Tomb and Tomb

Matthew is up to something with his use of two different words for “tomb” in the narratives of Jesus’ burial and resurrection.  The two words are mnemeion and taphos , and the 9 uses in the closing chapters of Matthew are deliberately patterned:

mnemeion , 4x: 27:52, 53, 60 [2x]

taphos , 4x: 27:61, 64, 66; 28:1

mnemeion , 1x: 28:8

That is: First four uses of mnemeion , then four of taphos , then a final use of mnemeion .  The change in terminology occurs as soon as Jesus’ body is placed in the tomb and the tomb closed.  Tombs open in 27:52-53, and Joseph’s tomb is a mnemeion until he rolls the stone in front of it.  In the next verse (27:61), Matthew suddenly changes the terminology, and continues to use taphos until the women come to the tomb, expecting Jesus’ body is still there.  What they run away from is an empty mnemeion , not an empty taphos .  Why?

The answer might have something to do with the different meanings of the terms, a distinction apparently evident in 23:29, where both words are used.  Pharisees build the tombs ( taphoi ) of the prophets and adorn the monuments ( mnemeia ) of the righteous.  The first term refers to the physical structure, while the second term, a member of the word group for “memory,” highlights the memorializing function of the tomb.

From time immemorial, people have memorialized the dead by building tombs, performing rites at tombs, decorating tombs with signs of honor.  Those memorial terms contained the remains of the dead person.  At the close of his gospel, however, Matthew refuses the word mnemeion for the tomb of Jesus as long as Jesus is still in the tomb.  If he is just another dead prophet, there is nothing here to commemorate.  In fact, he would be a false prophet, since he promised to rise from the dead.

But an empty tomb.  Now, that’s something to memorialize.  That’s something to remember and report.