Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Matthew 27:65
Matthew 27:65. Pilate said unto them, ye have a watch— See Matthew 27:54. Pilate, thinking their request reasonable, allowed them to take as many soldiers as they pleased out of the cohort, which at the feast came from the castle Antonia, and kept guard in the porticoes of the temple; for, that they were not Jewish but Roman soldiers, whom the priests employed to watch the sepulchre, is evident from their asking them of the governor. Besides, when the soldiers returned with the news of Christ's... read more
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Matthew 27:62-64
Matthew 27:62-64. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, &c.— That is, after the sun was set. They took this measure, therefore, not on the morrow, in our sense of the word, but in the evening after sun-setting, when the Jewish sabbath was begun, and when they understood the body was buried: to have delayed it till sun-rising would have been preposterous, as the disciples might have stolen away the body during the preceding night. Besides, there is no inconsistency... read more