when Jesus comes to the disciples. The word Jesus uses to greet the women translates as either "good morning" or "rejoice". It was the standard Greek greeting used at this time, and is thus comparable to the modern hello. France notes the contrast between this humble greeting of Jesus' with the elevated language of the angel at Matthew 28:5-6. Jesus has previously used this same greeting in Matthew for Judas at 26:49 and for the Roman soldiers, and Nolland writes that its return here redeems the expression after its previous occurrences. In John's version of this scene at John 20:19-26, Jesus uses the word "peace" as a greeting. This is a translation of the standard Hebrew/Aramaic greeting. The women have no problem recognizing Jesus after the resurrection as at Luke 24:16 and John 20:14. There is also no sign of any doubt on the women's part as found at Matthew 28:17, and in the other gospels. The women fall at Jesus' feet. This is a sign of worship and supplication both in contemporary non-Christian literature, and also elsewhere in the New Testament: Jesus' feet are anointed at Luke 7:38, John 11:2, and John 12:3. To Nolland this behaviour serves to show that the women have a new understanding of Jesus' divinity after the encounter with the angel and his appearance. Touching his feet also serves as tangible evidence of Jesus' physicality, and a rejection of docetism. Docetism is not believed to have been a current debate at the time Matthew was written, and France believes that this verse is not written in a manner to counter that belief. Its evidence for Jesus' physicality is incidental rather than deliberate. Davies and Allison note that in folklore of the period ghosts were described as not having feet, so this reference to Jesus' feet might be to counter the belief that Jesus is a ghost rather than fully resurrected. If John and Matthew are both working from a shared, but now lost source, this incident could explain Jesus' enigmatic instructions not to touch him at John 20:17. Notes References Matthew 28