Matthew 28:2 (WEB)
Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky and came and rolled away the stone from the door and sat on it.
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Matthew 28:2 (KJV)
And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Key words
- ἀπεκύλισεν τὸν λίθονapekylisen ton lithon · Greek
- 'rolled back the stone' — the stone, sealed by Pilate's guard (27:66), is still in place when the angel comes.
Why it matters
The angel rolls back the stone only after the women arrive, so the tomb was still sealed when Jesus rose; the stone is moved to let witnesses in, not to let him out. Pitre draws on Ephrem the Syrian, who saw the sealed tomb as a witness to the sealed womb: as Jesus rose from a closed tomb, he was born from a virginal womb. The virgin birth and the resurrection are two signs of the same power.