Matthew 28:1
Encyclopedia
Matthew 28:1 is the first verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in the New Testament
. This verse opens the resurrection
narrative as Mary Magdalene
and "the other Mary" visit Jesus
' tomb after the crucification.
The original Koine Greek
, according to Westcott and Hort
, reads:
In the King James Version of the Bible it is translated as:
The modern World English Bible
translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 28:1
The most important debate over this verse is what it says about the time of the visit, and thus the resurrection. The three other gospels, and current Christian tradition, have the empty tomb discovered the day after the sabbath
, today known as Easter Sunday. This verse has two time indicators. The first can be translated as "late on the sabbath" and the second as "at the beginning of the first day of the week." It literally translates as dawning of the day, but as at Luke 23:54 this term can also refer to the beginning of night. By the Jewish calendar the new day begins at sundown, thus the beginning of the day would have been Saturday evening. Thus the verse can be read as describing the resurrection as happening on Saturday rather than Sunday. Some scholars, such as Eduard Schweizer
. and Robert H. Gundry
believe that the author of Matthew did have a different chronology in mind when he wrote this verse.
This has been an issue of concern for Christian writers since early in church history. St. Augustine
was concerned that an initial reading of the verse indicated the Saturday date, but argued it could also be read as referring to Sunday morning and thus in keeping with the other gospels. Some modern scholars agree. France notes that there is no good explanation for any time difference, and Matthew was clearly working from a copy of Mark with its Sunday timing. Nolland believes that the Greek is ambiguous, but can be read to refer to Sunday morning. "Late on the sabbath" can be read as "after the sabbath" and the "beginning of the next day" as the "dawning of the next day", and thus sunrise on Sunday. Nolland also notes that other Jewish texts from the period are also imprecise and refer to the dawn as the beginning of a new day. Davies and Allison also consider the Saturday evening timing as less likely, as an evening visit would have been implausible, as two women would not have travelled to the edge of town as darkness was falling in that era.
In this verse the author of Matthew seems to be working from a copy of Mark 16:1-Mark 16:3. Luke 24:1-12 and John 20:1
-13
also cover the same events, and seem to share some of the same source material beyond what is in Mark. There are many changes from Mark. Matthew mentions only two women, dropping Salome
from the group. It also refers to "the other Mary." An ambiguous usage copied from Matthew 27:61
and usually accepted to refer to Mary, the mother of James.
In Mark and Luke the women come to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. This is dropped from Matthew's version. Here they are described as coming simply to "see the tomb." This is usually understood as the women coming to continue their vigil that had begun at Matthew 27:55. The anointing is also not an issue, as this was already accomplished at Matthew 26:12. Anointing would also have been impossible in Matthew's story, due to the guards posted outside the tomb in his version. Schweizer notes that anointing at this stage was improbable to begin with, as a body after three days in the Near Eastern heat would be unpleasant to work with.
Matthew thus drops the description of the women buying the anointing spices, something Mark has happening on the Saturday evening. The author of Matthew may have copied the wording from the Saturday spice buying over to the visit to the tomb, creating the ambiguity in the timing. Unlike Luke, Matthew gives no information as to what happened on the Sabbath itself, skipping over that day.
Nolland notes that the reference to the dawn might be a link to Matthew 4:16
, creating a link between the very beginning of Jesus' ministry to its end. Peter Chrysologus
wrote that the reference to dawn is to the renewal of the Sabbath on its new day.
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. This verse opens the resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
narrative as Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
and "the other Mary" visit Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' tomb after the crucification.
The original Koine Greek
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
, according to Westcott and Hort
The New Testament in the Original Greek
The New Testament in the Original Greek is the name of a Greek language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort...
, reads:
- οψε δε σαββατων τη επιφωσκουση εις μιαν σαββατων ηλθεν
- μαρια η μαγδαληνη και η αλλη μαρια θεωρησαι τον ταφον
In the King James Version of the Bible it is translated as:
- In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,
- came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
The modern World English Bible
World English Bible
The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...
translates the passage as:
- Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the
- week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 28:1
The most important debate over this verse is what it says about the time of the visit, and thus the resurrection. The three other gospels, and current Christian tradition, have the empty tomb discovered the day after the sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath in Christianity is a weekly day of rest or religious observance, derived from the Biblical Sabbath.Seventh-day Sabbath observance, i.e. resting from labor from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, is practiced by seventh-day Sabbatarians...
, today known as Easter Sunday. This verse has two time indicators. The first can be translated as "late on the sabbath" and the second as "at the beginning of the first day of the week." It literally translates as dawning of the day, but as at Luke 23:54 this term can also refer to the beginning of night. By the Jewish calendar the new day begins at sundown, thus the beginning of the day would have been Saturday evening. Thus the verse can be read as describing the resurrection as happening on Saturday rather than Sunday. Some scholars, such as Eduard Schweizer
Eduard Schweizer
Eduard Schweizer was a Swiss New Testament scholar who taught at the University of Zurich for an extended period. He won the Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies in 1996....
. and Robert H. Gundry
Robert H. Gundry
Robert Horton Gundry is a Biblical scholar. He received a B.A. and a B.D. degree from the Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary, and his Ph.D. from Manchester University in Manchester, England in 1961 and has taught for several decades at Westmont College in California...
believe that the author of Matthew did have a different chronology in mind when he wrote this verse.
This has been an issue of concern for Christian writers since early in church history. St. Augustine
St. Augustine
-People:* Augustine of Hippo or Augustine of Hippo , father of the Latin church* Augustine of Canterbury , first Archbishop of Canterbury* Augustine Webster, an English Catholic martyr.-Places:*St. Augustine, Florida, United States...
was concerned that an initial reading of the verse indicated the Saturday date, but argued it could also be read as referring to Sunday morning and thus in keeping with the other gospels. Some modern scholars agree. France notes that there is no good explanation for any time difference, and Matthew was clearly working from a copy of Mark with its Sunday timing. Nolland believes that the Greek is ambiguous, but can be read to refer to Sunday morning. "Late on the sabbath" can be read as "after the sabbath" and the "beginning of the next day" as the "dawning of the next day", and thus sunrise on Sunday. Nolland also notes that other Jewish texts from the period are also imprecise and refer to the dawn as the beginning of a new day. Davies and Allison also consider the Saturday evening timing as less likely, as an evening visit would have been implausible, as two women would not have travelled to the edge of town as darkness was falling in that era.
In this verse the author of Matthew seems to be working from a copy of Mark 16:1-Mark 16:3. Luke 24:1-12 and John 20:1
John 20:1
John 20:1 is the first verse of the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament. John 20 covers the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion. In this verse Mary Magdalene travels to Jesus' tomb and finds it opened....
-13
John 20:13
John 20:13 is the thirteenth verse of the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John in the Bible. This verse occurs after Mary Magdalene has found Jesus' tomb empty, except for two angels...
also cover the same events, and seem to share some of the same source material beyond what is in Mark. There are many changes from Mark. Matthew mentions only two women, dropping Salome
Salome (disciple)
Salome , sometimes venerated as Mary Salome, was a follower of Jesus who appears briefly in the canonical gospels and in more detail in apocryphal writings...
from the group. It also refers to "the other Mary." An ambiguous usage copied from Matthew 27:61
Matthew 27:61
Matthew 27:61 is the sixty-first verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse describes two women waiting by the Tomb of Jesus after the crucifixion....
and usually accepted to refer to Mary, the mother of James.
In Mark and Luke the women come to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. This is dropped from Matthew's version. Here they are described as coming simply to "see the tomb." This is usually understood as the women coming to continue their vigil that had begun at Matthew 27:55. The anointing is also not an issue, as this was already accomplished at Matthew 26:12. Anointing would also have been impossible in Matthew's story, due to the guards posted outside the tomb in his version. Schweizer notes that anointing at this stage was improbable to begin with, as a body after three days in the Near Eastern heat would be unpleasant to work with.
Matthew thus drops the description of the women buying the anointing spices, something Mark has happening on the Saturday evening. The author of Matthew may have copied the wording from the Saturday spice buying over to the visit to the tomb, creating the ambiguity in the timing. Unlike Luke, Matthew gives no information as to what happened on the Sabbath itself, skipping over that day.
Nolland notes that the reference to the dawn might be a link to Matthew 4:16
Matthew 4:16
Matthew 4:16 is the sixteenth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. In the previous verses Jesus returned to Galilee after hearing of the arrest of John the Baptist and then left Nazareth for Capernaum...
, creating a link between the very beginning of Jesus' ministry to its end. Peter Chrysologus
Peter Chrysologus
Peter Chrysologus was Bishop of Ravenna from about AD 433 until his death. He is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIII in 1729.-Life:...
wrote that the reference to dawn is to the renewal of the Sabbath on its new day.