These two men were two angels in human shape. See Poole on “Mat 28:5” and following verses to Mat 28:7.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And it came to pass as they were much perplexed thereabout,…. About the body of Christ, and its being gone, what should become of it, whither it was removed, and by what means, and by whom; whether by a friend, or foe, for they had no thought, nor expectation of a resurrection;

behold, two men stood by them in shining garments; who were angels in the form of men; and as these were the first witnesses of Christs resurrection, there were two of them; for by the mouth of two or three witnesses every thing is established. Matthew and Mark take notice but of one; but John makes mention of two, as here, seen by Mary Magdalene, though in a different posture; they were sitting, the one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain; but when the rest of the women came, they were risen up, and stood close by them, on a sudden, at an unawares, being arrayed in white raiment, as white as snow, as a token of their purity and innocence, and as bringers of good tidings; and as joining in the triumph of their Lord’s resurrection: their garments were bright and glittering like lightning, to set forth the glory and majesty of these celestial spirits, and that they might be known to be what they were.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

While they were perplexed thereabout ( ). Luke’s common Hebraistic idiom, with the articular infinitive (present passive from , to lose one’s way) and the accusative of general reference.

Two men ( ). Men, not women. Mr 16:5 speaks of a young man () while Mt 28:5 has “an angel.” We need not try to reconcile these varying accounts which agree in the main thing. The angel looked like a man and some remembered two. In verse 23 Cleopas and his companion call them “angels.”

Stood by (). Second aorist active indicative of . This common verb usually means to step up suddenly, to burst upon one.

In dazzling apparel ( ). This is the correct text. This common simplex verb occurs only twice in the N.T., here and Lu 17:24 (the Transfiguration). It has the same root as (lightning). The “men” had the garments of “angels.”

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Shining [] . Only here and ch. 17 24. Akin to ajstraph, lightning. See on bright shining, ch. 11 36; and compare ch. 17 24.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And it came to pass,” (kai egeneto) “And it occurred,” came to be, at this time.

2) “As they were much perplexed thereabout,” (en to aporeisthai autas peri toutou) “As they were perplexed about this matter,” were very much afraid, Mat 28:5-8; Not knowing what it all meant, considering it as the enemy’s work

3) “Behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:” (kai idou andres duo epestesan autais en estheti astraptouse) “Behold two men stood by them in shining clothing,” Mat 20:12; dazzling garments; Mark observes that “a young man” sat on the right; Evidently the two were angelic messengers, who visibly appeared as men, Mar 16:5-8.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(4) Two men stood by them.St. Mark and St. Matthew mention one only. Had St. Matthew given the two, it might have been urged by adverse critics that this duplication of phenomena, as in the case of the demoniacs (Mat. 8:28), and the blind men at Jericho (Mat. 20:30), was an idiosyncrasy of his. As it is, we must suppose that each set of informantsthe two Maries, and the others from whom it seems probable that St. Lukes report was deriveddescribed what they themselves had seen. At such moments of terror and astonishment, perception and memory are not always very definite in their reports.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘And it came to about that while they were perplexed about it, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel,’

And it was while they were still perplexed, a state which would certainly have continued for some time had they not met the angels, that they became aware of two men standing by them in ‘dazzling clothing’. Both Mark and Matthew only mention one. Mark describes one who was sitting in a particular place who spoke to them. This does not discount the presence of a second, but emphasises who the main player was. Mark always concentrates on the particular one who is most important in the story, and ignores any other. In contrast Matthew elsewhere (but not in this case), and sometimes Luke, advert to more of the detail so that Matthew in a number of cases, and Luke in this case, regularly speak of twos where Mark has only one, possibly in the case of Matthew because having been there he actually remembered more of the detail. For two angels compare also Joh 20:12; Act 1:10. See also Gen 19:1 ff.

The dazzling clothing is clearly intended to indicate supernatural visitants, even though they are called ‘men’. For such an idea compare Dan 10:5; Eze 8:2; Act 12:7, and see Luk 2:9. These were men ‘of the light’, or ‘angels of light’ (for the idea compare 2Co 11:14). The message they brought was therefore light and not darkness (Act 26:18).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 24:4. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, &c. This threw them into a great perplexity, when on a sudden two men stood, &c. It hence seems probable, that the angels disappeared at certain times; for the words intimate, that the women did not see them at their first entrance into the sepulchre, and that their appearance was sudden, and occasioned a surprize. The evangelist here calls them men; but Luk 24:23 he calls them angels. The truth is, angels are sometimes called men, because they appeared in the human form. See Gen 18:2.Mar 16:5 where one angel only is mentioned under the appellation of a young man; whence somehaveinferred,thatthetransactiontherementionedwasdifferentfromthis before us: but be that as it may, it is easy to account for the presence of two angels, though only one of them might be seen by some of those who came to view the sepulchre. If the reader will attend to the supposed form of the sepulchre, and to the position of our Lord’s body therein, he will find this method of reconciling the evangelists easy, natural, and probable. The sepulchre seems to have been a square room, hewn out of a rock, partly above ground, its roof being as high as the top of the door which formed its entrance. The door opened upon a stair, which ran down straight to the bottom of the sepulchre, along the side of the left wall. Having therefore carried the bodydown with its feet foremost, they would naturally place it lengthwise bythe right side wall of the sepulchre, in such a manner, that its head lay pointing towards what might be called the front, had the sepulchre been wholly above-ground, and its feet to the back wall. They laid the body on the floor, close to the right side wall of the sepulchre, because in that position it was most out of the way of those who might come down. This description is agreeable to the accounts which travellers give us of the Jewish sepulchres; particularly Mr. Maundrell, who was on the spot, and saw several of them. They were generally caves, hewn out of rocks; and as the Jews did not make use of coffins, they placed their dead separately in niches or little cells cut in the sides of these caves or rooms. But Joseph’s sepulchre, being a new one, was in all probability unfinished; and particularly it might have no niches cut into the sides where they could deposit the dead; for which reason they laid Jesus on the floor, (see Joh 20:12.) in the manner described; intending very probably, when the sabbath was past, to remove him to some finished burial-place. See Joh 19:42. Admitting these suppositions,most of which are founded on some authority, and all of them perfectly natural,the women, intending to search the sepulchre a second time, might, as soon as they came upon the threshold, see the angel, who sat on the right side, where the feet of Jesus had been; that is, who sat in the furthermost right corner of the sepulchre: and though his companion, who sat on the same side at the head, or in the hithermost right corner, had been then visible, they would not have observed him; so that, at the first, they must have seen one angel only, as St. Matthew and St. Mark tell us: but stepping down the stairs upon the invitation of the angel who appeared, they got the whole cavity of the sepulchre under their eye, and discovered the other heavenly messenger. Thus they saw two angels, as St. Luke affirms. Besides, the brilliant appearance of him who spake to them, might so fix their eyes, as to hinder them from taking notice of his companion, till, landing at the bottom of the stairs, they turned themselves about upon the floor. Their fear and confusion also might have some influence upon them. The word , which we render stood by, does not imply that the angels at their first appearance were close by the women; this is proved from Gen 18:2.LXX: where, though it is said, that Abraham lift up his eyes, and looked, and lo three men, stood by him, it is added, that when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent-door, which shews that they were at some distance from him; wherefore the words in St. Luke, answering to the words in Genesis, signify simply they appeared unto them: if so, we may suppose that both the angels were in a sitting posture when they shewed themselves to the women, because St. Mark expressly affirms it of one whom he mentions Mar 16:5 and because they shewed themselves in this posture afterwards to Mary Magdalene, Joh 20:12. However, if the reader be not satisfied with this solution, the evangelists may easily be reconciled, by supposing that the angel, of whom St. Mark speaks, arose when the women went down into the sepulchre.It may be proper, and perhaps agreeable to the reader, to observe, that it cannot be objected to the description of our Lord’s sepulchre given above, that what is shewn at this day as his sepulchre is of a different form; for the real sepulchre, being originally a matter of private property, must have passed from one owner to another, and of course have undergone various changes; especially as it does not appear that the first Christians were led to preserve it, from that veneration for places and things which in latter ages engrossed the attention of the world. Besides, it should be considered, that though superstition taught Christians, very early, to venerate and perpetuate things of this kind; yet their enemies, on the other hand, would do what they could to destroy them, as having an apparent tendency to confirm the followers of the new religion in their opinions; and therefore, if our Lord’s sepulchre was visited by Christians before they obtained the protection of the civil government in Judea, the rulers would certainly destroy it. Nor is this supposition rendered improbable by the accounts which are given of the sepulchre, as subsisting in later times; for when the Roman empire became Christian, and superstition grew apace, the monks would repair the repository of our Lord’s body; or if it was entirely destroyed, would make a new one to supply its place. Farther, it ought to be considered, that although the sepulchre had actually subsisted safe till it came into the possession of the monks, it was liable to many accidents after that period: for during the wars which the Mahometans waged with the Christians about the possession of the Holy Land, it is natural to suppose, that when the former carried their victorious arms into Judea, they would destroy every monument of Christianity, as well as of learning. After they were driven out indeed, the Christians would be equally assiduous to repair the devastations occasioned by the Mahometans; and, in particular, they would take care not to be without the holy places, so necessary to the superstition of the times. What confirms this conjecture is, that in the description given of those places, as they now subsist, things evidently and grossly fictitious are found. For example, before our Lord’s sepulchre there lies a great marble stone, on which they affirm his body was anointed; and near at hand is another sepulchre, in which Joseph of Arimathea is said to have been buried: nay, they even shew the room where the Virgin Mary was saluted by the angel; with many other things, the knowledge of which could not possibly have been preserved during the course of so many ages, without such a series of miracles as we cannot by any means suppose, on account of things of so trifling a nature. Farther, it is certain, that the sepulchre in Bede’s time was different, not only from what it is at present, but from that which the evangelists have described: for he tells us, that the travellers of those days affirmed it had a niche, into which our Lord’s body was put; whereas from Joh 20:11-12 it appears that his body was laid on the floor.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

Ver. 4. Two men stood ] Two angels in the guise of men.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

4. ] . does not determine the position of the angels. It is merely came upon them under ordinary circumstances; appeared to them, in a supernatural connexion: see reff. On the two angels here, see note on Mar 16:5 ; to which I will just add, that the Harmonistic view, as represented by Greswell [Diss. vi., vol. 3], strangely enough puts together the angel in Matthew, and the angel in Mark, and makes the two angels in Luke: see Act 1:10 .

to all appearance; the Evangelist does not mean that they were such, as clearly appears from what follows.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 24:4 . , two men in appearance, but with angelic raiment ( ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

And it came to pass. A Hebraism.

as, &c. = in (Greek. en. App-104.) their being, &c.

thereabout = concerning this. Greek. peri. App-104.

behold. Greek idou. App-133. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.

men. Greek. Plural of aner. App-123. Not the same word as in Luk 24:7.

in. Greek. en. App-104. Not the same word as in verses: Luk 24:12, Luk 24:47.

shining = flashing as lightning. Occurs only here, andin Luk 17:24.

garments = splendid raiment. Only here.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

4.] . does not determine the position of the angels. It is merely came upon them under ordinary circumstances;-appeared to them, in a supernatural connexion: see reff. On the two angels here, see note on Mar 16:5; to which I will just add, that the Harmonistic view, as represented by Greswell [Diss. vi., vol. 3], strangely enough puts together the angel in Matthew, and the angel in Mark, and makes the two angels in Luke: see Act 1:10.

-to all appearance; the Evangelist does not mean that they were such, as clearly appears from what follows.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 24:4. , men) viz. angels. See Luk 24:23. Comp. Mat 28:5.[268]

[268] Where mention is made only of one angel, viz. the angel who spoke-E. and T.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

two men: Gen 18:2, Mat 28:2-6, Mar 16:5, Joh 20:11, Joh 20:12, Act 1:10 – see note on Mar 16:2.

Reciprocal: Mar 16:6 – he is risen Joh 1:51 – and the Act 10:30 – behold 1Ti 3:16 – seen Rev 15:6 – clothed Rev 19:8 – white

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

4

These men were angels in human form (Mat 28:2).

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Luk 24:4. Perplexed thereabout. A natural state of mind, even if they had some hope of His rising, for now He seemed lost to them. Comp. Mary Magdalenes expression (Joh 20:2-13).

Two men. This was the form of the angelic appearance.

Stood by them. As this word (comp. chap, Luk 2:9 : the angel of the Lord stood by them) does not necessarily imply a standing position, there is no difficulty in reconciling this with Mar 16:5.

In shining garments. The word used implies that the brilliancy was like that of lightning. At such a time the presence of a multitude of angels was, so to speak, natural, and hence a variety of appearances.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

ANGELS AT THE SEPULCHER

Mat 28:5-7; Luk 24:4-8; Mar 16:5-7 : Having come to the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right, clothed with a white robe; and they were affrighted. And he says to them, Be not alarmed; you are seeking Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified; He is risen; He is not here; behold the place where they laid Him. But go tell His disciples, and Peter, that He goes before you into Galilee; and there you shall see Him, as He said to you. Luke: And it came to pass, while they were at a loss concerning Him, and two men stood before them in shining apparel, they being afraid, and inclining their face toward the ground, he said to them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how He spoke to you, being yet in Galilee, saying that it behooves the Son of man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and to be crucified, and to arise the third day; and they remembered His words. These were angels in human form, and it is highly probable that Gabriel, who announced His conception, was one of them. We see here that these holy women were much alarmed, as in all ages it has been very trying to mortal nerves to meet glorified spirits. In this there is nothing condemnatory, but a demonstration of the simple fact of decisive, angelic superiority, so that their presence, when seen with mortal eyes, inundates us with the realization that we are actually in contact with the eternal world, and hence overawed, and even panic-stricken, by the certainty of the heavenly inhabitants literally present and looking us in the face. Here we observe an especial message sent to Peter, doubtless from the fact of the unhappy notoriety he gave himself by denying the Lord while under prosecution.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Only Luke mentioned that there were two angels. Probably God sent two to convince the women that Jesus really had arisen (Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15; cf. Luk 2:25-38; Luk 24:48; Act 1:8; Act 1:22; Act 2:32; Act 3:15; Act 5:32; et al.). They appeared to be men, but they were angels (Luk 24:23; Mat 28:5), as their dazzling apparel (Gr. astraptouse, cf. Luk 9:29; Mat 28:3; Act 1:10) undoubtedly indicated to the women. The women responded to these "men" as to divine messengers (cf. Luk 1:12; Luk 1:29; Luk 2:9; Luk 9:34).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)