ACC ~ Mark 16 v5a
WHETHER TWO ANGELS OR ONE
AUGUSTINE: Mark tells us that the women entered the sepulcher, and there saw a young man sitting on the right side, covered with a long white garment, and that they were frightened. [1] In Matthewâs version, the stone was already rolled away from the sepulcher and the angel was sitting upon it. [2] The explanation may be that Matthew has simply said nothing about the angel whom they saw when they entered into the sepulcher, and that Mark has said nothing about the one whom they saw sitting outside upon the stone. In this way they would have seen two angels, and have assumed two separate angelic reports. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.24.63. [3]
[1] Cf. Mk 16:5.
[2] The issue: Did the witnesses see two angels or one at different times? Cf. Mt 28:2.
[3] Cetedoc 0273, 3.24.63.352.15; NPNF 1 6:209**. The reports of the two Evangelists are not contradictory.
THE PILGRIMSâ DESCRIPTION OF THE TOMB
BEDE: What we have learned about this, according to a description related by those of our contemporaries who have been in Jerusalem who, upon their return, left a written record for us of what they saw there: It was a vaulted chamber, hollowed out of rock. Its height was such that a person standing in the middle could touch the summit with his hand. Its entrance faced east, and the great stone about which the gospel tells us was placed over it. To the right as one enters was the place that was specially prepared as a resting place for the Lordâs body, seven feet in length, about two feet above the rest of the floor. The opening was not made like that of ordinary sepulchers, from above, but entirely from the side, from which the body could be placed inside. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.10. [1]
[1] Cetedoc 1367, 2.10.182; HOG 2:95*.
Mk