What Does Matthew 27:57 Mean?
When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who had also been a disciple of Jesus.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathæa, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:THE KEY
The Greek turns “disciple” from a label into a formation: Joseph is someone who has been discipled to Jesus.
THE MEANING
As day closes, Joseph comes into view as a rich man whose relation to Jesus is described with a verb of learning. His name carries the sense “may he add,” while his discipleship names a life formed under Jesus. The verse holds these parts of him together as he arrives.
THE ROOT
ἐμαθητεύθη
emathēteuthē
GROWS FROM
μανθάνω
manthanō
to learn
“was Jesus’ disciple” in this verse is emathēteuthē. “Disciple” gives Joseph a clear identity; the Greek verb adds the sense of formation: he has been discipled to Jesus. Its word-family grows from learning, so his relation to Jesus is heard as a learner’s relation, not just a title.
ALSO GROWS
mathētēs: learner, disciple
μαθητής
This is the noun for a learner or disciple, naming the relation that the verb describes.
mathēma: lesson, what is learned
μάθημα
This branch makes the learning inside discipleship tangible: a lesson is something received and carried.
יוֹסֵף
Yosef
GROWS FROM
יסף
yasaph
to add, increase
Joseph’s Hebrew name carries the sense “may he add.” Rachel makes that meaning explicit when she names Joseph in Genesis; here the same name is carried by a man who comes into view as Jesus’ learner.
ALSO GROWS
yasaph: to add, increase
יָסַף
This is the verb at the root of Joseph’s name, carrying its sense of addition.
tosefet: addition, something added
תּוֹסֶפֶת
This noun from the same root shows how the seed meaning extends into the idea of an addition.
THE PATTERN
Scripture lets a name carry a meaning that reveals more than the bearer’s identity.
And she called his name Joseph, may he add, and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.And the nations shall see your alignment, and all kings your weight; and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.And she will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus, the LORD's deliverance, for he will deliver his people from their missing.THE THREAD
And after this, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but hidden for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might lift away the body of Jesus, and Pilate allowed it. So he came, and took the body of Jesus.John uses the same learner-word family for Joseph that underlies Matthew’s verb for being discipled. Then he shows Joseph asking for Jesus’ body, giving that learning relation a visible form in what Joseph does.
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