Pilate was giving some of his own soldiers, "take a guard", the New International Version's reading (see above), would have been the likely reply. The less direct "you have a guard" leaves open that they could be temple guards. At Matthew 28:11 the guards report to the priests and not to Pilate, and at Matthew 28:14 Pilate finding out about the events was just a possibility. An unlikely turn of events if they had been his own forces. However, had the guard been the Temple guard, there would have been no need for the High Priest to bribe them. They would have been within his jurisdictional command. Nor would he have felt a need to protect them from Pilate. The guards seal the stone at the entrance to the tomb. This parallels the sealing of the lions' den at in the Old Testament, and may be a reference. The wording implies some sort of physical seal, such as wax or clay, to make any attempt to open the tomb obvious. Matthew gives no details on how or what it was sealed with. The non-canonical Gospel of Peter adds far more information stating that the tomb was closed with seven wax seals. References Sources 27:65