Saints in Matthew 27:52

Well; there's the Septuagint, which is presumably the version of the Jewish writings with which folk like Matthew and his audience would have been primarily familiar.According to BlueLetterBible, this is the LXX version of Daniel 7:18:

quote:

---

Daniel 7:18 (LXX):

​

καὶ παραλήμψονται τὴν βασιλείαν ἅγιοι ὑψίστου καὶ καθέξουσιν αὐτὴν ἕως αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων

---

And I don't read Greek. I bring this passage up because some versions translate it as:

quote:

---

Daniel 7:18 (RSV):

​

But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever.'

---

And some as:

quote:

---

Daniel 7:18 (NRSV):

​

But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom foreverforever and ever."

---

The question, though, is: How would folk like Matthew have been understanding the term? I don't know of other instances of it in the LXX beside the Daniel passage I gave above. Interestingly, it is here associated with something of an 'end-times' prophecy, where the 'holy ones' are the ones to come and take over the 'kingdom' from the four beasts who do not yet exist (v. 17).It is therefore difficult to be certain that the word is being used to reference ancestors and that Christian readers of the LXX would have used the term as such. Given the apocalyptic associations of the word in Daniel, one might even wonder whether Christian Greeks felt the term naturally applicable to 'holy' people living near the end of the present age, such as the followers of Jesus.A lot of speculation, I admit.Jon

Hi Coragyps, I am sorry your reading skills are no better than they are. Had you remember what was written in the two sentences just 1 sentence between what you quoted you would have possibly understood what I was saying. What a pity.

quote:

---

Paul says when Jesus ascended on high (went back to the Father's side) He led those in captavity with Him and gave them gifts.

​

So the simple answer to your question is:

​

All the OT saints who were in paradise where Jesus met the thief on the cross after the physical body died was set free at Jesus resurrection.

---

God Bless,

Daniel 4:13ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης μου καὶ ἰδοὺ ιρ καὶ ἅγιος ἀπ᾽ οὐρανοῦ κατέβηDaniel 4:17διὰ συγκρίματος ιρ ὁ λόγος καὶ ῥῆμα ἁγίων τὸ ἐπερώτημα ἵνα γνῶσιν οἱ ζῶντες ὅτι κύριός ἐστιν ὁ ὕψιστος τῆς βασιλείας τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν δόξῃ δώσει αὐτὴν καὶ ἐξουδένημα ἀνθρώπων ἀναστήσει ἐπ᾽ αὐτήνDaniel 4:23καὶ ὅτι εἶδεν ὁ βασιλεὺς ιρ καὶ ἅγιον καταβαίνοντα ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ εἶπεν ἐκτίλατε τὸ δένδρον καὶ διαφθείρατε αὐτό πλὴν τὴν φυὴν τῶν ῥιζῶν αὐτοῦ ἐάσατε ἐν τῇ γῇ καὶ ἐν δεσμῷ σιδηρῷ καὶ χαλκῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ χλόῃ τῇ ἔξω καὶ ἐν τῇ δρόσῳ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐλισθήσεται καὶ μετὰ θηρίων ἀγρίων ἡ μερὶς αὐτοῦ ἕως οὗ ἑπτὰ καιροὶ ἀλλοιωθῶσιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτόνIt comes up a few more times in Dan 7 too.Outside of Daniel it can be found in Job 5:1ἐπικάλεσαι δέ εἴ τίς σοι ὑπακούσεται ἢ εἴ τινα ἀγγέλων ἁγίων ὄψῃJob 15:5εἰ κατὰ ἁγίων οὐ πιστεύει οὐρανὸς δὲ οὐ καθαρὸς ἐναντίον αὐτοῦI think it comes up a few times in Psalms such as Psalm 16:3τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτοῦ ἐθαυμάστωσεν πάντα τὰ θελήματα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτοῖςYou can see where it else it might crop up here

I did actually check out the Septuagint and the book of Daniel in particular, but as you say it's apocalyptic, these saints are people who are going to exist, not necessarily that have existed. I couldn't find a place where it was definitely being applied to Abraham or Elijah or someone like that.

In my view this is one of the most enigmatic, if not the most so, verses in the Bible. I know the question is who he was talking abou,t but to answer that we first have to figure out what he is talking about. Others may give you absolute answers but I don’t believe it is quiet as clear as they think.Here is the verse in question.Matthew 27: 50-53

quote:

---

50 And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; 52 the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

---

We have to be careful in understanding any ancient text as those cultures had their idioms just as we do. For example we might write that it was raining cats and dogs. I wonder how someone reading that 2000 years from now in a foreign environment would understand that. Matthew wrote for a first century Jewish audience. His target audience was definitely not 21st century westerners. I think it is always important to keep that in mind.First century Jews knew their scriptures. What Matthew would have been referring to would be the following from the Hebrew Scriptures, and note particularly the Ezekiel quote. This would be a language that his audience would quickly understand. (Me not so much. )Ezekiel 37: 12-13

quote:

---

12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you home into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

---

Isaiah 26:19

quote:

---

19 Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For thy dew is a dew of light, and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall.

---

Daniel 12: 2-3

quote:

---

1 "At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time; but at that time your people shall be delivered, every one whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

---

Matthew, IMHO, understood the death and resurrection of Jesus as being the establishment of commencement of the renewal of all things. The Jewish expectation was that Yahweh would return, renew and restore Israel in another Exodus story. They would be led from slavery to freedom with Yahweh as King. If we look at the Ezekiel quote we can see that the expectation was that Israel would be resurrected and returned to the homeland.Mathew is in Jewish apocalyptic Jewish language telling his listeners that this restoration has begun. The restoration though is not just for the nation state of Israel but for the whole world. He is showing to his audience that what has happened is the fulfillment of their scriptures, even though it isn’t how they expected it to look.Let’s look at the whole passage piece by piece.And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottomThe Temple had always been the place where Yahweh resided. It was the place where the Jews would go to make sacrifice and gain forgiveness and healing. It was the place where God’s heavenly world intersected with our own world or dimension. Jesus changed all of that. He himself had replaced the temple by saying that He desired mercy not sacrifice; by bringing healing and by forgiving sins. God was no longer confined to the Holy of Holies behind the curtain of the Temple. It had been torn in two.the earth shook, and the rocks were splitThis is typical Jewish apocalyptic writing denoting tremendous political upheaval. Matthew is saying that Jesus is King and not Caesar. Renewal, restoration has begun. It is the beginning of the end when all things will be made new. the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,The belief was and is that Jesus is the prototype of the resurrection of body that we will have when time as we know it ends. Here Matthew is saying that the saints, now that renewal has begun, have been resurrected.and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to manyThe Holy City would refer to the final new creation as depicted by the New Jerusalem in Isaiah and Revelation.IMHO this is how Matthew’s first century readers would understand what he has written. He is intent on explaining Jesus through the Hebrew Scriptures, which is entirely consistent with the message presented in all the NT. Jesus is constantly relating His message in all of the Gospels back to the Hebrew Scriptures.I think that in order to understand who the saints were we have to go back to what Matthew wrote in Chap 25 in the separating the sheep and the goats. The saints would be the righteous who loved unselfishly by feeding the hungry, visiting the prisoners, clothing the naked etc without thought of reward.

Hi GDR, Why do you draw the conclusion that the sheep in Matthew 25:33 are Saints?Is there a verse in Matthew 25 that refers to saints, or the sheep being saints?I thought verse 32 was talking about the King judging and dividing the nations and some of those nations would be sheep nations and some would be goat nations. Which would be a fulfillment of a promise made to Abraham concerning the treatment by the nations of his descendents, especially the nation of Israel.But either way what would that have to do with the Saints that came forth out of the graves and went to the Holy City?God Bless,

Matthew 25 talks about gathering all nations before Him but that is just language one way of saying all people. He then goes on to say I will separate the people, (not the nations), as a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats. The sheep are the ones declared to be righteous.Psalm 37:28 says: For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. The righteous shall be preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.In Psalm 37 the saints are the righteous. In Matthew 25 the sheep are the righteous. Therefore the saints are the righteous.In Chap 25 Matthew has already told us who is righteous before God and so I think that it is safe to assume that he would be consistent with that understanding in Chap 27. In 27 he would use the term the saints instead of the righteous as he is referring back to the Hebrew scriptures and in particular the passage from Ezekiel. You mentioned the promise to Abraham. Here is the promise from Genesis 12.

quote:

---

1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

---

The promise is for all peoples on earth. This wasn’t just a message for Israel or the Jews. It wasn’t just about them. It was their job to take the message to the world. I’ll quote from my last post..
The belief was and is that Jesus is the prototype of the resurrection of body that we will have when time as we know it ends. Here Matthew is saying that the saints, now that renewal has begun, have been resurrected.The resurrection was the beginning of God bringing about the renewal of all things, (new creation or New Jerusalem). As the saints/the righteous are those that are part of that it follows that they are the ones he would be referring to.

my 2 cents on the mattergiven that saints pop up every where aat every time in human history even saints of not so saintly things like saints of thieves and drug dealers like San Malverde, he could have been talking about any number of people not mentioned in the bible that where an inspiration to the people of that time.San Malverde
Erreur 404 - Page non trouve - Les Observateurs - France 24Edited by frako, : No reason given.

To a large part that was the point of Christ's message. He says this in Mark2:17.

quote:

---

Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

---

Jesus continually reached out to the marginallized in society just as He calls us to do today. (We're aren't doing much of a job of it are we? )However, the saints you are talking about are people that mankind decided are saints in a totally different context than what the Bible is talking about.

Hi GDR, What Bible are you quoting to get those exact words?Psalm 37:38 does not have the Hebrew word צדיק in it, in the Hebrew text. I believe the Jesus was the first one who received a resurrected body.
I believe the Saints in Matthew 27:52 then came out of the graves and received resurrected bodies.
They then went to that Holy City.The question still remains who these saints were.They can only be those who have met God's requirements and had died prior to this event.The only ones that would fit that discription is the ones in Abrahams bosom, in paradise, where Jesus met the repentent thief that died on the cross beside Him. It was just one step of many for total restoration of the kosmos, and everything in it, mentioned in John 3:16.God Bless,

Hi ICANT The RSV. I’ll have to take your word for the Hebrew. I agree about Jesus but after that I think that the verse is a statement of how what had happened to, and with Jesus made in a way that Matthew’s audience would understand. It denotes a fulfillment of the Ezekiel prophecy but is not meant to be taken in the physical sense literally. It fits the resurrection of Jesus into the context of the Hebrew Scriptures. Well I still believe that we just go back two chapters in Matthew. He is clear about who it is that is right with God, and it boils down to those who love unselfishly. I see it as the initiation of the process of restoration of the cosmos which will be complete when time as we know it comes to an end. I don’t see it in John 3:16 which IMHO is the most misused verse in the Bible. I see it in Isaiah 65 & 66, Daniel 7, Ephesians 1 and Revelation 21.

Well you have to go and tell that to the RCC cause they dont recognize him as a saint.

If the holy city mentioned by Matthew is Heaven, who are the people they appeared to? A plain reading would suggest that the saints were people who had been buried locally and who appeared in Jerusalem.
It is interesting that no-one writing at the time noticed the supernatural darkness, the big earthquakes at Jesus' death and resurrection, or the previously dead people wandering around.

Hi GDR, But I accept the entire Bible as literal. I believe with the leadership of the Holy Spirit we can know the truth.Jesus said He (the Holy Spirit) would guide us in all truth. John 16:13. So where does the Bible say that loving unselfishly will give a right relationship with God?I can find no scripture that tells mankind he can work, or earn his way to heaven. There is one instantence where Jesus told a fellow who wanted to inherit eternal life to give everything he had to the poor and he would have treasure in heaven and to come follow Him. The man went away sorrowful because he had gret posessions.I can find only one text in the Bible that tells mankind the reason he is condemned.

quote:

---

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

---

Mankind is condemned already.The reason: "because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God".If you can find another reason mankind is condemned please present the scripture. My point was that the restoration had to be paid for as God loved the creation.I see the demise of the universe and Earth and we know it in 2 Peter 3:10 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up".Everything is going to melt. Sounds like the sun swallowing the Earth.I find the restoration of the universe and Earth to the original condition of Genesis 1:1, in Revelation 21.God Bless,

Hi Pollux,Welcome to EvC. Do you read the test before you comment?

quote:

---

Matthew 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

---

The text does not say they appeared unto many of their old friends or even humans.It simply said "appeared unto many" in the Holy City. Yes the New Jerusalem already exists in Heaven, and there were many angels there.Matthew wrote about the earthquake, using the Greek word σεισμος which means a shaking, a commotion, and a tempest.So it was not an earthquake as you are used to hearing about. Maybe the translators should have used a different word to present what the Greek text says. Why would the darkness have to be supernatural?Darkness comes over the face of the Earth for various reasons. Although total darkness does not exist as there can be no total absence of light.God Bless,