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Matthew 27 General Notes
Special concepts in this chapter
"Delivered him to Pilate the governor"
The Jews were under the rule of the Roman Empire, and the Romans did not allow them to execute any criminal without first obtaining permission. So the Jewish leaders had to ask Pontius Pilate to confirm their sentence on Jesus. Pilate tried to avoid confirming their decision. He tried to make the Jewish leaders choose between freeing Jesus or a very bad prisoner named Barabbas.
Tomb
The tomb in which Jesus was buried (see: Matthew 27:59-60) was the kind of tomb in which wealthy Jewish people were buried. It consisted of an actual room hollowed out of rock, in which bodies were wrapped and placed on rocky ledges provided along the walls. Later on, when the bodies had decomposed to bare bones, those bones were collected and put into special jars called ossuaries. These tombs were closed by a single large rock large enough to seal off the entrance. This rock was either rolled into place or slid into place at the tomb entrance.
Important figures of speech in this chapter
"Hail, King of the Jews!"
This phrase, found in Matthew 27:29, is an example of irony. In this figure of speech, something is said in order to signal something else, often its opposite sense. The expression "Hail" was a greeting for people used on very formal occasions, often in front of kings and queens. However, the soldiers mocking Jesus did not wish to honor him. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-irony)