Made … secure is the same verb used in verses 64 and 65; evidently Matthew employs it these three times in close sequence so as to remove any doubt concerning the reality of the resurrection event.

No one is quite certain what is meant by the act of sealing the stone. It may refer to the normal way of securing a tomb, or else to a special kind of sealing. One scholar has suggested that a rope was drawn over the stone and then a seal attached to it. Others believe that the sealing was done by means of filling the space between the face of the rock and the stone used for a door with soft clay, and then stamping on it the seal of the Jewish authorities. The apocryphal Gospel of Peter says that it was sealed with seven seals, though this judgment is without support elsewhere. Some scholars call attention to the parallel between the sealing of the tomb and of the lions’ den (Dan 6.17), since these two themes sometimes occur together in early Christian art.

Since sealing is not known in all societies, then in this verse one possible translation is “put a mark on the stone to know if it was moved” or “put their mark on the stone so no one would move it.”

Setting a guard points back to the guard given the Jewish leaders by Pilate (verse 65). Good News Translation has “leaving the guard on watch.” A more complete translation is “They left the soldiers there to guard the tomb.”

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 .