbPresent Imperative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
φοβέω: to be afraid The identical present imperative the angel used at v. 5, now from the Lord's own lips. Matthew places it first in the sentence, before "says Jesus," so that the command lands before the speaker is named. JFB hears the recognition in it: "What dear associations would these familiar words, now uttered in a higher style, but by the same Lips, bring rushing back to their recollection!"
τότεtoteG5119
√ τότε — the when, iAdverb
λέγειlegeisaidG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
λέγω: to lay forth, to say Historic present in a narrative of aorists.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
αὐταῖςautaisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Feminine 3rd Person Plural
ὑπάγετεhypageteGoG5217
√ ὑπάγω — to lead (oneself) under, iVerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
ἀπαγγείλατεapangeilate[and] tellG518
√ ἀπαγγέλλω — to announceVerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
ἀπαγγέλλω: to announce Aorist imperative, the same verb that was an infinitive of purpose at v. 8. What the women had set out to do on their own initiative is now laid on them as a command by the risen Christ. This is the shape of every commission in Matthew 28: a going, and a word.
μουmouMyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
ἐγώ: I, me The genitive μου in emphatic pre-position. One syllable carries the reconciliation.
τοῖςtoisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
ἀδελφοῖςadelphoisbrothersG80
√ ἀδελφός — a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (much like G1 (Α))NounDative Masculine Plural
ἀδελφός: a brother The word's weight here is almost the whole verse. Cambridge cites Hebrews 2:11, "He is not ashamed to call them brethren," and Euthymius that he named them so "as being Himself a man." Ellicott and Gill take it of spiritual kinship, as in Matthew 12:49; JFB alone takes it of blood relatives (Matthew 13:55). Benson draws out the consequence the others only imply: if the risen Son calls them brothers, they are children of God and joint heirs. Ellicott and Gill both point back to Matthew 12:49, where Jesus had already named whoever does the Father's will his brother, so the category is not new; what is new is the timing, since the men so named had abandoned him three days earlier.
ἵναhinatoG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
ἵνα: in order that A purpose conjunction. The grammar makes Galilee the outcome of a message believed, not the content of the message.
ἀπέλθωσινapelthōsingoG565
√ ἀπέρχομαι — to go off (iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Plural
ἀπέρχομαι: to go off Aorist subjunctive, the same verb used of the women leaving the tomb at v. 8. The message travels by departures.
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὴνtēnG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
ΓαλιλαίανGalilaianGalileeG1056
√ Γαλιλαία — Galilæa (iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
κἀκεῖkakeiThereG2546
√ κἀκεῖ — likewise in that placeConjunction
κἀκεῖ: and there, likewise in that place A fused form of "and there," tightening the angel's two words into one. Matthew ends the resurrection announcement on an adverb of place and a future verb of sight, and the mountain of v. 16 is where both are kept.
ὄψονταιopsontaithey will seeG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
μεmeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The hour nobody can fix, and the word that is rare enough to matter — 1

Matthew opens the resurrection with a time-phrase the commentators cannot agree on. Ὀψὲ σαββάτων is literally "late of Sabbaths," and Benson marshals Philostratus to prove it means after the Sabbath, while the Pulpit Commentary translates "late on the sabbath" with the Vulgate and concludes, with Lange, that Matthew is using the ordinary civil day running sunrise to sunrise rather than the Jewish evening reckoning. Barnes takes the same phrase as "after the Sabbath was fully completed"; Gill takes it as the rabbinic "goings out of the sabbath" and then argues, from the Jewish habit of calling the night "light," that what begins to grow bright is the night and not the day. Ellicott simply sets out an order of events (burial watched, Sabbath kept at home, spices bought that evening, departure at about four in the morning) and Cambridge concedes the discrepancies frankly, ascribing them "to the agitation of the witnesses of this momentous scene." ⚙ The one thing the Verifier can add is lexical and it is worth more than the harmonies: ἐπιφωσκούσῃ (G2020) stands in exactly two verses of the New Testament, here and Luke 23:54, where the identical participle marks the Sabbath beginning as Jesus is laid in the tomb. The same rare dawning opens and closes his burial. Whatever hour it was, Matthew reached for a word Luke had already used to start the clock.

ii. One verb of shaking, used twice, with opposite results — 2-4

Benson performs the most useful service in the brief on v. 2 by refusing to let σεισμὸς mean only "earthquake": Matthew 8:24 uses it of a storm at sea, the Septuagint of a rushing wind and of Elijah's whirlwind, and Hammond and Le Clerc read a tempest here. Barnes agrees the convulsion need not have reached the ground. Both Ellicott and JFB then take the aorist ἐγένετο as a pluperfect ("there had been," before the women arrived), JFB calling this "the prevalent one" of the views, and the Pulpit adds the sentence the whole unit turns on: "No mortal eye beheld, and no pen has recorded, the actual issuing of the Lord from the closed tomb." The commentators divide honestly on why the stone moved. Gill says a way had to be opened; the Pulpit denies it, since Christ's risen body passed closed doors in John 20:19, and says the stone was moved for the women and for the guard. Gill then builds his own theological reading, that the stone is rolled back as a legal discharge of a paid debt. ⚙ What the Greek contributes is a joint the English hides: the noun σεισμὸς in v. 2 and the passive verb ἐσείσθησαν in v. 4 are the same root, as the Pulpit alone notices ("The verb is cognate with the noun 'earthquake'"). The root is rare, five verses for the verb, and Matthew holds three of them: the city shaken when he entered Jerusalem (21:10), the earth shaken when he died (27:51), the guards shaken when he rose. And Matthew uses one verb of becoming twice over: ἐγένετο makes a shaking; ἐγενήθησαν unmakes armed men into corpses. Gill notes they were "Roman soldiers and veterans," and JFB turns their collapse on the men who posted them: "Is the sepulchre 'sure' now, O ye chief priests?"

iii. Fear not ye: a pronoun, a perfect participle, and a passive verb — 5-6

Three grammatical facts carry this speech, and three commentators each caught one. Cambridge caught the pronoun: "The pronoun 'ye' is emphatic in the original. A contrast with the alarm of the soldiers is implied," and Geneva says the same, that the word is spoken with force because the soldiers were also afraid. JFB dramatizes it. Ellicott caught the participle Ἀποκριθεὶς, which the BSB drops: the angel answers, though "we do not read of any words as spoken by the women," so that heaven's first post-resurrection speech is a reply to a silence. And the Pulpit caught what hangs on ἠγέρθη: "On this simple, but pregnant sentence, 'He is risen,' depends the phenomenon of Christianity, in its origin, existence, continuance, extension, and moral power." ⚙ Two further things sit in the Greek. ἐσταυρωμένον is a perfect participle with the article, so it is a name and not a past event: the Crucified One, which is how the angel identifies the living Jesus at the mouth of an emptied grave, and the Pulpit follows Milligan in drawing out that the cross "is an eternal principle in his kingdom." And ἠγέρθη is passive, "he was raised." Cambridge pulls the other way ("He rose"), and the Geneva note at v. 1 confesses that he "rises by his own power." Both are true in the canon and the Greek form here says the first. Then the angel says δεῦτε, "come hither," which JFB recognizes as the word of Matthew 11:28: the first thing an empty tomb does is issue an invitation.

iv. The errand, and the One who intercepts it — 7-10

The commission is grammatically one act, not two: only εἴπατε is imperative, and πορευθεῖσαι is a passive participle, the same participial shape Matthew will use for the eleven in v. 19. Barnes notes the mercy of Mark's added "and Peter," and the Pulpit observes that the women, who had not deserted him, are given "a mission to carry a message to the messengers." Gill presses it further, that the news came first by women because "the woman was first in the transgression, and the cause of death." Cambridge and the Pulpit both hear the shepherd inside προάγει, "Leadeth you as a shepherd," the very verb of Matthew 26:32, so that the flock scattered at the smiting of the shepherd is reassembled by his walking ahead of them. ⚙ Then Matthew records obedience by repetition: the angel says ταχὺ in v. 7 and the women go ταχὺ in v. 8, and they run to ἀπαγγεῖλαι, which is the ἀγγελ- root of ἄγγελος. They do with their feet what the angel did with his. They carry φόβος, the soldiers' own word from v. 4, but with χαρά beside it under a single preposition of accompaniment: fear is not what separates the women from the guard, joy is, and Matthew Henry says so exactly, that the resurrection is the terror of his enemies and the joy of his friends. Poole is the one voice willing to doubt them, judging their joy "but a sudden flash of passion." Benson answers on the ground of v. 9: the angel had promised Galilee and nothing sooner, but "Jesus is often better to his people than his word." He ὑπήντησεν, went to meet them, and said Χαίρετε, which Ellicott and Cambridge both insist means literally rejoice, the same word soldiers had spat at him in 27:29. Ellicott raises the hard question of whether the women should have held him at all, given John 20:17, and answers that love "carried them beyond the limits of reverential obedience"; the Pulpit answers instead that they were permitted, like Thomas, to verify him by touch. And the last word of the risen Christ in this unit is a kinship term he has never used of them before: ἀδελφοῖς, my brothers, with the pronoun in the emphatic position. Cambridge cites Hebrews 2:11 and Euthymius; Henry says he "still condescends to call believers his brethren"; Benson draws the inheritance out of it. JFB alone dissents, taking the word of blood relatives, and the brief itself outvotes him.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read only from the text, this unit is built out of repeated words, and the repetitions are its argument. One root of shaking falls on the ground and on the men guarding the ground (vv. 2, 4). One verb of becoming makes an angel's arrival and unmakes a garrison (vv. 2, 4). One noun of fear is the soldiers' ruin, the angel's prohibition, the women's companion, and then the risen Lord's prohibition again (vv. 4, 5, 8, 10). One adjective, dead, describes living guards in v. 4 and is the thing Christ has been raised out of in v. 7. One adverb, quickly, is commanded and then obeyed (vv. 7, 8). One family of words, ἄγγελος and ἀπαγγεῖλαι, makes the women do exactly what the angel did (vv. 2, 8, 10). ⚙ So the fallible reading offered here is this: Matthew is not describing a spectacle with witnesses attached, he is describing an exchange. Everything that was secure comes apart, and everything that was finished starts moving. The sealed stone becomes a seat. The keepers become the dead. The grave, called a burial pit in v. 1 (τάφον), is called a memorial in v. 8 (μνημείου). The word that fells the strong is the word that is forbidden to the weak. And the risen Christ's own two sentences contain no proof and no argument: a command to rejoice, and a new name for the men who ran away. ⚙ If this reading is right, the unit's silence about the resurrection itself is deliberate, as the Pulpit says with no eye beholding and no pen recording it, and the evangelist's whole method is to show us its effects on stone, soldiers, women and language, and then send us to Galilee to see the cause. That claim is offered to be tested, and the ⚙ layer can be wrong where the ✦ voices and the Greek are not.

The stone became a seat, the keepers became the dead, and the grave changed its name: this line is the tool's fallible reading and not a verse of Scripture.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The rare dawning that opened the burial and closed it verbal / quotation: confirmed

The participle ἐπιφωσκούσῃ (epiphōskō, G2020) stands in only two verses of the New Testament. Luke 23:54 uses it of the Sabbath beginning as Jesus' body is laid in the tomb; Matthew 28:1 uses it of the light coming up on the tomb now empty. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme and also the shared σάββατον (G4521). Both verses are Greek, so the link is genuinely verbal. Gill argues from rabbinic usage that what "grows light" in this idiom can be the night rather than the day, which fits Luke's use as well as Matthew's. ⚙ The two rarest occurrences of one verb bracket the only Sabbath in history that a corpse of God kept.

Luke 23:54

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G2020 ἐπιφώσκω (in 2 vv, the rarest possible shared lexeme, both occurrences being this pair) and G4521 σάββατον (in 62 vv). Greek to Greek within the New Testament, so a verbal link is legitimate; no quotation is claimed, only the rare shared word.

White as snow: a word used twice in the New Testament verbal / quotation: confirmed

χιών (chiōn, G5510) occurs in only two verses: Matthew 28:3, of the angel's single garment, and Revelation 1:14, of the head and hair of the risen Christ. The Verifier also records the shared λευκός (G3022). Both are Greek. Ellicott and Gill read Daniel behind Matthew's phrase; John's vision uses the same rare pairing of white and snow for the Lord himself. ⚙ The glory worn by a messenger at the tomb is, two books later, the glory of the One the tomb could not keep. The link is lexical and demonstrable; the theological inference drawn from it is the synthesis's own.

Revelation 1:14

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G5510 χιών (in 2 vv, this pair being both of them) and G3022 λευκός (in 23 vv). Greek to Greek, New Testament to New Testament. Verbal because of the rarity of χιών; no citation of one text by the other is claimed.

The rolled-away stone: a verb that belongs to this tomb alone verbal / quotation: confirmed

ἀποκυλίω (G617) appears in only four verses of the New Testament, and all four stand at this grave: Matthew 28:2, Mark 16:3, Mark 16:4 and Luke 24:2. The Verifier records the shared lexeme along with λίθος (G3037) and μνημεῖον (G3419). Mark preserves the women's question on the road, which Ellicott identifies as the thing Matthew's verse answers, since rolling the stone "would have been beyond their strength." The commentators disagree on the purpose of the removal: Gill for the exit of the risen body, the Pulpit for the entrance of the witnesses and the terror of the guard. ⚙ The Greek settles only the direction, away, and the vocabulary shows that the early church had one word for this one event.

Mark 16:3 · Luke 24:2

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G617 ἀποκυλίω (in 4 vv, all four at this tomb), G3037 λίθος (in 54 vv) and G3419 μνημεῖον (in 36 vv). All refs are New Testament Greek. Verbal on the strength of the rare shared verb, not on any claim that one evangelist quotes another.

Shaken at the death, shaken at the rising verbal / quotation: confirmed

σείω (G4579) is rare, five verses, and Matthew holds three: the city shaken when he entered Jerusalem (21:10), the earth shaken when he died (27:51), the guards shaken when he rose (28:4). The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme with 27:51 (alongside ἰδού, G2400) and with 21:10. Only the Pulpit Commentary, of the voices in this brief, notices that Matthew's noun σεισμὸς in v. 2 and the passive verb in v. 4 are one root. ⚙ Matthew is using a single uncommon word as a structural marker at the three points where Jerusalem is confronted by its King, and the resurrection use is passive: the men appointed to hold the tomb steady are the ones who get moved.

Matthew 27:51 · Matthew 21:10

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4579 σείω (in 5 vv, three of them Matthew's) and G2400 ἰδού (in 226 vv). All refs are within Matthew, Greek to Greek. Verbal on the rarity of σείω; the structural claim about Matthew's use of it is the synthesis's own inference.

The shaking that is not over yet structural / thematic: confirmed

The same rare root reaches forward. Hebrews 12:26 speaks of the shaking of heaven as well as earth, and Revelation 8:5, 11:19 and 16:18 set σεισμός (G4578, twelve verses) beside ἀστραπή (G796, nine verses), which is the very word Matthew uses of the angel's appearance in v. 3. The Verifier records those shared lexemes. Gill reads Matthew's earthquake as "a prelude of the general resurrection, when the earth shall be shaken, and the graves opened." ⚙ Tiered structural rather than verbal deliberately: the shared vocabulary is real and the Verifier has computed it, but what is claimed here is a motif (the shaking that attends God's arrival and will attend his last one), not a quotation or a citation, and Hebrews 12:26 is itself quoting an Old Testament prophet rather than Matthew.

Hebrews 12:26 · Revelation 11:19 · Revelation 8:5

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4579 σείω (in 5 vv) with Hebrews 12:26, G4578 σεισμός (in 12 vv) with Revelation 11:19 and 8:5, G796 ἀστραπή (in 9 vv) with Revelation 8:5, G3772 οὐρανός (in 255 vv). Downgraded from verbal to structural because the claim is a shared motif of eschatological shaking, not a quotation; all refs are New Testament Greek.

Lightning and snow: the Ancient of Days, and the glory an angel wears typological

Ellicott, on v. 3, ties Matthew's phrase to "the vision of the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9" and to the Transfiguration; Gill sends the reader to Daniel 10:6; the Pulpit cites Daniel 10:6 and Ezekiel 1:14. ⚙ This link cannot be verbal and is not claimed as such: Daniel is Hebrew and Aramaic, Matthew is Greek, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible between them and the Verifier computes none. What can be said is structural and figural. Daniel's Ancient of Days is clothed white as snow with a throne of fire; Daniel's man by the Tigris has a face like lightning; the men with Daniel fell down, as the Pulpit notes in comparing them with these soldiers. Matthew dresses a messenger at the tomb in the visual vocabulary of Daniel's throne-room, and the honest description of that is an inherited figural pattern, ancient and widely recorded, not a citation.

Daniel 7:9 · Daniel 10:6

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew and Aramaic), so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and the Verifier lists none; the recorded basis is the figural link named explicitly by Ellicott (Daniel 7:9), Gill (Daniel 10:6) and the Pulpit (Daniel 10:6, Daniel 10:7). Ancient and widely held, never verbal.

The earth shook when God came down structural / thematic: confirmed

Matthew's σεισμὸς at the descent of the angel joins an old pattern: Sinai quaked when the LORD came down on it in fire (Exodus 19:18), and Deborah's song has the earth trembling at his marching out (Judges 5:4). ⚙ No verbal basis exists or is claimed: the Gospel is Greek and both Old Testament texts are Hebrew, so shared Strong's numbers are impossible and the Verifier computes none. The link is a shared pattern of theophany, and it is the pattern the Pulpit Commentary appeals to in general terms when it says angelic appearances "had always accompanied the great events in the history of the chosen people." Note also that Matthew's word does not require an earthquake at all: Benson shows σεισμός covers tempest and whirlwind, which if anything widens the theophanic field rather than narrowing it.

Exodus 19:18 · Judges 5:4

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so shared Strong's lexemes are impossible and the Verifier records none for this pair; the basis is the shared theophany pattern of the ground shaking at God's descent. Structural, never verbal, and no quotation is claimed.

"Do not be afraid": the standing formula of heaven's messengers structural / thematic: confirmed

The command Μὴ φοβεῖσθε appears twice in this unit, from the angel (v. 5) and from Jesus (v. 10), and in both cases the present imperative means "stop being afraid" of a fear already in progress. It is the formula of Genesis 15:1 to Abram, of Daniel 10:12 to Daniel, of Isaiah 41:10 to Israel. ⚙ Cross-Testament, so no shared lexeme is possible and none is claimed. Barnes records the pattern from the Greek side, collecting Luke 5:8, Judges 6:22 and Judges 13:21 to show that "the ancients, when in the presence of a heavenly being ... were commonly struck with great fear." What is distinctive at Matthew 28 is not the formula but its second speaker: the standing word of angels is repeated, unchanged, by a man the women had watched die.

Genesis 15:1 · Daniel 10:12 · Isaiah 41:10

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and the Verifier computes none; the basis is the recurring reassurance formula of divine and angelic address, with Barnes recording the same pattern from the New Testament side. Structural, never verbal.

"He is not ashamed to call them brethren" structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge, commenting on ἀδελφοῖς at v. 10, cites Hebrews 2:11 directly: "He is not ashamed to call them brethren." The Pulpit cites the same verse at the same word. ⚙ The Verifier did not compute this pair, so no shared-lexeme figure is offered here; the recorded basis is the commentary link plus the plain fact that both texts turn on G80 ἀδελφός in the mouth of Christ. Tiered structural rather than verbal for two reasons: the Verifier supplies no computed basis, and Hebrews is not citing Matthew but Psalm 22:22. Ellicott adds John 20:17 ("My Father and your Father") as the counterpart within the resurrection narratives themselves.

Hebrews 2:11 · John 20:17

basis: Not in the Verifier's candidate list, so no computed lexeme frequency is claimed; the recorded basis is the explicit citation of Hebrews 2:11 at this verse by both Cambridge and the Pulpit Commentary, together with the shared use of G80 ἀδελφός by Christ of his disciples. No quotation of Matthew by Hebrews is claimed: Hebrews 2:12 quotes Psalm 22:22.

First to Mary Magdalene: a link that rests on a disputed ending flagged: verify source

Ellicott, Cambridge, Gill and the Pulpit all order the appearances so that Jesus was seen first by Mary Magdalene alone, and all of them cite Mark 16:9 for it. ⚙ Flagged, not because the harmonization is unreasonable, but because the provenance of the linked text is contested: Mark 16:9 belongs to the Longer Ending of Mark, which is absent from the oldest Greek manuscripts and is treated as doubtful by the same critical editors these commentators elsewhere follow. The Verifier lists no shared-lexeme basis for the pair. Anyone resting the sequence of Easter morning on this verse should know what it is resting on. Cambridge's own candor is the better model: "The discrepancies are slight, and may be accounted for by the agitation of the witnesses of this momentous scene."

Mark 16:9

basis: No Verifier-computed shared lexeme for this pair; the link is asserted by commentary only (Ellicott, Cambridge, Gill and the Pulpit all cite Mark 16:9 here). Flagged because Mark 16:9-20 is the Longer Ending, absent from the oldest manuscripts, so the provenance of the linked verse is itself disputed.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The firstfruits, and the pledge of those who sleep ancient/widely-held

Gill ends his note on v. 6 by saying that Christ "was risen as the first fruits and pledge of them that slept," which is the apostolic reading of 1 Corinthians 15:20 laid directly on the empty ledge the angel points at. ⚙ Matthew's own grammar supports the claim in a small way: ἔκειτο is imperfect, a lying-down that has stopped, and ἠγέρθη is the ordinary New Testament passive for what will be said of the dead in Christ. Gill also reads the earthquake as "a prelude of the general resurrection, when the earth shall be shaken, and the graves opened, and the dead come forth," which is Matthew's own habit elsewhere (27:52). The place where the Lord lay is presented in this unit not as a relic but as evidence about everyone else's grave. This is the ancient and universal apostolic reading, recorded here by Gill, the Pulpit, Barnes and Henry alike.

1 Corinthians 15:20 · Matthew 27:52

Raised for our justification: the stone as a discharge ancient/widely-held

Gill's boldest paragraph in this brief turns the rolled stone into a legal act: Christ "had taken upon him their sins," bore them on the tree, "was laid as a prisoner in the grave; and now full satisfaction being made, an angel is sent from heaven to roll away the stone; thereby signifying, that the debt was fully paid, and he was now legally discharged." He says the same on v. 7, that on the resurrection "depend the justification and salvation of God's elect." ⚙ This is the Reformed reading of Romans 4:25, that he was delivered for our offences and raised for our justification, and of the surety language of Hebrews 7:22. The synthesis notes honestly that the stone-as-receipt is Gill's figure and not a claim about the Greek, and that the Pulpit Commentary reads the same removal quite differently, as simple access for the witnesses. The doctrine is ancient; the image is Gill's.

Romans 4:25 · Hebrews 7:22

The Crucified One, in the present tense, forever ancient/widely-held

The angel identifies the living Jesus by a perfect passive participle with the article, ἐσταυρωμένον, which is not "who was crucified" but "the Crucified One." JFB renders it exactly that way: "Jesus the Crucified." ⚙ The perfect tense denotes a completed act whose state abides, which is why Paul's permanent name for his message is Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23, which the Pulpit cites here) and why the Lamb in Revelation 5:6 is a standing Lamb that has been slain. The Pulpit, quoting Milligan at this verse, draws the conclusion: the crucifixion "was not simply a temporary incident in the life of Christ. It is an eternal principle in his kingdom." Benson adds the pastoral edge, that believers seek Jesus "not only though he was crucified, but because he was so treated." The resurrection in Matthew does not cancel the cross; it makes it a title.

1 Corinthians 1:23 · Revelation 5:6

The shepherd going on ahead ancient/widely-held

προάγει is present tense and, as Cambridge glosses it, literally "Leadeth you as a shepherd." The Pulpit expands the image: "it implies the act of a shepherd at the head of his flock, leading them to new pastures," and identifies the reversal, that "the good Shepherd had been smitten, and the sheep scattered; now under his guidance they were to be reunited." ⚙ The verb is Jesus' own word from Matthew 26:32, spoken in the same breath as the smitten-shepherd oracle he quoted on the way to Gethsemane, and it is the shepherd's posture in John 10:4, who goes before his sheep and they follow. He is not waiting in Galilee to be found; he is walking there while the women still stand at the grave. The identification of Jesus as the shepherd who precedes his flock is ancient and widely held; the stress here on the present tense of the verb is the synthesis's contribution.

Matthew 26:32 · John 10:4

My brothers: the first family word after the grave ancient/widely-held

The last thing the risen Christ says in this unit is a kinship claim, with the pronoun in the emphatic Greek position: μου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, my brothers. Cambridge cites Hebrews 2:11 and Euthymius, that "He named them brethren, as being Himself a man and their kinsman according to man's nature." Henry: "Notwithstanding his majesty and purity, and our meanness and unworthiness, he still condescends to call believers his brethren." Benson draws the inheritance out, that being now declared Son of God with power he assures them "that they were children of God too, and joint heirs with him of all his joys and glories." Ellicott ties it to John 20:17, "My Father and your Father." ⚙ The synthesis adds only the narrative fact, and adds it carefully: Jesus had used the word of his disciples once before, at Matthew 12:49, of whoever does his Father's will, and both Ellicott and Gill send the reader there. What is new here is not the category but the moment. The word is spoken three days after they ran, and it is spoken to the deserters rather than to the faithful. JFB dissents, reading blood relatives, and the brief's other voices outnumber him; that dissent is recorded at the verse rather than suppressed.

Hebrews 2:11 · John 20:17 · Romans 8:17

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. Text. Four readings in these ten verses are disputed in the sources themselves, and the ⚙ layer has built nothing on any of them. (1) In v. 2 the words "from the door" are, the Pulpit reports, "omitted by the best manuscripts, the Vulgate, and modern editors, and seem to be a marginal interpolation"; the BSB likewise lacks them, and no interlinear word here carries them. (2) In v. 3 Gill records that "white" is absent from the Vulgate Latin and from Munster's Hebrew Gospel. (3) In v. 6 the title "the Lord" in "where the Lord lay" is doubted: the Pulpit lists it as omitted by Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and 33, and by Tischendorf and by Westcott and Hort, while noting Bengel called it "gloriosa appellatio." The interlinear supplied to this unit has no word for it, so the literal rendering of v. 6 does not include it. (4) In v. 9 the clause "as they went to tell his disciples" is called a gloss by both Cambridge and the Pulpit and is absent from the best manuscripts; Gill lists the versions that lack it. Neither the BSB text nor the interlinear supplied for v. 9 contains it, so the literal rendering begins at καὶ ἰδοὺ, and the ⚙ layer makes no use of the clause; the Pulpit notes one gain from its absence, that the moment of this appearance is thereby left undecided. (5) In v. 7 the Pulpit notes that the Authorized Vulgate's praedixi vobis is "warranted by no existing Greek manuscripts." Harmonization. The sequence of Easter morning is genuinely unresolved and this synthesis does not resolve it. Ellicott, Cambridge, the Pulpit and Poole each print a different order of events; the Pulpit states the principle the ⚙ layer has followed, that harmonizing attempts "vary in many particulars, and have no authoritative basis, dependence cannot be placed upon them," and Cambridge ascribes the discrepancies to the agitation of the witnesses. Every ordering in the brief depends at some point on Mark 16:9, which belongs to the Longer Ending of Mark and is textually disputed; that dependence is flagged in the threads and is not assumed anywhere else. Lexical. Two facts drive several notes and both come from the brief: ἐπιφώσκω (G2020) stands in two verses, χιών (G5510) in two, ἀποκυλίω (G617) in four, σείω (G4579) in five. Where a thread is tiered verbal it is on that rarity and on nothing else, and never across the Testaments. Where the commentators contradict each other the synthesis has recorded both rather than picking: the meaning of ὀψέ (Benson and Barnes against the Pulpit and Lange); whether σεισμός here is an earthquake or a storm (Benson and Barnes leave it open, the BSB decides); why the stone was moved (Gill against the Pulpit); whether the women should have touched him at all, given John 20:17 (Ellicott against the Pulpit); whether εἰδέα means the face or the whole person (Geneva against Barnes); and whether "my brethren" in v. 10 means the disciples (Ellicott, Cambridge, Gill, Benson, Henry, Pulpit) or blood relatives (JFB alone). What is ⚙ and fallible. The τάφος-to-μνημεῖον reading (v. 1 to v. 8), the observation that Matthew builds this unit out of repeated roots, and the sola reading and its pullquote are the tool's own and are offered to be tested. JFB's "How truly womanly!" is retained as a period witness, not endorsed. No Scripture and no source quotation in this unit has been composed or paraphrased: every ✦ excerpt is a contiguous substring of the brief's verbatim text, resolved by code.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)