Luke 24:4

ANGELS AT THE SEPULCHER

Mat 28:5-7; Luk 24:4-8; Mar 16:5-7 : “Having come to the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right, clothed with a white robe; and they were affrighted. And he says to them, Be not alarmed; you are seeking Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified; He is risen; He is not here; behold the place where they laid Him. But go tell His disciples, and Peter, that He goes before you into Galilee; and there you shall see Him, as He said to you.” Luke: “And it came to pass, while they were at a loss concerning Him, and two men stood before them in shining apparel, they being afraid, and inclining their face toward the ground, he said to them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how He spoke to you, being yet in Galilee, saying that it behooves the Son of man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and to be crucified, and to arise the third day; and they remembered His words.” These were angels in human form, and it is highly probable that Gabriel, who announced His conception, was one of them. We see here that these holy women were much alarmed, as in all ages it has been very trying to mortal nerves to meet glorified spirits. In this there is nothing condemnatory, but a demonstration of the simple fact of decisive, angelic superiority, so that their presence, when seen with mortal eyes, inundates us with the realization that we are actually in contact with the eternal world, and hence overawed, and even panic-stricken, by the certainty of the heavenly inhabitants literally present and looking us in the face. Here we observe an especial message sent to Peter, doubtless from the fact of the unhappy notoriety he gave himself by denying the Lord while under prosecution.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24:4 two men suddenly appeared: Angels often appear as young men in Scripture (Gen 18:2; 19:1, 10; Josh 5:13; Judg 13:6-11; Heb 13:2). Dazzling white robes symbolize purity and holiness (Dan 10:5-6; Acts 1:10; Rev 4:4; 19:14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 24:4. Ἄνδρες, men) viz. angels. See Luk 24:23. Comp. Mat 28:5.[268]

[268] Where mention is made only of one angel, viz. the angel who spoke—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 24:4 . ἄνδρες , two men in appearance, but with angelic raiment ( ἐν ἐσθῆτι ἀστραπτούσῃ ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(4) Two men stood by them.—St. Mark and St. Matthew mention one only. Had St. Matthew given the two, it might have been urged by adverse critics that this duplication of phenomena, as in the case of the demoniacs (Mat_8:28), and the blind men at Jericho (Mat_20:30), was an idiosyncrasy of his. As it is, we must suppose that each set of informants—the two Maries, and the “others” from whom it seems probable that St. Luke’s report was derived—described what they themselves had seen. At such moments of terror and astonishment, perception and memory are not always very definite in their reports.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. much perplexed] The word means ‘utterly at a loss.’

in shining garments] Literally, “flashing as with lightning,which recalls the expression of Mat_28:3; comp. Luk_9:29.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as they were afraid,.... That is, the women were afraid of these angels; these bright appearances and majestic forms, as it was usual for good men and women to be, as appears from the cases of Zacharias, the Virgin Mary, and others:

and bowed down their faces to the earth, through great fear and reverence of these heavenly spirits, and as not being able to bear the lustre of their countenances and garments:

they said unto them, that is, the angels:

why seek ye the living among the dead? intimating, that Christ, though he had been dead, was now living, and not to be sought for in a sepulchre; a way of speaking, much like this, is used in a parable of R. Levi's, concerning Pharaoh's not finding the name of God among the gods of the nations, upon searching for it. Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh,

"thou fool, is it usual for the dead to "seek" them among the living? , "or ever the living among the dead?" our God is living, these thou speakest of are dead (i).''

Nor is Christ to be found among dead sinners, or lifeless professors, but among living saints, and among the churches of the living God; nor is life to be found among the dead works of the law, or to be obtained by lifeless performances on the dead letter of the law.

(i) Shemot Rabba, sect. 5. fol. 95. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

Ver. 4. Two men stood] Two angels in the guise of men.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

These two men were two angels in human shape. See Poole on "Mat 28:5" and following verses to Mat 28:7.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. To one company of women one angel appeared: to another, two. Mary Magdalene, a little later, saw two angels in white sitting, as it were keeping watch and ward over the sepulchre for a short time after the sacred form had left it. The words which these beings from another sphere spoke to the mourning women were slightly different, but the teaching was the same in each case: "He is not here, but is risen. Do you not remember what he told you when he was yet with you?" Van Oosterzee and Farrar repeat a beautiful passage from Lessing on this: "Cold discrepancy-mongers, do you not, then, see that the evangelists do not count the angels?... There were not only two angels there were millions of them. They appeared not always one and the same, not always the same two; sometimes this one appeared, sometimes that; sometimes on this place, sometimes on that; sometimes alone, sometimes in company; sometimes they said this, sometimes they said that."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold two - Angels in the form of men. Mary had seen them a little before. They had disappeared on these women's coming to the sepulchre, but now appeared again. St. Matthew and Mark mention only one of them, appearing like a young man.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Two angels appear and begin speaking to the women.

It happened

This phrase is used here to mark an important event in the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.

were filled with fear

"became afraid"

bowed down their faces to the earth

"bowed low to the ground." This action expresses their humility and submission to the men. (See: Symbolic Action)

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

The men use a question to mildly criticize the women for looking in a tomb for a living person. AT: "You are looking for a living person among dead people!" or "You should not be looking for someone who is alive in a place where they bury dead people!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

Why do you seek

Here "you" is plural, referring to the women who came. (See: Forms of You)

translationWords

fear

bow

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

4. ἐν τῷ ἀπορεῖσθαι αὐτάς. ‘While they were utterly at a loss.’

ἀστραπτούσῃ. Literally, ‘flashing as with lightning,’ which recalls the expression of Mat 28:3; comp. Luk 9:29, Luk 17:24.

4. To the Disciples on the way to Emmaus. Luk 24:13-35; Mar 16:12-13.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4.] ἐπέστ. does not determine the position of the angels. It is merely came upon them under ordinary circumstances;—appeared to them, in a supernatural connexion: see reff. On the two angels here, see note on Mark ver. 5; to which I will just add, that the Harmonistic view, as represented by Greswell [Diss. vi., vol. 3], strangely enough puts together the angel in Matthew, and the angel in Mark, and makes the two angels in Luke: see Act 1:10.

ἄνδρες—to all appearance; the Evangelist does not mean that they were such, as clearly appears from what follows.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. The evidence begins with the visit of women to the tomb very early on the first day of the week, and the first sign was the removal of the stone from the door of the tomb.

4. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῶ ἀπορεῖσθαι αὐτὰς περὶ τούτου,καὶ ἰδού. Note the strongly Hebraistic construction, so common in Lk., and see additional note, p. 45.

The Latin Versions differ greatly. dum aporiarentur (d), hæsitarent (f), stuperent (a c) ments contristarentur (ff2). mente consternatæ essent (Vulg,). The last is wrong both in verb and tense.Aporiari occurs in vulg. 2Co 4:8; Isa 59:16; Ecclus. 18:6, and in Irenæus, ii. 7. 1. 2.

ἄνδρες δύο. The plur. agrees with ἀγγέλων in ver. 23. For ἀνήρ of an Angel in human form comp. Act 1:10, Act 1:10:30; for ἐπέστησαν see on 2:9; and for ἐσθής see on 23:11. Only here and 17:24 in N. T. does ἀστράπτω occur.

Instead of ἐσθῆτι ἀστραπτούσῃ (א B D;. Latt. Orig. Eus.) TR. has ἐσθήσε σιν ἀστραπτούσαις with A C D L D etc., Sah. Bob. Arm. L has ἐσθήσεσιν λευκαῖς Syr-Sin. “their garments were dazzling,” ἔσθησις occurs Act 1:10 only. See Deissmann, Bible Studies. p. 263.

The contrast between the Gospel of Peter and the Canonical Gospels is still more marked in the account of the Resurrection than in that of the Passion. There the watchers see δύο ἄνδρας come down from heaven; and ἀμφότεροι οἱ νεανίσκοι enter the tomb. But the watchers see τπεῖς ἄνδρας come out of the tomb. Then ἄνθρωπός τις comes down from heaven and enters the tomb; and the women find τινα νεανίσκον sitting in the tomb, and be ad them.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shining [αστραπτουσαις] . Only here and ch. 17 24. Akin to ajstraph, lightning. See on bright shining, ch. 11 36; and compare ch. 17 24.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.