Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 27:52
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And the graves were opened – Graves or sepulchres were most commonly made, among the Jews, in solid rocks or in caves of rocks. The rending of the rocks, therefore, would lay them open. The graves were opened by this earthquake, but the dead in them did not rise until after his resurrection.
And many bodies of the saints arose – Of course, it is not known who these were, nor what became of them. It is probable that they were persons who had recently died, and they appear to have been known in Jerusalem; at least, had the ancient saints risen, they would not have been known, and would not so soon have been credited as those who had recently died.
Which slept – Which had died. The death of saints is often called sleep, Dan 12:2; 1Co 15:18; 1Th 4:15.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 52. And the graves were opened] By the earthquake; and many bodies of saints which slept, i.e. were dead, sleep being a common expression for death in the Scriptures.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
52. And the graves were opened; andmany bodies of the saints which slept aroseThese sleepingsaints (see on 1Th 4:14) were OldTestament believers, whoaccording to the usual punctuation in ourversionwere quickened into resurrection life at the moment oftheir Lord’s death, but lay in their graves till His resurrection,when they came forth. But it is far more natural, as we think, andconsonant with other Scriptures, to understand that only the graveswere opened, probably by the earthquake, at our Lord’s death, andthis only in preparation for the subsequent exit of those who sleptin them, when the Spirit of life should enter into them from theirrisen Lord, and along with Him they should come forth, trophies ofHis victory over the grave. Thus, in the opening of the graves at themoment of the Redeemer’s expiring, there was a glorious symbolicalproclamation that the death which had just taken place had “swallowedup death in victory”; and whereas the saints that slept in themwere awakened only by their risen Lord, to accompany Him out of thetomb, it was fitting that “the Prince of Life . . . should bethe First that should rise from the dead” (Act 26:23;1Co 15:20; 1Co 15:23;Col 1:18; Rev 1:5).
and went into the holycitythat city where He, in virtue of whose resurrection theywere now alive, had been condemned.
and appeared unto manythatthere might be undeniable evidence of their own resurrection first,and through it of their Lord’s. Thus, while it was not deemed fittingthat He Himself should appear again in Jerusalem, save to thedisciples, provision was made that the fact of His resurrectionshould be left in no doubt. It must be observed, however, that theresurrection of these sleeping saints was not like those of the widowof Nain’s son, of Jairus’ daughter, of Lazarus, and of the man who”revived and stood upon his feet,” on his dead bodytouching the bones of Elisha (2Ki13:21) which were mere temporary recallings of the departedspirit to the mortal body, to be followed by a final departureof it “till the trumpet shall sound.” But this was aresurrection once for all, to life everlasting; and so thereis no room to doubt that they went to glory with their Lord, asbright trophies of His victory over death.
The Centurion’s Testimony(Mt 27:54).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the graves were opened,…. Which were near the city of Jerusalem: this was a proof of Christ’s power over death and the grave, by dying; when he through death, destroyed him that had the power of it, and abolished death itself; and became the plague of death and the destruction of the grave, taking into his hands the keys of hell and death:
and many bodies of saints which slept, arose: not that they arose at the time of Christ’s death: the graves were opened then, when the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent; but the bodies of the saints did not arise, till after Christ was risen, as appears from the following verse; but because the other event now happened, they are both recorded here: these were saints, and such as slept in Jesus; and of whom he is the first fruits that now rose; and not all, but many of them, as pledges of the future resurrection, and for the confirmation of Christ’s, and the accomplishment of a prophecy in
Isa 26:19. And they rose in the same bodies in which they before lived, otherwise they could not be called their bodies, or known by those to whom they appeared: but who they were is not to be known; some have thought them to be the ancient patriarchs, as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, c. In the Septuagint on Job 42:17, Job is said to be one of them, and a tradition is there recorded, which runs thus:
“it is written, that he rose with whom the Lord rose.”
But it should seem rather, that they were some later saints, such as Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, John the Baptist himself, good old Simeon, Joseph the husband of Mary, and others, well known to persons now alive. Some think they were such, as had been martyrs in the cause of religion and so the Persic version renders the words, “and the bodies of many saints who suffered martyrdom, rose out of the graves”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The tombs were opened ( ). First aorist passive indicative (double augment). The splitting of the rocks by the earthquake and the opening of tombs can be due to the earthquake. But the raising of the bodies of the dead after the resurrection of Jesus which appeared to many in the holy city puzzles many today who admit the actual bodily resurrection of Jesus. Some would brand all these portents as legends since they appear in Matthew alone. Others would say that “after his resurrection” should read “after their resurrection,” but that would make it conflict with Paul’s description of Christ as the first fruits of them that sleep (1Co 15:20). Some say that Jesus released these spirits after his descent into Hades. So it goes. We come back to miracles connected with the birth of Jesus, God’s Son coming into the world. If we grant the possibility of such manifestations of God’s power, there is little to disturb one here in the story of the death of God’s Son.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
52 And graves were opened. This was also a striking miracle, by which God declared that his Son entered into the prison of death, not to continue to be shut up there, but to bring out all who were held captive. For at the very time when the despicable weakness of the flesh was beheld in the person of Christ, the magnificent and divine energy of his death penetrated even to hell. This is the reason why, when he was about to be shut up in a sepulcher, other sepulchers were opened by him. Yet it is doubtful if this opening of the graves took place before his resurrection; for, in my opinion, the resurrection of the saints, which is mentioned immediately afterwards, was subsequent to the resurrection of Christ. There is no probability in the conjecture of some commentators that, after having received life and breath, they remained three days concealed in their graves. I think it more probable that, when Christ died, the graves were immediately opened: and that, when he rose, some of the godly, having received life, went out of their graves, and were seen in the city. For Christ is called the first-born from the dead, (Col 1:18,) and the first-fruits of those who rise, (1Co 15:20,) because by his death he commenced, and by his resurrection he completed, a new life; not that, when he died, the dead were immediately raised, but because his death was the source and commencement of life. This reason, therefore, is fully applicable, since the opening of the graves was the presage of a new life, that the fruit or result appeared three days afterwards, because Christ, in rising from the dead, brought others along with him out of their graves as his companions. Now by this sign it was made evident, that he neither died nor rose again in a private capacity, but in order to shed the odor of life on all believers.
But here a question arises. Why did God determine that only some should arise, since a participation in the resurrection of Christ belongs equally to all believers? I reply: As the time was not fully come when the whole body of the Church should be gathered to its Head, he exhibited in a few persons an instance of the new life which all ought to expect. For we know that Christ was received into heaven on the condition that the life of his members should still be hid, (Col 3:3,) until it should be manifested by his coming. But in order that the minds of believers might be more quickly raised to hope, it was advantageous that the resurrection, which was to be common to all of them, should be tasted by a few.
Another and more difficult question is, What became of those saints afterwards? For it would appear to be absurd to suppose that, after having been once admitted by Christ to the participation of a new life, they again returned to dust. But as this question cannot be easily or quickly answered, so it is not necessary to give ourselves much uneasiness about a matter which is not necessary to be known. That they continued long to converse with men is not probable; for it was only necessary that they should be seen for a short time, that in them, as in a mirror or resemblance, the power of Christ might plainly appear. As God intended, by their persons, to confirm the hope of the heavenly life among those who were then alive, there would be no absurdity in saying that, after having performed this office, they again rested in their graves. But it is more probable that the life which they received was not afterwards taken from them; for if it had been a mortal life, it would not have been a proof of a perfect resurrection. Now, though the whole world will rise again, and though Christ will raise up the wicked to judgment, as well as believers to salvation, yet as it was especially for the benefit of his Church that he rose again, so it was proper that he should bestow on none but saints the distinguished honor of rising along with him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(52) Many bodies of the saints which slept arose.It is scarcely, perhaps, surprising that a narrative so exceptional in its marvellousness, and standing, as it does, without any collateral testimony in any other part of the New Testament, should have presented to many minds difficulties which have seemed almost insuperable. They have accordingly either viewed it as a mythical addition, or, where they shrank from that extreme conclusion, have explained it as meaning simply that the bodies of the dead were exposed to view by the earthquake mentioned in the preceding verse, or have seen in it only the honest report of an over-excited imagination. On the other hand, the brevity, and in some sense simplicity, of the statement differences it very widely from such legends, more or less analogous in character, as we find, e.g., in the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, and so far excludes the mythical element which, as a rule, delights to show itself in luxuriant expansion. And this being excluded, we can hardly imagine the Evangelist as writing without having received his information from witnesses whom he thought trustworthy; and then the question rises, whether the narrative is of such a character as to be in itself incredible. On that point men, according to the point of view from which they look on the Gospel records, may naturally differ; but those who believe that when our Lord passed into Hades, the unseen world, it was to complete there what had been begun on earth, to proclaim there His victory over death and sin, will hardly think it impossible that there should have been outward tokens and witnesses of such a work. And the fact which St. Matthew records supplies, it is believed, the most natural explanation of language hardly less startling, which meets us in the Epistle, which even the most adverse critics admit to be from the hands of St. Peter. If he, or those whom he knew, had seen the saints that slept and had risen from their sleep, we can understand how deeply it would have impressed on his mind the fact that his Lord when put to death in the flesh had been quickened in the spirit, and had preached to the spirits in prison (1Pe. 3:19), so that glad tidings were proclaimed even to the dead (1Pe. 4:6). Who they were that thus appeared, we are not told. Most commentators have followedsomewhat unhappily, I venture to believethe lead of the Apocryphal Gospel just named, and have identified them with the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament. It is clear, however, that St. Matthews statement implies that they were those who came out of the opened graves, who had been buried, that is, in the sepulchres of Jerusalem; and, remembering that the term saints was applied almost from the very first to the collective body of disciples (Act. 9:13; Act. 9:32; Act. 9:41), it seems more natural to see in them those who, believing in Jesus, had passed to their rest before His crucifixion. On this supposition, their appearance met the feeling, sure to arise among those who were looking for an immediate manifestation of the kingdomas it arose afterwards at Thessalonica (1Th. 4:13)that such as had so died were shut out from their share in that kingdom; and we have thus an adequate reason for their appearance, so that friends and kindred might not sorrow for them as others who had no hope. The statement that they did not appear till after our Lords resurrection, is from this point of view significant. The disciples were thus taught to look on that resurrection, not as an isolated phenomenon, but as the firstfruits of the victory over death (1Co. 15:20), in which not they themselves only, but those also whom they had loved and lost were to be sharers.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
52. The graves were opened In the East it is often the case that tombs are broken up by the violence of earthquakes; but this was now the intended effect. The graves are often excavations in a rock, with a stone placed against them for a door, which the shock throws from its place. Many bodies of the saints which slept arose Here is the third effect of the Saviour’s death. It pierces the domains of death. A few of the blessed saints, who are precious to Christ, are awakened to life as specimens in advance of his resurrection power.
We should put a period after the word opened. Then we shall perceive that the bodies of the saints did not rise and come into the city until after his resurrection. His death opened their graves; his resurrection raised them from the dead. Bodies Observe, it was not the souls or spirits alone of the dead who were recalled from the domains of death. But their bodies were re-animated by the spirit, and returned again to life. Saints Some think they were saints lately dead. Otherwise, how should it be known who they were? But this is by no means certain. See note on Mat 17:3. Slept A beautiful figurative term for death; used in Scripture, usually in a good sense, of the happy dead.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.’
The third ‘rending’ was in respect of the tearing open of the tombs of God’s chosen ones who had been buried in Jerusalem, preparatory to their resurrection. Nothing could have appalled people more, and no Jew would want to approach these tombs lest they themselves be defiled during the Feast. They might well have seen in it the anger of God, or alternately that it was symbolic of the last day.
The description ‘saints’ (holy ones), a regular Old Testament description of God’s believing people, would indicate those who were pleasing to God. It was the ‘saints of the Most High’ who formed a part of the corporate son of man in Daniel 7. It is right therefore that they should join with the Son of Man in His triumph.
While the rending open of the tombs might have occurred at the same time as the earthquake and the rending of the veil, we are specifically informed that this raising of the holy ones did not, for it occurred after the resurrection and was a resurrection of the body. Here then was more than just the coming forth of Elijah (Mat 27:47-49). What Jesus had accomplished caused many to come forth. Many rose to bear testimony to Him, and all connected with their own holy city. But until Jesus was raised, resurrection for others was not possible, thus it could not have happened prior to His resurrection. These then are the firstfruits of His resurrection. The language may have in mind Eze 37:12-13, ‘behold I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people — and you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people’, stressing that it is an activity intended to convince men and women that He is YHWH, and it is noteworthy that in Ezekiel this leads on to the establishing of the Kingly Rule of the coming shepherd king David (Eze 37:24). The description reminds us also of Joh 5:28-29, ‘the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth —.’ Thus we are probably intended to see this as a genuine and permanent resurrection rather than simply a display for witness purposes. We know nothing of what happened to these resurrected saints subsequently, unless Paul is referring to them in 1Co 15:20; 1Co 15:23. The assumption was probably that like Him they rose to the Father.
The unusual use of ‘the holy city’ may suggest that Matthew is citing this description from some source, although if so we have no record of it. But it is noteworthy that his use of it is in fact parallel to a similar use in Mat 4:5 (so it is not so unusual). It may thus rather be a deliberate attempt to contrast what happened here with what the Devil had tempted Jesus to do in Mat 4:5. There Jesus had refused to give the holy city a spectacular sign which had no purpose to it, by diving from the pinnacle of the Temple. Here, however, God has given the holy city an even more spectacular sign, although not just as a display but as a genuine firstfruit of the resurrection. So it was not just a spectacular sign. Here, as always when miracles took place, many actually benefited from His display of power. This was in a sense the part fulfilment of the sign that Jesus had promised to the Pharisees (Mat 12:39). It was the sign of the prophet Jonah. Here were the equivalent of a number of ‘Jonahs’ coming out of the mouths of their tombs and appearing to selected households. The holy city has been given its visitation and its sign, for they ‘appeared to many’. ‘Many’ is often a reference to believers (see Mat 20:28), so that the sign may have been limited to believers. No doubt unbelieving Jerusalem, which rejected the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection and had no experience of the appearances, laughed them to scorn. This would explain why no attention was drawn to these facts by others.
For the other evangelists it was the resurrection of Jesus Himself that took central place, and must not be overshadowed. But Matthew may well have been one who was visited, and had never forgotten it. And he would consider that such an event had special significance for Jews. He may well have seen it as indicating what was to happen to Jerusalem, for in Isa 26:19-20 the resurrection of bodies from the dust was to be followed by great tribulation for God’s people as God visited the world in wrath. Here then was a firstfruit of that day, a resurrection that was an indication that God would soon visit Jerusalem in wrath.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 27:52-53. And the graves were opened, &c. The ancient sepulchres were hewn out of rocks, which being rent by the earthquake, discovered the cells wherein the bodies of the dead were deposited; but though these sepulchres were opened by the earthquake at our Lord’s death, yet the dead in them did not come to life till his resurrection: for Jesus himself was the first-born from the dead. Col 1:18 and the first-fruits of them that slept, 1Co 15:20. It seems probable that those saints were not some of the most eminent ones mentioned in the Old Testament, but disciples who had died lately; for when they went into the city, they were known by the persons who saw them, which could not well have happened, had they not been their cotemporaries; and as the rending of the veil of the temple intimated that the entrance into the holy place, the type of heaven, was now laid open to all nations, so the resurrection of a number of saints from the dead, demonstrated that the power of death and the grave was broken, the sting was taken from death, and the victory wrested from the grave. In short, our Lord’s conquests over the enemies of mankind were shewn to be complete, and an earnest was given of a general resurrection from the dead. There is an ancient Greek manuscript, which reads in Mat 27:53 after their resurrection; and this reading is followed by the Arabic and Ethiopic versions. Perhaps it may be as natural to read the passage with Grotius, when he yielded up the ghost, the graves were opened; and after his resurrection, many bodies of saints arose, and came out of their graves.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Ver. 52. And the graves were opened ] To show that death was now swallowed up in victory by life essential; like as the fire swallows up the fuel, and as Moses’ serpent swallowed up the enchanted serpents.
And many bodies of the saints ] To show that the heart strings of death, which before bound them in their sepulchres, were now broken, and they enlarged to attend our Saviour’s resurrection.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
52. to end of Mat 27:53 . ] The first clause, as following on an earthquake which splits the rocks, is by the modern Commentators received as genuine, and thrown into the same probability as the earthquake itself: but the following ones meet with no mercy at their hands. Gin mythisch apokryphischer Unsass is Meyer’s description of them and as he cannot find any critical ground for this, the Greek Editor of Matthew has the blame of having added them . I believe on the contrary that these latter clauses contain the occasion of the former ones . The whole transaction was supernatural and symbolic : no other interpretation of it will satisfy even ordinary common sense. Was the earthquake a mere coincidence! This not even those assert, who deny all symbolism in the matter. Was it a mere sign of divine wrath at what was done a mere prodigy , like those at the death of Csar? Surely no Christian believer can think this. Then what was it? What but the opening of the tombs the symbolic declaration ‘ mors janua vit ,’ that the death which had happened had broken the bands of death for ever? These following clauses (which have no mythical nor apocryphal character , and no more, is not the way of any but authentic history: see the Gospel of Nicodemus, ch. xvii. ff. in Jones’s Canon of the N.T. vol. ii. p. 255) require only this explanation to be fully understood. The graves were opened at the moment of the death of the Lord; but inasmuch as He is the first-fruits from the dead the Resurrection and the Life the bodies of the saints in them did not arise till He rose , and having appeared to many after his resurrection, possibly during the forty days, went up with Him into his glory. (Cf. on this Corn.-a-Lap., h. l.: who maintains that this was so, for five reasons: 1) “quia hoc decebat Christum, ut fructum mortis et resurrectionis su statim ostenderet in beata hac Sanctorum resurrectione: 2) quia anim horum jam erant beat, ac proinde par erat eas non uniri corporibus nisi gloriosis et immortalibus: 3) quia exigua fuisset earum felicitas, ac longe major miseria, quod mox rursum deberent mori: 4) quia congruebat, ut hi Sancti Christum resurgentem et scandentem in clum, ejusque triumphum sua resurrectione decorarent: 5) quia convenit ut Christus in clo habeat Beatos quorum aspectu et collocutione externa se pascat humanitas, ne alioqui solitaria sit, expersque human consolationis.” On this side, he claims Orig [185] (in Matt. Comm. series, vol. iii. p. 928; but wrongly, for Origen gives the whole a spiritual sense, more suo), Jerome, Bede, Thos. Aquinas, Anselm, Clem. Alex [186] (Strom. vi. 47, p. 764 [187] .), Euseb. (Dem. Evang. iv. 12, vol. iv. p. 284), Epiph [188] (Hr. lxxv. p. 911), a [189] . On the other side are Thl., Euthym [190] , Aug [191] (Ep. 164 (99) ad Evod. 3 (2) vol. ii.), alli [192] . Augustine is moved chiefly by the fact that David’s body appears from Act 2:29 ; Act 2:34 , to have been still in his tomb after the Ascension.) Moses and Elias, who were before in glory, were not from the dead , properly speaking: see note on ch. Mat 17:1 .
[185] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
[186] Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194
[187] By these symbols are designated the portions of two ancient MSS., discernible (as also are fragments of Ulphilas’ gothic version) under the later writing of a volume known as the Codex Carolinus in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbttel. P (GUELPHERBYTANUS A) contains fragments of each of the Gospels. Q (GUELPH. B) fragments of Luke and John. Both are probably of the sixth century . They were edited by F. A. Knittel in 1762; and, more thoroughly, by Tischendorf in 1860 [1869], Monumenta Sacra, vol. iii. [vi.]
[188] Epiphanius, Bp. of Salamis in Cyprus, 368 403
[189] alii = some cursive mss.
[190] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[191] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
[192] alii = some cursive mss.
The explanation (Fritzsche) of as ‘ after He had raised them ,’ is simply ridiculous. The words belong to the whole sentence , not merely to .
is the result not the immediate accompaniment , of the opening of the tombs. It is to prevent this being supposed, that the qualification . . . . is added.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
graves = tombs.
arose = were waked. All the texts read “were raised”. Is this the resurrection referred to in Rom 1:3? See notes there. Greek. egersis = awaking rousing up, or arising. Occurs only here. Compare Joh 12:24. They thus fulfilled the Lord’s word in Joh 5:25.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
52. to end of Mat 27:53.] The first clause, as following on an earthquake which splits the rocks, is by the modern Commentators received as genuine, and thrown into the same probability as the earthquake itself: but the following ones meet with no mercy at their hands. Gin mythisch apokryphischer Unsass is Meyers description of them-and as he cannot find any critical ground for this, the Greek Editor of Matthew has the blame of having added them. I believe on the contrary that these latter clauses contain the occasion of the former ones. The whole transaction was supernatural and symbolic: no other interpretation of it will satisfy even ordinary common sense. Was the earthquake a mere coincidence! This not even those assert, who deny all symbolism in the matter. Was it a mere sign of divine wrath at what was done-a mere prodigy, like those at the death of Csar? Surely no Christian believer can think this. Then what was it? What but the opening of the tombs-the symbolic declaration mors janua vit,-that the death which had happened had broken the bands of death for ever? These following clauses (which have no mythical nor apocryphal character- , and no more, is not the way of any but authentic history: see the Gospel of Nicodemus, ch. xvii. ff. in Joness Canon of the N.T. vol. ii. p. 255) require only this explanation to be fully understood. The graves were opened at the moment of the death of the Lord; but inasmuch as He is the first-fruits from the dead-the Resurrection and the Life-the bodies of the saints in them did not arise till He rose, and having appeared to many after his resurrection,-possibly during the forty days,-went up with Him into his glory. (Cf. on this Corn.-a-Lap., h. l.: who maintains that this was so, for five reasons: 1) quia hoc decebat Christum, ut fructum mortis et resurrectionis su statim ostenderet in beata hac Sanctorum resurrectione: 2) quia anim horum jam erant beat, ac proinde par erat eas non uniri corporibus nisi gloriosis et immortalibus: 3) quia exigua fuisset earum felicitas, ac longe major miseria, quod mox rursum deberent mori: 4) quia congruebat, ut hi Sancti Christum resurgentem et scandentem in clum, ejusque triumphum sua resurrectione decorarent: 5) quia convenit ut Christus in clo habeat Beatos quorum aspectu et collocutione externa se pascat humanitas, ne alioqui solitaria sit, expersque human consolationis. On this side, he claims Orig[185] (in Matt. Comm. series, vol. iii. p. 928; but wrongly, for Origen gives the whole a spiritual sense, more suo), Jerome, Bede, Thos. Aquinas, Anselm, Clem. Alex[186] (Strom. vi. 47, p. 764 [187].), Euseb. (Dem. Evang. iv. 12, vol. iv. p. 284), Epiph[188] (Hr. lxxv. p. 911), a[189]. On the other side are Thl., Euthym[190], Aug[191] (Ep. 164 (99) ad Evod. 3 (2) vol. ii.), alli[192]. Augustine is moved chiefly by the fact that Davids body appears from Act 2:29; Act 2:34, to have been still in his tomb after the Ascension.) Moses and Elias, who were before in glory, were not from the dead, properly speaking: see note on ch. Mat 17:1.
[185] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
[186] Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194
[187] By these symbols are designated the portions of two ancient MSS., discernible (as also are fragments of Ulphilas gothic version) under the later writing of a volume known as the Codex Carolinus in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbttel. P (GUELPHERBYTANUS A) contains fragments of each of the Gospels. Q (GUELPH. B) fragments of Luke and John. Both are probably of the sixth century. They were edited by F. A. Knittel in 1762; and, more thoroughly, by Tischendorf in 1860 [1869], Monumenta Sacra, vol. iii. [vi.]
[188] Epiphanius, Bp. of Salamis in Cyprus, 368-403
[189] alii = some cursive mss.
[190] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[191] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
[192] alii = some cursive mss.
The explanation (Fritzsche) of as after He had raised them, is simply ridiculous. The words belong to the whole sentence, not merely to .
is the result-not the immediate accompaniment, of the opening of the tombs. It is to prevent this being supposed, that the qualification . . . . is added.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 27:52. , of the saints that had slept) The name saints belongs equally to the living and the dead; yea, in the mention of the dead, the determining clause is added, who had slept. And these saints are reckoned such, not by human, but Divine Canon. Of the Saints, who had died either a long while before the birth of Christ, or not much after (see Gnomon on Joh 11:25), from all tribes no doubt. The ancients appear to have considered Job to have been one of these; for, at the end of his book, the LXX. and Theodotion add , but it is written that he shall rise again with those whom the Lord raises.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
graves
That these bodies returned to their graves is not said and may not be inferred. The wave-sheaf Lev 23:10-12 typifies the resurrection of Christ, but a sheaf implies plurality. It was a single “corn of wheat” that fell into the ground in the crucifixion and entombment of Christ Joh 12:24, it was a sheaf which came forth in resurrection. The inference is that these saints, with the spirits of “just men made perfect” Heb 12:23 from Paradise, went with Jesus Eph 4:8-10 into heaven.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
many: Isa 25:8, Isa 26:19, Hos 13:14, Joh 5:25-29, 1Co 15:20
slept: Dan 12:2, 1Co 11:30, 1Co 15:51, 1Th 4:14, 1Th 5:10
Reciprocal: 2Ki 13:21 – touched Psa 17:15 – I awake Jer 10:10 – at Act 9:32 – the saints 1Th 4:13 – which are Rev 8:5 – an
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:52.
raves were opened. The tombs are meant which were in the form of caves that either were natural or were hewn out of a rock (verse 60), and another stone placed at the entrance to close the burial place. The earthquake loosened these stones and made them roll away thus opening the graves or tombs. A saint is anyone who is devoted to the service of God. These could not have been Christians because the church had not been set up. They were persons from one or all of the following groups of servants of God; those who had lived and died under the Patriarchal or Jewish dispensations, or disciples who had been called by the preaching of John or Christ, and who had died within the three years of their personal ministry. The rising of these saints forms a link in a very important chain of thought, which will be dealt with at Rom 8:29-30. For the present, however, I will state that these saints never died again.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
[And many bodies of saints which slept arose.] You can hardly impute the rending of the hangings to the earthquake, but it must be ascribed rather to another peculiar miracle; since it is more proper for an earthquake to break hard things than soft, and to rend rocks rather than curtains. Rocks were rent by it in those places where sepulchres had been built, so that now the gates of the resurrection were thrown open, the bonds of the grave were unloosed, and the bodies of dead men were made ready, as it were, for their rising again when Christ, the firstfruits, was raised. The Jews had a fancy that the kingdom of the Messias would begin with the resurrection of the dead, as we have noted before; vainly indeed, as to their sense of it; but not without some truth, as to the thing itself: for from the resurrection of Christ the glorious epoch of the kingdom of God took its beginning, as we said before (which he himself also signifieth in those words Mat 26:29); and when he arose, not a few others arose with him. What they thought of the resurrection that was to be in the days of Messias, besides those things which we have already mentioned, you may see and smile at in this one example: “R. Jeremiah commanded, ‘When you bury me, put shoes on my feet, and give me a staff in my hand, and lay me on one side; that when the Messias comes I may be ready.'”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 27:52-53. The tombs were opened. The Jewish tombs, unlike our own, were natural or artificial excavations in rocks, the entrance being closed by a door or a large stone. These, the stone doors of the tombs, were removed, probably by the force of the earthquake, to testify that Christs death had burst the bands of death.
That had fallen asleep. Comp. 1Co 15:18; 1Th 4:15.
Were raised. Matthew alone mentions this. The next verse indicates that the actual rising did not take place until after His resurrection. This remarkable event was both supernatural and symbolic, proclaiming the truth that the death and resurrection of Christ was a victory over death and Hades, opening the door to everlasting life. Who these saints were, is doubtful. Perhaps saints of the olden times, but more probably those personally known to the disciples, as seems implied in the phrase: appeared unto many. Such saints as Simeon, Anna, Zachariah, Joseph, John the Baptist, or open friends of Christ, it has been suggested. Whether they died again is also doubtful. But probably not, as the next verse intimates an appearance for a time, not such a restoration as in the case of Lazarus, and others. They may have had glorified bodies and ascended with our Lord. Not much has been revealed, but enough to proclaim and confirm the blessed truth of which the event is a sign and seal. Jerusalem is still called the holy city, a title it could retain at least until the day of Pentecost.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 27:52-53. And the graves were opened Some of the tombs were shattered and laid open by the earthquake, and doubtless continued open all the sabbath, since the law would not allow of any attempt to close them on that day: but the dead bodies which were in them did not come to life till Christs resurrection had taken place, as is implied in the next clause, for he was the first-born from the dead, Col 1:18; and the first- fruits of them that slept, 1Co 15:20. And many bodies of the saints which slept The bodies of many eminently holy persons; arose and came out of their graves Or tombs, while they remained unclosed; after his resurrection Probably immediately after it; and went into the holy city That is, Jerusalem, called the holy city, on account of the temple and its worship; and appeared unto many Who knew them; thus attesting the truth of that most important event, Jesuss resurrection, and declaring their own rescue from the grave, as a kind of first-fruits of his power over death, which should at length accomplish a general resurrection. It is and must remain uncertain who these saints were that had now the honour of being the first-fruits of Christs resurrection. Mr. Fleming thinks, that they were some of the most eminently holy mentioned in the Old Testament; and that they appeared in some extraordinary splendour, and were known by revelation to those to whom they appeared, as Moses and Elijah were to the disciples at the transfiguration. But Mr. Pierce, Dr. Macknight, and many others, think it more probable that they were persons who had died but lately, perhaps, such as had believed on Christ, and were well known to surviving disciples. Whoever they were, their resurrection was a most extraordinary event, and doubtless was much spoken of in Jerusalem among those to whom they appeared, and other well-disposed persons to whom they mentioned it. It is not improbable that Christs prophecy, recorded Joh 5:25, referred to this event, and thereby received its accomplishment, being distinguished from the general resurrection predicted in Mat 27:28-29 of that chapter. As it is only said, these saints appeared to many in Jerusalem, but not that they continued with them, it is probable that as they were undoubtedly raised to immortality, they attended their risen Saviour, during his abode on earth, and afterward accompanied him in his ascension, to grace his triumph over death and the grave, and all the powers of darkness, Eph 4:8; Col 2:15. Thus, as the rending the veil of the temple intimated that the entrance into the most holy place, the type of heaven, was now laid open to all nations, so the resurrection of a number of saints from the dead demonstrated that the power of death and the grave was broken; that the sting was taken from death, and the victory wrested from the grave; and if they ascended with him too, it was thus shown that the Lords conquest over the enemies of mankind was complete, and not only an earnest given of a general resurrection of the dead, but of the kingdom of heaven being opened to all believers.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
27:52 And the {r} graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
(r) That is to say, the stones broke apart, and the graves opened themselves to show by this act that death was overcome: and the resurrection of the dead followed the resurrection of Christ, as the next verse indicates Mat 27:53 .