Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 28:12
And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
And when they were assembled … – They deemed the matter of so much importance as to justify the calling together of the great council of the nation. Notwithstanding all their caution, it was plain that the body of Jesus was gone. It was further plain that the disciples would affirm that he was restored to life again. It was not improbable that Jesus would himself appear, and convince multitudes that he was the Messiah, and that the guilt of putting him to death would, after all their caution and cunning, be charged on them. They had been at great pains to procure his death. They had convinced Pilate that he was dead. They had placed a guard for the express purpose of preventing his being taken away. It would be in vain, after this, to pretend that he was not dead; that he was in a swoon; that he died in appearance only. They had shut themselves out from this, which would have been the most plausible plea, and, whatever course they might now adopt, they were obliged to proceed on the admission that he had been really dead, and that all proper measures had been taken to prevent his being stolen. They concluded, after consultation, that but one way was left – to bribe the soldiers – to induce them to tell a falsehood – and to attempt to convince the world that Jesus, in spite of themselves, and in the face of all probability, had been really stolen.
Large money – Much money. This was given to bribe them; to induce them to conceal the truth, and to affirm what they knew was false.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. With the elders] That is, the senators of the great Sanhedrin or Jewish council of state, elsewhere called the elders of the people; they could now meet, as the Sabbath was over.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
12. And when they were assembledwith the eldersBut Joseph at least was absent: Gamalielprobably also; and perhaps others.
and had taken counsel, theygave large money unto the soldiersIt would need a good deal;but the whole case of the Jewish authorities was now at stake. Withwhat contempt must these soldiers have regarded the Jewishecclesiastics!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when they were assembled with the elders,…. Upon this the grand sanhedrim was convened together, which consisted of the chief priests, Scribes, and elders;
and had taken counsel among themselves what steps to take to stifle this matter, that it might not spread and be believed by the people; they agreed upon this, as the best expedient, to bribe the soldiers to give a false account of it, as they did:
they gave large money unto the soldiers, or “sufficient money”; they gave large sums of money, as were enough to satisfy the soldiers; they gave them whatever they would have; for though these men were very covetous, yet upon this occasion gave liberally; and that perhaps which were for the sacrifices, or for the repair of the temple, or for the supply of the poor.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They gave large money ( ). The use of the plural for pieces of silver () is common. The papyri have many instances of for considerable (from , to reach to, attain to). These pious Sanhedrists knew full well the power of bribes. They make a contract with the Roman soldiers to tell a lie about the resurrection of Jesus as they paid Judas money to betray him. They show not the slightest tendency to be convinced by the facts though one had risen from the dead.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Large money [ ] . Lit., sufficient money. Enough to bribe them to invent a lie.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
(12) When they were assembled.Obviously the chief priests to whom the soldiers had told their tale.
And had taken counsel.Better, as before in Mat. 27:1; Mat. 27:7, having held a council. It was a formal, though probably, as before, a packed, meeting of the Sanhedrin. They decided on the ready expedients of bribery and falsehood. The fact that the chief priests were Sadducees, and therefore specially interested in guarding against what would appear as a contradiction of their main dogma, must not be forgotten, as in part determining their action. (Comp. Acts 4:42.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Assembled with the elders This was no doubt an informal meeting, not of the full Sanhedrim, but of the special enemies of Jesus. Gave large money That is, amply sufficient to secure their fidelity. This might not require so very much, for it is plain that their security from punishment for remissness depended on the success of the Jews in keeping Pilate uninformed or propitiated.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money to the soldiers.’
As a result the Chief Priests called an emergency meeting of some of the Sanhedrin in order to discuss what they should do. The conclusion that they came to was that they should bribe the soldiers to lie on their behalf, and to this end they gave them much money. They were not to be bought cheaply.
There is disagreement about whether these soldiers were Roman soldiers or Temple servants. There are a number of things in favour of their being Temple servants.
* Firstly they had reported back to the Chief Priests and not to Pilate. That could also have been true of Roman soldiers who had been allocated to act on the Chief Priests behalf, but it is suggestive. Indeed there is a good case for suggesting that had Roman soldiers been involved they would simply have sealed up the tomb and pretended that nothing had happened, hoping that no one else knew (they would have nothing to lose by doing so, and everything to gain). They would be in a dreadful fix and would consider it quite probable that no one would look in it again for a long time, by which time no one would know when it had happened. And they would not have considered the possibility of a resurrection. It was only Jews who would have an interest in what the empty tomb might mean, and would probably want to report back what had happened, who would behave in the way described here. (Compare how continuing interest was also restricted to Jews – Mat 28:13).
* Secondly they were prepared to admit to neglect of duty in return for a bribe. It is doubtful if a Roman soldier would ever have dared to do such a thing. His punishment would have been too severe. To suggest that such a crime would be overlooked by the military is unlikely indeed. Nor would any such soldier have wanted to spread a rumour around pointing to his misdemeanour. It would be asking for trouble, for it would certainly get back to their commanders. However, for supporters of the Chief Priests, the spreading of such rumours at their request would have been considered a good thing, although they would have wanted well paying for their trouble.
* Thirdly, if they had been Roman soldiers who were considered to have failed in their duty by falling asleep it is questionable whether the Chief Priests could have spoken with such confidence about getting them excused, for it would be a military matter, and such behaviour was looked on very seriously and was usually punishable by death. But it is quite conceivable that they would have confidence that they could obtain pardon for their own men who had failed, even though they were temporarily acting on Pilate’s behalf. They could do so on the grounds that they were not used to doing such guard duty and were exhausted after the events of the previous days and nights of being involved in monitoring the pilgrims over the feast days.
* Fourthly, only ‘some’ of the soldiers reported back. This suggests that the whole contingent consisted of at least six or seven, if not more. It is quite frankly doubtful if six or seven Roman soldiers would be allocated to such an unimportant task. It was not the Romans who were fearful of what would happen, it was the Chief Priests.
Against this idea of their being Temple guards is that they are called ‘soldiers’. But it would seem probable that armed guards in the Temple would often popularly be called soldiers by people like Matthew, just as Herod would have his own soldiers. Soldiers were not limited to the Roman army. The other point that may be raised is as to why if they were the High Priest’s soldiers they were accountable to Pilate. But we have to recognise that the Chief Priests had made a commitment to guard the tomb. If it ever came to his attention that they had failed they would therefore be accountable to Pilate however little he might in fact have cared about the matter, for he was the one on whom any blame would finally fall.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 28:12 ff. ] Change of subject. Winer, p. 586 [E. T. 787].
. ] after consulting together , as in Mat 12:14 , Mat 22:15 , Mat 27:1 ; Mat 27:7 . The conjunctive particle has the same force as in Mat 27:48 , and occurs nowhere else in Matthew; found so much the more frequently in Luke’s writings, especially in the Acts.
] as in Mat 26:15 , Mat 27:3 ; Mat 27:5 ; Mat 27:9 . Silver pieces , a sufficient number of shekels.
, . . .] an infelix astutia (Augustine), seeing that they could not possibly know what had taken place while they were sleeping.
Mat 28:14 . ] coram procuratore . is not to be understood, with the majority of expositors, merely in the sense of: to come to the ears of , which is inadmissible on account of (for in that case Matthew would have simply written: , or used the passive with the dative ), but in the judicial sense (Joh 7:51 ; Xen. Cyrop . i. 2. 14, and frequently): if this comes to be inquired into, if an investigation into this matter should take place before the procurator. Erasmus: “si res apud illum judicem agatur.” Comp. Vatablus and Bleek.
] with a self-important emphasis. Comp. in the next clause.
] we will persuade him, i.e. satisfy, appease him (see on Gal 1:10 ), in order, that is, that he may not punish you; see what follows.
] free from all concern (1Co 7:32 ), and, in the present instance, in the objective sense: free from danger and all unpleasant consequences (Herodian, ii. 4. 3).
Mat 28:15 . .] as they had been instructed , Herod. iii. 134.
] not: “the whole narrative” (Paulus), but, as the context requires (Mat 28:13 ), this story of the alleged stealing of the body . The industrious circulation of this falsehood is also mentioned by Justin, c. Tr. xvii. 108. For an abominable expansion of it, as quoted from the Toledoth Jeschu , see Eisenmenger’s entdeckt. Judenth . I. p. 190 ff. For , see Lobeck, Paral . p. 534.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
12 And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
Ver. 12. They gave large money ] q.d. We know that you soldiers are good fellows, and both love and lack money. Now if you will but say thus and thus, you shall have a round sum paid you down in ready cash, &c. And what will not such men say or do for money? Pecunia avidos fecit forma mendacii industrios, iam illa promissio temerarios, saith Aretius.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12. ] , i.e. , a change of the subject of the sentence as in Luk 19:4 a [195] . This was a meeting of the Sanhedrim, but surely hardly an official and open one; does not the form of the narrative rather imply that it was a secret compact between those (the majority) who were bitterly hostile to Jesus? The circumstance that Joseph had taken no part in their counsel before, leads us to think that others may have withdrawn themselves from the meeting, e.g. Gamaliel, who could hardly have consented to such a measure as this.
[195] alii = some cursive mss.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 28:12 . ; the holy men thoroughly understand the power of money; silver pieces, shekels are meant. probably means here a considerable number, not a number sufficient to bribe the soldiers (Meyer and Weiss). They gave with a free hand. This sense of is frequent in the N. T. Vide , e.g. , Mar 10:46 , of the crowd following Jesus at Jericho, and Act 27:9 (of time).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
large = sufficient: i.e. to bribe them with.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] , i.e. , a change of the subject of the sentence as in Luk 19:4 a[195]. This was a meeting of the Sanhedrim, but surely hardly an official and open one; does not the form of the narrative rather imply that it was a secret compact between those (the majority) who were bitterly hostile to Jesus? The circumstance that Joseph had taken no part in their counsel before, leads us to think that others may have withdrawn themselves from the meeting, e.g. Gamaliel, who could hardly have consented to such a measure as this.
[195] alii = some cursive mss.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 28:12. , money sufficient) i.e., to corrupt the Roman soldiers, and induce them to lie contrary to the truth, at their own great peril.[1229]
[1229] The greed of gold has more power with them than their fear spoken of in Mat 28:4.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 26:3, Mat 26:4, Mat 27:1, Mat 27:2, Mat 27:62-64, Psa 2:1-7, Joh 11:47, Joh 12:10, Joh 12:11, Act 4:5-22, Act 5:33, Act 5:34, Act 5:40
Reciprocal: Act 5:23 – The prison Act 6:11 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:12
Gave the money unto the soldiers means the men who had been appointed to guard the grave from disturbance by the disciples.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 28:12. Taken counsel. This was a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Whether public or secret, regular or specially called to meet this emergency, is unknown.
They, i.e., the chief priests and elders.
Gave large money. More than they gave Judas. This is the lowest depth of their malice; and a humiliating position.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 28:12-14. And when they were assembled, &c. The chief priests, having received this report, called the whole senate together, and they consulted among themselves what they should do in this perplexing emergency: and in particular, as may be reasonably supposed, whether they should dismiss the guards with a charge to conceal the story they had told them, or should accuse them to the governor, and attempt to get them punished for neglect of duty. But, considering the manner in which the governor had appeared to be affected toward Jesus, and the many prodigies which had attended his death, and also knowing they had no positive proof of any negligence or treachery in the soldiers; they resolved to decline commencing a prosecution against them, and even to pass the affair over without any complaint; but, apprehending that the most effectual method they could take would be to endeavour to pervert the evidence of these soldiers, they gave them large money, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept To prevail with them to propagate this lie, they would doubtless urge, that in whatever way this strange occurrence which they reported might be accounted for, whether by supposing some diabolical operation in the case, or an illusion of their senses, it was necessary for the public safety that it should be concealed, because that otherwise the whole nation would be deluded and undone. The priests certainly could not but foresee what judgment any reasonable persons would form of such a report. At best, it could only be considered as the conjecture of the soldiers, who, by their own confession, being asleep when the supposed fact was said to take place, could tell no more of it than other people; or, if they pretended to say more, it was absurd, for how could they know what was doing, and by whom, while they were asleep? or, knowing it, why did they not prevent it? But this lie implies divers other absurdities: 1st, It was not probable that a Roman guard should be off their watch at all, much less that they should be asleep, since for such a neglect of duty, according to the Roman military laws, if discovered, they would have been liable to be punished with death. 2d, If even some of them had slept, it was not credible that they all should, especially in the open air, and at one time. 3d, If so improbable a thing as that had happened, it was still more incredible that they should all fall into such a sound sleep that not one of them should be awaked by the noise which must necessarily have been made by removing so large a stone, and carrying away the body; neither of which things could possibly have been done silently, or by men walking on tiptoes, to prevent discovery. 4th, It was equally incredible that our Lords disciples, or any persons, should have had time to come to the sepulchre to do all this, and return, carrying away the body, without being perceived by any one, and that during the time of the passover, when it was full moon, and when Jerusalem was very full of people, great numbers of whom would doubtless be walking in the suburbs and environs of the city, at all hours of the night.
The absurdity of the tale, that the disciples took away the body, will still further and more clearly appear if we attend to their temper, and some other circumstances of the case. Far from entertaining any expectation of their Masters rising again from the dead, they understood none of the predictions which he uttered concerning it. And when they were informed of it by the women, their words appeared to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Nay, when Jesus himself came and stood in the midst of them, they were terrified, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. In this temper, is it probable that they would form the design of imposing upon the world the belief of their Masters resurrection; an event which they had not the least expectation of themselves? Further, when Jesus was apprehended, his disciples were so full of fears for their own safety, that they all forsook him and fled. One of the most courageous of them, who followed him into the high-priests house, being asked if he was one of his disciples, was so terrified, that he denied three times, and with oaths, his having any knowledge of him. The rest, during his punishment, skulked among the crowd, except John, who ventured to appear among the women at his cross. In the whole, they were only eleven; a handful of men who had not been trained to arms. To suppose that a company of this sort either formed or executed the project of stealing away their Masters body, from a sepulchre hewn out of a rock, to which there was only one entry, and that guarded by a numerous band of armed soldiers, is altogether improbable. Again, the stealing away of the body by the disciples is absurd for this reason likewise, that though they had, contrary to all probability, been successful in their design, it would have answered no purpose in the world. The disciples had all along considered the Messiah as a great temporal prince; and they had followed their Master in hopes that he would become this great prince, and raise them to the first posts in his kingdom. Accordingly, when they saw him expire on the cross, their hopes were all blasted at once. This they themselves honestly confessed; We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. Wherefore, to have stolen away the dead body of their Master, could have served none of the views by which they were now actuated, even though thereby they could have imposed the belief of his resurrection upon the world. It did not raise him to universal dominion; it did not put them in possession of riches or power. And with respect to the use which they made afterward of their Masters resurrection, in converting the world, they had not the most distant conception of it at the time they fixed for his resurrection. Upon the whole, the stealing away of the body by the disciples while the guards slept, is, in all the lights wherein it can be viewed, the most idle, inconsistent, and improbable story imaginable. Macknight.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The action of these Sanhedrin members proves that their promise to believe in Jesus if He would come down from the cross was hypocritical (cf. Mat 27:42; Luk 24:13-32). They continued to show more concern for their own reputations and what was expedient than for the truth.
Their devised story was a weak one that a critic might easily discredit. If the guards had been asleep, they could not have known of the theft. If one of them was awake, why did he not sound an alarm? It was also incredible that the disciples who had abandoned Jesus out of fear would have summoned enough courage to risk opening the guarded tomb. Moreover, if the Sanhedrin had any evidence against the disciples, they surely would have prosecuted them, but they did not.
Molesting graves was sometimes punishable with death in the ancient Near East. [Note: Cf. Bruce M. Metzger, "The Nazareth Inscription Once Again," in Jesus und Paulus, pp. 221-38.] Consequently Jesus’ enemies resorted to bribery to shut the mouths of the soldiers, and later Pilate, if necessary. Previously they had been willing to pay Judas money to protect their interests (Mat 26:15).