Matthew 27:62-66

The Guard at the Tomb

27:62 The ¹  next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees ²  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 ³  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 ⁴  a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” 27:66 So ⁵  they went with the soldiers ⁶  of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

[27:62]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:62]  ² sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[27:64]  ³ tn Grk “him.”

[27:65]  ⁴ tn Grk “You have a guard.”

[27:66]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Pilate’s order.

[27:66]  ⁶ 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.