Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 27:65
Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make [it] as sure as ye can.
65. Ye have a watch ] The meaning is either (1) that Pilate refuses the request; “Ye have a watch of your own” ( a) the Levitical temple guard, or ( b) a small body of soldiers whom Pilate may have already placed at their disposal or (2) he grants it curtly and angrily, “Take a watch; begone.”
The latter view is generally adopted now. It seems quite clear from ch. Mat 28:14 that the guard was of Roman soldiers.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ye have a watch – The Jews had a guard of Roman soldiers, who kept watch in the tower of Antonia, on the northwest of the temple. Pilate either referred to these, or to the watch that attended the crucifixion – the whole band that had been appointed for that. As the torments of crucifixion sometimes lasted many days, the band had been probably granted to them during that time, and they were therefore still at the direction of the chief priests.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 65. Ye have a watch] The Jews had a corps of Roman troops, consisting of several companies, as a guard for the temple, Ac 4:1. These companies mounted guard by turns, see Lu 22:4. Some of these companies, which were not then on duty, Pilate gave them leave to employ to watch the tomb.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
65. Pilate said unto them, Ye have awatchThe guards had already acted under orders of theSanhedrim, with Pilate’s consent; but probably they were not clearabout employing them as a night watch without Pilate’s expressauthority.
go your way, make it as sureas ye canas ye know how, or in the way ye deem securest.Though there may be no irony in this speech, it evidently insinuatedthat if the event should be contrary to their wish, it wouldnot be for want of sufficient human appliances to prevent it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Pilate said unto them, ye have a watch,…. Meaning either the watch of the temple, said to be placed in the tower of Antonia, for the service of it: hence mention is made of the captain of the temple, Ac 4:1, but it is not likely they would remove the temple guards, to watch a sepulchre night and day: or rather, therefore, the soldiers that had had the care of the crucifixion of Christ, and watched him on the cross, are designed: the words may be read imperatively, “have yea watch”, or “take a watch”, as the Ethiopic version renders it, and which seems best; for if they had a watch already, what occasion had they to have applied to Pilate for one? but having none, he gives them leave to take one, or such a number of soldiers as were sufficient:
go your way; as fast as you can, take the watch as soon as you please, make no stay, but satisfy yourselves in this point:
make [it] as sure as you can; or, as you know how to do it, and what will be proper and necessary.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Make it as sure as you can ( ). “Make it secure for yourselves (ingressive aorist middle) as you know how.”
Have a guard ( ), present imperative, a guard of Roman soldiers, not mere temple police. The Latin term koustodia occurs in an Oxyrhynchus papyrus of A.D. 22. “The curt permission to the Jews whom he despised is suitable in the mouth of the Roman official” (McNeile).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Ye have [] . Or, as some render, imperatively : Have a guard ! Rev., in margin, take.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
65. You have a guard. By these words, Pilate means that he grants their request by permitting them to post soldiers to keep watch. This, permission bound them more firmly, so that they could not escape by any evasion; for though they were not ashamed to break out against Christ after his resurrection, yet with Pilate’s signet they as truly shut their own mouths as they shut up the sepulcher.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(65) Ye have a watch.Better, Take ye a guard. The Greek verb may be either imperative or indicative. The former gives the better meaning. The watch, or guard, was a body of Roman soldiers (St. Matthew uses the Latin term custodia), who could not be set to such a task without Pilates permission. If the priests had had such a guard at their disposal before, there would have been no need for them to apply to Pilate.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
65. Ye have a watch The imperative construction which the Greek verb would bear, Have a watch, is not natural. Yet the indicative mood of the verb possesses essentially the same force as the imperative. The Jews desired that a custodia or guard of Roman soldiers should be placed at their command to watch the body. Pilate gives his consent by reminding them that they have one already; alluding probably to the quaternion who watched the crucifixion. Compare Act 12:4 and Joh 19:23. The Jews by this measure intended to prevent the existence of any proof of the divinity of Christ, but they furnished in fact, by their precaution, an additional confirmation. Here, as previously, Pilate appears chary of having any thing to do in the transaction, and determined to leave all action and responsibility with them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Pilate said to them, “You have a guard (or ‘Have a guard’), go, make it as sure as you can.” ’
It is difficult to believe that Pilate would have taken them too seriously, even if he was still disturbed by his encounter with Jesus. He would certainly have been cynical about the idea of a crucified man rising from the dead. Such a thing had never happened before to his knowledge. And besides, once a man had been crucified even if he survived, he would be a hopeless cripple. He would also indeed certainly be cynical about the idea of anyone rising from the dead. Thus he would probably have seen the idea that someone would steal the body and make such a claim as so fantastic that it could not really be taken seriously. And if he did think about his encounter with Jesus at all, and considered that it might just be possible that He might rise from the dead, he would probably have rather wanted to see what did happen, not have tried to prevent it. So it is difficult to see how he could have taken the whole idea too seriously, or have considered that anyone else would take it seriously. Thus we should almost certainly see Pilate’s words as being in the indicative as indicating that they should set their own guard. He would not want Rome to become a laughingstock. This would also explain why the guard that was set later reported back to the Chief Priests (Mat 28:11).
However the verb could be seen as an imperative and as therefore telling them to take a Roman guard for the purpose, and some have argued for this position. This latter position might be seen as being supported by the fact that the guards are later called ‘soldiers’. But it must be seen as quite probable that the Chief Priests loosely considered that some of their own guards could be seen as ‘soldiers’. They would see it as prestigious to have their own ‘soldiers’. And certainly the common people would have seen armed men in these terms. Thus the word cannot necessarily be pressed too specifically. It is not, however, overly important which they were. What is more important is that the guard was set. But even without it no one could seriously suggest that the disciples had stolen the body and then gone out into the wider world and convinced everyone of the resurrection, and even less established a movement that changed the world. Anyone who could believe that could believe anything.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 27:65. Pilate said unto them, ye have a watch See Mat 27:54. Pilate, thinking their request reasonable, allowed them to take as many soldiers as they pleased out of the cohort, which at the feast came from the castle Antonia, and kept guard in the porticoes of the temple; for, that they were not Jewish but Roman soldiers, whom the priests employed to watch the sepulchre, is evident from their asking them of the governor. Besides, when the soldiers returned with the news of Christ’s resurrection, the priests desired them to report, that the disciples had stolen him away while they slept; and, to encourage them to tell the falsehood boldly, promised that if their neglect of duty came to the governor’s ear, proper means should be used to pacify him, and to keep them safe; a promise which there was no need of making to their own servants. See Josephus’s Antiq. L. 20: 100: 4.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 27:65 f. Pilate’s reply is sharp and peremptory.
] with Luther, Vatablus, Wolf, Paulus, de Wette, Keim, Steinmeyer, is to be taken as an imperative, habetote (comp. Xen. Cyrop . viii. 7. 11; Mar 9:50 ; Mar 11:22 ; Soph. Phil. 778): ye shall have a watch ! For if it be taken as an indicative , as is generally done in conformity with the Vulgate, we must not suppose that the reference is to Roman soldiers (Grotius, Fritzsche), for the Sanhedrim had not any such placed at their disposal, not even to the detachment that guarded the cross (Kuinoel), for its duties were now over, but simply to the ordinary temple guards . But it is evident from Mat 28:14 that it was not these latter who were set to watch the grave. This duty was assigned to a company of Roman soldiers, which company the Acta Pil . magnifies into a cohort.
] as , by such means as, ye know how to prevent it, i.e. in the best way you can. The idea: “vereor autem, ut satis communire illud possitis” (Fritzsche), is foreign to the text.
] belongs to . . .; they secured the grave by means of (Stallbaum, ad Plat. Rep . p. 530 D) the watch , which they posted in front of it. The intervening . . . is to be understood as having preceded the . . . . .: after they had sealed the stone. To connect . . with . (Chrysostom) would result either in the feeble and somewhat inappropriate idea that the watch had helped them with the sealing (Bleek), or in the harsh and unnecessary assumption that our expression is an abbreviation for (Fritzsche).
.] Comp. Dan 6:17 . The sealing was effected by stretching a cord across the stone at the mouth of the sepulchre, and then fastening it to the rock at either end by means of sealing-clay (Paulsen, Regier. d. Morgenl. p. 298; Harmar, Bcobacht . II. p. 467); or if the stone at the door happened to be fastened with a cross-beam, this latter was sealed to the rock (Strauss, Sinai und Golgatha , p. 205).
REMARK.
As it is certain that Jesus cannot have predicted His resurrection in any explicit or intelligible manner even to His own disciples; as, moreover, it is impossible to suppose that the women who visited the grave on the resurrection morning could have contemplated embalming the body, or would have concerned themselves merely about how the stone was to be rolled away, if they had been aware that a watch had been set, and that the grave had been sealed; and finally, as the supposition that Pilate complied with the request for a guard, or at all events, that the members of the Sanhedrim so little understood their own interest as both to leave the body of Jesus in the hands of His followers instead of taking possession of it themselves, and to bribe the soldiers to give false testimony instead of duly calling them to account, as they might have done, for their culpable neglect, is in the highest degree improbable, just as much so as the idea that the procurator would be likely to take no notice of a dereliction of duty on the part of his own soldiers, who, by maintaining the truth of a very stupid fabrication, would only be proclaiming how much they themselves were to blame in the matter: it follows that the story about the watching of the grave a story which is further disproved by the fact that nowhere in the discussions belonging to the apostolic age do we find any reference confirmatory or otherwise to the alleged stealing of the body must be referred to the category of unhistorical legend . And a clue to the origin of this legend is furnished by the evangelist himself in mentioning the rumour about the stealing of the body, a rumour emanating to all appearance from a Jewish source, and circulated with the hostile intention of disproving the resurrection of Jesus (Paulus, exeg. Handb . III. p. 837 ff.; Strauss, II. p. 562 ff.; Schleiermacher, L. J . p. 458 ff.; Weisse, Ewald, Hase, Bleek, Keim, Scholten, Hilgenfeld). The arguments advanced by Hug in the Freyburg. Zeitschr . 1831, 3, p. 184 ff.; 5, p. 80 ff.; Kuinoel, Hofmann, Krabbe, Ebrard, Lange, Riggenbach, Steinmeyer, against the supposition of a legend, resolve themselves into arbitrary assumptions and foreign importations which simply leave the matter as historically incomprehensible as ever. The same thing may be said with regard to the emendation which Olshausen takes the liberty of introducing, according to which it is made to appear that the Sanhedrim did not act in their corporate capacity, but that the affair was managed simply on the authority of Caiaphas alone. Still the unhistorical character of the story by no means justifies the assumption of an interpolation (in opposition to Stroth in Eichhorn’s Repert . IX. p. 141), an interpolation, too, that would have had to be introduced into three different passages (Mat 27:62 ; Mat 27:66 , Mat 28:4 ; Mat 28:11 ff.); yet one can understand how this apocryphal story should have most readily engrafted itself specially and exclusively upon the Gospel of Matthew, a Gospel originating in Judaeo-Christian circles, and having, by this time, the more developed form in which it has come down to us. For a further amplification of the legend, see Ev. Nicod . 14.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
Ver. 65. Pilate said unto them ] He was willing to please both sides; and therefore condescends both to Joseph of Arimathea for his burial, and to the priests for securing the sepulchre. , erat utpote qui ab omnibus gratiam inire cupiebat; quales quidam per iocum placentas dixit. But if I yet please men, saith Paul, as once I did when I was a Pharisee, “I am no more the servant of Christ,” Gal 1:10 . He scorns that such base deceit should be found in his followers,Col 2:8Col 2:8 . Mordecai will not crouch or curry favour, to die for it. Micaiah will not budge, though sure to kiss the stocks for his stiffness.
Ye have a watch ] Appointed for the use and service of the temple, a band of garrison soldiers who had their captain, Act 4:1 , and are here set to watch that true temple, wherein “the Godhead dwelt bodily,” i.e. personally.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
65. ] either 1), indicative, Ye have: but then the question arises, What guard had they? and if they had one, why go to Pilate? Perhaps we must understand some detachment placed at their disposal during the feast but there does not seem to be any record of such a practice. That the guards were under the Sanhedrim is plain from ch. Mat 28:11 , where they make their report (‘ut mos militi, factum esse quod imperasset,’ Tacitus, Ann. i. 6), not to Pilate , but to the chief priests : or 2), as De Wette and Meyer take it, imperative; which doubtless it may be, see 2Ti 1:13 and note: and the sense here on that hypothesis would be, Take a body of men for a guard. And this latter I now rather incline, on account of the order of the words, in which seems to have an emphasis hardly satisfied on the other view.
] as you know how: in the best manner you can. There is no irony in the words, as has been supposed.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 27:65 . : probably imperative, not indicative = have your watch, the ready assent of a man who thinks there is not likely to be much need for it, but has no objections to gratify their wish in a small matter. So most recent interpreters Meyer, Weiss, Holtz., Weizscker, Morison, Spk., Com. , Alford. The Vulgate takes it as indicative = habetis , which Schanz follows. This rendering implies that Pilate wished them to be content with what they had already, either their own temple watch or soldiers already put at their disposal. Carr (Camb. N. T.) doubts the correctness of the modern interpretation on the ground that no clear example of the use of in the sense of “to take” occurs in either classical or Hellenistic Greek. , a guard, a Latinism, a natural word for the Roman Pilate to use. , the three verbs: . . ., following each other without connecting particles form an asyndeton “indicating impatience on the part of Pilate” (Camb. N. T.). , as ye know how.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Ye have. Or, Ye may have.
a watch = a guard: the word being a transliteration of the Latin custodia, consisting of four soldiers (Act 12:4). See note there. Greek. koustodia. Occurs only in Matthew (here, and in Mat 28:11).
can = know [how]. Greek. oida. App-132.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
65.] -either 1), indicative, Ye have:-but then the question arises, What guard had they? and if they had one, why go to Pilate? Perhaps we must understand some detachment placed at their disposal during the feast-but there does not seem to be any record of such a practice. That the guards were under the Sanhedrim is plain from ch. Mat 28:11, where they make their report (ut mos militi, factum esse quod imperasset, Tacitus, Ann. i. 6), not to Pilate, but to the chief priests:-or 2), as De Wette and Meyer take it, imperative; which doubtless it may be, see 2Ti 1:13 and note: and the sense here on that hypothesis would be, Take a body of men for a guard. And this latter I now rather incline, on account of the order of the words, in which seems to have an emphasis hardly satisfied on the other view.
] as you know how:-in the best manner you can. There is no irony in the words, as has been supposed.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 27:65. , …, ye have, etc.) Pilate gives the guards quickly: and yet, as it were with indignation (cf. ch. Mat 28:11-12), dismisses the calumniators quickly also.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
make: Mat 28:11-15, Psa 76:10, Pro 21:30
Reciprocal: Mat 28:4 – the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:65
Pilate reminded them of the watch in existence already, which consisted of various regulations as to the number of men to be on the watch at a time and the number of hours each group was required to be on duty. In addition to this, Pilate authorized them to make the tomb as secure as possible.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 27:65. Ye have a guard, or, have a guard, i.e., I permit you to take one. The Roman soldiers, who certainly composed the guard (chap. Mat 28:14), were not under their command.
Make it sure as ye know how. Not as sure as ye can, nor is it at all ironical. He gives them the guard, and they are to use the means as they think best. Pilate shirks the responsibility, but again gives way. Yet this was overruled for good.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
27:65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a {f} watch: go your way, make [it] as sure as ye can.
(f) The soldiers of the garrison who were appointed to guard the temple.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Pilate refused to assign his own troops to guard Jesus’ tomb, but he allowed the Jewish leaders to use their temple guards for this purpose (cf. Mat 28:11). Pilate’s reply was probably cynical. These men had feared Jesus when He was alive, and now they feared His disciples after He was dead. Pilate did not think the chance that Jesus’ disciples would steal His body was very great. The chief priests and Pharisees secured the tomb by posting their guards at the site and by putting an official wax seal on the stone door (cf. Psa 2:4).
This pericope stresses the corruptness of Israel’s rulers and their willful rejection of Jesus. [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 314.] It also shows that Jesus was definitely dead.
"The incongruous, ironical result is that the opponents took Jesus’ words about rising from the dead more seriously than did the disciples." [Note: Hagner, Matthew 14-28, p. 864.]