κουστωδία

From the study of Matthew 27:66

Range of meaning

From Latin custodia: guarding, custody, and by extension a detachment or squad of guards. The Greek word is a direct borrowing of the Latin military/administrative term.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and ESV say "guard", KJV "watch", NLT "guards". All are acceptable. KJV's "watch" is the older English for a body of sentries (as in "the night watch"). None of the English words carries the Latin, Roman flavour of the Greek word, and none settles whether the guards were Roman or Jewish temple police.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament only in Matt 27:65, 66; 28:11. BDAG cites it in a first-century Oxyrhynchus papyrus for custody. Latin custodia is standard Roman usage for guard duty and for a guard post or detail. Matthew uses no number. Acts 12:4 shows Roman-style guard units of four ("quaternions"), but that text is about a different situation.

From the study of Matthew 28:11

Range of meaning

A word taken from Latin custodia, 'guarding, custody, a guard'. In Greek it names a guard detachment, a body of men posted on watch. In the New Testament it appears only in Matthew (27:65, 27:66, 28:11).

Against the English

Modern versions say 'guard' or 'guards'. KJV says 'the watch', using an older English sense of 'watch' as a body of sentinels. Today that wording can sound like a span of time (a 'night watch') or even a timepiece.

How it drifted

The KJV's 'watch' was an ordinary word for a guard unit in 1611. That sense has mostly faded except in military or historical settings.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek papyri and inscriptions of the Roman period use the word as a borrowing from Latin military and administrative language. The Latin term is common in Roman legal and military writing. Its Latin origin is one reason some scholars take Matthew's guard to be Roman soldiers.