Luke xxiii.56. ointments; and rested the sabbath-day according Jerusalem. to the commandment. the holy sepulchre, and other parts of Jerusalem, are closely followed in Sandys' travels; and the praise which Mr. Maundrell bestows on the latter for exactness in these matters belongs equally to the other. The map of Villalpandus, with the addition of the houses from Cotovicus, illustrates the incidents of the morning of the resurrection, as if it were fabricated for that very purpose. And yet we may venture to affirm, that these learned men had not the most distant idea of the use to which their designs are applicable. Their notion, it may be presumed, was the same as was generally entertained, that the women all went to the sepulchre in one company, which is not particularly favoured by either place separately; and, when they are thus united, is rather discountenanced by them; for hence it appears, while all the women were hastening to the same place, how much time some of them must lose by going to join the others, for the sake of setting out with them. The history not being framed to tally with the map, nor the map with the history, their undesigned agreement adds to the credibility of both. Leaving, however, all arguments of this nature, let us consider the more authentic evidence derived from the sacred narrative itself, that the women were divided into two parties. These, for the sake of method and clearness, shall be reduced under certain heads. 1. St. Mark's account of the women that went to the tomb on the morning of the resurrection, does, in just construction, exclude all but those whom he names. He speaks of these women, or some of them, in the five following places. First, "There were also women looking afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less, and of Joses and Salome;" xv. 40. Secondly, "And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid;" ibid. ver. 47. Thirdly, " And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Salome, bought sweet spices, that they might go and anoint him;" xvi. 1. Fourthly, "And very early in the morning of the first day of the week they go unto the tomb;" ibid. ver. 2. Fifthly, "Now Jesus, having risen early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalene;" ibid. ver. 9. 2. St. Luke's account does not include the women named by St. Mark; it bears tokens of being the description of an entirely distinct company. 66 In speaking of the women that attended the body of Christ from the cross to the tomb, St. Luke does not say, the women also that came with him from Galilee; but, as we shall find, if we consult the original, women also that came with him from Galilee," (Luke xxiii. 55.) there being no article accompanying yvvaïkes; which therefore allows us, with good reason, to conjecture that he intended to comprehend only the majority, not the whole company of these women, in his subsequent account of them: nor at present does he mention any of them by name. He speaks of them as follows: "And women also that came with him from Galilee followed after, and beheld the tomb, and how his body was laid; and, being returned, prepared spices and ointments." 3. The accounts given of the conduct of the women, when they arrived at the tomb, imply a first and second company. And besides the vision to Mary Mag Jerusalem. dalene alone, there were two angelic appearances and speeches, each to a differ- St. John says, that when Mary Magdalene saw the stone taken away from the But this will receive still greater confirmation from the two subsequent positions. 4. The accounts given of the behaviour of the women in the tomb, are accounts of two different parties. The women, whom St. Matthew and St. Mark speak of, were affrighted, not only at the first sight of the angel, but after he had done speaking to them. Both Evangelists represent them as hastening away from his presence, by going out quickly, and fleeing from the tomb. But the women described by St. Luke were calm and composed; and, if they had recovered such presence of mind while the angels were yet speaking, there is no reason to imagine that, having heard such happy intelligence, they were then seized with a sudden terror, and fled from the tomb trembling and amazed. St. Luke's words certainly convey no such idea of their departure from it. 5. The speech of the two angels, considered as spoken to a subsequent company, has an obvious propriety. It would be presumption to affirm, antecedently, what the two angels ought or ought not to have spoken; but when we have their speech before us, we may examine and judge, whether the circumstances of it suit better with the whole company of the women, or with one part of them, not exactly in the same situation with the other. If the women did not visit the tomb all together, the going thither of Joanna and her party has been rightly placed, after Mary Magdalene had left it a second time, and when our Lord had shewed himself to her. And but a short space intervened between this going thither, and his meeting the two Maries and Salome, saying unto them, "All hail!" At this juncture it was that the two angels were addressing themselves to Joanna, and those who had just searched the tomb with her. When therefore Christ was not only risen, but had appeared in that body which the Father had raised from the grave, it might well be asked of those, who were much perplexed because they found not his body where it had been deposited, "Why seek ye the living among the dead ?" In every point of view, then, the division of the women into two distinct companies, going successively to the tomb on the morning of the resurrection, corresponds exactly with the evangelical accounts of the incidents of that morning. It embraces all the circumstances related of the women, and of the angels seen by them, and unites the whole into one intelligible, consistent history. See, both for this and the subsequent notes on the following sections, Cranfield's Harmony of the Resurrection, and Dr. Townson's Discourses, with their references. SECTION IV. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary continue to sit opposite the Matt. xxvii. 61. MATT. xxvii. 61. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Jerusalem. Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre 3. SECTION V. The Sabbath being ended, the Chief Priests prepare a Guard of Matt. xxvii. 62. Matt. xxvii. 63, MATT. xxvii. 62, to the end. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the Chief Priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver 5 We read, in Matt. xxvii. 59, "And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new sepulchre, which he had hewn out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And (or But) Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting over against the tomb." The words seem to imply an opposition between the departing of Joseph, and the abiding of the two women; and that this sitting over against the tomb was subsequent to the closing of it with a great This solemn act could not force them away from the object of their grief. They still lingered as near to it as they could, sitting on the ground. And in this posture of mourning they continued, till reverence for the sabbath obliged them to retire; when it was too late to prepare their contingent of spices.-Dr. Townson, vol. ii. P. 86. stone. This conduct of the Pharisees and Chief Priests compelled them also to become unwilling witnesses of the resurrection of our Lord. The attempt of the women to enter the sepulchre on the morning when he arose, sufficiently proves that they had not anticipated any other obstacle to the embalming the body, but that which might be occasioned by the size of the stone. They were utterly unprepared to meet with a guard, or to find the seal of the Sanhedrim on the tomb. This conduct, however, of the rulers of the people, was attended with many important advantages. They satisfied themselves that the dead body was safely lying in the tomb, before they proceeded to place the seal. Their testimony, therefore, that our Lord was really dead, must have corroborated in the strongest manner the great truth of the resurrection, and that our Lord had risen, as the Apostles declared; for no common power could have eluded the jealous caution of the rulers, or have escaped the proverbial vigilance of a Roman guard. Their sealing the sepulchre also, prevented the violation of the tomb, by any of the guard themselves; who might have been tempted to steal the spices in which the body was inclosed. Jerusalem. said, while he was yet alive, After three days I 64. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made Matt. xxvii. sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as you can. Matt. xxvii. 65. 66. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, Matt. xxvii. sealing the stone, and setting a watch. SECTION VI. The Sabbath being over, Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, and MARK XVI. 1. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magda- Mark xvi. 1. lene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him". 7 The word nyópaσav properly signifies not "they had bought," but "they bought." The Vulgate renders it "emerunt." Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had staid at the sepulchre till it was too late to buy their spices; but both they and Salome took the earliest opportunity of procuring them after the Sabbath was over; that is, after six o'clock in the evening of Saturday, the day preceding the resurrection. The word was rendered "had bought," by our translators, on sufficient authority, for the perfect tense is sometimes used in this manner.- (See Chandler on Matt. xxviii. 17.) It is, however, most probable, that they supposed this translation to be absolutely necessary to render the Evangelists consistent with themselves. In Luke xxiii. 56, they read that the spices were prepared before the evening of the Sabbath. They supposed, according to the general notion, that there was one party only of women; and imagined there would be an absurdity in so translating Mark xvi. 1. as if that one party had procured additional spices after the Sabbath. Whereas it is by a scrupulous adherence to the plain meaning of the Scripture, that all difficulties are removed. The comparison of these two passages might alone have been sufficient to shew that there were two parties of women. This seems to have escaped the attention of Mr. Valpy; who, in his valuable edition of the Greek Testament, observes, that the word ought to be rendered as if it was preterpluperfect. His argument is derived from Luke xxiii. 56, which refers only to the other party of women. SECTION VII. The Morning of Easter-Day- Mary Magdalene, the other MATT. XXViii. 1. MARK Xxvi. part of ver. 2. JOHN XX. Mat. xxviii. 1. And after the sabbath", 8 ON THE TIME WHEN THE WOMEN SET OUT FOR, AND ARRIVED AT, THE SEPULCHRE. We now come to the question concerning the time when the women set out for, and reached the sepulchre. This difficulty, like all others, vanishes on a careful examination of the language of the Evangelists. Lightfoot (a) has attempted to illustrate the various expressions of the Evangelists, which describe the time when the women came to the sepulchre, from the distinction of twilight among the Rabbins. His reasoning is founded on the old supposition, that there was but one party of women; and is, besides, arbitrary, and unsupported by authority. To inquire more accurately into the time, we must endeavour to ascertain the full meaning of the terms which are used by the Evangelists. The words of St. Matthew are, ¿yè dè σabbátwv, rý ἐπιφωσκούσῃ εἰς μίαν σαββάτων, ἦλθε. "Late after (b) the Sabbath, at the dawning of the first day of the week." Τῇ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ, at the dawning,” is used for σὺν τῇ ἕῳ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ, "along with the dawning morn." 'Hλ0ɛ; the proper meaning of this word seems to be, that they set out from their homes at this time. The word ἔρχοpaι signifies both, "to go to," or, "set off to," as well as, " to arrive at," any place. Mark xvi. 1, 2. τοῦ διαγενομένου σαββάτου, λίαν πρωὶ τῆς μιᾶς σαββάτων. "After the Sabbath was thoroughly past, very early on the first day of the week." Here διαγενομένου σαββάτου, is explanatory of Matthew's ὀψὲ σαββάτων : משיביר בין .2 בנץ החמה .4 .when the east begins to lighten " משיאור המזרח .3 (a) The distinction of twilight among the Rabbins is thus given by Lightfoot;-1. n *nb" "The hind of the morning, the very first perceptible light of the dawn, the women went towards the sepulchre.' abs nban "when the difference between purple and white may be distinguished "sun-rise." According to these four phrases we may interpret the evangelical narratives. St. Matthew says, r ¿πipwokovoy, as it began to dawn." St. John says, ρwi okоríaç iтi ovong, "early in the morning, while it was yet dark." St. Luke's expression corresponds to the third, op@pov ẞadios, very early in the morning:" and St. Mark uses a phrase corresponding to the fourth, Λίαν πρωί, very early in the morning;" and yet avartiλavтog Tou iov," at the rising of the sun."-Lightfoot's Works, Dr. Bright's edit. vol. ii. p. 359. (b) The word oè, ought to be translated "after," "late after," or 66 long after;" for the Sabbath among the Jews ended on the Saturday night, when it could not be dawning towards the first day of the week. Schmidius has quoted Plut. in Numa, è rou Baoiλéws xpóvov, “after the time of the king;" and Philostratus, ¿è ruv Tρwikwv, "after the Trojan war." -See also Bos. Exercit. ap. Bowyer, p. 134. Jerusalem. |