Matthew 27:52-53 WTF!?!?!?!

by Cagefighter 54 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    If this is helpful, I've compiled a bunch of parallel texts with similar language, both intertexts and related passages, all concerning resurrection or widely interpreted as pertaining to resurrection. This reveals how the cluster of terms and concepts in Matthew 27:52-53 (e.g. tombs being opened up in a resurrection, those fallen asleep being resurrected, those in tombs being resurrected, bodies being resurrected, those resurrected coming out from the tombs, those resurrected appearing to others, etc.) represent a combination of typical resurrection motifs.

    Isaiah 26:19 LXX: "The corpses (hoi nekroi) shall rise (anastèsontai), and those who are in the tombs (en tois mnèmeiois) shall be raised (egerthèsontai), and those are in in the earth shall rejoice".

    Ezekiel 37:7, 9-10, 12-13 LXX: "And it happened, when I prophesied, and behold an earthquake (kai idou seismos), and he brought forth the bones, each to its joint....This is what the Lord says: Come from the four winds, and blow into these corpses (tous nekrous), and they shall live. And I prophesied just as he commanded me. And the breath entered into ( eis è lthen ) them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, a gathering of a great many (sungagògè pollè sphodra)....This is what the Lord says: Behold I am opening your tombs ( anoig ò hum ò n ta mn è mata ) and will cause you to come up ( anax ò) from your tombs ( ek t ò n mn è mat ò n ) and bring you into ( eisax ò hu mas ) the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves (anoixai tous taphous) so that I might bring my people up from their graves (ek tòn taphòn)".

    Daniel 12:2 Theod.: "And many (polla) of those who sleep (tòn katheudontòn) in the dust of the earth shall wake up (exergerthèsontai), some to everlasting life and some to reproach and everlasting shame".

    Matthew 27:51-53: "And behold (kai idou) the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook (hè gè eseisthè) and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened (mnèmeia aneòkhthèsan), and many (polla) bodies (sòmata) of the holy ones who had fallen asleep ( kekoim è men ò n ) were raised (ègerthèsan), a nd coming out (exelthontes) from the tombs ( ex tòn mnèmeiòn ) after he was raised (egersin) they entered into (eis è lthon) the holy city and appeared (enephanisthèsan) to many".

    Matthew 27:63: " We remember that when that deceiver was alive he said, 'After three days I will rise again (egeiromai)'. So we request that you seal the tomb (taphon) until the third day".

    Mark 16:14: " Afterward he appeared (ephaneròthè) to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen (egègermenon)".

    Luke 24:34: " The Lord has really risen (ègerth è) and has appeared (ophth è) to Simon".

    John 5:28-29: " An hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs (en tois mnèmeiois) will hear his voice, a nd will come forth (ekporeusontai); those who did the good deeds to a resurrection (anastasin) of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection (anastasin) of judgment".

    John 12:17:" Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb (ek tou mnèmeiou) and raised (ègeiren) him from the dead continued to spread the word".

    John 21:14: " This is now the third time that Jesus appeared ( ephaneròthè ) to the disciples, after he was raised (egertheis) from the dead".

    Acts 13:29-31, 36-37: "They took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb(mnèmeion), but God raised (ègeiren) him from the dead, and for many days he appeared ( ophth è ) to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem .... For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep (ekoimèth è), and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay , but he whom God raised (ègeiren) did not undergo decay ".

    Romans 8:11: " He who raised (egeiras) Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies (sòmata) because of his Spirit who lives in you".

    1 Corinthians 15:4-8: " I believe ... that he was buried, and that he was raised (egègertai) on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared (ophthè) to Cephas, then to the twelve, after that he appeared ( ophth è ) to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep (ekoimèthèsan), then he appeared ( ophthè ) to James and then to all the apostles, and then lastly he appeared ( ophthè ) to me".

    1 Corinthians 15:20: " But now Christ has been raised (egègertai) from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep ( kekoim è men ò n )".

    1 Corinthians 15:35, 43-44: " How are the dead (nekroi) raised (egeirontai)? And with what kind of body (sòmati) do they come?... It is sown in dishonor, it is raised (egeiretai) in glory. It is sown a natural body (sòma), it is raised (egeiretai) a spiritual body ( sòma)".

    Gospel of Peter 9:35-10:42: "They saw the heavens opened and two men come down from there in a great brightness and draw nigh to the tomb. The stone that had been covering the entrance started to roll by itself and give way to the side, and the tomb was opened (hè taphos ènoigè), and both the young men entered in. When now the soldiers saw this, they awakened the centurion and the elders, for they also were there to assist at the watch. And while they were relating what they had seen, they saw again three men come out (exelthontas) from the tomb (apo tou taphou), and two of them supporting the other, and a cross was following them, and the heads of the two reached to heaven, but the head of the one held by them surpassed the heavens. And they heard a voice out of the heavens crying, 'Have you preached to those those who sleep (tois koimòmenois)?' and from the cross there was heard the answer, 'Yea' ".

    2 Baruch 30:1: "And it will happen after these things when the time of the appearance of the Anointed One has been fulfilled and he returns with glory, that then all who sleep in hope of him will rise, and it will happen at that time that those treasuries will be opened in which the number of souls of the righteous were kept and they will go out and the multitudes of souls will appear together".

    4 Ezra 7:32-33, 37: "And the earth shall give up those who are asleep in it, and the chambers shall give up the souls which have been committed to them. And the Most High shall be revealed upon the seat of judgment and compassion shall pass away .... and the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, 'Look now, and understand whom you have denied' ".

    Testament of Abraham 7:15-16 (B): "You will be taken up into the heavens, while your body (sòma) remains on the earth until seven thousand ages are fulfilled, for then all flesh will be raised (egerthèsetai)".

    Ascension of Isaiah 3:15-18: "The angel of the Holy Spirit and Michael, the chief of the holy angels, will open (anoixousin) his tomb (to mnèmoneion) on the third day, and that Beloved, sitting on their shoulders, will come forth (exeleusetai) and then send out his twelve disciples, and they will teach all nations and every tongue the resurrection (anastasin) of the Beloved".

    Melito of Sardis, Peri Pascha 78: "The withered hand which was restored whole to its body did not persuade you; nor did the eyes of the blind which were opened by his hand; nor did the paralyzed bodies restored to health again through his voice; nor did that most extraordinary miracle persuade you, namely, the dead man (nekros) raised up (egeiromenos) from the tomb (ek mnèmeiou) where already he had been lying for four days".

    Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 4.33.12: "The holy Lord remembered his own dead ones who slept (praedormierunt) in the dust, and came down to them to raise (erigeret) them up, that he might save them".

    Irenaeus, Fragmenta deperditorum operum, 34: "If the body (sòma) of Elisha raised (ègeire) a dead man (nekron), how much more shall God, when he has brought back to life the bodies of dead men (ta nekra sòmata) to bring them up for judgment?

    Tertullian, De Resurrectione Carnis 27, 48: "It is on a like principle that embalmed corpses are set aside for burial in mausoleums and tombs , in order that they may be removed when the Master shall order it....Until his anger passes away, which shall extinguish the antichrist, he in fact shows that after that indignation the flesh will come forth from the tomb , in which it had been deposited previous to the bursting out of the anger. Now out of the closets nothing else is brought than that which had been put into them, and after the extirpation of the antichrist shall be busily transacted the great process of the resurrection....You will also allow that it was in the flesh that Christ was raised from the dead. For the very same body which fell in death, and which lay in the tombs , did also rise again".

    Hippolytus, Refutatio Omnium Haeresium 8.17.3: "After his passion, he was raised up (egerthenta) in a body (en sòmati), and he appeared (pephènenai) to his disciples, and then he went up into heaven".

    Origen, Contra Celsum 3.43: "He assails us who acknowledge that our Jesus has been buried, indeed, but who maintain that he has also been raised (egègerthai) from the tomb (apo tou taphou) — a statement which the Cretans have not yet made regarding Jupiter".

    Origen, Dialogus cum Heraclide 6.18: "If without the spirit the flesh died and lay in the tomb (en mnèmeiò), how was it opened (anoigetai) and how are the dead (hoi nekroi) to rise again(anistantai)?

    Origen, Scholia in Matthaeum 8.47-50: "The trumpet is the sound rousing (egeirousa) the dead (tous nekrous) and bringing them out (exagousa) from the graves (ek tòn taphòn)".

    3 Corinthians 3:26-27: "Seeds of wheat or of other seeds are cast bare into the earth and are corrupted and rise (ègerthè) again by the will of God with bodies (sòma), and clothed, and not only that body (sòma) which is cast rises (egeirete) again, but brings more blessing itself".

    Greek Apocalypse of Ezra 4:36: "And after these things a trumpet blast, and the tombs will be opened (mnèmeia anoikhthesontai) and the dead will rise up (anastèsontai) uncorrupted".

    Ephrem Syrus, De Resurrectione Mortuorum Sermo, 264: "It is a great miracle, brothers, that suddenly will be seen the opening of tombs (taphous aneògmenous), then the sound of a trumpet blast, and the dead (nekrous) rising (egeiromenous), those sleeping (tous kekoimèmenous) since Adam until that hour".

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    As a final point, consider also the verb emphanizein. The verb that often occurs in resurrection stories, ophthè "appeared" (in the passive) essentially is the weakest of the terms, basically meaning "was seen". Phanizein has more clearly the meaning of "manifested" or "appeared" in the passive, but emphanizein is the emphatic form. In usage, the sense is usually "exhibit to view", properly, "to present oneself to the sight of another", "show oneself", "make known", "disclose", "notify", "make a presentation", etc. (Thayer's). See examples in John 14:21-22, Acts 23:15, 22, 25:2, 15, Hebrews 11:14, etc. It occurs in the passive in Wisdom 17:4 to refer to ghosts making a haunting: " Mournful ghosts with gloomy faces appeared (enephanizeto) to them". The nuance is more that of persons who present themselves to others than bodies that are simply exposed and visible to others.

  • Cagefighter
    Cagefighter

    Leolaia- So those OT texts from Isaih, Daniel, and Ezekial went thought to refer to the Messiah as prophecy? Sounds like someone threw in the verses in question to "fulfill" the prophecy.

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Well those scriptures all pertain to a general resurrection (as they were interpreted at the time), usually associated with Judgment Day in apocalyptic eschatology. The Enochic expectation in the Book of Parables (early first century AD) anticipates what is found in the gospels: the Son of Man will come seated on his throne of glory with the clouds of heaven, and everyone, both living and dead, would be gathered together and judged for their deeds, and separated into two groups, with the righteous being given eternal life and the wicked eternal punishment. This is the familiar scenario in, say, ch. 25 of Matthew. This event however is postponed until Jesus' parousia, which was still in the near future, before the generation of those witnessed to by Jesus would pass away. But in a sense, the general resurrection began already with the resurrection of Jesus. Paul called his resurrection the "firstfruits"; others would follow. The Pericope Zombieum (as I like to call it) implies that a group of others were already resurrected with Jesus (or even prior to Jesus), the "holy ones" of old. Terullian referred to them as "appendages" of the Lord's resurrection. This idea formed part of the decensus ad inferus tradition, which claimed that Jesus preached to the dead in Hades and released some from captivity there, resulting in their resurrection and ascent with Jesus into heaven (as the Ascension of Isaiah) claims. The exegetical basis for this was Psalm 68:18. This scripture is cited in Ephesians 4:8-10: " It says: 'When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people'. W hat does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions. H e who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe". This was also used in Odes of Solomon 22:1-10 in a reference to the resurrection. A second scripture interpreted as a prophecy for Christ's descent to Hades was Isaiah 45:2-3: "I will go before you and I will make the mountains level and I will break the gates of brass and I will shatter the bars of iron, and I will give you hidden treasures stored in darkness, that they may know that I am the Lord God". This was quoted in reference to Jesus' death and resurrection in Barnabas 11:1-4, as well as Odes of Solomon 17:9-16 and 43:3-20, which combines it with a reference to Psalm 107:16 ("For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron"). The idea was firmly in place in the second century AD, e.g. "The Lord God remembered his dead people of Israel who slept (kekoimèmenòn) in the graves, and he descended to preach to them his own salvation" (Justin Martyr, Dialogue 72.4), "But the case was that for three days he dwelt in the place where the dead were, as the prophet says concerning him, 'And the Lord remembered his dead saints who slept formerly in the land of sepulture, and he descended to them, to rescue and save them' " (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, 5.31.1), "But he shall come to Hades, announcing hope to all the saints, the end of ages and the final day, and shall fulfill death's destiny when he had slept the third day and then returning from the dead he shall come to the light, the first to show them that are called the beginning of resurrection" (Sibylline Oracles, 8:310-314).

  • transhuman68
    transhuman68

    Judge Rutherford was probably expecting something like that in 1925 when the "ancient worthies" were going to descend on his holiday house 'Beth Sarim'; in a scene reminiscent of the movie 'Zombieland' and take over the place, lol.

    Ezekiel 37 seems like the best choice for the inspiration for Matthew 27, IMO.

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