complete verse (Matthew 27:66)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 27:66:

  • Uma: “They went to the grave. They sealed [saa’, from Indonesian cap ‘official stamp’] the rock that closed it so that it couldn’t be shoved-aside, and ordered soldiers to watch the grave, so that no-one could tamper with it.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then they went there and put a sign on the door of the cave so that it would be known if someone had opened it, and they commanded the soldiers to watch/guard.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They went there, and they put a mark on the stone door so that they might be able to tell if anybody moved it. And they left the soldiers they were causing to watch it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So after-that they went to the cave and they marked the rock that closed-it (lit. doored-it) so that it could-be-seen if someone rolled-it-away. After-that they left leaving-behind the soldiers to be-guarding.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That’s why what they did was they went to the grave and then fixed a marker/signal on that rock which had been used to block off so that they could be sure that it wasn’t interferred with by anyone. And then they caused it to be guarded by those soldiers.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “All went then to guard the tomb well. They sealed the closure of the tomb. The soldiers were left to guard it.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 27:66

Made … secure is the same verb used in verses 64 and 65; evidently Matthew employs it these three times in close sequence so as to remove any doubt concerning the reality of the resurrection event.

No one is quite certain what is meant by the act of sealing the stone. It may refer to the normal way of securing a tomb, or else to a special kind of sealing. One scholar has suggested that a rope was drawn over the stone and then a seal attached to it. Others believe that the sealing was done by means of filling the space between the face of the rock and the stone used for a door with soft clay, and then stamping on it the seal of the Jewish authorities. The apocryphal Gospel of Peter says that it was sealed with seven seals, though this judgment is without support elsewhere. Some scholars call attention to the parallel between the sealing of the tomb and of the lions’ den (Dan 6.17), since these two themes sometimes occur together in early Christian art.

Since sealing is not known in all societies, then in this verse one possible translation is “put a mark on the stone to know if it was moved” or “put their mark on the stone so no one would move it.”

Setting a guard points back to the guard given the Jewish leaders by Pilate (verse 65). Good News Translation has “leaving the guard on watch.” A more complete translation is “They left the soldiers there to guard the tomb.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .