Second Sunday after Easter
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Filipino Cebuano Bible
Mateo 27:52
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from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
many: Isaiah 25:8, Isaiah 26:19, Hosea 13:14, John 5:25-29, 1 Corinthians 15:20
slept: Daniel 12:2, 1 Corinthians 11:30, 1 Corinthians 15:51, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 1 Thessalonians 5:10
Reciprocal: 2 Kings 13:21 - touched Psalms 17:15 - I awake Jeremiah 10:10 - at Acts 9:32 - the saints 1 Thessalonians 4:13 - which are Revelation 8:5 - an
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And the graves were opened,.... Which were near the city of Jerusalem: this was a proof of Christ's power over death and the grave, by dying; when he through death, destroyed him that had the power of it, and abolished death itself; and became the plague of death and the destruction of the grave, taking into his hands the keys of hell and death:
and many bodies of saints which slept, arose: not that they arose at the time of Christ's death: the graves were opened then, when the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent; but the bodies of the saints did not arise, till after Christ was risen, as appears from the following verse; but because the other event now happened, they are both recorded here: these were saints, and such as slept in Jesus; and of whom he is the first fruits that now rose; and not all, but many of them, as pledges of the future resurrection, and for the confirmation of Christ's, and the accomplishment of a prophecy in
Isaiah 26:19. And they rose in the same bodies in which they before lived, otherwise they could not be called their bodies, or known by those to whom they appeared: but who they were is not to be known; some have thought them to be the ancient patriarchs, as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, c. In the Septuagint on Job 42:17, Job is said to be one of them, and a tradition is there recorded, which runs thus:
"it is written, that he rose with whom the Lord rose.''
But it should seem rather, that they were some later saints, such as Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, John the Baptist himself, good old Simeon, Joseph the husband of Mary, and others, well known to persons now alive. Some think they were such, as had been martyrs in the cause of religion and so the Persic version renders the words, "and the bodies of many saints who suffered martyrdom, rose out of the graves".
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And the graves were opened - “Graves” or sepulchres were most commonly made, among the Jews, in solid rocks or in caves of rocks. The rending of the rocks, therefore, would lay them open. The graves were opened by this earthquake, but the dead in them did not rise until after his resurrection.
And many bodies of the saints arose - Of course, it is not known who these were, nor what became of them. It is probable that they were persons who had recently died, and they appear to have been known in Jerusalem; at least, had the ancient saints risen, they would not have been known, and would not so soon have been credited as those who had recently died.
Which slept - Which had died. The death of saints is often called “sleep,” Daniel 12:2; 1 Corinthians 15:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:15.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 52. And the graves were opened — By the earthquake; and many bodies of saints which slept, i.e. were dead, sleep being a common expression for death in the Scriptures.