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Matt 27.51–4 Reconsidered: Its Role in the Passion Narrative, Meaning and Origin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2001

RONALD L. TROXEL
RONALD L. TROXEL
Affiliation:
Dept of Hebrew & Semitic Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1346 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1558, USA
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Abstract

This report of opened tombs and risen saints is conventionally deemed to mark Jesus’ death as the dawn of the new age. However, this understanding obscures Matthew's studied climax in v. 54. Defending the theory that vv. 51b–54 are a Matthean creation, it is argued here that Matthew drew his scene of risen saints from 1 Enoch 93.6, where ‘visions of the Holy Ones’ accompany the gift of the Torah. Matthew utilized this motif from the Mosaic era not to infuse Jesus’ death with eschatological significance, but to provoke the centurion's acclamation of Jesus as ‘son of God’ as the climax of the crucifixion narrative.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Testament Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , January 2002 , pp. 30 - 47
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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