TRV
Translation
King James Version
Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
Complete Jewish Bible
Next day, after the preparation, the head cohanim and the P'rushim went together to Pilate
Berean Standard Bible
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.
American Standard Version
Now on the morrow, which is the day after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together unto Pilate,
World English Bible Messianic
Now on the next day, which was the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together to Pilate,
Geneva Bible (1599)
Nowe the next day that followed the Preparation of the Sabbath, the hie Priestes and Pharises assembled to Pilate,
Young's Literal Translation
And on the morrow that is after the preparation, were gathered together the chief priests, and the Pharisees, unto Pilate,
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In the KJVVerse 24,192 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers . Public domain.
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Hilary of Poitiers (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 367
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Their fear lest the body should be stolen, the setting a watch on the tomb, and sealing it, are marks of folly and unbelief, that they should have sought to seal up the tomb of One at whose bidding they had seen a dead man raised from the tomb.
John Chrysostom (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 407
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. lxxxix.) Observe how against their will they concert to demonstrate the truth, for by their precautions irrefragable demonstration of the resurrection was attained. The sepulchre was watched, and so no fraud could have been practised; and if there was no collusion, it is certain that the Lord rose again.
Pilate will not suffer that the soldiers alone should seal. But as though he had learnt the truth concerning Christ, he was no longer willing to be partner in their acts, and says, Seal it as ye will yourselves, that ye may not be able to accuse others. For had the soldiers alone sealed, they might have said that the soldiers had suffered the disciples to steal the body, and so given the disciples a handle to forge a tale concerning the resurrection; but this could they not say now, when they themselves had sealed the sepulchre.
John ChrysostomAD 407
Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 89
Everywhere deceit recoils upon itself, and against its will supports the truth. And observe. It was necessary for it to be believed that He died, and that He rose again, and that He was buried, and all these things are brought to pass by His enemies. See, at any rate, these words bearing witness to every one of these facts. "We remember," these are the words, "that that deceiver said, when He was yet alive," (He was therefore now dead), "After three days I rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be sealed," (He was therefore buried), "lest His disciples come and steal Him away." So that if the sepulchre be sealed, there will be no unfair dealing. For there could not be. So then the proof of His resurrection has become incontrovertible by what ye have put forward. For because it was sealed, there was no unfair dealing. But if there was no unfair dealing, and the sepulchre was found empty, it is manifest that He is risen, plainly and incontrovertibly. Seest thou, how even against their will they contend for the proof of the truth?
But mark thou, I pray thee, the disciples' love of truth, how they conceal from us none of the things that are said by His enemies, though they use opprobrious language. Behold, at any rate, they even call Him a deceiver, and these men are not silent about that.
But these things show also their savageness (that not even at His death did they let go their anger), and these men's simple and truthful disposition.
But it were worth while to inquire concerning that point also, where He said, "After three days I rise again?" For one would not find this thus distinctly stated, but rather the example of Jonah. So that they understood His saying, and of their own will dealt unfairly.
What then saith Pilate? "Ye have a watch; make it as sure as ye can. And they made it sure, sealing the sepulchre, and setting the watch." He suffers not the soldiers alone to seal, for as having learnt the things concerning Christ, he was no longer willing to co-operate with them. But in order to be rid of them, he endures this also, and saith, "Do ye seal it as ye will, that ye may not have it in your power to blame others." For if the soldiers only had sealed, they might have said (although the saying would have been improbable and false, yet nevertheless as in the rest they cast aside shame, so in this too they might have been able to say), that the soldiers, having given up the body to be stolen, gave His disciples opportunity to feign the history concerning His resurrection, but now having themselves made it sure, they are not able to say so much as this.
Seest thou how they labor for the truth against their will? For they themselves came to Pilate, themselves asked, themselves sealed, setting the watch, so as to be accusers, and refuters one of another. And indeed when should they have stolen Him? on the Sabbath? And how? for it was not lawful so much as to go out. And even if they transgressed the law, how should they have dared, who were so timid, to come forth? And how could they also have been able to persuade the multitude? By saying what? By doing what? And from what sort of zeal could they have stood in behalf of the dead? expecting what recompense? what requital? Seeing Him yet alive and merely seized, they had fled; and after His death were they likely to speak boldly in His behalf, unless He had risen again? And how should these things be reasonable? For that they were neither willing nor able to feign a resurrection, that did not take place, is plain from hence. He discoursed to them much of a resurrection, and continually said, as indeed these very men have stated, "After three days I rise again." If therefore He rose not again, it is quite clear that these men (having been deceived and made enemies to an entire nation for His sake, and come to be without home and without city) would have abhorred Him, and would not have been willing to invest Him with such glory; as having been deceived, and having fallen into the utmost dangers on His account. For that they would not even have been able, unless the resurrection had been true, to feign it, this does not so much as need reasoning.
For in what were they confident? In the shrewdness of their reasonings? Nay of all men they were the most unlearned. But in the abundance of their possessions? Nay, they had neither staff nor shoes. But in the distinction of their race? Nay, they were mean, and of mean ancestors. But in the greatness of their country? Nay, they were of obscure places. But in their own numbers? Nay, they were not more than eleven, and they were scattered abroad. But in their Master's promises? What kind of promises? For if He were not risen again, neither would those be likely to be trusted by them. And how should they endure a frantic people. For if the chief of them endured not the speech of a woman, keeping the door, and if all the rest too, on seeing Him bound, were scattered abroad, how should they have thought to run to the ends of the earth, and plant a feigned tale of a resurrection? For if he stood not a woman's threat, and they not so much as the sight of bonds, how were they able to stand against kings, and rulers, and nations, where were swords, and gridirons, and furnaces, and ten thousand deaths day by day, unless they had the benefit of the power and grace of Him who rose again? Such miracles and so many were done, and none of these things did the Jews regard, but crucified Him, who had done them, and were they likely to believe these men at their mere word about a resurrection? These things are not, they are not so, but the might of Him, who rose again, brought them to pass.
But mark, I pray thee, their craft, how ridiculous it is. "We remember," these are their words, "that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I rise again." Yet if He were a deceiver, and boastfully uttered falsehood, why are ye afraid and run to and fro, and use so much diligence? We are afraid, it is replied, lest perchance the disciples steal Him away, and deceive the multitude. And yet this has been proved to have no probability at all. Malice, however, is a thing contentious and shameless, and attempts what is unreasonable.
And they command it to be made sure for three days, as contending for doctrines, and being minded to prove that before that time also He was a deceiver, and they extend their malice even to His tomb. For this reason then He rose sooner, that they might not say that He spake falsely, and was stolen. For this, His rising sooner, was open to no charge, but to be later would have been full of suspicion. For indeed if He had not risen then, when they were sitting there, and watching, but when they had withdrawn after the three days, they would have had something to say, and to speak against it, although foolishly. For this reason then He anticipated the time. For it was meet the resurrection should take place, while they were sitting by and watching. Therefore also it was fit it should take place within the three days, since if it had been when they were passed, and the men had withdrawn, the matter would have been regarded with suspicion. Wherefore also He allowed them to seal it, as they were minded, and soldiers sat around it.
And they cared not about doing these things, and working on a Sabbath day, but they looked to one object only, their own wicked purpose, as though by that they were to succeed; which was a mark of extreme folly, and of fear now greatly dismaying them. For they who seized Him, when living, are afraid of Him when dead. And yet if He had been a mere man, they had reason to have taken courage. But that they might learn, that when living also He endured of His own will, what He did endure; behold, both a seal, a stone, and a watch, and they were not able to hold Him. But there was one result only, that the burial was published, and the resurrection thereby proved. For indeed soldiers sat by it, and Jews are on the watch.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Matthew
(V. 61 seqq.) Now there was there Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting opposite the sepulchre. And on the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying: Lord, we remember that that seducer said, while he was yet alive: After three days I will rise again. But the rest having left the Lord, the women persevered in their duty, expecting what Jesus had promised; and therefore they were the first to see the risen Lord, for he who perseveres to the end shall be saved (Matthew 10:22; 24:13).
Jerome (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 420
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
It was not enough for the Chief Priests to have crucified the Lord the Saviour, if they did not guard the sepulchre, and do their utmost to lay hands on Him as He rose from the dead.
Remigius of Rheims (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 533
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
And to this day the holy women, that is, the lowly souls of the saints, do the like in this present world, and with pious assiduity wait while Christ's passion is being completed.
They say that He had declared, After three days I will rise again, in consequence of that He said above, As Jonas was three days and, three nights in the whale's belly, &c. (Matt. 12:40.) But let us see in what way He can be said to have risen again after three days. Some would have the three hours of darkness understood as one night, and the light succeeding the darkness as a day, but these do not know the force of figurative language. The sixth day of the week on which He suffered comprehended the foregoing night; then follows the night of the Sabbath with its own day, and the night of the Lord's day includes also its own day; and hence it is true that He rose again after three days.
Rabanus Maurus (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 856
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
By the Parasceve is meant 'preparation;' and they gave this name to the sixth day of the week, on which they made ready the things needed for the Sabbath, as was commanded respecting the manna, On the sixth day they gathered twice as much. (Exod. 16:22.) Because on the sixth day man was made, and on the seventh God rested; therefore on the sixth day Jesus died for man, and rested the Sabbath day in the tomb. The Chief Priests although in putting the Lord to death they had committed a heinous crime, yet were they not satisfied unless even after His death they carried on the venom of their malice once begun, traducing His character, and calling one, whom they knew to be guileless, a deceiver. (John 11:49.) But as Caiaphas prophesied without knowing it, that it is expedient that one man should die for the people, so now, Christ was a deceiver,1 not from truth into error, but leading men from error to truth, from vices to virtue, from death to life.
Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day. For Christ's disciples were spiritually thieves; stealing from the unthankful Jews the writings of the New and Old Testament, they bestowed them to be used by the Church; and while they slept, that is, while the Jews were sunk in the lethargy of unbelief, they carried off the promised Saviour, and gave Him to be believed on by the Gentiles.
When they say, And the last error will be worse than the first, they utter a truth unwittingly, for their contempt of penitence was worse for the Jews than was their error of ignorance.
Pilate's answer to their request is as much as to say, Be it enough for you that ye have conspired the death of an innocent man, henceforth let your error remain with you.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Matthew 27:62 records the immediate aftermath of Jesus' crucifixion and burial, detailing how the chief priests and Pharisees, despite it being the Sabbath, convened to approach Pontius Pilate. Their urgent meeting with the Roman governor underscores their deep-seated anxiety and persistent opposition to Jesus, even in death, driven by a fear that His claims of resurrection might be substantiated by His followers.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse immediately follows the account of Jesus' crucifixion, death, and burial in Matthew 27:32-61. The preceding verses describe Joseph of Arimathea's courageous request for Jesus' body and its placement in a new tomb. Matthew 27:62 thus marks a shift from the events surrounding Jesus' physical death to the religious leaders' proactive measures to prevent any possibility of His resurrection being believed. It sets the stage for the guarding of the tomb and directly precedes their explicit statement of fear regarding Jesus' prophecy of rising on the third day, as detailed in Matthew 27:63-64. This narrative sequence highlights the continuity of the religious leaders' hostility and their desperate attempts to control the unfolding events, even as God's plan moved inexorably forward.
Historical & Cultural Context: The "day of the preparation" (Greek: paraskeuē) referred to Friday, the day before the Sabbath, when Jews would complete all necessary tasks before the Sabbath's strict cessation of work. Jesus was crucified and buried on this day. "The next day" was therefore the Sabbath, Saturday, a day of sacred rest and worship for the Jewish people. For the chief priests and Pharisees, who were meticulous in their observance of the Mosaic Law, engaging in political activity and a formal meeting with a Roman official on the Sabbath was highly unusual and indicative of their extreme apprehension. Their willingness to violate their own strict interpretations of Sabbath law underscores the profound threat they perceived in Jesus' claims, even after His death. Their appeal to Pilate, the Roman governor, also highlights their dependence on secular authority to enforce their will, despite their frequent clashes with Roman rule.
Key Themes: Matthew 27:62 contributes to several significant themes within the broader narrative of Jesus' passion and resurrection. Firstly, it powerfully illustrates the Persistent Opposition of the religious establishment to Jesus, even beyond His death, demonstrating their unwavering hostility and fear of His influence. Secondly, it foreshadows the central theme of the Resurrection, revealing the religious leaders' deep-seated anxiety that Jesus' prophecy of rising again might come true, leading them to take extraordinary measures to prevent it (see Matthew 27:63). Thirdly, the verse subtly introduces the theme of Hypocrisy, as these leaders, who rigidly enforced Sabbath laws on others, themselves engaged in secular dealings on the holy day, prioritizing their political agenda over religious observance. Finally, it underscores the Divine Sovereignty at play, as their very actions, intended to thwart God's plan, inadvertently set the stage for the undeniable proof of the empty tomb and Jesus' ultimate triumph. This fear-driven scheming contrasts sharply with the quiet despair of the disciples, who were likely observing the Sabbath in mourning, unaware of the divine victory that was about to unfold, as hinted at in Mark 16:1-8.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The verse employs several literary devices. Irony is prominent, as the chief priests and Pharisees, who were meticulous about Sabbath observance and condemned Jesus for perceived violations of the Law, themselves engage in political maneuvering and secular business on the holy day. This highlights their Hypocrisy, prioritizing their fear and desire for control over their own religious principles. There is also a strong element of Foreshadowing; their proactive measures to secure the tomb, born of fear that Jesus' resurrection prophecy might be fulfilled, inadvertently set the stage for the undeniable evidence of the empty tomb, thereby confirming the very event they sought to prevent. The verse also presents a subtle Contrast between the probable mourning and Sabbath rest of Jesus' disciples and the restless scheming of His adversaries, underscoring the different responses to the cross.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Matthew 27:62 serves as a powerful testament to the depth of human opposition to God's divine plan, driven by fear, self-preservation, and a desire to maintain power. The religious leaders' actions, even after Jesus' death, underscore the futility of human efforts to thwart God's sovereign will. Their fear of a resurrected Christ, though rooted in unbelief, ironically confirms the potency of Jesus' claims and the profound impact He had on them. This verse highlights how those who reject God's truth often become restless in their attempts to suppress it, demonstrating a spiritual blindness that prevents them from recognizing divine revelation even when it is unfolding before their eyes. Their appeal to Pilate, the very authority they manipulated to crucify Jesus, further exposes their reliance on worldly power rather than divine truth.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
This verse offers profound insights into the nature of human resistance to divine truth and the relentless pursuit of control. It reminds us that fear, especially the fear of losing power or influence, can drive individuals and institutions to extraordinary lengths, even to the point of compromising their own stated principles. The chief priests and Pharisees, so zealous for the Law, violated the spirit of the Sabbath out of their desperate need to prevent the truth of Jesus' resurrection from emerging. For us today, this serves as a cautionary tale: are there areas in our lives where fear, pride, or a desire for control lead us to resist God's clear will or to act hypocritically? Do we, like these leaders, attempt to "secure the tomb" of our own comfort zones or preconceived notions, rather than embracing the disruptive, life-giving truth of Christ? The ultimate irony is that their actions, intended to suppress the truth, ultimately served to highlight and confirm it. This should encourage us that no human scheme, no matter how cunning or powerful, can ultimately thwart God's purposes. We are called to trust in God's sovereignty, even when circumstances seem dire, knowing that His plan will prevail, and that even the opposition of His enemies can be used to advance His kingdom.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did the chief priests and Pharisees go to Pilate on the Sabbath?
Answer: Their decision to approach Pilate on the Sabbath, a day of strict rest and religious observance, highlights the extreme urgency and depth of their fear regarding Jesus' claims. While they were meticulous about Sabbath laws for others, their overwhelming concern that Jesus' disciples might steal His body and claim He had risen (as stated in Matthew 27:63-64) led them to prioritize their political agenda over their religious principles. This act underscores their hypocrisy and their desperate attempt to control the narrative surrounding Jesus, even after His death.
Who were the chief priests and Pharisees, and why were they united in their opposition to Jesus?
Answer: The chief priests were primarily members of the Sadducee party, an aristocratic and politically influential group that controlled the Temple and its rituals. They generally did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees were a popular Jewish sect known for their strict adherence to the Mosaic Law and their emphasis on oral traditions. While these two groups often had theological and political disagreements (e.g., Acts 23:6-8), they were united in their opposition to Jesus because He challenged their authority, exposed their hypocrisy, and threatened their established religious and social order. His teachings and miracles, particularly His claims of divinity and His popularity among the people, were perceived as a direct threat to their power and influence, leading them to conspire for His death and, as seen here, to prevent any belief in His resurrection.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Matthew 27:62, detailing the religious leaders' frantic efforts to secure Jesus' tomb, ironically sets the stage for the ultimate demonstration of Christ's triumph over death. Their fear that Jesus' prophecy of resurrection might be fulfilled (as expressed in Matthew 27:63) directly points to the central truth of the Gospel: that Jesus did indeed rise. Their desperate actions, intended to prevent belief in the resurrection, ultimately served to provide undeniable proof of it. The sealed tomb and the Roman guard, far from suppressing the truth, became irrefutable witnesses to the empty tomb on the third day (Matthew 28:1-6). Thus, the very efforts of those who opposed Christ became part of God's sovereign plan to magnify His victory. Jesus' resurrection, which they so desperately tried to prevent, is the cornerstone of Christian faith, demonstrating His power over sin and death (Romans 6:9-10). Their futile scheming underscores that no human power, no matter how great, can thwart the divine will or hold the Son of God captive (Acts 2:24). Christ's triumph over the grave renders all their anxieties and machinations utterly meaningless, establishing Him as the victorious Lord and the firstfruits of those who sleep (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).