Text -- Matthew 27:60-66 (NET)

27:60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut in the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. 27:61 (Now Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there, opposite the tomb.)

The Guard at the Tomb

27:62 The next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate 27:63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 27:64 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 27:65 Pilate said to them, “Take a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” 27:66 So they went with the soldiers of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mat 27:60

¹ tc ‡ αὐτό (auto, “it”) is found after ἔθηκεν (eqhken, “placed”) in the majority of witnesses, including many important ones, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is read by א L Θ Ë¹³ 33 892 pc). Regardless of which reading is original (though with a slight preference for the shorter reading), English style requires the pronoun. NA²⁷ includes αὐτό here, no doubt due to the overwhelming external attestation.

² tn That is, cut or carved into an outcropping of natural rock, resulting in a cave-like structure (see L&N 19.25).

³ tn Or “to the door,” “against the door.”

NET Notes: Mat 27:62

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

NET Notes: Mat 27:64

¹ tn Grk “him.”

NET Notes: Mat 27:65

¹ tn Grk “You have a guard.”

NET Notes: Mat 27:66

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Pilate’s order.

² tn Grk “with the guard.” The words “soldiers of the” have been supplied in the translation to prevent “guard” from being misunderstood as a single individual.