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Early Patristic Evidence for the Forgery of Matthew 27:52b and 53
Daniel L. McConaughy
Seventh Way Corps
Way Magazine May June 1982
A Biblical Research Study
GMIR—a Biblical research study designed to present the necessary documentation of the inherent and inerrant accuracy of the Scriptures.
GMIR — from Aramaic gmr ( )— means “to perfect, accomplish,
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In II Timothy 2:15 we read, “Study to shew thyself approved [gmyr’yt] unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were “God-breathed” and perfect as originally given. We believe that the Scriptures are equally true, and apparent contradictions lie in our understanding or in translation. We believe that through diligent study and research we can get back to the original, God-inspired Word. GMIR, therefore, presents the necessary documentation of the accuracy and the integrity of the Scriptures.
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Even a cursory reading of Matthew 27:51-53 will draw the of attention of the Biblical student because of the apparent contradiction of verses 52b and 53 with other scripture.
Matthew 27:51-53:
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
The Word of God clearly states that Jesus Christ is the “firstfruits” of the “sleeping ones.” I Corinthians 15:20: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” Jesus Christ was the first man whom God raised from the dead never to die again.
Here, “firstfruits,” dnapxri, refers to the first portion of anything. For example, see Romans 16:5 and I Corinthians 16:15 which refer to the first convert or group of converts in Achaia. “Them that slept, Kezoipripevcov, the sleeping ones, are people who have died. This is the major usage of the word and this usage is clearly illustrated in John 11:12-14.
John 11:12-14:
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then Jesus said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
I Corinthians gives us more information about who will rise after Christ, the firstfruits.
I Corinthians 15:22 and 23:
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. For every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
There is an order to God’s raising of the dead. The first group will be those that are Christ’s, and they will be raised at his coming. Those that are Christ’s are Christians. The dead saints buried around Jerusalem were not Christians; they were Israelites. Therefore, Matthew 27:52b and 53 clearly contradicts I Corinthians 15:23. Not only this, but “the saints which slept” appear to have risen when the earth quaked and (begin page 18) the temple veil and rocks were rent, before Jesus’ resurrection. The polysyndeton gives all the connected parts an equality. Here the equality is in time. Thus we have another contradiction because no one was raised before Jesus Christ. W.C. Allen, in his commentary on Matthew in the International Critical Commentary series, also comments on this problem:
This passage probably comes from Mt.’s cycle of Palestinian traditions. … If Christ was the firstfruits of them that slept, how could His resurrection have been preceded by that of these saints? Under the influence of some such idea, the editor adds the caution, “after His resurrection.” Or had his authority, ‘‘After their resurrection’’; and did he by mistake or purposely alter ‘their’ to ‘His?’
This section does not really bother Allen because he does not believe that the Bible is God-breathed. This can be ascertained from his statement, “probably comes from Matthew’s cycle of Palestinian traditions.” Allen believes that Matthew had different sources and, as the “editor” of these traditions, some of which are contradictory, he could “add” or “by mistake or purposely alter” words. In spite of Allen’s misconception, he does point out the problem because it is monstrous.
If one has the true Word of God and there appears to be a contradiction, this so-called contradiction lies in the reader’s understanding. If the words are understood and there is still a contradiction, the version or translation must be checked. Here, our understanding of the words is correct—the King James Version is true to the Stephens text, and the Stephens text is in harmony with the results of modern textual critical scholarship since there are no significant variants known.
In spite of the vast evidence for this spurious material, this section cannot be God-breathed because of its contradictory nature. Thus, according to the principles of Biblical research, only one possible solution remains:
The early so-called orthodox teaching is that Jesus descended into Hades, witnessed to the dead, and took them back with him. This is what Matthew 27:52b and 53 refers to, though in a somewhat different way. Since this section must be a forgery because “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35), there might still be some ancient proof of this heinous forgery. Our only recourse is to go to the earliest patristic sources, because many of these writers quoted texts far older than any extant (the oldest of which is from the fourth century).
The following texts have been excerpted from Roberts’ Ante-Nicene Fathers. The index Biblia Patristica, volumes I-III, were used almost exclusively, except for a few additional footnotes found in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.
The earliest so-called allusion to Matthew 27:52 is in Ignatius to the Magnesians 9:2: How shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead. 2
This reading is far too cryptic to be considered a quote or allusion to Matthew 27:52b and 53 by Ignatius, the third bishop of Antioch, who wrote several epistles on his way to martyrdom in Rome circa 108 A.D.
The first definite allusion can be found in Irenaeus’ Against Heresies, Book 4, 34:3: For neither did it happen at the death of any man among the ancients that the sun set at mid-day, nor was the veil of the temple rent, nor did the earth quake, nor were the rocks rent, nor did the dead rise up, nor was any of these men (of old) raised up on the third day, nor received into heaven, nor at his assumption were the heavens opened, nor did the nations believe in the name of any other; nor did any from among them, having been dead and rising again, lay open the new covenant of liberty. 3
This section has much non-Biblical material (the source of our forgery) as well, but here it is clear to see that this tradition was in circulation in Gaul before 200 A.D. Irenaeus (c. 130-c. 200 A.D.) was the first bishop of Lyons in what is now France.
Tertullian (c. 160-c. 225 A.D.), a contemporary of Irenaeus from Carthage in North Africa, does not include this questionable section in An Answer to the Jews, 13:14, where one would expect him to use it for the benefit of his argument if it were in his text. . . . and “the sun grew dark at mid-day:’’ (and when did it “shudder exceedingly” except at the passion of Christ, when the earth also trembled to her centre, and the veil of the temple was rent, and the tombs were burst
asunder?). . . 4
Also, in Tertullian’s On Fasting, chapter 10, is a reference to Matthew 27:45-54 in which the material in question is not mentioned. And so the “pressure” must be maintained up to that hour in which the orb—involved from the sixth hour in a general darkness—performed for its dead Lord a sorrowful act of duty; so that we too may then return to enjoyment when the universe regained its sunshine. 5
Biblia Patristica also lists De Anima 57:12, but there is nothing even remotely related to Matthew 2\52b and 53. Tertullian’s Apology, chapter 21, concerning the crucifixion, also makes no note of the addition. Thus, we can conclude that Tertullian did not have this forgery in his Biblical text, which was in use in North Africa at the end of the second century.
Melitio (d. 190) of Sardis (about 120 miles northwest of Ephesus), in the Homily on the Passion, paragraph 98, does not quote the forgery either. Neither did he quote it in the Discourse on the Soul and Body and another unnamed discourse concerning the crucifixion. From the following quotes, one would expect him to make a mention of the bodies coming alive and walking around.
The earth shook, and its foundations trembled; the sun fled away, and the elements turned back, and the day was changed into night: for they could not endure the sight of their Lord hanging on a tree. . . 6
It was He because of whom the earth quaked. He that hung up the earth in space was Himself hanged up; He that fixed the heavens was fixed with nails; He that bore up the earth was borne up on a tree; the Lord of all was subjected to ignominy in a naked body. . . the luminaries turned away, and the day became darkened. . . . 7
For because the people quaked not, the earth (begin page 19) quaked; because they were not affrighted, the earth was affrighted. Thou smotest thy Lord: thou also hast been smitten upon the earth. And thou indeed liest dead; but He is risen from the place of the dead, and ascended to the height of heaven, having suffered for the sake of those who suffer, and having been bound for the sake of Adam’s race which was imprisoned, and having been .judged for the sake of him who was condemned, and having been buried for the sake of him who was buried.8
Here we can see that this heresy by the fourth quadrant of the second century had not found its way to Asia Minor, from where Ignatius was also.
Clement of Alexandria (d. 215), in the Stromata 47:1, does include this spurious section.
And it is well said by the Shepherd, “They went down with them therefore into the water, and again ascended. But these descended alive, and again ascended alive. But those who had fallen asleep, descended dead, but ascended alive.” Further, the Gospel says, “that many bodies of those that slept arose,”— plainly as having been translated to a better state. There took place, then, a universal movement and translation through the economy of the Saviour.9
Clement’s background was Gnostic and the reference to “the Shepherd’’ (of Hermas—a book of “visions” written in Rome about 140, also believed by Irenaeus to be “scripture”) shows that he was significantly influenced by non-Biblical material. In addition, Clement, just a few lines before this section, says, “God is no respecter of persons,” agreeing with Peter’s great revelation in Acts 10:34. Now, if God is no respecter of persons, why did Clement say, “many of the bodies of those that slept arose” instead of “all the bodies”? If God had actually raised them He would have had to raise all of them so as not to be a “respecter of persons.” Matthew 27:52b has “many bodies of the saints” also. Here is another contradiction the forgery produced, and Clement of Alexandria did not perceive this one even though the contradiction lies in the same paragraph. When a man turns from the true Word of God, his logic is forever wrong.
Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170-c. 236) in Against the Heresy of One Noetus, chapter 18, does include the dead being raised, although their appearance and entrance into Jerusalem are not mentioned, as also do Irenaeus and Alexander. Obviously, the verse gradually acquired new accretions with the passing of time, as we shall see.
For His sake the sun is darkened, the day has no light, the rocks are shattered, the veil is rent, the foundations of the earth are shaken, the graves are opened, and the dead are raised, and the rulers are ashamed when they see the Director of the universe upon a cross closing His eye and giving up the ghost. Creation saw, and was troubled; and, unable to bear the sight of His exceeding glory, shrouded itself in darkness. 10
Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) mentions only that when the tombs burst open and the bodies were exposed, that the “bodies returning to the light were restored,” also making no mention of their entrance and appearance in Jerusalem. In On the Glory of Martyrdom, chapter 29, he does not mention this corruption, nor does he mention it in On the Advantage of Patience, chapter 7:
The day fled into the night; the light gave up all things into darkness; and, its mass being inclined backwards and forwards, the whole earth was jarred, and burst open; the dead were disturbed, the graves were laid bare, and as the tombs gaped open into the rent of the earth, bodies returning to the light were restored; the world trembled at the flowing of His blood; and the veil which hung from the opening of the temple was rent, and all the temple uttered a groan. 11
And when at the cross of the Lord the stars are confounded, the elements are disturbed, the earth quakes, night shuts out the day, the sun, that he may not be compelled to look on the crime of the Jews, withdraws both his rays and his eyes,... 12
This corruption is also not mentioned in On Mount Sinai and Sion, chapter 8. By the first half of the third century the forgery was making inroads into the African text, though two to one Melitio prefers the purer text of his predecessor Tertullian.
In The Recognitions of Clement, a Judean Christian work, written in the first quarter of the third century, though resting with the Homilies upon an older document, we find a clear omission of this added material.
. . .for the sun was darkened, the mountains were torn asunder, the graves were opened, the veil of the temple was rent, as in lamentation for the destruction impending over the place. 13
In his Chronographia, a history of the world up to 217 A.D., Julius Africanus, on reporting concerning the circumstances of the passion and resurrection, makes mention of bodies being raised but not entering into Jerusalem.
But what has an eclipse in common with an earthquake, the rending rocks, and the resurrection of the dead, and so great a perturbation throughout the universe?^
We can see that the African text is beginning to give in to the onslaught of the corrupt Alexandrian and Roman texts.
Arnobius (d. 330), also of Africa, in Against the Heathen, book 1, chapter 53, includes the extra material of Matthew 27:52b and 53, although he adds a little more to the tradition (“the sea was heaved up from its depths”).
An earthquake shook the world, the sea was heaved up from its depths, the heaven was shrouded in darkness, the sun’s fiery blaze was checked, and his heat became moderate; for what else could occur when He was discovered to be God who heretofore was reckoned one of us
Note also the trinitarian lie.
Lactantius (d. 320), who handles his Biblical texts accurately and frequently, makes no mention of the dead rising in The Divine Institutes, book 4, chapter 19 (written 304-311). He was also a pupil of Arnobius.
And at the same hour there was an earthquake; and the veil of the temple, which separated the two tabernaclesi was rent into two parts; and the sun suddenly withdrew its light, and there was darkness from the sixth even to the ninth hour. 16
Novation, a Roman presbyter, in the first half of the third century in On the Public Shows in the tenth chapter, is supposed to refer to Matthew 27:52, but it is too evasive to use as evidence one way or the other.17
Alexander, bishop of Alexandria (d. 321), in his Epistle on the Arian Heresy, does include this section, as did his predecessor, Clement.
For when our Lord was suffering upon the (begin page 20) cross, the tombs were burst open, the infernal region was disclosed, the souls leapt forth, the dead returned to life, and many of them were seen in Jerusalem,... 18
This heresy had been circulating in Alexandria for at least a century by the time Alexander wrote. Here we can also observe the second accretion to the forgery, “many of them were seen in
Jerusalem.”
Finally, we come to Origen (c. 185-254), a prolific textual critic, exegete and theologian. He was of the Alexandrian school of interpretation, which promoted the allegorical method which attempted to read what was not written, which was only possible for an elite intellectual few. He is also said to have emasculated himself. In his commentaries on Matthew and Romans, he quotes the material under question, but in his homily on Exodus 7:7, referring to Matthew 27:51-54, he omits it, as he also does in Against Celsus. In Book II of Against Celsus, the forgeries are omitted, even at the cost of not benefiting Origen’s statement. From chapter 33 we read:
‘‘But,’’ continues Celsus,‘‘what great deeds did Jesus perform as being a God? Did he put his enemies to shame, or bring to a ridiculous conclusion what was designed against him?” Now to this question, although we are able to show the striking and miraculous character of the events which befell Him, yet from what other source can we furnish an answer than from the Gospel narratives, which state that ‘‘there was an earthquake, and that the rocks were split asunder, and the tombs opened, and the veil of the temple rent in twain from top to bottom, and that darkness prevailed in the day-time, the sun failing to give light’’?19
Here Origen does not mention the addition to Matthew.
Celsus wrote about 178 A.D. He writes the following in chapter 55.
But the question is, whether anyone who was really dead ever rose with a veritable body. Or do you imagine the statements of others not only to be myths, but to have the appearance of such, while you have discovered a becoming and credible termination to your drama in the voice from the cross, when he breathed his last, and in the earthquake and the darkness? That while alive he was of no assistance to himself, but that when dead he rose again, and showed the marks of his punishment, and how his hands were pierced with nails: who beheld this? A half -frantic woman. . . .20
Either Celsus did not have this forgery in his text or, if it was circulating at his time, it was considered to be of doubtful value.
In chapter 59 we come back to Origen, who, in countering Celsus, again makes no reference to Matthew 27:52b and 53.
He imagines also that both the earthquake and the darkness were an invention; but regarding these, we have in the preceding pages made our defence, according to our ability, adducing the testimony of Phlegon, who relates that these events took place at the time when our Saviour suffered.^1
In the preceding chapters Origen made no mention of the forgery either.
Finally, we conclude the patristic evidence with an excerpt of Origen from chapter 16.
But since the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a subject of mockery to unbelievers, we shall quote the words of Plato, that Erus the son of Armenius rose from the funeral pile twelve days after he had been laid upon it, and gave an account of what he had seen in Hades; and as we are replying to unbelievers, it will not be altogether useless to refer in this place to what Heraclides relates respecting the woman who was deprived of life. And many persons are recorded to have risen from their tombs, not only on the day of their burial, but also on the day following. What wonder is it, then, if in the case of One who performed many marvellous things, both beyond the power of man and with such fullness of evidence, that he who could not deny their performance, endeavored to calumniate them by comparing them to acts of sorcery, should have manifested also in His death some greater display of divine power, so that His soul, if it pleased, might leave its body, and having performed certain offices out of it, might return again at pleasure?^
Obviously, if Matthew 27:52b and 53 was considered to be of high value, Origen would have used it. Though it was suitable for Origen to comment on it in his commentaries (for he was a textual critic and was aware of the different readings), it was unsuitable for use in a polemical work where evidence had to be logical and solid.
The evidence is overwhelming. Matthew 27:52b and 53 is a forgery and, although the entire mass of new Testament manuscripts have it, the early Church fathers do not. The first areas where error arose were Rome and Alexandria, centers of paganism and philosophy. As time went on, the corrupt texts of those leading cities held more and more authority, so that in time the error moved out into outlying areas. The first addition was probably “and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep arose,” as is witnessed to by some early writers. Since this chronologically was incorrect, “and came out of the tombs after his resurrection...” was added later by forgers to make it sound like Jesus was the first one up. Resurrection, egepois is also interesting because it is not used anywhere else in the New Testament or other early Christian literature, thus indicating a later use of the word. The earliest Christian writer who uses this word is Irenaeus who is also the earliest witness to this forgery.
1. W.C. Allen, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary of
the Gospel According to Matthew, 3rd ed. (Edinburgh: T.
and T. Clark, 1912), p. 296.
The following quoted patristic sources can be found in Volumes I-VIII of Roberts’ Ante-Nicene Fathers.
2. I, 62. 13. VIII, 88.
3. I, 512. 14. VI, 136-37.
4. Ill, 170. 15. VI, 428.
5. IV, 109. 16. VII, 122.
6. VIII, 756. 17. V, 578.
7. VIII, 757. 18. VI, 301.
8. VIII, 758. 19. IV, 444-45.
9. II, 491. 20. IV, 453.
10. V, 230. 21. IV, 455.
11. V, 587. 22. IV, 438.
12. V, 486.
Bibliography
Allen, W.C. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary of the Gospel According to Matthew.
3rd ed. Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1912.
Bauer, W. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Translated by W.F. Arndt and and F.W. Gingrich. 2d ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979.
Biblia Patristica. Vols. I-III. Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1975-77.
Moulton, W.F., and Geden, A.S. A Concordance to the Greek Testament. Edinburgh:
T. and T. Clark, 1925.
Roberts, Alexander, and Donaldson, James, eds. The Anti-Nicene Fathers. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979.
WW it sounds like you nailed it on WHY the forgery is there. This same idea of merging religions for unity was later taken up by the Catholic church in all their missionary work over the centuries.
