Matt 27:52 And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had
fallen asleep arose, and going out from the graves after *their*
resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Ooops! It says "his resurrection", not "their resurrection", and refers to
the resurrection of Jesus.
I would also like to mention that as I write this, there is thunderstorm
here in Durham, and it is quite dark, which is kind of spooky when we're
discussing this particular passage...
At 02:36 PM 7/16/97 -0600, Williams, Wes wrote:
> 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).
That depends a lot on whether you read HGERQHSAN with middle force or with
passive force. If you read it as a middle, then they had to get up on their
own, without help from some outside agent, and that's somewhat difficult to
do when you are dead - especially since it clearly states that the *bodies*
arose. Initially, I found it strange that it said that the bodies arose,
instead of just saying that the people arose, but I think it does so to
point out that they physically returned to life, and did not just appear as
ghosts. This was important to state clearly - remember that Jesus also had
to convince his disciples that he was not a ghost.
If you read this as a passive, then they were raised, and the agent is left
unstated. As I understand Carl's guidelines, he suggest that we should read
middle-passives as middle unless the agent is clearly indicated by the
context. So I think that they "rose up", though "were raised" is also a
possible reading; regardless, after they got out of the graves, they left
the graves and went into the city on their own steam: EXELQONTES is an
aorist active participle, and EISHLQON is an aorist active indicative. As I
read it, all four verbs unambiguously refer to the ones who rose from their
graves: HGERQHSAN (they rose), EXELQONTES (coming out of the graves),
EISHLQON (they came into the city), and ENEFANISQHSAN (they appeared).
> 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."
Well, it certainly is a strange passage, and the chronology is difficult to
understand. In verses 50 and 51, Jesus yields up his spirit, "and behold!"
the veil of the temple was torn, the earth shook, the tombs were opened, and
many of the saints rose up. The transition is immediate: "Jesus cried out
again with a loud voice, and behold!" And the women were still looking on
after witnessing the death of Jesus, and evening comes, and Joseph went to
Pilate to ask for the body. So what on earth is the phrase META THN EGERSIN
AUTOU doing in there? Without it, it would be completely clear that this all
happened on the same day. With it, the chronology of this whole passage is
rather confusing, at least to me!
Verse 28:2 also mentions an earthquake which seemed to occur on the day of
resurrection, in conjunction with the opening of the tomb of Jesus. Did this
earthquake also open the graves of the saints?
Now I'm the one who is hopelessly confused...
Jonathan
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Jonathan Robie jwrobie@mindspring.com http://www.mindspring.com/~jwrobie
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