RE: Matt 27:53 ".. they went into the holy city"
Williams, Wes (Wes.Williams@echostar.com)
Wed, 16 Jul 1997 14:36:46 -0600
> >>
> >>KJV Matt 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the
> saints
> >>which slept arose,
> >>KJV Matt 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection,
> and
> >>went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
> >>
> >>In other translations, it reads "they went into the holy city". Is
> it
> >>the resurrected bodies of the saints, or the caskets/burial clothes
> that
> >>were exposed in the earthquake that "..went into the holy city".
>
> >I think that the Greek is quite unambiguous about this: the ones who
> arose
> >from the dead are the same ones who went into the holy city. The verb
> that
> >the KJV translates "came out" is a participle, and the main verb
> associated
> >with this participle is "went into".
>
> >What do the rest of you think?
>
> Hi Jonathan,
>
> I think it would have been nice if the scripture writers would have
> provided a bit more information at times! I agree that your
> translation is allowable grammatically. A problem I experience with
> the resurrection view here, even though allowable grammatically, is
> that he mentions that only the bodies were raised. There is no mention
> of the bodies coming to life. And why would the bodies rise before the
> sabbath and wait until the Sabbath to enter the city? (Disclaimer: I
> do not know).
>
> How about this as permissible translation:
> 53 (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his
> being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they [i.e. the
> bodies] became visible to many people.
>
> Thus, the bodies were visible at the time of the earthquake but not
> many people saw them perhaps due to the sabbath-day restrictions on
> travel. But after the sabbath, the dead bodies became visible to many
> [of the sojourners who were entering the city after the sabbath had
> passed].
>
> I admit that this is not without its difficulties with the subject
> reference changing from the bodies to the sojourners. But I believe it
> is allowable grammatically as well as physically as illustrated by the
> following experience when Guatemala had their severe earthquake in the
> mid 1970's as reported by "Time" magazine: "several mourners who went
> to bury their dead in family plots found that the coffins of long-dead
> relatives had been uncovered by the quake."
>
> A commentary by Adam Clarke illustrates the problem. He states: "It is
> difficult to account for the transaction mentioned in Mt 27 verses 52
> and 53. Some have thought that these two verses have been introduced
> into the text of Matthew from the gospel of the Nazarenes, others
> think the simple meaning is this:-by the earthquake several bodies
> that had been buried were thrown up and exposed to view, and continued
> above ground till after Christ's resurrection, and were seen by many
> persons in the city. Why the graves should be opened on Friday, and
> the bodies not raised to life till the following Sunday, is difficult
> to be conceived. The place is extremely obscure."
>
> Comments?
>
> Sincerely,
> Wes