Passage

Matthew 28.8-9

Book: Matthew · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Verse

ASV:

"8. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshipped him." (Matthew 28:8-9, ASV)

WEB:

"8. They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9. As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him." (Matthew 28:8-9, WEB)

KJV:

"8. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him." (Matthew 28:8-9, KJV)

YLT:

"8. And having gone forth quickly from the tomb, with fear and great joy, they ran to tell to his disciples; 9. and as they were going to tell to his disciples, then lo, Jesus met them, saying, 'Hail!' and they having come near, laid hold of his feet, and did bow to him." (Matthew 28:8-9, YLT)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV:

"6. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7. And go quickly, and tell his disciples, He is risen from the dead; and lo, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8. And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. 10. Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me. 11. Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass." (Matthew 28:6-11, ASV)

WEB:

"6. He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. 7. Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.” 8. They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. 9. As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.” 11. Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all the things that had happened." (Matthew 28:6-11, WEB)

KJV:

"6. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 8. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. 11. Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done." (Matthew 28:6-11, KJV)

YLT:

"6. he is not here, for he rose, as he said; come, see the place where the Lord was lying; 7. and having gone quickly, say ye to his disciples, that he rose from the dead; and lo, he doth go before you to Galilee, there ye shall see him; lo, I have told you.' 8. And having gone forth quickly from the tomb, with fear and great joy, they ran to tell to his disciples; 9. and as they were going to tell to his disciples, then lo, Jesus met them, saying, 'Hail!' and they having come near, laid hold of his feet, and did bow to him. 10. Then saith Jesus to them, 'Fear ye not, go away, tell to my brethren that they may go away to Galilee, and there they shall see me.' 11. And while they are going on, lo, certain of the watch having come to the city, told to the chief priests all the things that happened," (Matthew 28:6-11, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Matthew the narrator, recounting the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to the women
Audience: the women (per v. 1, Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary"); the disciples receiving the message via the women
Location: outside Jesus's tomb (the garden tomb of Joseph of Arimathea), Jerusalem
Time period: Easter morning, c. Nisan 16, AD 30 or 33; composed c. AD 60-80
Narrative context: the post-resurrection appearance to the women, Matthew's resurrection-narrative parallel to John 20:11-18 (Mary Magdalene at the tomb). The women have just heard the angel's announcement (v. 6, "He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said") and the commission to tell the disciples (v. 7). As they run to obey, the risen Jesus Himself meets them. They respond by taking hold of his feet and worshipping him. Verse 9 is the first explicit worship of the risen Christ in Matthew's resurrection narrative. The women's response, prosekynēsan autō ("they worshipped Him"), is the foundational pre-Pentecost Christological act of worship.

Theological reading

Matthew 28:8-9 is the first explicit worship of the risen Christ in Matthew's resurrection narrative. The Greek prosekynēsan (προσεκύνησαν), from proskuneō, "to bow down before, to worship", is the same vocabulary used for worship of God throughout the LXX and NT. Jesus receives the worship without correction or deflection.

The Christological force

In second-temple Judaism, proskuneō directed at a human being would constitute idolatry. The NT itself records two cases of righteous figures refusing such worship:

Acts 10:25-26, Cornelius falls down before Peter; Peter raises him up and says "Stand up; I myself also am a man."
Revelation 19:10 / 22:8-9, John falls down to worship the angel who showed him the vision; the angel refuses: "See thou do it not... worship God."

The pattern is unmistakable: when humans or angels are offered worship, they refuse it because worship belongs to God alone. Jesus, however, consistently accepts worship without correction, and Matthew 28:9 is one of the clearest examples. The Christological inference: Jesus accepts what only God may receive; therefore Jesus is God.

The women-as-first-witnesses anchor

A significant historical-evidential note: Matthew 28:8-9 (and the parallel resurrection-narratives in all four Gospels) makes women the first witnesses of the resurrection. In first-century Jewish and Roman legal contexts, women's testimony was discounted; their word would not stand in court without male corroboration (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.15). If the resurrection narrative were a deliberate fabrication, the fabricators would have chosen male witnesses (Peter, John, the centurion at the cross). The choice of women as primary witnesses is a criterion of embarrassment marker, strong evidence that the early church reported what actually happened, not what would have been most rhetorically effective. See Resurrection of Jesus and Minimal Facts Argument for the broader historical-evidential case.

Worship of the risen Christ, Matthew's pattern

The verse is the climactic instance of Matthew's broader pattern of proskynesis toward Jesus throughout the Gospel:

2:11, the magi proskynesis the infant Jesus
8:2, the leper worships Him asking for cleansing
9:18, the synagogue ruler worships Him before requesting his daughter's healing
14:33, the disciples worship Him after the walking-on-water (saying "Of a truth thou art the Son of God")
15:25, the Canaanite woman worships Him
20:20, the mother of James and John worships Him
28:9, the women worship the risen Christ (first post-resurrection)
28:17, the eleven worship Him at the Great Commission appearance

Matthew presents the worship-of-Jesus as a normative response of disciples + the worthy-of-recognition response of those who encounter Him. The pattern is incompatible with Arian / unitarian readings: Jesus is consistently worshiped from infancy to ascension, and consistently accepts the worship.

Patristic and Reformed reading

Cyril of Alexandria (Commentary on Matthew, fragmentary, 5th c.): the women's worship is the pre-Pentecost confession of Christ's divine identity. The risen Jesus is recognized as Lord and God by those who first see Him.

John Calvin (Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists on Matt 28:8-9): the worship-response of the women is the normative pattern for the church, to fall down before the risen Christ in adoration. The Reformed-confessional tradition reads this verse as part of the proof-text cluster for the worship-due-to-Christ.

Apologetic deployment

The verse defeats:

The Arian / JW "Jesus is not God but a created being to be honored" reading. Counter: Jesus accepts worship that the NT consistently shows angels and apostles refusing. The Christological inference is clear.
The Muslim "Jesus never claimed divinity and his worshipers were mistaken" reading. Counter: if Jesus were a mere prophet, He would have followed the OT prophet-pattern (Elijah refusing worship from the Shunammite; Paul / Barnabas refusing worship at Lystra, Acts 14:11-15). Jesus consistently does not.
The "the resurrection narratives were fabricated" reading. Counter: the choice of women as first-witnesses against first-century legal norms is a strong criterion-of-embarrassment marker for historical authenticity.

The all-hail / chairete greeting

Jesus's greeting, chairete (χαίρετε), translated "All hail" (KJV) or "Rejoice" (WEB), is a normal first-century Greek greeting carrying the sense of "be of good cheer / rejoice." In this post-resurrection context, the greeting carries soteriological weight: the women's prior fear-and-grief is transformed into joy at the risen Lord's presence. The eschatological joy of resurrection has dawned.

Oneness Pentecostal reading

In the Oneness framework, the worship of the risen Christ in Matt 28:9 is worship of the one God in His incarnational manifestation. The Son-manifestation receives the worship that the Father-source is due because the Son IS the Father in flesh. See Trinity vs Oneness vs Modalism vs Arianism.

Canonical-theological connections

Matthew 28:17, the eleven worship the risen Christ at the Galilee appearance
John 20:11-18, Johannine parallel (Mary Magdalene)
Mark 16:1-8, Markan resurrection narrative
Luke 24:1-12, Lukan parallel
John 20:28, Thomas's "My Lord and my God" (rich hub: John 20.27-28)
Revelation 5:11-14, the heavenly worship of the Lamb
Hebrews 1:6, "let all the angels of God worship him"
Philippians 2:9-11, every knee bows; every tongue confesses

Key words

G2424 - Iesous, Iesous (Strong's G2424). Also appears in: Matthew 1.1, Matthew 1.16, Matthew 1.18.