Matthew 27:60

Mat 27:60. Καινῷ, new) Which had not been polluted by any corruption; and also lest any of the ancient saints should be said to have risen instead of Him, or to have given Him the power of rising.—αὐτοῦ, his own) Jesus Christ, the leader and guide of life, was placed in the tomb of another.[1218]—τῇ θύρᾳ, the door) The sepulchre was not a narrow trench, but a crypt.—ἀπῆλθεν, he departed) Not hoping those things which soon were to come to pass.

[1218] Implying that the tomb was something alien and strange for Him, the Lord of Life, to be associated with. Therefore He had no tomb of His own.—ED.

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

Mat_27:60 Ὃ ἐλατόμησεν] Aorist, as in Mat_27:55.

The other evangelists say nothing about the grave having belonged to Joseph; Joh_19:42 rather gives us to understand that, owing to the necessary despatch, it was made choice of from its being close at hand. We thus see that Matthews account is unsupported by the earlier testimony of Mark on the one hand, and the later testimony of Luke and John on the other. This, however, only goes to confirm the view that in Matthew we have a later amplification of the tradition which was expunged again by Luke and John, for this latter at least would scarcely have left unnoticed the devotion evinced by Joseph in thus giving up his own tomb, and yet it is John who distinctly alleges a different reason altogether for the choice of the grave. The ordinary supposition, that Matthews account is intended to supplement those of the other evangelists, fails to meet the exigencies of the case, especially in regard to John, on whom so tender a feature in connection with the burial would doubtless have made too deep an impression to admit of his passing it over in silence.

As a new grave was calculated to do honour to Jesus (comp. on John as above), the circumstance that this one had not been previously used may have gone far to determine the choice, so that there is no ground for supposing that what is said with reference to this has been added without historical warrant (Strauss, Scholten).

ἐν τῇ πέτρᾳ] The article is to be understood as indicating a rocky place just at hand.

τῇ θύρᾳ] Comp. Hom. Od. ix. 243: πέτρην ἐπέθηκε θύρῃσιν. In Rabbinical phraseology the stone used for this purpose is called גּוֹלָל, a roller. See Paulus, exeget. Handb. III. p. 819. Such a mode of stopping up graves is met with even in the present day (Strauss, Sinai u. Golgatha, p. 205).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 27:60 . ἐν τῷ καινῷ αὐτοῦ μνημείῳ , in his own new tomb, recently prepared for himself. This not brought out in parallels. ἐλατόμησεν ( λᾶς τέμνω ): the aorist for the pluperfect, as in Mat 27:55 ; he had hewn out of the rock = ἐν τῇ πέτρᾳ , the article pointing to the custom of making sepulchres in rock. λίθον μέγαν : the usual mode of shutting the door of the tomb; the Jews called the stone golal , the roller. ἀπῆλθεν : the entombment over, Joseph went away; but the Dead One was not left alone.

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

Verse 60. Laid it in his own new tomb] To all human appearance the body of Christ must have had the same burial-place with those of the two robbers, as he was numbered with the transgressors, and suffered with them; for then he was a sacrifice, bearing the sin of the world in his own body on the tree; but now the sacrifice is offered, the atonement made and accepted, he is no longer to be enrolled with the transgressors, and, according to a prophecy delivered nearly seven hundred years before that time, he is to have the burying-place of a rich man. See Isa 53:9-10. Had our Lord been buried in the common burial-ground of the malefactors, his resurrection could not have been so distinctly remarked, as the chief priests would never have thought of sealing the stone there, or setting a watch; but now that the body is got into the hands of a friend, they judge it necessary to make use of these precautions, in order, as they said, to prevent imposture; and from this very circumstance the resurrection of Christ had its fullest evidence, and was put beyond the power of successful contradiction. What a number of objections would not human prudence have made to Joseph's conduct, had he consulted it on this occasion! It would have represented to him that, "this was to expose himself, to bring himself into trouble, to render himself suspected, to put himself out of all capacity of doing good, to ruin himself irrecoverably; and now it could do no good to his teacher - he is now dead, and needs no longer any office of kindness from men." There is, sometimes in our whole life, but one opportunity in which God designs signally to employ us; and, through our general backwardness to every good work, we are for reserving ourselves to other opportunities, in which God neither requires nor will accept our services.

Rolled a great stone to the door] Some are of opinion that this tomb was cut down into the rock, perpendicularly from the surface; and that the great stone spoken of here covered over the entrance to it. The stone, no doubt, was intended to secure the place as much as possible.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(60) Laid it in his own new tomb.—The garden, or orchard, was therefore the property of Joseph (see Note on Mat_27:33). All the first three Gospels dwell on the fact of its not being, as so many graves were, a natural cavern, but cut, and, as St. Luke’s word implies. to some extent, smoothed and polished. Like almost all Eastern graves, it was an opening made in the vertical face of the rock. Neither of the two localities which have been identified with the sepulchre (see Note as above) presents this feature, and, so far as this is not an argument against the identity of either with the actual tombs, we must assume that the rock has been so cut and shaped in the course of centuries as to lose its original form. St. John (Joh_19:39) notes the singularly interesting fact that Nicodemus shared with him in these reverential offices. The hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes which he brought must have been bought beforehand, and may have been stored up from the time when he knew that the leading members of the Council had resolved upon the death of Jesus. St. Luke and St. John give the reason for the speed with which the entombment was hurried on. It was now near sunset. The Sabbath was on the point of beginning, and there was no alternative but that of leaving the body on the cross for another twenty-four hours, and this, though common enough as a Roman practice (which commonly, indeed, left the corpse for birds of prey to feed on), would have shocked Jewish feeling, especially at the Paschal season, as a violation of their law (Deu_21:23).

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

60. laid it in his own new tomb] “His own” peculiar to St Matthew. St John mentions that the tomb was “in a garden in the place where he was crucified” (Joh_19:41). It was probably hewn out of the face of the rock near the ground (Joh_20:11), and the body of Jesus would lie horizontally in it.

rolled a great stone] assisted by Nicodemus. This stone was technically called golal.

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 there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,.... The wife of Cleophas, and the mother of James and of Joses:

sitting over against the sepulchre; observing where the body of Christ was put, and how it was laid; for they intended to prepare spices and ointments to anoint it with; and were mourning for the death of Christ: for sitting was a mourning posture, which now they were allowed, the body being taken down from the cross, and interred by leave of the governor; for, for one that died as a malefactor, they might not use the outward signs of mourning: the canon is this (w); for such

"they do not mourn, but they grieve; and there is no grieving but in the heart:

hence these women before stood, Joh 19:25, but now they sat,

(w) Misn. Sarhedrin, c. 6. sect. 4.

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

60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.

Ver. 60. And laid it in his own new tomb] His own, which was now well warmed, sweetened, and sanctified by our Saviour’s body, against himself should be laid there; as afterwards he might and probably was, too. A new tomb it was, and fit it should be for that virgin body, or maiden corpse, as one calls it, untouched and untainted. Besides, else it might have been suspected, that not Christ but another arose; or if he, yet not by his own, but by another’s virtue: like him who revived at the touching of the bones of dead Elisha, 2Ki 13:21. Buried our Saviour was: 1. That none might doubt his death. 2. That our sins might be buried with him. 3. That our graves might be prepared and perfumed for us, as so many beds of roses, or delicious dormitories, Isa 57:2. He was buried in Calvary, to note that he died for the condemned; and in a garden, to expiate that first sin committed in the garden; and in another man’s sepulchre, to note that he died for other men’s sins, as some will have it. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, bestowed great cost in repairing this sepulchre of our Saviour, which the heathens out of hatred to Christ had thrown down, and built a temple of Venus on the same ground. And Jerusalem, that poor ruinous city, being governed by one of the Turks, Sanzacks, is for nothing now more famous than for the sepulchre of our Saviour, again repaired, and much visited by the superstitious sort of Christians, and not unreverenced by the Turks themselves.

Which he had hewn out in the rock] For his own use. See the like, 1Ki 13:30. The Thebans had a law, that no man should make a house for himself to dwell in, but he should make first his grave. Charles V, emperor, five years before he died, even when he was employed in his greatest affairs, caused a sepulchre to be made, with all things appertaining to it, necessary for his burial, and that secretly, lest it might be taken for ostentation or hypocrisy: which things he had closely carried with him whithersoever he went five years together; some thinking there had been some great treasure in it; some other that there had been books of old stories: some thought one thing, some another. But the emperor smiling, said, that he carried it about him to remind him of his death.

And he rolled a great stone] Either for an inscription to the sepulchre, or for more safety to the body, or that the glory of the resurrection might be the greater, or all these together.

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.

In his own new tomb - John says Joh 19:41 that this was in a garden that was “in” or “near” the place where he was crucified. This tomb Joseph had prepared for himself, as was not uncommon among the Jews. Compare the notes at Isa 22:16. In this tomb Luke and John inform us that no man had been laid. This was so ordered, in the providence of God, doubtless, that there might be no suspicion about his identity when he rose; that it might not be alleged that another person had risen, or that he was raised by touching the bones of some prophet, as happened to the corpse that touched the bones of Elisha, 2Ki 13:21. Farther, by being buried here an important prophecy was remarkably fulfilled Isa 53:9; “He made his grave - with the rich in his death.” The fulfillment of this is the more remarkable, because during his life he associated with the poor and was himself poor. See the notes at Isa 53:9. “Which he had hewn out in the rock.” This was a common way of constructing tombs in Judea. See the notes at Mat 8:28. Being cut out of a rock, there was no way by which the disciples could have access to it but by the entrance, at which the guard was placed, and consequently it was impossible for them to steal him away. The sepulchre, thus secure, was rendered more so by rolling a great stone at its entrance; all possible precautions thus being used, in the providence of God, against imposition and deceit.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And Joseph laid it in his own new monument, ... hewed or cut out in a rock, where no one had ever been laid: and rolled a great stone against the entrance, that no on might go in, or take away the body. But Mary Magdalene, and other women that had accompanied Jesus from Galilee, followed at a distance, to mark the place, having a design to come afterwards, and again embalm the body. (Witham) --- It was the custom of that country, to excavate a tomb from the hard rock, for all persons of great distinction. (Bible de Vence) --- From the unadorned tomb of a Man-God, we are taught to despise the grandeur of this perishable world, and fear the example of those who, even in their sepulchres, manifest to the world how grieved they were to leave their wealth, since they carried it with them to their tombs, ornamenting them with every costly decoration human ingenuity could devise. (St. Jerome)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

60. Own new tomb — Probably the new-made vault for his own family. Its first service is consecrated to the Lord. The sepulchre, John tells us, was in a garden, which probably belonged to Joseph. The interment of our Saviour here was probably a temporary arrangement, provided hastily on account of the approaching Sabbath. But Joseph’s love was never called upon for further provision. He had the honour of providing the sleeping abode of his Master. Such an interment, and such a hospitality in this, the rocky bed of his own future repose, Joseph could well afford; for his blessed guest would there repose but two brief nights, and would then awake and fly. And in return, when this world’s millennial Sabbath is past, the guest will awake that host from his own repose, that he too may take his undying flight. Hewn out in the rock — We must figure to ourselves a large room cut horizontally into the solid rock for a vault. In this room we enter, from the open air, by a large door. On entering you would see small, long cells, or niches, cut into the solid adamantine sides, as depositories of the corpses: or from this first main room you may enter one or several smaller apartments, in whose walls the niches for corpses are cut. A person could enter into the first main vault, and then into either of the small apartments. See note on Mat_28:6. Rolled a great stone — The stone probably was flat, and rolled by successive overthrows. And departed — Either to Arimathea or to his dwelling-place in Jerusalem.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Laid it in his own new tomb. It was placed on one of the shelves or recesses formed in the sides of the sepulchre. Thus did the Saviour make "his grave with the wicked" (dying between two thieves), "and with the rich in his death". (Isa_53:9) It was fitting that he whose body saw no corruption should be buried in a grave which had never been tainted by a human corpse. Thus also it was ensured that no other body could rise thence except his who alone was buried therein. This tomb, St. John tells us, was quite close at hand, which at that hurried time would be an additional reason for making use of it. Which he had hewn out in the rock. The tomb was a chamber artificially excavated in the face of the rock, with one entrance only. The wealthy Jews were especially fond of appropriating vaults for the burial of themselves and their families. The neighbourhood of Jerusalem (as other parts of Palestine) abounds with tombs cut in the solid limestone. Recent opinion has veered round to adherence to the traditional site of the holy sepulchre, of which the identification dates from the earliest days; that which is known as "Gordon"s tomb" meeting with scant acceptance from experts, and other sites not fully answering the requirements of the case. The existing Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, in the church of that designation, is thus described by Dr. Geikie ("Holy Land and Bible," pp. 437, etc.): On entering the church, "immediately before you is "the stone of unction," said to mark the spot on which our Lord"s body was laid in preparation for burial, after being anointed. It is a large slab of limestone A few steps to the left is the place where, as they tell us, the women stood during the anointing, and from this you pass at once, still keeping to the left, into the great round western end of the church the model of all the circular churches of Europe under the famous dome, which rests on eighteen pillars, with windows round the circle from which the dome springs. In the centre of this space, which is sixty-seven feet across, is the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, about twenty-six feet long and eighteen feet wide, a tasteless structure of reddish limestone, like marble, decorated all along the top with gilt nosegays and modern pictures, and its front ablaze with countless lamps. Inside it is divided into two parts, the one marking, as is maintained, the spot where the angels stood at the Resurrection, the other believed to contain the sepulchre of Christ In the centre, cased in marble, stands what is called a piece of the stone rolled away by the angel; and at the western end, entered by a low doorway, is the reputed tomb chamber of our Lord, a very small spot, for it is only six feet wide, a few inches longer, and very low. The tomb itself is a raised table, two feet high, three feet wide, and over six feet long, the top of it serving as an altar, over which the darkness is only relieved by the dim lamps." A great stone. Joseph and his friends closed the entrance to the cave by rolling up to it, and partly in it, a huge stone, to obviate all danger of the sacred body being meddled with by evil beasts or men. The Jewish sepulchres were often furnished with real doors, either of stone or wood, as is proved by existing remains, which show grooves and marks where hinges have been; Joseph"s tomb was not thus supplied, either from being still in an unfinished state, or constructed on a different principle. We can not reason from the present state of the sepulchre that it is too unlike what we must conceive the original to have been to permit of the supposed identification. If other criteria point to this site, the difficulties connected with present appearances may be overcome by the consideration that the whole features of the place were altered by Constantine, the Crusaders, and other builders. The surrounding rock has in many parts been cut away, and the surface levelled or lowered, and the only portion left in situ is the inner chamber where the Lord"s body was laid. Captain Conder objects to the traditional site. His own theory, which points to a rock-hewn tomb near the Grotto of Jeremiah, may be seen in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, April, 1883. And departed. He had done what he could: sorrowing, he left the place of sepulture. Tradition has traced the later life of Joseph. He is said to have been sent by the Apostle Philip to Britain, in company with other disciples, and to have settled at Glaston bury, in Somersetshire, then much nearer to an arm of the sea than it is now. Here he erected a little oratory of wickerwork, the first Christian house of prayer that England saw, which was afterwards superseded by the noble abbey whose remains we admire to this day. There is no certain foundation on which the story rests; the only evidence of visitors from Palestine having ever arrived at Glastonbury is the existence of an Eastern thorn tree on Wearyall Hill, which possesses the curious property of blossoming at Christmas. The original tree, which sprang from Joseph"s staff, is reported to have flourished till the reign of Charles I, when it was destroyed by the Puritans; but scions or cuttings were taken from it, and many such bushes are still to be found in different parts of the country.

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

60. Laid it in his own new tomb. A rock-hewn sepulcher, cut horizontally into the cliff. Rolled a great stone to the door. The usual method of closing the rock-hewn tombs. Thus Christ “was buried, according to the Scriptures” in a rich man's tomb, was “with the rich in his death” (Isa. 53:9).

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

60. ἔθηκεν αὐτὸ κ.τ.λ. καινῷ, ‘new,’ in the sense of not having been used. St John mentions that the tomb was ‘in a garden in the place where he was crucified’ (Joh 19:41). It was probably hewn out of the face of the rock near the ground (Joh 20:11), and the body of Jesus would lie horizontally in it.

προσκυλίσας κ.τ.λ., assisted by Nicodemus. This stone was technically called golal.

This was the first instance and a signal one of the power of the Cross of Christ to inspire enthusiasm and courage at the darkest hour. Up to this time Joseph had been a secret disciple, now he braves everything for the dead Christ.

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.

60.] Matt. alone relates that it was Joseph’s own tomb. John, that it was in a garden, and in the place where He was crucified. All, except Mark, notice the newness of the tomb. John does not mention that it belonged to Joseph—but the expression ἐν ᾧ οὐδέπω οὐδεὶς ἐτέθη looks as if he knew more than he has thought it necessary to state. His reason for the Body being laid there is, that it was near, and the Preparation rendered haste necessary. But then we may well ask, How should the body of an executed person be laid in a new tomb, without the consent of the owner being first obtained? And who so likely to provide a tomb, as he whose pious care for the Body was so eminent?

All that we can determine respecting the sepulchre from the data here furnished is, (1) That it was not a natural cave, but an artificial excavation in the rock. (2) That it was not cut downwards, after the manner of a grave with us, but horizontally, or nearly so, into the face of the rock—this I conceive to be implied in προσκυλίσας λίθ. μέγ. τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ μν., as also by the use of παρακύπτω Joh 20:5, Joh 20:11, and εἰσῆλθεν, ib. 5, 6. (3) That it was in the spot where the crucifixion took place. Cyr-jer. speaks of τὸ μνῆμα τὸ πλησίον, ὅπου ἐτέθη, κ. ὁ ἐπιτεθεὶς τῇ θύρᾳ λίθος, ὁ μέχρι σήμερον παρὰ τῷ μνημείῳ κείμενος. Cateches. xiii. 39, p. 202. On ἐλατόμησεν, the aor. in a relative clause, see above, ver. 55 note.

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

(M) 60. And laid it in his new tomb, which he hewed out in the rock: and having rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, departed.] Mk. has: “And placed Him in a tomb, which was hewn out of rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.” Mt. adds καινῷ, i.e. “unused.” For the custom of using a great roll-stone like a millstone to close the entrance of the graves of wealthy men, see the interesting note and illustrations of Merx on Luk 22:52-54.

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

New tomb [καινω] . See on Mt 26:29. Not newly hewn, but fresh, undefiled by anybody.

A great stone. Though in the Jews ' sepulchres in general there were doors hung on hinges, the grooves and perforations for which may still be seen. Joseph 's tomb may have been differently constructed, or else was in an unfinished state.

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