Matthew 27:62 kjv
Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
Matthew 27:62 nkjv
On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate,
Matthew 27:62 niv
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.
Matthew 27:62 esv
The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
Matthew 27:62 nlt
The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate.
Matthew 27 62 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| The Leaders' Malice and Hypocrisy | ||
| Jn 18:28 | Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment... lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. | Ritual purity prioritized over justice/Sabbath. |
| Jn 19:31 | The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day... | Zeal for Sabbath purity in some contexts. |
| Lk 23:54-56 | That day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on... And they rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. | The contrast with the women resting. |
| Mt 12:14 | Then the Pharisees went out, and held a counsel against him, how they might destroy him. | Prior plotting against Jesus. |
| Mt 26:3-4 | Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest... | Prior decision to seize Jesus. |
| Mk 3:6 | And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. | Their consistent opposition to Jesus. |
| Jn 11:47-53 | Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles... | Their fear of losing power due to Jesus. |
| Ps 2:2 | The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed... | Prophetic pattern of rulers opposing God. |
| Jesus' Prophecies of Resurrection | ||
| Mt 12:38-40 | ...There shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas... three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. | Jesus predicting His death and resurrection. |
| Mt 16:21 | From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things... | First clear prophecy of suffering and rising. |
| Mt 17:22-23 | ...The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. | Further explicit resurrection prophecy. |
| Mt 20:17-19 | ...The Son of man shall be betrayed... unto the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. | Prophecy specifying crucifixion and resurrection. |
| Lk 24:6-7 | He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be... | Angel's reminder of Jesus' resurrection prophecy. |
| Jn 2:19-21 | Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up... spake of the temple of his body. | Jesus' veiled prophecy about His body. |
| Pilate's Role and Aftermath | ||
| Mt 27:1-2 | When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death... | Leaders bringing Jesus to Pilate. |
| Mt 27:11-26 | ...Pilate said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? ...He saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? | Pilate's involvement in Jesus' trial. |
| Mt 27:63-64 | Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again... | Leaders' explicit reason for asking for a guard. |
| Mt 28:11-15 | Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. | The watch's report and the fabricated lie. |
| Ps 64:5-6 | They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? | Wicked conspiring in secret. |
| Ac 5:27-29 | And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straightly... | Religious leaders continuing to oppose the truth. |
| Rom 1:4 | And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead... | Resurrection as ultimate proof of divinity. |
Matthew 27 verses
Matthew 27 62 Meaning
Matthew 27:62 describes the immediate actions of the Jewish religious leaders following Jesus' crucifixion and burial. On the Sabbath, which was the day after the Passover Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees, putting aside their usual disagreements, unified in their fear and unbelief. They went to Pontius Pilate to express their concern that Jesus’s body might be stolen, seeking a guard for His tomb, thus unwittingly providing a critical witness to Jesus’s burial and their knowledge of His prophecy concerning His resurrection.
Matthew 27 62 Context
This verse occurs immediately after the burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea and the women watching from a distance, just before the accounts of the resurrection. The preceding verses in Matthew 27 describe Jesus' crucifixion, death, the accompanying signs, and His burial. This particular verse, Matthew 27:62, sets the scene for the placing of the guard at Jesus' tomb, an event unique to Matthew's Gospel. Historically and culturally, "the day of preparation" (paraskeuē) was Friday, the day before the Sabbath, when people prepared for the Sabbath rest by finishing all necessary work. Jesus was crucified on this Friday. Thus, "the next day" signifies Saturday, the Sabbath, a day of prescribed rest according to Jewish law. The act of the chief priests and Pharisees coming together and initiating an action on the Sabbath highlights their intense, self-serving preoccupation with preventing Jesus' resurrection claim, even at the cost of violating their own sacred law concerning Sabbath work and travel. Their concern stems from their awareness of Jesus' prophecies regarding His rising on the third day.
Matthew 27 62 Word analysis
- Now the next day: Greek: Tē epaurion. This specifically refers to "the morrow" or "the day following." In this context, it marks the first full day after Jesus' crucifixion and burial. Given that Jesus was buried late on "the day of preparation," "the next day" is the Sabbath (Saturday), highlighting the immediate aftermath and the haste of the religious leaders.
- that followed the day of the preparation: Greek: meta tēn paraskeuēn. Paraskeuē literally means "preparation" and was the common Jewish term for Friday, the day on which all cooking and work ceased before the Sabbath began at sunset. This clarifies the precise timing: Friday evening to Saturday evening was the Sabbath. The leaders acted on this Sabbath.
- the chief priests: Greek: hoi archiereis. These were the leading figures of the priestly class, primarily Sadducees, who held significant religious and political power, including control of the Temple. They were central to the Sanhedrin.
- and Pharisees: Greek: kai Pharisaoi. This group represented a significant popular movement focused on strict adherence to the Law, often at odds with the Sadducees (chief priests). Their presence here indicates a remarkable unity of their differing factions against Jesus, showing the extent of their shared enmity and perceived threat Jesus posed.
- came together: Greek: sunachthentes. This verb signifies being gathered or assembled. It underscores their concerted and formal effort, likely at an unofficial council, to decide on this urgent matter before approaching Pilate.
- unto Pilate: Greek: pros Pilaton. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea, the supreme political and military authority. The fact that these religious leaders went to a pagan Roman governor, especially on the Sabbath, shows their desperation to ensure Jesus' prophecy of rising did not come true or to discredit it. It further reveals their political dependency and the extent to which they would compromise their own religious convictions for their perceived agenda.
- "Now the next day...the chief priests and Pharisees came together": This phrase-group emphasizes the swift and unified action of Jesus' antagonists immediately following His death. Their concern was so pressing that they would violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the Sabbath law by conducting official business with a Gentile governor. Their action inadvertently served to provide independent testimony to the burial of Jesus and their knowledge of His resurrection prophecies, which would become crucial proof points later for the reality of the empty tomb.
Matthew 27 62 Bonus section
This incident of the chief priests and Pharisees appealing to Pilate on the Sabbath subtly underlines their complete spiritual bankruptcy. They rigorously enforced the smallest traditions while ignoring fundamental divine commands and failing to recognize the Messiah in their midst. Their concern about ritual defilement or work on the Sabbath was inconsistently applied; here, their political maneuvering and fear trumped their supposed devotion to the Law. The very individuals who demanded Jesus' execution on charges of blasphemy and sedition now appealed to the Roman authority whom they deeply resented. This moment in Matthew’s narrative thus not only preps the ground for the irrefutable evidence of the empty tomb but also further exposes the hardened hearts and desperate measures of those who opposed the Lord Jesus.
Matthew 27 62 Commentary
Matthew 27:62 provides a crucial detail unique to this Gospel, serving multiple significant functions. It starkly reveals the unrelenting opposition and profound fear of Jesus' resurrection among the Jewish religious leadership. Despite their typical animosity, the chief priests and Pharisees unite, driven by an almost pathological determination to prevent Jesus' claim of rising from the dead from becoming a reality, even if it means acting on the Sabbath—a profound demonstration of their hypocrisy and misaligned priorities. They are concerned more with maintaining their religious and social authority than with upholding God's law or discerning spiritual truth. Their request for a guard inadvertently establishes two critical historical points for the future validation of the resurrection: firstly, it confirms the physical reality of Jesus' burial, as His enemies verify His tomb's location; secondly, their stated fear of His disciples stealing the body tacitly acknowledges that they were aware of Jesus’s own prophecy of resurrection, thus setting the stage for their later failure to suppress the truth. This act of attempting to prevent what God had ordained serves ironically as an unwitting testimony to the very prophecy they sought to deny, ultimately strengthening the case for the actual resurrection.