I mentioned that the aorist participle καταβὰς is distributive; and effects the other aorists in the verse.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Hence the verse may be read:
And behold, there had been an earthquake: for (because) the angel of the Lord had descendedfrom heaven, and had come and rolled back the stone from the door, and had sat upon it.
^^^ That in no way alters the fact that there are a ton of other points that do not agree- the number of angels present, the location of th angel when speakin , not to mention the sequence of events occuring after they left the tomb to speak to the others...
It is a basic premise of sound Bible interpretation that Scripture does NOT contradict Scripture; and when there is an apparent contradiction, we must seek another reading which is both consistent with common usage and idiom; and which resolves the apparent conflict. There will ALWAYS be one.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Hence the verse may be read:
And behold, there had been an earthquake: for (because) the angel of the Lord had descendedfrom heaven, and had come and rolled back the stone from the door, and had sat upon it.
^^^ That in no way alters the fact that there are a ton of other points that do not agree- the number of angels present, the location of th angel when speakin , not to mention the sequence of events occuring after they left the tomb to speak to the others...
It is a basic premise of sound Bible interpretation that Scripture does NOT contradict Scripture; and when there is an apparent contradiction, we must seek another reading which is both consistent with common usage and idiom; and which resolves the apparent conflict. There will ALWAYS be one.