Matthew 28:4

Lore & Background

The original Koine Greek, according to Westcott and Hort, reads: 'απο δε του φοβου αυτου εσεισθησαν οι τηρουντες και εγενηθησαν ως νεκροι.' In the King James Version it is translated as: 'And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.' The modern World English Bible translates the passage as: 'For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.'

This verse returns to the guards, literally 'those keeping [watch]' (Ancient Greek: οἱ τηροῦντες, hoi tērountes), who appeared throughout Matthew's crucifixion narrative, but not in the other gospels. The same words are used for the guards as those at the crucifixion introduced at Matthew 27:36. Those guards are also frightened by an earthquake at Matthew 27:54, but in that instance the guards are converted, whereas here these guards are fearful, but give no indication of conversion. In Mark it is the women who are afraid of the angel, but in Matthew, the women were bystanders and the line about fear was transferred from the women to the guards.

For Robert Gundry, the weakness of the guards serves to contrast with the angel's power. That the guards are now as dead, while Jesus is alive, also serves as an ironic reversal. It is also something of a pun to have the guards 'shake' ('tremble' or 'shaken', from Greek: ἐσείσθησαν, eseisthēsan; a plural equivalent of [the earth was] 'shaken' from singular ἐσείσθη, eseisthē, in Matthew 27:51) when confronted with an earthquake, perhaps reflecting the author of Matthew's fondness for wordplay.

Reader's Guide

Matthew 28:4 is significant for its depiction of the guards' reaction to the divine events at the tomb. The verse emphasizes the guards' fear and physical collapse, contrasting their weakness with the angel's power and serving as an ironic reversal where the guards become 'as dead' while Jesus is alive. The language includes a possible wordplay, as the guards 'shake' (Greek: ἐσείσθησαν) in response to an earthquake, echoing the earth being 'shaken' (ἐσείσθη) in Matthew 27:51. Falling 'like dead' also appears in Revelation 1:17, where John does so when presented with a vision of the exalted Son of Man, and similar expressions occur in contemporary Greco-Roman pagan literature when mortals confront gods. Fear is the standard biblical reaction to the divine, and this verse is a variation on the expression 'fear and trembling.' The collapse of the guards removes them from the rest of the narrative, and Eduard Schweizer notes that their fainting and the possible absence of the women at this point indicate that Jesus may have emerged physically from the tomb during a period when no witnesses could have seen him.

Did You Know?

• The guards are referred to as 'those keeping [watch]' (Ancient Greek: οἱ τηροῦντες), the same term used for guards at the crucifixion in Matthew 27:36.
• In Mark's gospel, it is the women who are afraid of the angel, but in Matthew, the fear is transferred from the women to the guards.
• The Greek word for 'shaken' (ἐσείσθησαν) used for the guards is a plural equivalent of the word for the earth being 'shaken' (ἐσείσθη) in Matthew 27:51, suggesting a possible wordplay.
• Falling 'like dead' occurs again in the New Testament at Revelation 1:17, where John does so when presented with a vision of the exalted Son of Man.