'after the Sabbath' (matt. 28:1)— Once More into the Crux*

M A T T H E W 28:1 reads: 'Otfie he oafifiartov rfj eTncputoKOvor) els oafifiaTcuv. This verse has caused problems for interpreters. Logically, it ought to mean 'at the end of the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was beginning', i.e., as a reference to nightfall. The problem is, of course, that the verb errKpcuaKovarj means 'dawning', and seemingly refers to the morning. As P. Gardner-Smith phrased the problem in an article published in this journal, 'The problem is plain; oifie oaflfZaTcov should mean towards sunset on Saturday evening, and rfj eTncpaxjKovaj] els fj-'iav oaf$fia.Twv should mean towards sunrise on Sunday morning'. The verse has been a crux and much discussed in the literature, mostly, it would seem, in the Journal of Theological Studies. I wish in this communication to bring sufficient evidence to support one of the extant philological solutions so as to tip the scales in that direction. In 1913, in the pages of this journal, C. H. Turner insisted correctly, contra Kirsopp Lake, that the verse and its cognates, to which I will refer below, must mean 'nightfall' or 'evening', but he had no philological solution to the lexicographical problem. F. C. Burkitt, in the same year and also in the Journal of Theological Studies, unfortunately further confused the issue, although his article can be said to have pointed the way toward a solution as well. Burkitt's argument, essentially, was that the term kmqxiiOKeiv is a caique on the Syriac and Aramaic TWJ, which though having a root meaning of 'bright', nevertheless refers to the evening. He claims that the term refers to the evening star, which is indeed referred to as mil , 'the bright one'. Burkitt is correct, I think, in suggesting a Semitic substratum for this phrase, but there will be a serious problem to bridge the gap from the east Aramaic Syriac usage to the usage of Palestinian Greek writers such as Matthew.