Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
| Word | Greek | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now | δὲ de | G1161 | but · conjunction |
| day | ἐπαύριον epaurion | G1887 | occurring on the succeeding day · adverb |
| that | ἥτις hētis | G3748 | which some · relative pronoun — nominative singular feminine |
| followed | ἐστί estí | G2076 | he (she or it) is |
| preparation | παρασκευήν, paraskeuēn | G3904 | readiness · noun — accusative singular feminine |
| priests | ἀρχιερεῖς archiereis | G749 | the high-priest (literally · noun — nominative plural masculine |
| and | καὶ kai | G2532 | and · conjunction |
| Pharisees | Φαρισαῖοι Pharisaioi | G5330 | a separatist · noun — nominative plural masculine, a title |
| together | συνήχθησαν sunēchthēsan | G4863 | to lead together · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person plural |
| unto | πρὸς pros | G4314 | a preposition of direction · preposition |
| Pilate | Πιλᾶτον Pilaton | G4091 | close-pressed · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name |
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation--that is, after six o'clock of our Saturday evening. The crucifixion took place on the Friday and all was not over till shortly before sunset, when the Jewish sabbath commenced; and "that sabbath day was an high day" (Joh 19:31), being the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. That day being over at six on Saturday evening, they hastened to take their measures.
Now the next day that followed the day of preparation,.... Which was the sabbath day; for the day of preparation was the day before the sabbath, Mark 15:42, in which they prepared every thing necessary for the sabbath, and therefore was so called: and as this introduces the account of the chief priests and Pharisees, making application to Pilate, to secure the sepulchre; and which by his leave they did, by sealing the stone, and setting a guard about the sepulchre; it shows what consciences these men had, who accused the disciples of Christ of a violation of the sabbath, for plucking a few ears of corn on that day; and sought to kill Jesus, because he healed a man on it, and bid him take up…
Read the whole note in the consoleMatthew 27:62-66 Matthew 27:62-66 62. And the next day, which is after the preparation, [297] the chief priests and Pharisees came to Pilate, 63. Saying, Sir, we remember that that impostor said, while he was still alive, After three days I shall rise again. 64. Command, therefore, that the sepulcher be made secure till the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come by night to steal him, and say to the people, He is risen from the dead; and the last error shall be worse than the first. 65. Pilate saith to them, You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you can. 66. And they went and made the sepulcher secures sealing the stone, and posting guards. Matthew 27:62. And the next day. In thi…
Read the whole note in the consoleBy the Parasceve is meant 'preparation;' and they gave this name to the sixth day of the week, on which they made ready the things needed for the Sabbath, as was commanded respecting the manna, On the sixth day they gathered twice as much. (Exod. 16:22.) Because on the sixth day man was made, and on the seventh God rested; therefore on the sixth day Jesus died for man, and rested the Sabbath day in the tomb.
But on the next day, which is after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying: Lord, we have recalled that that deceiver said while he was still alive: after the third day I will rise again. Command therefore that the tomb be guarded until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come and steal him away and say to the people: he has risen from the dead; and the last error will be worse than the first. But Pilate said to them: you have guards; go, guard it as you know how. And they, going, secured the tomb, sealing the stone, together with the guards. It is reasonable to question the chief priests, who came to Pilate to say the things they said: tell me, priests, when Jesus had said, "destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days," with what intent do you suppose he said this? Concerning the dissolution and resurrection "of his own body," or concerning the destruction and restoration of the temple itself? For if you understood it thus, that he was saying these things about his own resurrection, how is it that, giving testimony against him, you said that "this man said: I can destroy this temple and rebuild it in three days"? But if you truly understood it about that temple, according to which you also gave your testimony, how then do you now know that he said he would rise "after three days" from the dead? See therefore how impiety wars against itself by its own words. For through these words they themselves condemn that testimony of theirs, since, truly understanding him to be saying those things about the resurrection "of his own body" and knowing it, they turned his words toward the destruction and restoration of that insensible temple. But further I ask: what are you saying, priests? Surely that he was telling men, "after three days I will rise again," and secretly he was charging his disciples to steal him away by night and say after three days that he has risen from the dead? But this very thing is incredible on its own account: that, after so many moral discourses which he taught before all the people, and after such and so great mighty works which he displayed everywhere throughout all Judea, he would deceive his own disciples with words, so that they too would blame the one giving such commands, and therefore would by no means do what he commanded—especially on account of the danger…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
This incident bolsters the truth of Jesus’ resurrection—it is inconceivable that Matthew would fabricate such a story since witnesses abounded who could have countered the claims.
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
Everywhere deceit recoils upon itself, and against its will supports the truth. And observe. It was necessary for it to be believed that He died, and that He rose again, and that He was buried, and all these things are brought to pass by His enemies. See, at any rate, these words bearing witness to every one of these facts. "We remember," these are the words, "that that deceiver said, when He was yet alive," (He was therefore now dead), "After three days I rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be sealed," (He was therefore buried), "lest His disciples come and steal Him away." So that if the sepulchre be sealed, there will be no unfair dealing. For there could not be. So then the proof of His resurrection has become incontrovertible by what ye have put forward. For because it was sealed, there was no unfair dealing. But if there was no unfair dealing, and the sepulchre was found empty, it is manifest that He is risen, plainly and incontrovertibly. Seest thou, how even against their will they contend for the proof of the truth? But mark thou, I pray thee, the disciples' love of truth, how they conceal from us none of the things that are said by His enemies, though they use opprobrious language. Behold, at any rate, they even call Him a deceiver, and these men are not silent about that. But these things show also their savageness (that not even at His death did they let go their anger), and these men's simple and truthful disposition. But it were worth while to inquire concerning that point also, where He said, "After three days I rise again?" For one would not find this thus distinctly stated, but rather the example of Jonah. So that they understood His saying, and of their own will dealt unfairly. What then saith Pilate? "Ye have a watch; make it as sure as ye can. And they made it sure, sealing the sepulchre, and setting the watch." He suffers not the soldiers alone to seal, for as having learnt the things concerning Christ, he was no longer willing to co-operate with them. But in order to be rid of them, he endures this also, and saith, "Do ye seal it as ye will, that ye may not have it in your power to blame others." For if the soldiers only had sealed, they might have said (although the saying would have been improbable and false, yet nevertheless as in the rest they cast aside shame, so in this too they might have been able to say), that the…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
