Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Matthew 28:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Commissions urgent news to disciples that Jesus goes ahead to Galilee.
Read It With
- Matthew 28:1–28:10
Read Matthew 28:7 with 28:1–28:10. In isolation, this verse's contribution—commissions urgent news to disciples that Jesus goes ahead to Galilee—can be detached from its speaker, audience, narrative or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come at dawn, an earthquake and angel open the guarded tomb, the angel announces Jesus raised and sends them to disciples, and Jesus meets and commissions them.
Read Matthew 28:1–10 together
Why these verses belong together: The women's arrival, angelic announcement, commission, encounter, worship, and repeated commission form one witness sequence.
Verse 1. 1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Verse 2. 2 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.
Verse 3. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
Verse 4. 4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
Verse 5. 5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
Verse 6. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Verse 7. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
Verse 8. 8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
Verse 9. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Verse 10. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
Follow the Context
- Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come at dawn, an earthquake and angel open the guarded tomb, the angel announces Jesus raised and sends them to disciples, and Jesus meets and commissions them.
- Matthew foregrounds women's testimony in a world that often discounted it; Gospel sequence differences and the narrated miracle should be acknowledged rather than flattened or claimed independently proved.
- This account does not erase women as first commissioned witnesses, coerce belief, promise modern apparitions, or treat questions about Gospel differences as disloyal.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—commissions urgent news to disciples that Jesus goes ahead to Galilee—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: This account does not erase women as first commissioned witnesses, coerce belief, promise modern apparitions, or treat questions about Gospel differences as disloyal.
What Remains True
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary come at dawn, an earthquake and angel open the guarded tomb, the angel announces Jesus raised and sends them to disciples, and Jesus meets and commissions them. Matthew 28:7's proportionate contribution is this: Commissions urgent news to disciples that Jesus goes ahead to Galilee.
How It Can Shape Life
- Matthew 28:7 contributes this specific claim: Commissions urgent news to disciples that Jesus goes ahead to Galilee. Receive women as commissioned witnesses, make room for fear and joy, and discuss Gospel differences honestly without coercing belief or promising modern apparitions.
Teach It Back
Explain how Matthew 28:7 commissions urgent news to disciples that Jesus goes ahead to Galilee. Then identify its speaker or narrator, first Jewish and scriptural setting, one affected person, the material uncertainty, and the specific conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Matthew 28:1–28:10 — Women receive the resurrection announcement and meet JesusSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Matthew foregrounds women's testimony in a world that often discounted it; Gospel sequence differences and the narrated miracle should be acknowledged rather than flattened or claimed independently proved.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Matthew 28:1–28:10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 28:1–28:10
Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for the expressions actually discussed in this thought unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data TAGNT rows for Matthew 28:1–28:10
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Matthew with Translators' and Textual Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, historical, Jewish-background, and Synoptic notes for this unit.
Exact location: NET Bible Matthew PDF, printed pp. 1808-1867, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 28:1–28:10
Open source ↗open university bible study course
The Gospel of Matthew Course and Study Guides
Harold W. Attridge and Michal Beth Dinkler
Yale Bible Study, Yale Divinity School, current 2026 online edition
Supports: Critical literary orientation with source, setting, historical, and theological judgments retained as interpretations.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, course unit 'Death and Resurrection,' Matthew 26-28 study guide
Open source ↗open seminary bible study course
Matthew Course
James L. Boyce; revised by Kristofer Phan Coffman
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, 2023 revision
Supports: Whole-book orientation and unit placement, including visible uncertainty about authorship, date, setting, and purpose.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Matthew course, 'Summary,' 'Outline,' 'Background,' 'Introductory Issues,' 'Theological Themes,' and passage index entry for Matthew 28:1–28:10
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
Matthew
Douglas Sean O'Donnell
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, current 2026 online edition
Supports: One complete confessional reading checked against the text, critical scholarship, and Jewish-context controls.
Exact location: O'Donnell, online Matthew commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Matthew 28:1–28:10
Open source ↗scholarly annotated translation
Matthew, in The Jewish Annotated New Testament
Aaron M. Gale; edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler
Aaron M. Gale, Matthew introduction and annotations, print pp. 1-54; related essays and sidebars in The Jewish Annotated New Testament, first edition.
Supports: Jewish setting, Scripture, Torah debate, named groups, practices, and anti-Judaism control at the passage address.
Exact location: Gale, Matthew introduction and verse-addressed annotations, first-edition print pp. 1-54, exact annotation at Matthew 28:1–28:10
Open source ↗open access scholarly monograph
The Synoptic Problem: A Way Through the Maze
Mark Goodacre
T&T Clark; author-authorized open release, 2001; open release 2011
Supports: Literary-dependence analysis with Markan priority, Two-Source/Q, Farrer, and Matthean-priority alternatives kept distinct.
Exact location: Goodacre, The Synoptic Problem, chapters 1-5, with the Synoptic parallels and order bearing on Matthew 28:1–28:10
Open source ↗open access scholarly essay collection
Matthew within Judaism: Israel and the Nations in the First Gospel
Anders Runesson and Daniel M. Gurtner, editors
SBL Press, 2020
Supports: Specialist control for Matthew's Jewish setting, Torah, Israel and nations, polemic, parables, Passion, resurrection, or mission as material to Matthew 28:1–28:10.
Exact location: Novakovic on resurrection, printed pp. 347-368; Levine, pp. 449-466
Open source ↗