The tombs broke open
This phrase signifies a miraculous event that occurred at the moment of Jesus' death. The Greek word for "tombs" is "mnemeia," which refers to graves or sepulchers. The breaking open of the tombs symbolizes the power of Christ's death over the grave, foreshadowing the ultimate victory over death through His resurrection. Historically, Jewish burial practices involved placing bodies in rock-hewn tombs, often sealed with stones. The opening of these tombs would have been a dramatic and undeniable sign to the witnesses of the supernatural nature of the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion.

and the bodies of many saints
The term "saints" here is translated from the Greek word "hagios," meaning holy or set apart. These individuals were likely devout followers of God who had died before the coming of Christ. The use of "bodies" emphasizes the physical resurrection, not just a spiritual awakening. This event serves as a testament to the power of Jesus' sacrifice, which extends beyond His own resurrection to those who were faithful to God, illustrating the hope of resurrection for all believers.

who had fallen asleep
The phrase "fallen asleep" is a euphemism for death, commonly used in the New Testament. The Greek word "koimao" conveys the idea of rest, suggesting that death is temporary for believers, akin to sleep from which one will awaken. This reflects the early Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead, a core tenet of the faith that promises eternal life through Christ. The use of this term underscores the hope and assurance that death is not the end for those who are in Christ.

were raised
The Greek word "egeiro" means to awaken or to raise up. This miraculous raising of the saints' bodies is a foretaste of the general resurrection at the end of the age, as promised in Christian eschatology. It demonstrates the immediate impact of Jesus' death on the power of sin and death, providing a tangible sign of the new covenant and the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. This event would have served as a powerful witness to the truth of Jesus' identity as the Messiah and the transformative power of His sacrifice.

(52) Many bodies of the saints which slept arose.--It is scarcely, perhaps, surprising that a narrative so exceptional in its marvellousness, and standing, as it does, without any collateral testimony in any other part of the New Testament, should have presented to many minds difficulties which have seemed almost insuperable. They have accordingly either viewed it as a mythical addition, or, where they shrank from that extreme conclusion, have explained it as meaning simply that the bodies of the dead were exposed to view by the earthquake mentioned in the preceding verse, or have seen in it only the honest report of an over-excited imagination. On the other hand, the brevity, and in some sense simplicity, of the statement differences it very widely from such legends, more or less analogous in character, as we find, e.g., in the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, and so far excludes the mythical element which, as a rule, delights to show itself in luxuriant expansion. And this being excluded, we can hardly imagine the Evangelist as writing without having received his information from witnesses whom he thought trustworthy; and then the question rises, whether the narrative is of such a character as to be in itself incredible. On that point men, according to the point of view from which they look on the Gospel records, may naturally differ; but those who believe that when our Lord passed into Hades, the unseen world, it was to complete there what had been begun on earth, to proclaim there His victory over death and sin, will hardly think it impossible that there should have been outward tokens and witnesses of such a work. And the fact which St. Matthew records supplies, it is believed, the most natural explanation of language hardly less startling, which meets us in the Epistle, which even the most adverse critics admit to be from the hands of St. Peter. If he, or those whom he knew, had seen the saints that slept and had risen from their sleep, we can understand how deeply it would have impressed on his mind the fact that his Lord when "put to death in the flesh" had been "quickened in the spirit," and had "preached to the spirits in prison" (1Peter 3:19), so that glad tidings were proclaimed even to the dead (1Peter 4:6). Who they were that thus appeared, we are not told. Most commentators have followed--somewhat unhappily, I venture to believe--the lead of the Apocryphal Gospel just named, and have identified them with the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament. It is clear, however, that St. Matthew's statement implies that they were those who came out of the opened graves, who had been buried, that is, in the sepulchres of Jerusalem; and, remembering that the term "saints" was applied almost from the very first to the collective body of disciples (Acts 9:13; Acts 9:32; Acts 9:41), it seems more natural to see in them those who, believing in Jesus, had passed to their rest before His crucifixion. On this supposition, their appearance met the feeling, sure to arise among those who were looking for an immediate manifestation of the kingdom--as it arose afterwards at Thessalonica (1Thessalonians 4:13)--that such as had so died were shut out from their share in that kingdom; and we have thus an adequate reason for their appearance, so that friends and kindred might not sorrow for them as others who had no hope. The statement that they did not appear till after our Lord's resurrection, is from this point of view significant. The disciples were thus taught to look on that resurrection, not as an isolated phenomenon, but as the "firstfruits" of the victory over death (1Corinthians 15:20), in which not they themselves only, but those also whom they had loved and lost were to be sharers. . . . Verse 52. - The graves (the sepulchres) were opened. The earthquake tore away the stones that closed the mouths of many of the adjacent tombs. This and the following fact are mentioned only by St. Matthew. Many bodies of the saints which slept (τῶν κεκοιμημένων, who had fallen asleep) arose. Matthew anticipates the time of the actual occurrence of the marvel, which took place, not at this moment, but after our Lord's resurrection, who was "the firstfruits of them that slept" (see the next verse). Who are meant by "the saints" here is doubtful. The Jews probably would have understood the term to apply to the worthies of the Old Testament (comp. 2 Peter 3:4). But the opening of the sepulchres in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem would not have liberated the bodies of many of those who were buried far away. The persons signified must be those who in life had looked for the hope of Israel, and had seen in Christ that hope fulfilled; they were such as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, true believers, who are called saints in the New Testament. How did these bodies arise? or how were they raised up? They were not mere phantoms, unsubstantial visitants from the spirit world, for they were in some sense corporeal. That they were not resuscitated corpses, as Lazarus, Jairus's daughter and the son of the widow, who lived for a time a second life, seems plain from the expression applied to them in the next verse, that "they appeared unto many," i.e. to persons who had known them while living. Some have thought that in them was anticipated the general resurrection, that, delivered from Hades and united to their bodies, they died no more, but at the Ascension accompanied Christ into heaven. Scripture says nothing of all this, nor have we any reason to suppose that any human body, save that of our blessed Lord (mediaeval legends add that of the Virgin Mary), has yet entered the highest heaven (see Hebrews 11:39, 40). Another opinion is that these were not strictly resurrections, but bodily appearances of saints like those of Moses and Elias at the Transfiguration; but it is a straining of language to make the evangelist describe such visitations as bodies arising from open sepulchres. Farrar tries to elude the difficulty by a supposition, as baseless as it is dishonouring to the evangelist's strict and simple veracity. He writes, "An earthquake shook the earth and split the rocks, and as it rolled away from their places the great stones which closed and covered the cavern sepulchres of the Jews, so it seemed to the imaginations of many to have disimprisoned the spirits of the dead, and to have filled the air with ghostly visitants, who, after Christ had risen, appeared to linger in the holy city. Only in some such way," he adds, "can I account for the singular and wholly isolated allusion of Matthew." Because a fact is mentioned by one evangelist only, it is not on this account incredible. St. Matthew was probably an eyewitness of that which he relates, and might have been confuted by his contemporaries, if he had stated what was not true. An early witness to the fact is found in Igmatius, who, in his 'Epistle to the Magnesians,' ch. 9, speaks of Christ when on earth raising the prophets from the dead. The whole matter is mysterious and beyond human ken; but we may well believe that at this great crisis the Lord, who is the Resurrection and the Life, willed to exemplify his victory over death. and to make manifest the resurrection of the body, and this he did by releasing some saintly souls from Hades, and clothing them with the forms in which they had formerly lived, and permitting them to show themselves thus to those who knew and loved them. Of the future life of these resuscitated saints we know nothing, and will not presumptuously venture to inquire. When they have demonstrated that the sting was now taken from death, that the power of the grave was broken, that men shall rise again with their bodies and be known and recognized, they pass out of sight into the unseen world, and we can follow them no further.

Parallel Commentaries ...


The
τὰ (ta)
Article - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

tombs
μνημεῖα (mnēmeia)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3419: A tomb, sepulcher, monument. From mneme; a remembrance, i.e. Cenotaph.

broke open,
ἀνεῴχθησαν (aneōchthēsan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 455: To open. From ana and oigo; to open up.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

[the] bodies
σώματα (sōmata)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 4983: Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.

of many
πολλὰ (polla)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 4183: Much, many; often.

saints
ἁγίων (hagiōn)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 40: Set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred. From hagos; sacred.

who had fallen asleep
κεκοιμημένων (kekoimēmenōn)
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 2837: From keimai; to put to sleep, i.e. to slumber; figuratively, to decease.

were raised.
ἠγέρθησαν (ēgerthēsan)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1453: (a) I wake, arouse, (b) I raise up. Probably akin to the base of agora; to waken, i.e. Rouse.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 27:52 The tombs were opened and many bodies (Matt. Mat Mt)