EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Matthew 27:54
54The captain and his soldiers had been watching Jesus. They saw the ground shaking. They saw everything that had happened. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It must be true! This man really was the Son of God.’
Matthew 27:54 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
- New International Version (NIV)When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
- English Standard Version (ESV)When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
- New King James Version (NKJV)So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Context of Matthew 27:54
52Places in the ground where people had buried dead bodies opened up. Many of God's people who had died now became alive again. 53After Jesus became alive again, those people came up out of those places. They went into God's city, Jerusalem. Many people saw them there. The captain and his soldiers had been watching Jesus. They saw the ground shaking. They saw everything that had happened. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It must be true! This man really was the Son of God.’ 55There were also many women there. They were standing a long way away and they were watching these events. They had come with Jesus from Galilee to help him. 56Mary from Magdala was there. Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Mary the mother of Zebedee's sons, were also there.
Read all of Matthew 27Matthew 27:54 word by word
Ὁ δὲ ἑκατόνταρχος καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ τηροῦντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδόντες τὸν σεισμὸν καὶ τὰ γενόμενα ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα λέγοντες· ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Now whenδέde · thenG1161
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the centurionἑκατόνταρχοςhekatontarchēs hekatontarchos · centurionG1543
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- withμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
- himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- watchingτηρέωtēreō · to keep: guardG5083
- JesusἸησοῦςIēsous · JesusG2424
- sawὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
- the earthquakeσεισμόςseismos · earthquakeG4578
- those things that were doneγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
- they fearedφοβέωphobeō · to fearG5399
- greatlyσφόδραsphodra · veryG4970
- sayingλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- Trulyἀληθῶςalēthōs · trulyG230
- thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
- wasεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- the Sonυἱόςuihos · sonG5207
- of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
Cross-references for Matthew 27:54
- Matthew 27:36Then the soldiers sat down and they watched Jesus carefully.
- Matthew 8:5Jesus went into Capernaum. An officer in the Roman army came to meet him. He asked Jesus to help him.
- Acts 10:1There was a man who lived in Caesarea and his name was Cornelius. He was an officer in the Roman army. His group of soldiers was called ‘The Group from Italy’.
- Acts 21:32So the soldiers' leader quickly took some other officers and a large group of soldiers and they ran down to the crowd. The angry crowd of people saw the leader with his soldiers. So then they stopped hitting Paul.
- Acts 23:17So Paul asked one of the soldiers' officers to come to him. He said, ‘Please take this young man to your leader. He has something important to tell him.’
- Acts 27:1Some time after that, Festus decided that we should sail to Italy. So he commanded a soldier called Julius to guard Paul and some other prisoners. Julius was an officer in the Roman army. He had authority over 100 soldiers in a group called ‘The Emperor Augustus Group’.
- Mark 15:39The captain of the soldiers was standing there in front of Jesus. He saw how Jesus died. ‘It must be true!’ he said. ‘This man really was the Son of God.’
- Luke 23:47There was a captain of the soldiers there. When he saw what had happened, he praised God. He said. ‘I am sure that this man had not done anything wrong.’
- 2 Kings 1:13So the king sent a third captain, with 50 more soldiers. This captain went up to Elijah. He bent down on his knees in front of Elijah to ask him to be kind to them. He said, ‘Man of God, we are your servants. Please do not kill me and my 50 soldiers.
- Acts 2:37The people heard what Peter said to them. They were very upset. So they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Friends, tell us what we should do.’
- Acts 16:29The guard said, ‘Bring me some lights.’ Then he ran to the prison room where Paul and Silas were. He was very frightened. He went down on his knees in front of them.
- Revelation 11:13At the same time the ground shook with a strong earthquake. One in every ten buildings in the city fell down. 7,000 people died because of the earthquake. The people who were still alive became very afraid. They praised the God of heaven and said that he is very powerful.
- Matthew 27:40and they said, ‘You said that you could destroy the temple and then build it again in three days. If you really are the Son of God, save yourself. Come down from the cross.’
- Matthew 26:63But Jesus did not say anything. So Caiaphas said to him, ‘I use the authority of the God who lives. You must promise to tell us what is true. Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God?’
- Luke 22:70‘So, are you the Son of God?’ they all said. Jesus replied, ‘You say that I am.’
- John 19:7The Jews answered, ‘We have a law which says that he must die. He must die because he said, “I am the Son of God.” ’
Commentaries on Matthew 27:54
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 54The centurion - The Roman officer who superintended the execution, called centurio, from centum, a hundred, because he had the command of one hundred men. Truly this was the Son of God - An innocent, holy, and Divine person; and God thus shows his disapprobation of this bloody tragedy. It is not likely that this centurion had any knowledge of the expectation of the Jews relative to the Messiah, and did not use the words in this sense. A son of God, as the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 54Now when the centurion - Centurion, a captain of a hundred soldiers. He was here placed over the band that attended the crucifixion. They feared greatly - They regarded these things as proof that God was angry, and they were terrified at the prospect that vengeance was coming on them. Truly this was the Son of God - They had heard, probably, that Jesus professed to be the Son of God. Seeing these wonders, they believed that God was now attesting the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 51-56Verses 51-56 The rending of the veil signified that Christ, by his death, opened a way to God. We have an open way through Christ to the throne of grace, or mercy-seat now, and to the throne of glory hereafter. When we duly consider Christ's death, our hard and rocky hearts should be rent; the heart, and not the garments. That heart is harder than a rock that will not yield, that will not melt, where Jesus Christ is plainly set forth crucified. The graves…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 54The Roman officer and the other soldiers were not Jewish. the Son of God: This could be a clear statement that Jesus is the unique Son of God (see Matthew 14:33; 16:16) or perhaps a general statement about the innocence of Jesus (see Luke 23:47). They reacted to the earthquake and everything that happened as signs of divine involvement in this event.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5454. Now when the centurion--the military superintendent of the execution. and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake--or felt it and witnessed its effects. and those things that were done--reflecting upon the entire transaction. they feared greatly--convinced of the presence of a Divine Hand. saying, Truly this was the Son of God--There cannot be a reasonable doubt that this expression was used in the Jewish sense, and that it points…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 27:54
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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