Matthew 27:59-66

27:59 Joseph ¹  took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ²  27:60 and placed it ³  in his own new tomb that he had cut in the rock. ⁴  Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance ⁵  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 ⁶  next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees ⁷  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 ⁸  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 ⁹  a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” 27:66 So ¹⁰  they went with the soldiers ¹¹  of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

[27:59]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:59]  ² tn The term σινδών (sindwn) can refer to a linen cloth used either for clothing or for burial.

[27:60]  ³ 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.

[27:60]  ⁴ tn That is, cut or carved into an outcropping of natural rock, resulting in a cave-like structure (see L&N 19.25).

[27:60]  ⁵ tn Or “to the door,” “against the door.”

[27:62]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:62]  ⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[27:64]  ⁸ tn Grk “him.”

[27:65]  ⁹ tn Grk “You have a guard.”

[27:66]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Pilate’s order.

[27:66]  ¹¹ 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.