CONTINUED from post # 70 by JehovahsWitness ....
Matthew 27:51-53New International Version (NIV)
The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
# QUESTION But doesn't the the participle �ξελθόντες [exelthontes] "coming out" (of verse 53) refer to "the saints" ?
The most one can say is this is a possibility but not the
only possible reading. Let's look at the sequence of events:
- 1. Earthquake
2. Bodies [of "saints" who had "Fallen asleep"] were "raised"/ exposed/thrown up (see above)
verse 53 >>
3. Plural masculines coming out/forth
4. Plural masculines going to Jérusalem.
Firstly, the fact that the the masculine plural "saints" agrees with the the participle κεκοιμημÎνων [ kekoimÄ“menÅ�n] [had fallen asleep] is of no help in identifying the subject of the verb "came out" which occurs in the following verse [53] ? Lets illustrate this, look at the sentences below:
The dog (of the women that had recently been divorced) barked.
The bodies (of the saints who had Fallen asleep in death) were raised
NOTE: If we were speaking in a language where the subject had to agree with the verb, then naturally we would expect the noun "the women" to agree with the verb "divorced" (While "barked" would agree with "dog"). But is this of any real help if a second sentence is added.? Let's see first in English staying with the illustration. Our new (illustrative) sentence is:
They chased the postman down the street.
They went into Jérusalem.
Now this is the million dollar question. WHO chased the postman? The dog? The Women? Other people that were neither dog nor the women?
WHO WENT INTO JERUSALEM?
Firstly, we can eliminate "the bodies" because the verb and the subject do not agree in Greek (just as in English (in our example sentence) we can eliminate "the dog" because dog is singular and "they chased" is plural; so because of the grammer we know.
- The dog didn't chase the postman
- The bodies didn't go into Jerusalem.
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Okay, so wouldn't we naturally assume it would be "the women"?
That might seem like a reasonable assumption but not a forgone conclusion.
>>
But, if neither the dog or the women could it have been other people?
Technically yes. There is nothing in the two sentences that eliminates that possibility.
So lets put all our examples together
The dog (of the women that had recently been divorced) barked.
They chased the postman down the street
The bodies (of the saints who had fellen asleep) were raised
They went forth ... into Jérusalem.
All we can really say (for certain) is
a) bodies were "raised" (see my earlier post for what this could mean) and
b) that SOMEBODY ("people") went into Jerusalem.
- No more, no less. We cannot say for sure that those "people" where individuals that had previously been dead or whether they were people that simply had been present to witness the event. What then would be the most reasonable rendition for a translator? Leave the verse "neutral". (refering back to the illustration, don't say "the women chased the postman", certainly don't say "the dog chased the postman" don't even say "the previously divorced individuals" ... just (in English) conjugate the verb in plural "they" or refer to "people" and leave the reader to understand the verse has he so wishes. This is in fact was by far the majority of translations actually do, refering to "they' and NOT saying who "they" ARE since the writer of Matthew himself is not specific.
http://biblehub.com/matthew/27-53.htm
CONCLUSION:
The verses in Matthew 27:52-53 is one of the most enigmatic in the Greek scriptures and by itself its not clear who went into Jérusalem. While it is unreasonable to be dogmatic about what the verse means , the language certainly allows for witnesses (they) of the exposed corpses of dead saints, to have carried the story of what they had seen into the city; avoiding some of the more scripturally probelmatic reading.
JW