UTN uW Translation Notes:

Matthew 28 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

11. The crucifixion of Jesus, his death, and his resurrection (26:1-28:19) * Mary Magdalene and the other Mary learn that Jesus has resurrected (28:1–10) * The chief priests and elders spread a false story (28:11–15) * Jesus meets and commissions the 11 disciples (28:16–20)

Special Concepts in this Chapter

The resurrection

Matthew does not narrate the resurrection, but he does narrate how an angel opens the tomb so that people can tell that Jesus has risen from the dead. It is not clear exactly when Jesus actually rose from the dead, although it is clear that this happened before the angel opened the tomb. When Jesus rose from the dead, he was a living human being again, and he could never die again. Make sure that it is clear that Jesus came back to life as a living human being.

The false story about Jesus’ resurrection

In 28:11–15, Matthew describes how the chief priests and the elders have the soldiers who were guarding the tomb spread a false story about what happened. The soldiers tell people that they fell asleep, and that Jesus’ disciples stole his body while they were asleep. In 28:15, Matthew explains that he is telling this because the story was still circulating among Jewish people when he was writing this book. Make sure that it is clear to your readers that the chief priests and elders bribe the soldiers to spread this false story.

Discipling all the nations

The last two verses (28:19–20) are commonly known as “The Great Commission” because they contain a very important command given to all Christians. Christians are to “disciple” all the nations, which includes telling them the gospel, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey what Jesus commanded. Make sure that this command is as general as possible, including all Christians all “nations.”

Other Possible Translation Difficulties in this Chapter

Singular and plural forms of “you”

All the forms of “you” in this chapter appear in instructions given to groups of people. Because of this, all the forms of “you” in this chapter are plural. (See: figs-yousingular)

The timing of the women’s visit to the tomb

In 28:1, Matthew indicates that the women went to Jesus’ tomb “after the Sabbath, at the dawning on the first of the week.” The words translated in this way can be understood in several ways:1. They could refer to the early morning (the “dawn”) on the day after the Sabbath. This would be the first day of the week, Sunday. Further, the parallel stories in Mark 16:2 and Luke 24:1 similarly take place at dawn on Sunday. So, the ULT and UST follow this interpretation.2. They could refer to a time late in the day on the Sabbath. In this case, the word “dawning” would refer to the beginning of a day, not to the sun coming up. Since people in Jesus’ culture considered sunset to be the start of a new day, Matthew would be referring to evening on the Sabbath, right around the time when the next day, Sunday, would begin at sunset.It is recommended that you follow the first interpretation unless there is a good reason to follow the second interpretation.