Mark’s account concludes with the events of the previous verse, but Matthew adds an account of the appearance of Jesus to the women: And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Hail!” Good News Translation translates And behold as “Suddenly” (see verse 2), and it represents Hail as “Peace be with you” (see comment at 26.49; 27.29).

Came up translates a verb which Matthew uses fifty-one times; only in 17.7 and 28.18 is it used with Jesus as subject; elsewhere Jesus is the one approached by the subject of the verb. “They approached him” or “They went up to him” may be more natural in many languages.

Took hold of his feet is not intended to prove the reality of Jesus’ resurrection body. Rather it is an act of worship to be taken in conjunction with the verb phrase worshiped him. The verb worshiped was first used of Jesus in 2.2. Here the translators may have “took hold of his feet in worship” or “worshiped him by taking hold of his feet.”

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 .