His own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock: sometimes the Jews used natural caves for tombs, and at other times they dug their tombs out of solid rock, as Joseph had done for his own tomb. Matthew is the only one who mentions that the tomb was new, and he probably has in mind that it was “unused” (New English Bible; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “and yet was unused”). If this is the meaning, then it agrees with what Luke says about the tomb (23.53). This is not an attempt to harmonize the Gospels. However, since it is known that several people could be buried in a single tomb, the meaning of “unused” or “where no one else had previously been buried” seems to be what Matthew means by new. Some translators say “the tomb he had just had dug out of the rock for himself and that had not been used” or “the tomb for himself that had never been used and which had been dug out of solid rock.” Since Joseph was a rich man, it is almost certain that which he had hewn must be taken in a causative sense, which is the basis for shifting to a type of passive structure: “just recently dug out of solid rock.”

Matthew tells that a great stone was rolled across the entrance to the tomb; Mark merely states that it was “a stone” (15.46); Luke does not indicate that a stone was rolled over the entrance way, though in the account of the resurrection he indicates that the women “found the stone rolled away” (24.2).

After rolling the large stone across the entrance of the tomb, Joseph “went away.” He disappears as quickly as he appeared; all that is known of him is contained in this brief account of Jesus’ burial.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .