While they were puzzling over this, suddenly two men in radiant apparel stood beside them.
Parallel translations
- WEB While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.
- KJV And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
- NKJV And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
- NASB While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in gleaming clothing;
- NLT As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
As they stood perplexed, two men in dazzling clothing appeared. Heavenly messengers came to interpret the empty tomb.
Overview
While the women puzzle over the missing body, two angelic figures in radiant garments stand by them. Their dazzling appearance marks them as messengers from God sent to explain the resurrection. Heaven itself bears witness to what has happened, lest the empty tomb be misunderstood or doubted.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Mark 16:5When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
- John 20:11–12But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb,
- Acts 1:10They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
- Matt 28:2–6Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it.
- Gen 18:2And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 24:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.