Matthew 27:51-55 NIV

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:54

The centurion - The Roman officer who superintended the execution, called centurio , from centum , a hundred, because he had the command of one hundred men. Truly this was the Son of God - An innocent, holy, and Divine person; and God thus shows his disapprobation of this bloody tragedy. It is not likely that this centurion had any knowledge of the expectation of the Jews relative to the Messiah, and did not use the words in this sense. A son of God, as the Romans used the term,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:55

Many women - To their everlasting honor, these women evidenced more courage, and affectionate attachment to their Lord and Master, than the disciples did, who had promised to die with him rather than forsake him. Beholding afar off - At a distance - απο μακροθεν . Though this expression may be understood to refer, rather to the distance from which they came, (viz. from Galilee), than the distance they stood from the cross; yet, as all malefactors were crucified naked, perhaps this may... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:51

Verse 51 51.And, lo, the veil of the temple was rent. When Luke blends the rending of the veil with the eclipse of the sun, he inverts the order; for the Evangelists, as we have frequently seen, are not careful to mark every hour with exactness. Nor was it proper that the veil should be rent, until the sacrifice of expiation had been completed; for then Christ, the true and everlasting Priest, having abolished the figures of the law, opened up for us by his blood the way to the heavenly... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:52

Verse 52 52And graves were opened. This was also a striking miracle, by which God declared that his Son entered into the prison of death, not to continue to be shut up there, but to bring out all who were held captive. For at the very time when the despicable weakness of the flesh was beheld in the person of Christ, the magnificent and divine energy of his death penetrated even to hell. This is the reason why, when he was about to be shut up in a sepulcher, other sepulchers were opened by him.... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:53

Verse 53 53.And went into the holy city. When Matthew bestows on Jerusalem the honorable designation of the holy city, he does not intend to applaud the character of its inhabitants, for we know that it was at that time full of all pollution and wickedness, so that it was rather a den of robbers, (Jeremiah 7:11.) But as it had been chosen by God, its holiness, which was founded on God’s adoption, could not be effaced by any corruptions of men, till its rejection was openly declared. Or, to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:54

Verse 54 54.Now the centurion. As Luke mentions the lamentation of the people, the centurion and his soldiers were not the only persons who acknowledged Christ to be the Son of God; but the Evangelists mention this circumstance respecting him for the purpose of heightening their description: for it is wonderful that an irreligious man, who had not been instructed in the Law, and was ignorant of true religion, should form so correct a judgment from the signs which he beheld. This comparison... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:55

Verse 55 55.And there were also many women there. I consider this to have been added in order to inform us that, while the disciples had fled and were scattered in every direction, still some of their company were retained by the Lord as witnesses. Now though the Apostle John did not depart from the cross, yet no mention is made of him; but praise is bestowed on the women alone, who accompanied Christ till death, because their extraordinary attachment to their Master was the more strikingly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 27:45-54

Prodigy rebuking levity. Levity had diabolical revelry while the blessed Lord Jesus meekly suffered injustice the most outrageous, and cruelty the most refined. At its height it was rebuked— I. BY A HORROR OF DARKNESS . 1 . This was preternatural . 2 . It was portentous . II. BY THE RENDING OF THE TEMPLE 'S VEIL . 1 . This also was preternatural . 2 . This too was portentous . III. BY THE PORTENTS FROM THE EARTH . ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 27:51

And, behold. St. Matthew thus introduces his account of the portents which attended the death of the Son of God. The rending of the veil is mentioned by the synoptists as consequent on, and occurring simultaneously with, the completion of the ineffable sacrifice. The veil of the temple ( τοῦ ναοῦ ) . There were two principal veils in the present temple—one between the vestibule and the holy place, and one other which is that here referred to, a constituent part of the edifce. This... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 27:51-56

Signs following the death of Christ. ( Mark 15:38-41 ; Luke 23:47-49 .) read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:54

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:55

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:51

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:52

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:53

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:54

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 27:55

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 27:45-54

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 27:51

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 27:51-56

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