no sympathetic witnesses present. As with Judas and at Matthew 27:62 it is the chief priests that serve as the main antagonists. Why the guards report to the Jewish leaders rather than to Pontius Pilate is a question in this verse. Reporting to Pilate would be more historically accurate. The apocryphal Gospel of Peter has a version of this scene, but there the guards to report to Pilate. While the chief priests would have had the services of their own Temple guards, the word used to refer to the soldiers in these verses is koustodia, a Latin loan word that clearly indicates their Roman origin. The priests also have to ask Pilate for the services of the guards, indicating there are some of his forces. At Matthew 27:65 Pilate tells the priests that "you have guard." This could indicate that this group of guards was temporarily placed at the command and disposal of the priests and that explains why they report to them. Schweizer notes the additional problem that the guards became unconscious at Matthew 28:4, and he wonders how they could thus report anything. Notes References Matthew 28