Inquiry:
Were the men or angels inside the tomb sitting (Mark 16:5; John 20:11-12) or standing (Luke 24:3-4)? Is there a contradiction?
Response:
First, let us note that the individuals who were in the tomb are spoken of as both men and angels. They are angels (John 20:12). Why then do both Mark and Luke say they are men? Genesis 18-19 also speaks of an appearance of a pair of angels, and like those in the tomb, they are described as looking like men (Genesis 18:2, 16, 22; 19:1, 5, 8, 15-16).
Regarding the position of the angels, Mark and John clearly tell us that when the women looked into the tomb, they saw the angels sitting where the body of Jesus had been. The question is, does Luke say something different than this?
I understand that when we read Luke 24:4, the word STAND is there. Case closed, right? No, I don’t believe so. Let us examine the Greek word.
It is the word ἐφίστημι, defined by Strong’s as
to stand up, be present, come (in, to, unto, upon), be at hand (instant)…
The word is used to refer to presence, not posture. The same word is used in Luke 21:34 to speak of the coming of a day; in Acts 23:11 of God’s presence with Paul; in Acts 28:2 of an ongoing rain storm; in 2 Timothy 4:2 of the need to be ready to preach; and in 2 Timothy 4:6 of Paul’s expectation that he was to be put to death soon.
Had Luke desired to tell us of their posture, and wanted to say they were standing, he could have used ἵστημι, as he did in other texts (Luke 18:13; Acts 2:14; 4:14; 5:25; 7:55; etc.)
There is no contradiction.
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