Apocalyptic 2003

Matthew 27:52-53 as Apocalyptic Apostrophe: Temporal-Spatial Collapse in the Gospel of
Matthew
Author(s): Kenneth L. Waters, Sr.
Source: Journal of Biblical Literature , Autumn, 2003, Vol. 122, No. 3 (Autumn, 2003),
pp. 489-515
Published by: The Society of Biblical Literature
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3268388
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JBL 122/3 (2003) 489-515
MATTHEW 27:52-53 AS APOCALYPTIC

APOSTROPHE: TEMPORAL-SPATIAL
COLLAPSE IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
KENNETH L. WATERS, SR.

kwaters@apu.edu
Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA 91702
Matthew 27:52-53 exhibits the temporal-spatial collapse that is character-

istic of most apocalyptic; however, common assumptions in reading strategy
have long obscured this aspect of the text. Once we recognize the significance
of literary signals such as the "holy city" and the historicized future we find re
son to reassess the passage. The stage is then set to delineate the apocalyptic
character of these verses and to fashion a new hermeneutic.
Several mostly new points will be argued in this study of Matt 27:52-53,
namely, that the passage is fundamentally a fragment of pre-Matthean Chris
tian apocalyptic; that the raising of the saints in this passage refers not to an
event of Matthew's past but to the general resurrection at the end of time; tha
both the opening of the tombs and the raising of the saints occur not before bu
after the resurrection of Jesus Christ; that the holy city is not the historic city o
Jerusalem but the new Jerusalem of Rev 21:2; that the saints who are raised ar
not the Jewish saints of antiquity but the Christian martyrs of Rev 20:4, 6; tha
the "many" to whom the martyrs appear in the holy city are not residents o
first-century Jerusalem but an eschatological community of Jews analogous to
the 144,000 in Rev 7:4, 14:1; and finally that Matt 27:51-54 as a tempora
spatially conflated passage is not an altogether unique phenomenon in Jewish
and Christian literature.
I. The Scholarly Consensus
Previous scholarship has virtually always supposed that Matthew relates

the raising of the saints as an event of his past witnessed by the centurion and
others. The uniqueness of this event and its fragmentary, uncorroborate
489

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490 Journal of Biblical Literature
nature are problems that have elicited much discussion but a limited range of
solutions. That the passage is a freehand composition of the Gospel writer and,
as such, an example of theology in the guise of history has been argued or
supposed by Pierre Benoit, Donald Senior, M. Eugene Boring, Ronald D.
Witherup, S. P. Botha, and Ronald L. Troxel, among others.1 As Boring
observes, "That we have theology in narrative form, and not bare historical
reporting is clear."2 Others, including John Wenham, David Wenham, and
D. A. Carson, are not altogether convinced that Matt 27:52-53 is a creation of
the evangelist.3 Carson wonders why "the evangelist, if he had nothing histori-
cal to go on, did not invent a midrash with fewer problems."4
The risen saints are commonly understood as OT notables or righteous
Israelites, and the holy city as a reverent reference to the historical city of
Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Only Benoit departs from the main by interpret-
ing the holy city as the new Jerusalem of Revelation or Hebrews.5
John Wenham asks if it is right to leave ave%!0ro9rav in 27:52 without
punctuation and thus link the raising of the saints to the events of Good Friday.
He feels that a full stop or at least some kind of punctuation should come at the
end of "and the tombs were opened," and that the statement "and many bodies
of the saints ... appeared to many" should be treated as parenthetical. In this
way, Wenham links both the raising of the saints and their emergence from the
tombs to the time after Jesus' resurrection.6
Witherup avoids a historical- and tradition-critical approach to Matt
27:51-54 and instead asks about the function of the passage within the Gospel
as a whole. He sees the passage as a vindication of the role of Jesus as obedient
Son of God.7 Botha, writing in Afrikaans, prefers a close reading (noukeurige
1 Pierre Benoit, The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ (trans. Benet Weatherhead;
New York: Herder & Herder, 1969), 203-4; Donald Senior, "The Death of Jesus and the Resurrec-
tion of the Holy Ones (Mt 27:51-53)," CBQ 38 (1976): 312-29; M. Eugene Boring, "The Gospel of
Matthew: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections," NIB 8:493; Ronald D. Witherup, "The
Death of Jesus and the Raising of the Saints: Matthew 27:51-54 in Context," SBLSP (1987): 575,
581-82; S. P. Botha, "'n Opstanding met verheerlikte liggame in Matteus 27:51b-53? 'n
Noukeurige lees van die teks" [A glorified bodily resurrection in Matthew 27:51b-53? A close read-
ing of the text], HvTSt 52 (1996): 273,277-78,280-81; Ronald L. Troxel, "Matt 27. 51-4 Reconsid-
ered: Its Role in the Passion Narrative, Meaning and Origin," NTS 48 (2002): 33, 44-45, 47.
2 Boring, "Gospel of Matthew," 493.
3 John W. Wenham, "When Were the Saints Raised? A Note on the Punctuation of Matthew
xxvii. 51-3," JTS 32 ( 1981): 151; David Wenham, "The Resurrection Narratives in Matthew's
Gospel," TynBul 24-27 (1973-76): 21-54; D. A. Carson, "Matthew," The Expositor's Bible Com-
mentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 8:582.
4 Carson, "Matthew," 581.
5 Benoit, Passion and Resurrection, 204.
6 J. Wenham, "When Were the Saints Raised?" 151.
7 Witherup, "Death of Jesus," 581-82.

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Waters: Matthew 27:52-53 491
lees) of the passage to the historical- and tradition-critical approaches. He finds

that the raising of the saints in Matt 27:51b-53 is not a mere reviving of people
on "the natural and therefore automatically visible plane" (die natuurlike en dus
outomaties sigbare vlak), as in the case of Lazarus, but an eschatological and
apocalyptic event that "had to be made visible" (sigbaar gemaak word ) by God
to certain inhabitants of Jerusalem, just as the resurrected body of Jesus had to
be made visible to his disciples. The saints in w. 51b-53 are raised with "new
glorified resurrection bodies" (nuwe verheerlikte opstandingsliggame) like that
of Jesus.8
Troxel's unique contribution to the discussion is his view of Matt 27:51-54
as a composition of Matthew authored under the influence of I En. 93:6 and
Ezek 37:1-14. While the Gospel writer draws the image of resurrection from
Ezekiel, his understanding of the identity of the risen saints as "Israel's
departed pious" comes from 1 Enoch. The purpose of the passage is not to sig-
nify the end of the age but to validate the confession that Jesus is the Son of
God.9
In the end, therefore, scholarly opinion leaves us with only two general
options for Matt 27:52-53, especially when the raising of the saints is under-
stood as an event of Matthew's past. This passage is either theology composed
in the guise of history or an enigma about which we can only speculate. My
study represents a significant departure from previous scholarship on Matt
27:52-53, particularly in regard to the origin, structure, and character of the
passage, the identity of the risen saints and those who received them, and the
meaning and temporal setting of the holy city.
II. "And the things that happened" as a Literary Problem
"Awkwardly structured" is the very least we can say about Matt 27:52-53
and context. When "the centurion and those with him guarding Jesus" (here-
after briefly referred to as "the centurion" ) saw "the earthquake and the things
that happened" (T6v aetqj6v Kait ta yevO6teva [v. 54]), they feared greatly and
said, "Truly this was the Son of God" ('Akr); g 0co6 6'u o fv o'Tog; [v. 54]).
Aside from the earthquake, some other "things that happened" ('a y£vo,6eva)
were the tearing of the curtain of the temple, the opening of the tombs, the
raising of "the saints" (oi0 aytot), and the entry of the saints into the holy city (/I
ayia nt6ot;). However, if the response of the centurion occurred on Friday, the
"things that happened" could not have included the last of these events because
8 Botha, "'n Opstanding," 281-82.

9 Troxel, "Matt 27. 51-4," 33, 44-45, 47.

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¥eypotv cTaTov).
the saints did not come out of the tombs until "after his resurrection" (gusr t/iv
Furthermore, "the things that happened" in the centurion's experience

could not have included the tearing of the curtain of the temple. The centurion
was not in the temple and therefore could not possibly have witnessed this
event. On Friday, then, the centurion could only be responding to the earth-
quake and, it seems, to the opening of the tombs and the raising of the saints.
While this is enough to evoke the fearful response ascribed to the centurion, it
leaves a three-day gap between this response and the time the saints entered
into the holy city. It forces the questions, What was the centurion doing during
this time? What were the risen saints doing during this time?10 The silence of
the Gospel on these questions makes an awkward impression even more diffi-
cult.
It could be that the centurion did not see the risen saints. This would
mean that "the things that happened," a phrase denoting events distinct from
the earthquake, refers only to the opening of the tombs. However, the single
event of the opening of the tombs is simply insufficient content for the plural
phrase "things that happened." Therefore, we must include the "raising of the
saints" in the content of "the things that happened," because that is all that is
left to include.11 This brings us back to the problem of a three-day gap between
the centurion's response and the entry of the saints into the holy city.
III. "The raising of the saints" as a Christological Problem
There is yet another problem. The idea of "the raising of the saints" on
Friday contravenes early church Christology, which presents Jesus as the "first-
fruit" (/1 anapxI) or the "firstborn" (6 7poW6xOTOKo;) of those who are risen from
the dead (Rom 8:29; 1 Cor 15:20-23; Rev 1:5; cf. Acts 26:23; Col 1:15-18; Heb
12:23; Sib. Or. 8:313-14). Early church Christology clearly holds that Jesus was
the first to be "resurrected," a testimony that allows no place for a resurrection
on the day of Jesus' death and burial.12 To argue that the saints remained in
10 See Carson, "Matthew," 581.

11 Botha, "'n Opstanding," 274. Botha feels that the centurion and his soldiers were respond-
ing to the "amazing behavior" (verbasende gedrag) of Jesus on the cross, the darkness, and the
earthquake. If this is so, then their response to the darkness and Jesus' behavior was a delayed reac-
tion. This seems contrary to the impression of the text that the centurion and soldiers were making
an immediate response to more sudden events.
12 Contra Botha, "'n Opstanding," 271-72. Botha maintains that the raising of the saints in
Matt 27:51b-53 is the result of Jesus' work of redemption and victory over death working retroac-
tively (terugwerkend) for the salvation of already deceased saints, and that 1 Cor 15:23 refers only
to those who shall be raised in the future at the second coming of Christ. However, while there may

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their graves in a supine position until after Jesus' own resurrection does little to
preserve early church testimony. It also runs counter to the content of Matt
27:54, which requires that the raising of the saints be witnessed on Friday by
the centurion.13
One way of resolving the difficulty is to characterize this raising of the
saints as a "resuscitation" rather than a resurrection, implying some difference
between the two kinds of miracle.14 However, this solution begins to dissipate
when we take account of that difference in biblical narratives. In resuscitations,
there are always at least three parties involved: God, the dead person, and the
human through whom God raises the dead (1 Kgs 18:22; 2 Kgs 4:35; 13:21; Sir
48:5; Matt 9:25 par.; 10:8; Luke 7:15; John 11:44; Acts 9:40; 20:10). A resuscita-
tion is always the raising of one individual only. Moreover, in a resuscitation, the
revived person eventually dies again. In resurrection there is no third party-
only God and the dead person (John 5:21; 1 Cor 15:15; 2 Cor 1:9; 2 Bar. 50:2-4;
Sib. Or. 8:414)-and the person raised does not die again (1 En. 103:4; 4 Ezra
7:32; 2 Macc 7:9, 23; Dan 12:2; Matt 16:21 par.; 17:23 par., 20:19 par.; 28:6 par.;
Rom 6:9; 1 Cor 15:4, 51; 1 Thess 4:16; Rev 20:4-6, 12).15 While there have
been several resuscitations, there can be only one resurrection. In the NT, the
resurrection of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the saints at the end of time
are a single event despite the length of time between them; and Jesus is the
beginning (i.e., the firstfruit or firstborn) of that event (1 Cor 15:20-23). For
this reason, the author of the book of Revelation can still refer to the resurrec-
tion of the righteous as the first resurrection (tri avaordcta ixT xpo5nx) (Rev
20:6), even though the resurrection of Jesus has already occurred.
The raisings of the son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 18:22), the son of
the Shunammite woman (2 Kgs 4:35), the man thrown into Elisha's grave
(2 Kgs 13:21), the daughter of Jairus (Matt 9:25 par.), the epileptic boy (Mark
9:26-27 par.), the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:15), Lazarus (John 11:44),
be a warrant in the NT for speaking of a retroactive salvation on the basis of Christ's redeeming
work (Heb 10:12), there is no such warrant for speaking of a mass resurrection before Easter, nor
for that matter, before the end of time. Overwhelmingly in the NT, resurrection is future and it
begins with Jesus.
13 From a literary standpoint, we cannot follow Botha in excluding the raising of the saints
from the eyewitness experience of the centurion and other soldiers. We must emphasize, however,
that this prohibition is only from a literary standpoint.
14 See Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1999), 685-86; and Donald Hagner, Matthew 14-18 (WBC 33B; Dallas: Word, 1995), 850. Both
Keener and Hagner make this distinction.
15 Ezekiel 37:1-10 is the account neither of a resuscitation nor of a resurrection, but simply a
vision of Israel's postexilic restoration. However, the final prophecy in the vision is cast in the lan-
guage of resurrection (37:12-14). The raising of the two prophet-witnesses in Rev 11:11-12 is nei-
ther a resurrection nor a resuscitation, although it certainly has the appearance of a resurrection. It
is a diachronic metaphor for the vindication of all the prophets of Israel (cf. Rev 18:24).

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Tabitha (Acts 9:40), and Eutychus (Acts 20:10) are therefore properly described
as resuscitations.16
There are then some problems with characterizing the raising of the saints
in Matt 27:52-53 as a "resuscitation." First, this is a mass raising. Second, this is
the raising of those ostensibly described as saints who slept (cf. i Cor 15:51;
1 Thess 4:14-15);17 and, third, this is a raising without the agency of a human
third party (cf. 4 Ezra 2:16). In Jewish and early Christian apocalyptic, these are
the hallmarks of "resurrection." A fourth feature-no report of subsequent
death-is rather inconsequential by itself, since neither is there a report of sub-
sequent death in those cases that are clearly resuscitations.18 It nevertheless
gains some weight in combination with the other traits of resurrection (Rom
6:9). These tensions with typical biblical resuscitations lead me to suspect that
the raising of the saints in Matt 27: 52-53 is more than a mere resuscitation.19
Still, a pre-Easter resurrection in a post-Pauline document is inexplicable.
By referring to the Gospel of Matthew as post-Pauline I do not necessarily
mean that the Gospel was directly influenced by Paul's thought (Matt 10:5-6
and 25:31-46, for example, are far from Pauline). I do mean, however, that the
Gospel shares in a christological consensus that includes Pauline Christianity,
whether or not Paul himself was responsible for all the components of that con-
sensus.20 While there are some tensions between Matthew and Paul in regard
to Jesus' relationship to the law and to Israel (Matt 5:17; 10:5-6; Rom 3:28;
15:16), there are no divergences in regard to Jesus' role in the history of salva-
tion-at least not until we get to Matt 27:52, where it seems that Jesus' role as
firstfruit of those risen from the dead is undermined.
IV. The Holy City in Matthean Thought
Our puzzlement over Matt 27:52-53 leads us to reconsider the stated des-
tination of these risen saints-the holy city [a'yta tic l , itpl7-';T]. The term
16 It is not certain that the epileptic boy (Mark 9:26-27) and Eutychus (Acts 20:10) were
actually dead.
17 See KeKo:oiol0toevcov (slept) in Matt 27:52, Kot0i.r0Toa6Oe0a in 1 Cor 15:51, and Kottr09vTaa;
in 1 Thess 4:14, 15, forms of the verb Kotp6o0 or the noun KoitiOti;.
18 However, we do have a report of a threat to Lazarus's life (John 12:10-11).
19 1 agree with John Wenham, David Wenham, and Botha that Matt 27:52-53 depicts a res-
urrection to glorified bodies; however, I disagree with them on the identities of these resurrected
ones and on the time of their resurrection.
20 In this sense, "post-Pauline" also means "non-Gnostic" and "precanonical," or what one
might anachronistically call "orthodox." See Dale C. Allison, Jr., The End of the Ages Has Come: An
Early Interpretation of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985), 68; see
also James D. G. Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: An Inquiry into the Character
of Earliest Christianity (2d ed.; Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1977, 1991), 323. Allison

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"holy city" occurs only twice in the Gospel of Matthew (4:5; 27:53). Usually the
term is taken to refer to the ancient, historical city of Jerusalem; however, the
term does not bear this meaning in earliest Christian literature. In Rev 11:2;
21:2, 10; 22:19 are the only other occurrences of the term in the NT (cf. the
limited synonym "beloved city" [trIv no6ktv Tlv ilya7rmlvivqv] in Rev 20:9). In
each case in Revelation, the term refers not to the historical Jerusalem but to a
nonphysical, visionary counterpart. Furthermore, in most cases it refers also to
an apocalyptic, eschatological, heavenly complex meant to replace its earthly
counterpart. The vision of the holy city in Revelation at least suggests other
options for interpreting Matthew's rare use of the term.
In Matt 4:5, the devil takes Jesus to the holy city, where Jesus is tempted to
throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. By the term "holy city"
Matthew evokes either a nonphysical, visionary entity or the actual historical
city. If the latter, then Matthew must also assign to the devil the ability simulta-
neously and instantaneously to move self and a human being across great dis-
tances, for example, through the power of flight, telekinesis, or perhaps
through a faculty akin to the transporter in the Gene Roddenberry/Rick
Berman Star Trek series.21 It is necessary to keep reading in order to make a
decision about Matthew's meaning.
In Matt 4:8, the devil takes Jesus to "an exceedingly high mountain" (ei.;
opo; 'uVrXo6v Xiav), where the devil shows Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world
and their glory" (7doa (a & Ta; Paotiag TOi KOaoRO1 Kai Ta v 860'av axtbov) as the
preface to another temptation. It is the juxtaposition of a stationary Jesus and
an instantaneous view of all the kingdoms of the world that establishes this
experience as a vision. After all, we have yet to find a mountain in the Eastern
Hemisphere that literally provides a view of what was then "all the kingdoms of
the world." There is simply no reason to think that Jesus' abduction to the
mountain was any different in kind from that to the holy city. This means that
regardless of how one assesses the historicity of the Matthean temptation nar-
rative, these can only be visionary experiences. Further clarification comes
from comparing Matthew's use of the term "Jerusalem" (2:1, 3; 3:5; 4:25; 5:35;
15:1; 16:21; 20:17, 18; 21:1, 10; 23:37). Whenever "Jerusalem" occurs in the
Gospel of Matthew, there is no question that the term refers to the earthly,
physical city. In contrast, the term "holy city" lacks this clear, unequivocal, his-
torical sense. Furthermore, Matthew clearly has no predilection for substitut-
cites Dunn in support of his argument that the Gospels and Paul share in the "pre-Pauline" affir-
mation that Christ is the firstfruit of those raised from the dead.
21 Compare the angel-assisted flight of the prophet Habakkuk from Judea to Babylon in Bel
36; see also Origen and Jerome's citation of the Gospel of the Hebrews, where Jesus is carried by his
"mother" the Holy Spirit to Mt. Tabor by a single hair on his head. See New Testament Apocrypha
(ed. W. Schneemelcher and R. McL. Wilson; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1991), 1:177.

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ing the term "holy city" for "Jerusalem" as a reference to the historical city. In
fact, since the term "holy city" occurs only twice in somewhat paranormal cir-
cumstances, there appears no justification for the term unless it bears some
specialized meaning distinct from that of the term "Jerusalem." While the term
may be no more than a synchronic metaphor for historical Jerusalem in 4:5, it
must refer to an apocalyptic, eschatological, heavenly complex in 27:53 pre-
cisely because it is entered by resurrected saints.22
V. The Holy City in Literary-Historical Context
A tradition-critical investigation yields several observations about the

peculiar apocalyptic use of the term "holy city" in earliest Christian literature.
First, from the Persian to the Greek periods the term "holy city" appears simply
as a reverent appellation for the earthly, historical Jerusalem (Neh 11:1, 18; Isa
48:2; Sir 24:11; 36:11; 49:6; Pr Azar 5; 1 Macc 2:7; 2 Macc 3:1; 9:14).23 The
"holy city" continues to be no more than a reverent reference to the historical
Jerusalem well into the Roman period (4 Ezra [= 2 Esdras] 3:24- 25; 8:52;
10:27, 42-54; Tob 13:9; Pss. Sol. 8:4; CD 20:22; and Josephus, Ant. 13.2.3).24
Second, from the Persian to the Greek period we also begin to see "holy
city" as a reference to eschatological Jerusalem (Isa 52:1 [= 4QTanh 8-11], Dan
9:24, 26; and 4QDibHam. In these passages the eschatological Jerusalem is the
divinely restored capital of the divinely restored Israel at the beginning of the
new age. However, there is still a degree of continuity between the eschatologi-
cal Jerusalem and the old, historic Jerusalem. In a sense, the eschatological
Jerusalem is still the historic Jerusalem, but at a new stage of its existence (cf.
Zech 14:2, 8). Even in its eschatological stage there is no otherworldly charac-
ter assigned to the holy city.25 The eschatological Jerusalem is simply earthly,
historical Jerusalem after all of its enemies have been divinely defeated and all
Israel divinely regathered into Jerusalem. This ambivalent sense continues in
22 See Benoit, Passion and Resurrection, 203-4. I agree with Benoit that the "holy city" in
27:53 refers solely to the heavenly Jerusalem of Rev 21:2. However, while Benoit sees the entry of
the saints into the holy city as an event of Matthew's past, I see it as a vision of the apocalyptic
future.
23 Cf. the "faithful city" in Zech 8:3; cf. also the opposite appellations-the "bloody city"
(Ezek 22:2; 24:6, 9; Nah 3:1) and the "oppressing city" (Zeph 3:1); and "the city that kills the
prophets" (Matt 23:37; Luke 13:34).
24 Use of "holy city" as no more than a reverent reference to the historical Jerusalem contin-
ues on into the fourth century with Acts Pil. 15.3; 16.4 and perhaps even into the fifth or sixth cen-
tury with the Tol'doth Yeshu.
25 As in 2 Bar. 68:5, where "Zion will be rebuilt again."

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the synonymous phrase my "holy mountain Jerusalem" (DS'' 'vi'p 'in) in Isa
66:20.
Third, within a few decades after the destruction of the Second Temple, if
not sooner (i.e., Matt 27:53), the term "holy city" becomes a third kind of
Jerusalem in Rev 21:2, 10. This is an apocalyptic, heavenly Jerusalem described
as "the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven
from my God" (Tj; no,6eox; to Oo 0£0 goD, Ti; Kcavfi 'IepoUoaarig Katrapai-
vovGa EK iTO oDpavo &Or6o ToiD 0eoi6 goV) (Rev 3:12). In this case, the holy city
is characterized by radical discontinuity with both the earthly, historical
Jerusalem, on the one hand (Rev 11:2), and the eschatological Jerusalem, on
the other (Rev 20:9). It is an entirely otherworldly construct.
In the Roman period, the idea of radical discontinuity between the earthly
and heavenly Jerusalem occurred first before any transition in the use of the
term "holy city." Philo represents somewhat of a variation on the theme of dis-
continuity. While interpreting Ps 45:5, Philo maintained that the holy city was
the then-present, historical Jerusalem, but that "the city of God" referred to in
the Psalm was "some other city than the visible city of God." However, for
Philo, this city was located not in heaven but in the soul (Somn. 2.37-38; cf.
Leg. 32.1).26
The apostle Paul did not use the term "holy city" at all, but he still made a
radical distinction between the present Jerusalem (v6v 'Iepouaakilg) and the
Jerusalem above (dvco 'Iepovaak,qg) in his allegory of Hagar and Sarah (Gal
4:25-26). The idea of radical discontinuity between the earthly and heavenly
Jerusalem therefore occurred prior to the destruction of the Second Temple.
The term "holy city" is also missing from the Letter to the Hebrews; still
e0£F£ioDu; %oXaoa iv IO;V T£XviTn; Kcat 8rlgto)py6O; 6 0£6;) (Heb 1 :10) and
the author makes a radical distinction between the heavenly Jerusalem ('I£pov-
oaaXk, £7ioDpavip) (Heb 12:22) and its earthly shadow (Heb 13:14); the former
being "a city having foundations whose architect and builder is God" (tqiv toi;
"the city that is to come" (t6OktV . T1v ge/kouDav) (Heb 13:14).

In 4 Ezra 7:26 (= 2 Esdras 7:26) the author observes that "the city that now
is not se n shal ap ear." Here the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly
Jerusalem are two radical y distinct entities. When the divine mes enger
declares to Ezra that "a city is built" (8:52), there is no question that he means
the heavenly Jerusalem. Similarly, references to the "highest Jerusalem" in
2 En. 5 :2 and "the heavenly city" in Sib. Or. 2:40 are clear references to a
celestial capital. Nevertheles , the term "holy city" in 4 Ezra continues to refer
to the earthly Jerusalem (3:24-25).
26 The Works of Philo Complete and Unabridged (trans. C. D. Yonge; Peabody, MA: Hen-
drickson, 19 3, 19 7), 406, 7 8.

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In that part of the Roman period spanning from Philo to 4 Ezra (ca. 50
B.C.E.-100 C.E.) a radical distinction is drawn between the earthly and heavenly
Jerusalem; still the term "holy city" applies for the most part to the earthly
Jerusalem. In Revelation, however, a shift occurs. The term "holy city" is never
applied to the earthly Jerusalem. The term is reserved solely for a visionary city
(Rev 11:2; 21:2, 10) and, beyond that, mostly to an apocalyptic, heavenly city
(21:2, 10).
More specifically, the term "holy city" has two senses in Revelation. First it
is a diachronic metaphor for historic Jerusalem during "the times of the Gen-
tiles," particularly during the second half of the tribulation period (Rev 11:2; cf.
Luke 21:24; Ezek 30:3; Dan 11:21; Tob 14:5; T Mos. 4:9-5:6; 10:13-14).27 In
comparison, in Matt 4:5, the term is used as a synchronic metaphor for historic
Jerusalem, that is to say, Jerusalem at the time of Jesus; but in both cases the
holy city is still a visionary entity and not the earthly city.
Second, in Revelation the term refers to the new Jerusalem, the apocalyptic-
heavenly city, which comes down from above to replace both the historic and
eschatological cities (21:2, 10). It is this second sense, the apocalyptic-heavenly
Jerusalem, that defines the holy city in Matt 27:53. Its function as the destina-
tion of resurrected saints allows no other meaning in the context of the first-
century Jesus movement (cf. Rev 21:24-26).
One might argue rather obliquely for an intervening sense of "holy city" in
Revelation as the eschatological Jerusalem. However, in this case, the term
would be hidden behind its limited synonym, the "beloved city" (20:9). In any
case, the beloved city is definitely the eschatological Jerusalem in counter-
distinction to the heavenly Jerusalem. It is the "camp of the saints" during the
millennial reign prior to being besieged by "Gog and Magog" (cf. Ezek 38:14-
16). This is the Jerusalem of Isa 52:1 and Zech 14:2, 8, albeit redefined by the
Revelator. As such it is still not the Jerusalem that "comes down from above."
We can therefore see the "holy city" of exilic and postexilic eschatology behind
the Revelator's "beloved city," but it is not the holy city of Christian apocalyptic.
Matthew seems to represent typical Christian apocalyptic use of the term
"holy city." His first use of the term (4:5) is like the rare metaphorical use in Rev
11:2, but not quite as ambivalent. His second use of the term (27:53) is like the
radical apocalyptic use in Rev 21:2, 10, but not quite as clear. In both Matthean
cases, as in all three cases in Revelation, the holy city is a visionary edifice.
However, in the particular case of the Matthean crucifixion narrative (27:53), as
in the particular case of the Revelation palingenesis account (21:2, 10), the holy
city is specifically an apocalyptic and heavenly entity.
27 Compare the use of the term "Jerusalem" as a diachronic metaphor for the historic city in
Matt 23:37//Luke 13:34.

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VI. The Gospel Origins of the Holy City
Luke 4:9 names Jerusalem rather than the holy city as the place where the
devil took Jesus in the temptation narrative. Furthermore, Luke places this par-
ticular temptation on the pinnacle of the temple third in the sequence, as
opposed to Matthew (4:5), who places it second. These observations have bear-
ing on whether the holy city or Jerusalem is the original referent in the tempta-
tion narrative. Luke's seeming transposition of the Matthean second and third
temptations would be consistent with Luke's tendency to make Jerusalem the
site of chronologically final testing or trial (Luke 9:51; 13:33-34; 18:31; 21:4, 11;
22:3; Acts 20:22; 21:4, 11; 28:17).28 With this amount of editorial alteration, it is
therefore a greater likelihood that Luke has also altered the holy city to Jeru-
salem in his version of the temptation narrative.
On the basis of the two-source hypothesis, Matthew and Luke draw their
temptation narratives independently from Q. The same indications of apparent
editorial activity on the part of Luke would suggest that it is Matthew who more
faithfully preserves the form and order of Q. This would mean that the term
"holy city," not "Jerusalem," appeared in Q. On the Griesbach-Farmer hypoth-
esis, Luke simply transposes the Matthean order of the final two temptations
and emends the term "holy city" to "Jerusalem."29 Again, this would be in keep-
ing with the role of Jerusalem in Luke's thought.
Whether the temptation narrative originates in Q or in some other source,
we have strong indications that the narrative, including the reference to the
holy city, descends from pre-Matthean tradition. There are several reasons for
viewing the holy city as a sign of pre-Matthean tradition at the very least. One is
the rare occurrence of the expression in the Gospel of Matthew (4:5; 27:53),
indicating that it is not characteristic of the first evangelist.30 The nonappear-
ance of the term in Matthew's apocalyptic section (chs. 24-25), where there is
opportunity for its insertion (24:15-16, 26) is especially striking.31 Matthew also
misses an opportunity to use the term "holy city" in 5:35, where it would have at
least made sense. Second is the abrupt, fragmentary, and apocopated context of
28 See John Nolland, Luke 1-9:20 (WBC 35A; Dallas: Word, 1989), 179.
29 See William R. Farmer, The Synoptic Problem: A Critical Analysis (Macon, GA: Mercer
University Press, 1976), 200-201: "Matthew appears to be the earliest Gospel and Luke seems next
in order .... Mark is throughout the whole extent of his Gospel working closely with texts of
Matthew and Luke before him." See also Beyond the Q Impasse: Luke's Use of Matthew (ed. Allan
J. McNicol, David L. Dungan, and David B. Peabody; Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press Interna-
tional, 1996), 77-78.
30 Contra Allison, End of the Ages, 42. Allison believes that "holy city" is redactional.
31 However, the term "holy place" ('r6To; &yio;) occurs in 24:15; cf. Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20.
Luke replaces the Matthean "abomination of desolation standing in the holy place" with "Jerusalem
surrounded by armies."

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its occurrence in Matt 27:53. If the raising of the saints and their entry into the
holy city is a freehand composition of the first evangelist, why does this tradi-
tion make such a lacunar, evaporative appearance? It is more likely that the first
evangelist preserved a handed-down fragment of apocalyptic. He can provide
little context and no further content for 27:53 because he himself has only
received a fragment. The fragmentary character of 27:53 in turn signifies its
origin in earliest Christian antiquity.32 In each case, then, the occurrence of the
"holy city" as a term in Matthew takes us back to the earliest stream of Christian
apocalyptic thought, where radical discontinuity is supposed between the
earthly and heavenly Jerusalem, and between the eschatological and heavenly
Jerusalem. The term places us in touch with the same apocalyptic stream that
lies behind the book of Revelation.
VII. The Apocalypse of John as Hermeneutical Key
There are other literary signals tying Matt 27:51-53 and the book of Reve-
lation to a common apocalyptic tradition, such as the earthquake (Rev 6:12;
11:13; 16:18; cf. Matt 24:7; 27:51; 28:2) and the dramatic opening of a holy
shrine (Matt 27:51 par.; Rev 4:1; 11:19; 15:5-8). More generally speaking,
Matthew shares several themes and literary features with the apocalyptic tradi-
tion preserved in the book of Revelation, for example: (1) the appearance of the
Antichrist, false Christs, and false prophets (Matt 24:5, 11, 23-26; Rev 2:20;
13:11-17; 19:20); (2) war, famine, and earthquake (Matt 24:6-7; Rev 6:4, 8;
8:5); (3) the martyrdom of the saints (Matt 24:9-10; Rev 2:13; 6:9, 11; 7:14;
12:11,17; 13:7; 14:13; 16:6; 19:2); (4) apostasy and lawlessness (Matt 24:11-12;
Rev 2:14-15, 20-24; 3:9, 15-19); (5) solar-lunar eclipse and other celestial
upheaval (Matt 24:29; Rev 6:12-14; 8:5-12; 11:19); (6) the great white throne
of judgment (Matt 25:31-46; Rev 14:9-11, 17-20; 20:11-15); (7) the period of
great tribulation (Matt 24:8, 21-22, 29; Rev 3:10; 7:14; 8:7-9:19; 12:12); and
(8) the mourning of the tribes of the earth (Matt 24:30; Rev 1:7).33
We therefore have a common narrative tradition lying behind the Gospel
of Matthew and the book of Revelation, not to mention other biblical and extra-
biblical literature.34 This does not mean that Matthew and the book of Revela-
32 See Allison, End of the Ages, 45-46. Against Senior, Allison argues for Matt 27:52-53 as "a
piece of primitive Christian tradition based upon Ezek 37:1-14 and Zech 14:4-5."
33 Cf. "all the tribes of the earth shall mourn" (K6NovTat cdxoat aci u-cai Tl,s yril) in Matthew
and "all the tribes of the earth shall mourn for him" (Ko6jovcat 6c' acar6v 7r& ai c(at ai tfl; yflq) in
Revelation. The almost identical form of these statements is one of our strongest indications that
the two compositions share a common apocalytic narrative background.
34 See Allison, End of the Ages, 70-73.

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tion share the same provenance. Sharing the same provenance is not necessary
to share the same traditions (cf. Matt 11:25-30//Luke 10:21-22 and John
17:1-26), and this is especially true in the case of Christian apocalyptic. The
pervasiveness of a common apocalyptic tradition in early Christianity is widely
acknowledged, but what may not be so widely maintained is that, for this rea-
son, the book of Revelation can provide a hermeneutical key to abstruse por-
tions of Matthean apocalyptic, particularly Matt 27:52-53. Furthermore, this
can be done without harmonizing two disparate texts. Our aim is not to pro-
mote an ahistorical, synchronic reading of Matthew and Revelation, but only to
recognize their respective appropriations of a common apocalyptic tradition.
VIII. The Holy City and Historicized Future as Literary Devices
The entry of the saints into the holy city therefore occurs in the apocalyp-
tic, eschatological future, despite the impression of modern readers that it is an
event of Matthew's past. Why then does Matthew speak of an apocalyptic
future event in the past tense and then sandwich it between two occurrences on
Friday? If Matt 27:53 is a fragmentary tradition that Matthew has incorporated
into this Gospel, then the use of aorist verbs most likely reflects an original
aspect of the fragment.35 But situating the fragment between the earthquake
and the centurion's response is especially evocative. We must at least ask about
the effect of this maneuver. At the very least, the effect of this temporal
enveloping is to dissociate the saintly ingress from the day of Jesus' resurrec-
tion. If the entry of the saints into the holy city did not occur on that Sunday,
then it simply has not occurred at all. It remains an event in waiting (as indi-
cated in John 5:25, 28-29; 11:25).
In this case, both the term "holy city" and the historicized future would be
literary signals designed to dissociate the ingress of the saints from any day that
has occurred so far. Even if this design was by default, that is to say, even if
these literary signals were original features of a pre-Matthean fragment,
Matthew's decision to retain them without emendation suggests that they
invited a particular understanding of the fragment as apocalyptic prophecy.36
This particular understanding of Matt 27:52-53 seems preserved as late as Sib.
Or. 8:218-28, 305-21, 412-28 (ca. 180-311 C.E.). In the first of these passages,
the oracle says, "A king will come from heaven who is to judge ... men will see
35 See Matthew Black, An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts (3d ed.; Oxford:
Clarendon, 1967), 128. Black speaks of the Greek aorist as the sign of an original Semitic perfect.
36 A discussion of whether these features were intended by the author of Matthew as signals
of a particular meaning would take us too far afield. In any case, a literary feature could still func-
tion to signify a particular meaning without that meaning being intended by its author or redactor.

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God the Most High with the holy ones at the end of time. He will judge the
souls of flesh-bearing men on the tribunal . .. and will break the gates of the
confines of Hades. Then all the flesh of the dead, of the holy ones, will come to
the free light." In the second, the oracle says, "The veil of the Temple will be
rent.... He will come to Hades announcing hope for all the holy ones.... And
then, returning from the dead, he will come to light, first of the resurrection."
In the third, God says, "I will roll up heaven, open the recesses of the earth, and
then I will raise the dead."37 From other Christian literature of the second to
fourth centuries, it is clear that the futuristic meaning of these Matthean signals
was for the most part lost within several generations.38
IX. "After his resurrection" as Afterthought
We now return to our original problem made worse-the problem of the

time gap between the raising of the saints and their entry into the holy city. We
are not dealing with a mere three-day gap after all, but a gap that is generations
long and still counting. Of course, for the audience of Matthew it would have
been only a gap of some thirty-five years and counting, but that is still quite a bit
of time for risen saints to hang around in tombs. The absurdity of the idea
demands a different interpretation.
Our solution lies in a reconsideration of the phrase "after his resurrection"
(iet'a TlV E/YEpotv a5'zo5) itself, since it is the only ostensibly temporal marker
in the passage. It clearly interrupts the flow of thought in 27:53, even in biblical
Greek.39 It would have been better placed elsewhere in the sentence. The fact
that it was not better placed indicates at the very least that the phrase is an
afterthought most likely meant to preserve the christological requirement that
37 John J. Collins, "Sibylline Oracles," OTP, 423, 425, 427. The first occurrence of "holy ones"
in Sib. Or. 8:218-28 refers to a heavenly retinue that descends with God on the day of judgment
(cf. Matt 24:31; 25:31). The second occurrence refers to resurrected saints (cf. Matt 27:52). The
following additional Matthean echoes clearly show that the author of the second half of Sib. Or. 8
was interpreting the Gospel of Matthew: Matt 27:51 in Sib. Or. 8:305, Matt 21:5 in 8:325, Matt
11:29 in 8:326, and Matt 25:32-33 in 8:417-18.
38 More or less definite references to the raising of the saints in Matt 27:52-53 occur in Ign.
Magn. 9.2 (98-117 C.E.), Origen, Cels. (176 C.E.), T. Levi 4:1 (192 c.E.?), Hippolytus, Haer. 3 (ca.
200 C.E.), Tertullian, Adv. Jud. 8 (208 C.E.), A Strain of the Judgment of the Lord 120-24, 460-70
(208 C.E.), Gos. Nic. 1-2 (third century C.E.?), Ep. Chr. Abg. (fourth century C.E.), and Treat. Seth
58 (360 C.E.). For this last document, see NHL, 333. Usually Matt 27:52-53 is associated with 1 Pet
3:19 and is interpreted as a past event in accordance with the theme of the "harrowing of hell."
39 See Willoughby C. Allen, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According
to St. Matthew (ICC; 3d ed.; Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1977), 296. Also David C. Sim, Apocalyptic
Eschatology in the Gospel of Matthew (SNTSMS 88; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1996), 111.

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Jesus be the firstfruit of those raised from the dead.40 The phrase would there-
fore be an Matthean addition to a pre-Matthean fragment.41 If it is true that the
resurrection of Jesus is prior to the raising of the saints, then we have a sen-
tence structure at odds with that perception.
It is recognition of this conflict between sentence structure and Christol-
ogy that justifies revision of the sentence to suggest a new reading of the text.
Arguably it would be best to read "after his resurrection" near the beginning of
v. 52, after the first "and" (Kai).42 This would mean that the opening of the
tombs and both the raising of the saints and their entry into the holy city
occurred after the resurrection of Jesus.
And after his resurrection, the tombs were opened and many bodies of the
saints that slept were raised. And coming out of the tombs, they entered into
the holy city and appeared to many.
This revision would remove the problem of an interval between the raising of
the saints and their ingress into the holy city.43 The folding of this event
between the earthquake on Friday and the centurion's response on that same
Friday would signal the reader that these events are nevertheless not to be
assigned to Sunday or to any other historical day. The exception, of course, is
the resurrection of Jesus himself. Gospel tradition makes it clear that this event
occurred on that Sunday (Matt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 28:6), but the other events
belong to the apocalyptic future. After all, the Gospel does not state how long
after Jesus' resurrection these events will occur.44 It is the term "holy city" itself
that pulls us into the realm of the apocalyptic future.
40 Other examples of afterthought appear in 1 Cor 1:16 and 2 Cor 11:32-33.

41 As argued also by Allison, End of the Ages, 45. More recently Allison, along with W. D.
Davies, has changed his mind. See W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical
Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew (3 vols.; ICC; Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
2000), 3:634-35. Despite the fact that Etrd K..X. appears in almost all manuscripts and versions of
Matthew, they suspect that it is "an early gloss" and "secondary." They observe that the phrase is
absent from the Diatessaron, Eg. Pap. 3, frg. 1 recto, and the Palestinian Syriac Lectionary. Also
there are early Christian writers such as Ambrose and Ephrem who do not make the resurrection of
the saints subsequent to the resurrection of Jesus. Since .exTd K.X.X. is so strongly and widely
attested in our earliest manuscripts, I am persuaded that it is original to the text of Matthew. Dis-
cernment of its christological role and character as afterthought follows easily upon the realization
that the raising of the saints in 27:52 is an event of the apocalyptic future.
42 See Allison, End of the Ages, 45.
43 See J. Wenham, "When Were the Saints Raised?" 151. I therefore find reason to go back
one step further than Wenham and place a full stop after "and the earth shook and the rocks were
split" (Kai i yf aoeioe0q Kai ai atcpat 7oXio9roaav), so that even the opening of the tombs does not
occur until after Jesus' resurrection-an indefinitely long time after.
44 Ambiguity over time between events is characteristic of Matthean apocalyptic (Matt 24:8,
22,34, 36, 42, 44; 25:13).

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X. "And the things that happened" as Editorial Addition
Have we now only made another problem worse? We have argued that the
phrase "and the things that happened," a reference to events witnessed by the
centurion, must include the opening of the tombs and the raising of the saints.
However, our reinterpretation of Matt 27:52-53 eliminates these events from
the centurion's view. Indeed, it eliminates these events from the centurion's
lifetime. Editorially, the phrase "and the things that happened" must include
the opening of the tombs and the raising of the saints, yet when taken literally
in its context, the phrase cannot possibly include these events. The phrase can-
not fulfill its own purpose; taken literally, it is disconnected from its context.
This suggests that the phrase "and the things that happened" is an editorial
addition, and an inept one at that, because it forces the centurion to witness
events he could not possibly have witnessed. The addition could not be from
the same hand that composed the phrase "after his resurrection"-that is, it
could not be from the author we are identifying as Matthew. Matthew added
the phrase "after his resurrection" to make a pre-Matthean fragment consistent
with post-Pauline Christology.45 The phrase "and the things that happened,"
however, is totally disconnected from its context. It was added by someone who
misunderstood and was misled by the placement of "after his resurrection." It
was added by someone who failed to realize that the opening of the tombs and
the raising of the saints comes not before but after the resurrection of Jesus-
and, as it turns out, an indefinitely long time after the resurrection of Jesus.46 A
coherent reading therefore requires us to excise the phrase "and the things that
happened" from the text. This points to an earlier version of Matt 27:52-54 in
which the centurion was responding only to the earthquake.
And after his resurrection, the tombs were opened and many bodies of the
saints that slept were raised. And coming out of the tombs they entered into
45 Raymond E. Brown seems to believe that the whole of Matt 27:51b-52b is pre-Matthean
and that both the earthquake and the raising of the saints belong to this same pre-Matthean frag-
ment. Yet he maintains that the whole of 27:53 is Matthean. See Raymond E. Brown, The Death of
the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives in the Four
Gospels (ABRL; New York: Doubleday, 1994), 2:1120. I would agree that 27:51b-52b is pre-
Matthean, but not that the earthquake and the raising of the saints belong to the same pre-
Matthean fragment. On my argument, the centurion saw the earthquake ofv. 51b, while w. 52a-53
relate events that are still future. This difference in temporal setting indicates at least two different
phrases Tix yev6opva nd t£Er Ti v ¥y£pamv aolou is roughly the reverse of mine. He se s the for-
pre-Matthean fragments. I also disagree with Brown's opinion that the whole of v. 53 is Matthean.
Only crd' K.T.X. is Matthean. Its awkward yet early placement indicates that it is Matthew's addi-
tion to an existing tradition.
46 See Troxel, "Matt 27. 51-4 Reconsidered," 31, 37. Interestingly, Troxel's treatment of the
mer as a Mat hean composit on and the lat er as a "scribal insert."

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the holy city and appeared to many. And when the centurion and those with
him guarding Jesus saw the earthquake, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly
this was the Son of God."
XI. Space-Time Collapse in the First Gospel
On the basis of the foregoing clarifications we can now describe Matt

27:51-54 as a temporally and spatially conflated text. Within this brief span of
verses the apocalyptic future is "folded" into the historic past. Furthermore,
transcendent space is collapsed into earthly space. The resurrection of the
saints and their holy homegoing are fitted between two occurrences on a single
Friday, namely, the earthquake and the centurion's response. The historic past
becomes an envelope for the apocalyptic future.
Although it may appear strange to the modern reader, temporal-spatial
collapse is not an unusual occurrence in ancient literature. In Sib. Or. 5:414-30
the coming of "a blessed man," the transmutation of "the city which God
desired," the creation of "a holy temple," and "the last time of holy people" con-
stitute a future apocalyptic vision wedged between two events of the oracle's
past-the destruction of the Second Temple and the decline of "Babylon."
Because it features the historicized future (a future event related in the past
tense), this passage especially resembles Matt 27:52-53.47 Other ancient litera-
ture also displays aspects of temporal-spatial collapse.48
47 Collins, "Sibylline Oracles," 390, 403. Collins dates the oracle between 80 and 132 C.E.
Compare also Homer's use of the historicized future in two places. The first is in the narration of
the destruction of the "great Achaian wall" (tgya T£iXo; 'AXatiov) in II. 12.12-35: "then verily did
Poseidon and Apollo take counsel to sweep away the wall" (6i1 r6Tr T piTt6OvTo v ooetSdcov Kai
heaven" (vuKTi (gv i£Co eiXkartat Ke£axai tr£ rp6o t . aditart 5' 8p d5aTai ToIot . o iXEt;
'An6UXov eiXo; dCxaX,5ivat) (trans. Murray, LCL). The second use occurs when Theoclymenus
prophesies death for the suitors of Penelope in Od. 20.351-55: "Shrouded in night are your heads
and your faces ... and sprinkled with blood are the walls . . . and the sun has perished out of
65 oiupavo' eaon6koke) (trans. Mur ay, LCL). Homer's use of aorist verbs in these pas ages
resembles the historicized future of Mat 27:52-53 and Sib. Or. 5:414-30. The dif erence, how-
ever, is that, despite the temporal leap, these oc ur ences are stil portrayed as events of Homer's
past.
48 In a different context, Montague Rhodes James referred to one aspect of this literary trait
as "compression of the narrative" (see The Apocryphal New Testament [trans. M. R. James; Oxford:
Clarendon, 1924, 1988], 8). David R. Cartlidge and David L. Dungan refer to a literary trait of
Philostratus as "a common Hellenistic literary gimmick to speed up the passage of time and shift
the scene of action" (Documentsfor the Study of the Gospels [ed. D. R. Cartlidge and D. L. Dun-
gan; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980], 234). T. H. Gaster, when discussing the Samaritan colonization
of Israel in 2 Kgs 17, remarks that the Hebrew historian "telescoped" the time of Shalmaneser into
the time of Sargon and contracted several years of colonization into a shorter period of time
("Samaritans," IDB 4:191).

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Temporalfolding, similar to Matt 27:51-54, occurs in Jer 38:13-39:15. The

account of Jeremiah's audience with Zedekiah (38:14-28), Nebuchadrezzar's
seige of Jerusalem (39:1-10), and Jeremiah's transfer to Gedaliah's custody
(39:11-14) are all folded between two accounts of Jeremiah's confinement in
the court of the guard in Jerusalem (38:13 and 39:15). In brief, the period from
588 to 586 B.C.E. is sandwiched between two vignettes of Jeremiah in 588
B.C.E.
Temporal folding occurs also in Ezra 4:5-5:1 (Ezra 4:7-24= 1 Esd

30). The story of local opposition to the postexilic rebuilding of Jerusa
ing the reigns of the Persians Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) and Artaxerxes (4
placed between two reports from the time of Zerubbabel (4:5 and 5:1)
tive of the period 485-423 B.C.E. is wedged between two reports s
B.C.E.
Spatialfolding, another aspect of temporal-spatial collapse, is illus

by Matt 4:5-10. Matthew leaves no doubt that he sees the wilderness
place in an earthly space. His narrative of the temptation of Jesus b
cf. Luke 4:1; Mark 1:12) and ends (4:11; cf. Mark 1:13) in an earthly w
Nevertheless, we are transported with Jesus to a different kind of spa
scendent, visionary space between this beginning and ending. As I ha
this transcendent, visionary space is indicated by reference to the hol
the nature of Jesus' experience on the mountain.
The transfiguration (Matt 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36) als
tutes spatial folding. There is no doubt that the "high mountain" is a
in an earthly space, and that the scene both begins and ends there (Ma
par.). In the interval, however, earthly space is displaced by heavenly,
space, as signified by the presence of Moses, Elijah, a bright cloud, a
from heaven, in addition to a metamorphosis in the appearance of J
self. Only in Matthew is this intrusion of transcendent space into th
realm is described as a "vision" (opatia) (Matt 17:9).
Of course, Matt 27:51-54 and the other examples of tempora

cited above are also cases of spatial folding. In actuality, all cases of t
folding are also cases of spatial folding (while the converse is not nec
true) and as the variety of examples shows, these forms of temporal-s
lapse do not always involve visionary or apocalyptic scenarios. Still, t
nomenon of temporal and spatial folding is nowhere better illustrate
Jewish and Christian apocalyptic.
Daniel's first foray into a transcendent realm apparently begins
in the bed where he lies (7:1, 28). In the meantime he finds himself vi
great sea and the throne room of the Ancient of Days, witnessing fr
images of the future (7:2-27). In subsequent visions, Daniel is taken t
the River Ulai, where he sees portents of the end of time (8:2, 17), alt

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was physically in Babylon (8:27; cf. 7:1). Although he sees future events, he
describes them in the perfect tense: "four great beasts came up (ip;:) out of
the sea" (7:3); "an Ancient of Days sat upon (:n') his throne" (7:9); "the beast
was put (nTnT) to death" (7:11); "a male goat came (t:) from the west" (8:5).
Daniel's use of the perfect (i.e., the historicized future) is a key to interpreting
the aorist tense of Matt 27:52-53.
In the book of Revelation the seer is in exile on the isle of Patmos, where
he has a series of visions on the Lord's day. The temporal-spatial frame of his
visions is therefore set within the earthly sphere. However, between the poles
of this earthly frame the seer journeys to the throne room of heaven (4:2), the
temple of God (11:1), a wilderness (17:3), and "a great, high mountain" (21:10).
Each locale is in the supernatural realm. At one point, a thousand years are col-
lapsed into one visionary moment (20:7). Arguably, the book of Revelation con-
tains our most dramatic examples of conflation between earthly and heavenly
space and use of the historic future. It certainly bears close kinship to the apoc-
alyptic sections of the Gospel of Matthew, particularly Matt 27:52-53. The
same space-time displacement occurs in the books of Ezekiel, 1 Enoch, 4 Ezra,
and 2 Baruch. In all of these cases, the space-time locale of the seer in the
natural realm acts as an envelope for vignettes depicting space-time locales in
the supernatural realm. Heavenly space is folded into earthly space. The future
is wedged between points in the historic past. This same literary phenomenon
occurs in Matt 27:52-53. The resurrection of the saints and their entry into the
holy city form a future, apocalyptic scene that is retracted into the past and
pressed between the earthquake and the centurion's fearful response.
XII. Temporal Acceleration in the First Gospel
A simpler feature of temporal-spatial collapse is temporal acceleration, so

speeding up the passage of time between a past and future point that the span
is ostensibly removed. In this case, the passage of hours or years could occur
almost unnoticed within the span of a verse or two. Temporal acceleration is
certainly a component of Matt 27:52-53. Anchored in the time of the crucifix-
ion and the time of the centurion, the passage suddenly leaps forward to the
apocalyptic future and the general resurrection from the dead. Such temporal
leaps are common in Matthew.49
Again, we are not calling attention to anything unusual in ancient texts. We
find that temporal acceleration is common in both apocalyptic and nonapoca-
lyptic biblical literature. Temporal acceleration occurs between Rev 7:8 and
49 See Witherup, "Death of Jesus," 582: "First, Matthew's narrative shows a tendency to jump
ahead and complete a story line that he interjects into the main plot (cf. 14:1-12; 27:3-5)."

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7:9. We know that the period of the great tribulation ( ti 0^ t/I 7 6 j£cydXrl) lies
between 7:8 and 7:9 (as we are told in 7:14), even though the seer does not indi-
cate it at this point. This intervening period is more clearly indicated in Rev
14:1-5, 12-13. While the 144,000 are with the Lamb on Mount Zion, the
"saints" must endure a period of martyrdom, the great tribulation (cf. Rev. 6:11;
4 Ezra 2:27). This interval of time is compressed in Rev 7:8-9, when the visions
of the 144,000 and the innumerable multitude (i.e, the martyred Christians)
are almost merged together.
In the Gospel of Luke temporal acceleration occurs between the first res-
urrection appearance (24:49) and the ascension (24:50-51), so that one event
appears to happen very soon after the other. However, the author of Luke
clearly understands that forty days passed between these events (Acts 1:3, 9;
13:31).
It seems that temporal acceleration in some cases in ancient literature has
the same effect as a "flash forward" in a modern novel or video production,
especially when there is a return to the past after flashing the future scene.50
We appear to have such a flash-forwarding purpose realized in Matt 27:52-53.
XIII. A New Hermeneutic for Matthew 27:52-53
A few hermeneutical perplexities remain in Matt 27:52-53, especially as

reinterpreted in this discussion. Matthew's reference to "many bodies of the
saints that slept" shows that he expects a corporeal event in space-time, not just
an occurrence in the spirit realm, although it is in the spirit realm that these
events will conclude. The qualifier "many" does not suggest that there are
"some" bodies of the saints that slept that will not be raised, but rather that
there are "many other" saintly bodies that have already preceded these risen
ones into the holy city.51 As I shall argue, we have a tacit distinction between
apotheosized "Jewish saints" and risen "Christian saints," the same distinction
we find in Revelation.
It is at this point that acknowledgment of a narrative relationship between
Matthew and Revelation proves its hermeneutical value.52 In the cyclical
50 Observe the "flash-forward" effect of Dan 1:21; Luke 3:20; and John 11:52.
51 Contra Keener, Commentary, 685-86. He feels that the qualifier "many" shows that the
raising of the saints is only a prefiguring of the final resurrection.
52 When discussing any part of Matt 27:51-54, scholars tend to refer to a wide range of
Greco-Roman literature, including the Jewish and Christian literature of the second to fourth cen-
turies. Brown, for example, calls attention to reports of eclipses, earthquakes, and other portents in
earth and sky at the death of ancient potentates and notables. See Brown, Death of the Messiah
2:1114-23. He mentions Virgil's account of portents at the death of Caesar and Cassius Dio's
account of the same at the death of Claudius. He also calls attention to the Gospel of Nicodemus

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visions of the book of Revelation, 144,000 are sealed prior to the great tribula-
tion period (Rev 7:1-8; 14:1-13). They are referred to as "redeemed from
humankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb" (iyopd6orloav an6o xc6v av-
Opdmeov (TiapxI 'X e Oe Kai To a6pvicp) (Rev 14:4; cf. Rom 11:16; Heb 12:23).53
They are actually with the Lord on Mount Zion while the Christian saints
undergo martyrdom (Rev 14:1, 12-13; cf. 6:10-11; 17:6; 18:24; 4 Ezra 2:47).
They do not appear to be souls of the dead, but their "sealing" (eaXpayitoEvot)
is some type of apotheosis (cf. 4 Ezra 2:38-41). It is difficult to know whether
this sealing is itself a resurrection or, perhaps, a "translation" such as experi-
enced by Enoch and Elijah (Gen 5:24; cf. Heb 11:5; 2 Kgs 2:11; 4 Ezra 6:26). If
it is a resurrection, then this would be the Revelator's way of incorporating the
visions of Isa 26:19; Hos 6:2; Dan 12:2; and Ezek 37:13 (cf. Matt 22:31-32).54
(Acts of Pilate) and other Christian literature that proposes identities for the risen saints of Matt
27:52 and engages in other speculations. Brown rightly regards these Christian speculations as
unnecessary and beside the point. But marshaling parallel or analogous references from the
remaining Greco-Roman corpus, while informative and valuable in itself, may also be somewhat
misleading. As I show in this article, it is the book of Revelation that has the most immediate rele-
vance for interpreting Matt 27:52-53. For this reason, I must disagree with Brown and others that
Ezek 37:12-13 and its pictorial representation in the Dura Europos synagogue are primary keys to
understanding Matt 27:52-53. The prophecy of Ezekiel may play a role in the development of Matt
27:52-53, but it would be indirect and filtered through the narrative background of the book of
Revelation.
53 See Bruce J. Malina and John J. Pilch, Social-Science Commentary on the Book of Revela-
tion (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000). Locating the author of Revelation within an Israelite appropria-
tion of Babylonian astrological traditions, Malina and Pilch see the 144,000 of Rev 7 as a celestial
community of Israelites who had been "rescued" by God and the Lamb from the calamity poured
out upon the land of Israel (pp. 116, 118). The innumerable multitude are Israelites from "every
nation, tribe, people, and tongue, that is, Israelites from their land as well as exiles, colonists, and
6migr6s of earlier generations" (p. 117). They are persecuted righteous ones who persevere and
whose destiny is to join the 144,000 as stars or starlike in the heavens (p. 118). However, the
144,000 of Rev 7 are to be distinguished from the 144,000 of Rev 14. These latter are from among
those "sons of God" in Gen 6:1-4 who did not cohabit with the "daughters of men" in the antedilu-
vian period (pp. 154, 180). They are with the Lamb on the celestial Mount Zion in the heavenly
Jerusalem (p. 180). Malina and Pilch describe chs. 12-16 as an editorial insertion quite unrelated to
the contents of the first insertion (chs. 4-11) (p. 155). Malina and Pilch's thesis deserves a more
thorough examination than can be provided in this article. Here I can only agree that the 144,000
and the innumerable multitude of Rev 7 are two distinct groups; and whether or not the 144,000 of
Rev 7 and Rev 14 are the same, in Rev 14 they are already resident in the celestial Jerusalem. I am
persuaded by David A. deSilva's assessment of Malina's thesis: "The wholesale emphasis on the sky
also becomes a liability in Malina's presentation of the 'message' of Revelation. One expects the
first-century hearers to understand John's vision as resonating with a broad spectrum of back-
grounds, especially Jewish Scripture, mythology, and the socio-political context of urban people
under Roman domination" (review of Bruce J. Malina, On the Genre and Message of Revelation:
Star Visions and Sky Journeys,JBL 116 [1997]: 764).
54 Later, in rabbinic thought, the vision of Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones was interpreted
as a resurrection. See b. Sanh 90b, where the vision of Ezekiel is considered a possible fulfillment

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Furthermore, they would still be part of thefirst resurrection despite the inter-
val between their sealing and the raising of the Christian martyrs.55 At least two
things are clear: their "sealing" is definitely a removal from the calamities of the
coming tribulation period (Rev 7:3), and it also involves a relocation to a celes-
tial Mount Zion where they stand in the company of the Lamb (Rev 14:1).
In the book of Revelation, the "sealing" of the Jewish saints and the resur-
rection of the Christian martyrs are separated by a period known as the "great
tribulation" (Rev 6:9-10; 7:14; 14:12-13). The seer understands the Christian
saints as those martyred during the great tribulation (Rev 6:9-11; 7:9-17; 17:6;
18:24; cf. 4 Ezra 2:42-48). They are "the dead who die in the Lord" (Rev
14:13); they are the final phase of the first resurrection (Rev 20:4-6; cf. 4 Ezra
2:23); and they will reign with Christ a thousand years (Rev 20:6). Meanwhile,
during the tribulation, the Jewish saints are with the Lord on a celestial Mount
Zion. They are therefore two different communities.56 Since heavenly realities
clearly correspond to earthly realities in the book of Revelation, and since the
top of the earthly Mount Zion is located within the walls of the earthly
Jerusalem, we can only conclude that the top of this celestial Mount Zion is
located within the walls of the celestial Jerusalem, that is, the holy city (cf. Heb
12:22).57 This is at least reminiscent of the vision of the prophet Micah, where
the eschatological Mount Zion is the site of the eschatological temple of
Jerusalem (Mic 4:1-13). The 144,000-the Jewish saints-are therefore
already with the Lord in the holy city prior to the period of tribulation and
Christian martyrdom.58
of Isa 26:19. In other debate (b. Sanh 92a-92b) it was interpreted as "a parable," and in further dis-
cussion (b. Sanh 92b), it was considered a resuscitation: "R. Eliezer the son of R. Jose the Galilean
said: The dead whom Ezekiel revived went up to Palestine, married wives and begat sons and
daughters. R. Judah b. Bathyra rose up and said: I am one of their descendents, and these are the
tefillin which my grandfather left me [as a heirloom] from them." See Sanhedrin, vol. 2 (trans. H.
Freedman; London: Soncino, 1935), 605, 618-19.
55 See 3 En. 44:1-8, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others of the righteous dead have
been "raised from their graves" and are already ascended into heaven where they intercede for
Diaspora Israel (P. Alexander, "3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch," OTP, 295).
56 See Josephine Massyngberde Ford, Revelation: Introduction, Translation, and Commen-
tary (AB 38; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975), 126-27. Ford sees the 144,000 as an "Israel-
remnant," while the multitude are the "diaspora from every nation." G. R. Beasley-Murray believes
that although Rev 7:1-8 may have originally been "a Jewish prophetic oracle, affirming Israel's part
in the Kingdom of God," the Revelator identifies them with the innumerable multitude (The Book
of Revelation [London: Oliphants, 1974], 140-41). Beasley-Murray believes that both groups are
"representations of the Church." Adela Yarbro Collins also identifies one group with the other (The
Combat Myth in the Book of Revelation [HDR 9; Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1976], 34). She
says, "Each of these visions describes the salvation of the elect."
57 See Malina and Pilch, Social-Science Commentary, 17. "The principle is, as in the sky so on
the earth (see Matt 6:10: 'on earth as it is in heaven'). One may also work backward: if on the earth
so in the sky."
58 The same distinction between an Israelite community that already inhabits the heavenly

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The resurrected saints of Rev 20:9 are clearly the martyred Christians of
20:4. While they are temporarily under seige in the beloved city (the eschato-
logical Jerusalem), the 144,000 Jewish saints are obviously still on top of Mount
Zion in the new Jerusalem (14:1); and they descend with the holy city in 21:2.
In Rev 21:24-26, the redeemed nations of the earth enter the holy city. This
recalls the common vision of Jewish eschatology where the nations of the earth
enter the eschatological Jerusalem (Isa 60:3-22; 62:2; Zech 8:20-23; Tob 13:11;
14:6-7). The point, however, is that in Isaiah, Zechariah, and Tobit there are
people already in the city when the redeemed nations arrive, namely, the
descendants of Israel. Apparently the Revelator recasts these Israelite descen-
dants as the 144,000. Given the thematic convergences between the apocalyp-
tic sections of Matthew and the book of Revelation, the many who are in the
holy city when the risen saints arrive (Matt 27:52-53) would have to be identi-
cal or at least analogous to the 144,000.59
Therefore, contrary to previous interpretations, the resurrection in Matt
27:52-53 is not that of Jewish saints or heroes; it is that of the Christian saints.60
Further corroboration of their identity as Christians is provided by the overall
meaning of iaytot (Hebrew: D''71p) in earliest Christian literature. The term
aiytot occurs sixty-one times in the NT. "Aytot occurs four times in Acts (9:13,
32, 41; 26:20) and thirteen times in Revelation (5:8; 8:3, 4; 11:18; 13:7, 10;
14:12; 15:3; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:8; 20:9); the singular form of the term occurs
once in Phil (4:21). Matthew 27:53 is the only occurrence of the term in the
Gospels. Virtually every occurrence of the term in the NT is a reference to
believers in Christ. Jude 14, which is a reapplication of 1 En. 1:9, may be the
only exception (cf. Zech 14:5). There are no grounds then for excluding
Matthew from the overwhelmingly traditional use of the term aytot ("saints").
Therefore, the resurrection in Matt 27:53 is the resurrection of Christian saints.
(CK XcTliqg TpmroT6Kcov &ToyEypauvowvc v £v oipavoi;) in contrast to "the spirits of the righteous
Jerusalem and a Christian community that joins them later seems to appear also in Heb 12:23.
Here the author refers to "the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in the heavens"
made perfect" (irveiCaot Gi tKaiov Te£TEXeutovcov). In context, there is one other resident commu-
nity in the heavenly Jerusalem that is refer ed to first, namely, "myriads of angels in festal gather-
ing" (mptidotv dy kcov itavrylpet) (12:2 ).
59 Brown finds that overlo king the phrase "they were made visible to many" in 27:53d is "the
fatal flaw" in the idea of the holy city as the "new, heavenly Jerusalem." He fe ls that this phrase
indicates an ap earance in the "earthly Jerusalem." Se Brown, Death of the Mes iah, 2:1 31. As I
argue, once we recognize the nar ative relationship betwe n the Gospel of Mat hew and the bo k
of Revelation, it becomes relatively easy to discern the future, apocalyptic set ing and character of
the holy city, the risen saints, and "the many."
60 Se Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, who observe that the term "saints who
have fal en asle p" in Mat 27:52 is a "designation" for fol owers of Jesus (Social-Science Commen-
tary on the Synoptic Gospels [Min eapolis: Fortres , 19 2], 165).

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When they enter the holy city the saints shall appear (/ve(0aviorlloav) to
many.61 The impression is that these many (tnoXoi, rokXoit;) are already in the
holy city and are there to receive the new arrivals.62 These many can be none
other than the Jewish saints who preceded the Christian martyrs into the holy
city (cf. Rom 1:16; 2:10; 11:26). Early Christian apocalyptic leaves no option for
identifying them as any other than the 144,000 or an analogous group. Matthew
27:52-53 is therefore a drastically apocopated version of Rev 21:2-27 and con-
text; indeed, it is an apocalyptic apostrophe.
XIV. Near Parallels to Matthew 27:52-53
A striking near parallel to Matt 27:52-53 as presently reinterpreted

appears in 2 Bar. 50:3-4, where the "Mighty One" explains to the seer that after
the resurrection the risen ones will retain their earthly appearance so that they
can recognize one another (50:4). A. F. J. Klijn calls attention to a similar idea in
Ps.-Philo 62.9, where Jonathan affirms before David that their souls will know
each other in the resurrection.63 However, the Mighty One also declares to
Baruch another purpose for retaining the earthly appearance of the risen ones,
namely, "to show those who live that the dead are living again, and that those
who went away have come back" (50:3). We therefore have a distinction
between a community that "went away" and "came back," on the one hand, and
a community that had always been there, on the other. Afterwards, the risen
ones will be "changed into any shape which they wished, from beauty to loveli-
61 Witherup and Botha, who refer to Matt 27:51-53 as a crux interpretum in Matthew, have
analyzed the semantic domain of iveravio0noav (£xviavio) in Matt 27:53. Witherup especially
focuses on the senses of the term as "appearing" and "testifying against." He maintains that "the
purpose of the saints rising is to testify against Jerusalem for the rejection of Jesus." Witherup yet
sees no difference in kind between the saints rising and mere resuscitations ("Death of Jesus," 582;
see also his n. 28). Botha finds that the supernatural character of both the bodies of the saints and
their appearance is the chief implication of the term. The causative meaning of the term "to make
appear, to make visible, to cause to be seen" is indicated by Louw and Nida, and this is the determi-
native sense. To translate the term "they appeared" (Afrikaans: verskyn) accentuates this causative
meaning. The saints are raised with glorified bodies to the nonvisible plane like Jesus, and like Jesus
they were humanly seen only when made visible. Botha, however, would have these appearances
occur in the earthly realm in the historic past ("'n Opstanding," 277, 280-81). There is no question
that semantic analysis of gutavi[co greatly assists the unraveling of Matt 27:51-53. However, such
analysis can also be misleading without key observations that pull the appearance of the risen saints
into the apocalyptic future.
62 In the late Second Temple period it was still believed that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were
alive in heaven and that they would welcome the righteous dead into their community (4 Macc
7:19; 13:17; 16:25).
63 See A. F. J. Klijn, "2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch," OTP, 638.

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ness, and from light to the splendor of glory" (51:10).64 This raises questions
about the whereabouts and identity of "those who live." Whoever and wherever
they are, they are an eschatological community distinct from the risen ones
(what other kind of community would be waiting around after a resurrection?),
and it is not until after this resurrection that they have the joy of welcoming
those who are resurrected into their already existing fellowship (cf. Matt
22:31-32). Usually in Jewish eschatology "those who live" would be understood
as the inhabitants of eschatological Jerusalem, while "the risen ones" would be
the righteous of the Gentile nations (Isa 60:3-22; 62:2; Zech 8:20-23; Tob
13:11; 14:6-7). In 2 Baruch, however, "those who live" and "the risen ones"
seem to be two distinct Jewish groups.65
In 4 Ezra the prophet has a vision of an innumerable multitude of nations
gathered for war against the Messiah (13:5, 34). The multitudinous onslaught is
destroyed, however, by fire from the Messiah's mouth (13:10-11; cf. Rev 20:7-
10). The Messiah then appears with the ten lost tribes of Israel on top of Mount
Zion (13:12-13, 36, 39-40; cf. Rev 14:1). The phrase "my Son or those who are
with him" (13:52) indicates that these Israelites are already with the Messiah
when he makes his appearance, and that they are a separate community from
the earthbound others who will be saved. The Lord speaks to Ezra of this earth-
bound other community saying, "But those who are left of your people, who are
found within my holy borders, shall be saved" (13:48). Ezra will be "taken up
from among humankind" to, as he is told, be with "those who are like you and to
live with my Son until the times are ended" (14:9). The prophet is therefore
taken up to join the ten tribes on Mount Zion. This is obviously some form of
apotheosis, especially since he is taken up from among humans and made to
"escape from these times" (14:15; cf. Rev 7:3).66 The reference to "the times" or
"these times" (14:9, 15) recalls the "times of the Gentiles" or the tribulation
period (Luke 21:24; Rev 11:2). We therefore have the strong impression of two
distinct eschatological communities, one that is already with the Messiah on
Mount Zion, and the other that is still on earth enduring tribulation and waiting
to join those who inhabit Mount Zion. The members of the earthbound com-
munity are not Gentiles, however. It seems that in 4 Ezra, as in 2 Baruch, the
redeemed Gentile nations have been replaced by a Jewish remnant.
Further clarity may come from T Mos. 4:8-9, where the two Judah tribes
(Judah and Benjamin) return to Jerusalem from captivity (cf. Ezra 1:5). Mean-
64 Ibid., 637-38.
65 This may be attributable to anti-Gentile feelings after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70
C.E. Similar anti-Gentile sentiments occur in the Deuteronomistic history and the book of Ezra,
among others (Deut 7:1-6; Josh 23:11-13; 1 Kgs 11:1-8; Ezra 9:10-15; cf. 2 Bar. 13:5; 68:7; 72:4;
82:2).
66 Bruce M. Metzger, "The Fourth Book of Ezra," OTP, 551-54.

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while the ten lost tribes remain scattered in captivity, where they increase and
multiply. After periods of apostasy and persecution for the two Judah tribes,
God finally appears in 10:1-10 to destroy Satan and regather the whole people
of Israel. This is clearly an apocalyptic event in which all Israel undergoes an
apotheosis. They are "exalted" by God and taken to "the heaven of the stars."
The Gentiles, as enemies of Israel, are consigned to Gehenna. Israel shall look
upon them from their exalted place and rejoice.
There is no mention of a heavenly Jerusalem in the Testament of Moses;
nevertheless "the heaven of the stars" is the regathering place for the twelve
tribes.67 If the Testament of Moses, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra are drawing upon a
common tradition, then the latter two have placed an interval between the
apotheosis of the ten lost tribes and the two Judah tribes. They have further-
more made the ten lost tribes a community that precedes the two Judah tribes
into glory. The ten lost tribes are already in place to receive and welcome the
two Judah tribes in the end. As in the Testament of Moses, there seems to be no
recognition nor role for righteous Gentiles.
These passages in 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, and the Testament of Moses are so
thematically close to Matt 27:52-53 that either there is some dependence
between them or they share a common narrative background. Since there are
no clear indications of direct dependence between Matthew, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra,
and the Testament of Moses, a common narrative tradition is the most likely
case. The book of Revelation represents a Christian appropriation of this back-
ground and, as such, provides the missing substance of Matt 27:52-53. The
many residents of the holy city in Matt 27:53 are either the 144,000 Israelites of
the book of Revelation or an analogous community, and the risen saints are
those martyred Christians who were slain in the great tribulation.
XV. An Alternative Reading
Interpretations of Matt 27:52-53 as "historical fiction," "theology in the

guise of history," or even "a Matthean composition" miss the point and misrep-
resent the character of the passage. Matthew 27:52-53 is the same kind of
apocalyptic prophecy that we find in Rev 21:2-27 and context. It is not history,
nor is it presented as history. The ragged fit of 27:52-53 in its context and the
cipher of the holy city are literary signals that evoke a new reading. In reality,
this reading is only new to contemporary readers, as shown by the author of Sib.
Or 8:218- 28, 305-21, 412-28. The sparse, awkward character of the passage
67 R. H. Charles, "The Assumption of Moses," APOT, 421; see n. 7:1; and J. Priest, "Testa-
ment of Moses," OTP, 931-32.

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also indicates that Matthew was adapting a fragment

were his composition, he would have given us a sm
This discussion is part of a larger debate over the
and the Gospel writers themselves. Do the Gospel w
ogy as history? Do they ever invent historical even
questions will require a much larger foundation tha
Nevertheless, this much can be said: Matt 27:52-
eliminated as evidence that Matthew invented historical events. He saw the
raising of the saints and their entry into the holy city not as an event of his past
but as an event of the apocalyptic future.

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Matthew 27:52-53 as Apocalyptic Apostrophe: Temporal-Spatial Collapse in the Gospel of

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MATTHEW 27:52-53 AS APOCALYPTIC

KENNETH L. WATERS, SR.

Matthew 27:52-53 exhibits the temporal-spatial collapse that is character-

I. The Scholarly Consensus

Previous scholarship has virtually always supposed that Matthew relates

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lees) of the passage to the historical- and tradition-critical approaches. He finds

II. "And the things that happened" as a Literary Problem

8 Botha, "'n Opstanding," 281-82.

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Furthermore, "the things that happened" in the centurion's experience

III. "The raising of the saints" as a Christological Problem

10 See Carson, "Matthew," 581.

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IV. The Holy City in Matthean Thought

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V. The Holy City in Literary-Historical Context

A tradition-critical investigation yields several observations about the

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"the city that is to come" (t6OktV . T1v ge/kouDav) (Heb 13:14).

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VI. The Gospel Origins of the Holy City

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VII. The Apocalypse of John as Hermeneutical Key

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VIII. The Holy City and Historicized Future as Literary Devices

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IX. "After his resurrection" as Afterthought

We now return to our original problem made worse-the problem of the

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40 Other examples of afterthought appear in 1 Cor 1:16 and 2 Cor 11:32-33.

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X. "And the things that happened" as Editorial Addition

mer as a Mat hean composit on and the lat er as a "scribal insert."

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XI. Space-Time Collapse in the First Gospel

On the basis of the foregoing clarifications we can now describe Matt

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Temporalfolding, similar to Matt 27:51-54, occurs in Jer 38:13-39:15. The

Temporal folding occurs also in Ezra 4:5-5:1 (Ezra 4:7-24= 1 Esd

Spatialfolding, another aspect of temporal-spatial collapse, is illus

Of course, Matt 27:51-54 and the other examples of tempora

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XII. Temporal Acceleration in the First Gospel

A simpler feature of temporal-spatial collapse is temporal acceleration, so

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XIII. A New Hermeneutic for Matthew 27:52-53

A few hermeneutical perplexities remain in Matt 27:52-53, especially as

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XIV. Near Parallels to Matthew 27:52-53

A striking near parallel to Matt 27:52-53 as presently reinterpreted

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