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This verse, in the Greek, reads as follows: "But after the sabbaths [plural] as it was dawn-
ing into the first of the sabbaths [plural]."

The word here for "after" (opse -- Strong's #3694 and 3796) generally means "late," but
can can connote "after" as the context demands. However, as we will see, "after" is the proper un-
derstanding within this particular context. If we use "after" for "opse," then "after the sabbaths"
clearly refers to after Passover and the weekly Sabbath, both of which fell on the same day (Nisan
15).

Now let's look at the phrase "as it was dawning (epiphoskouse)." This particular phrase
obviously refers to the early morning of the first day of the week and NOT the beginning of the
Sabbath at evening as suggested by some of the proponents of the Wednesday/Saturday scenario.
Therefore, it is also made clear that "opse" refers to "after" here as the context plainly demands.
Continuing, let's examine the word "epiphoskouse." According to Strong's #2020, this word
means "to begin to grow light -- begin to dawn." Liddell-Scott renders this word "to draw towards
dawn" (p. 306).

The phrase "into the first of the sabbaths (sabbaton)" is a reference to the first day to count
to Pentecost from -- which is made up of seven sabbaths or weeks. This count always begins on
Nisan 16. The word "sabbaton" is an example of a Greek translation from the Hebrew which does
not hold a consistent meaning at all times. Although "sabbaton" can mean a weekly or a high (an-
nual) Sabbath, the basic meaning of the Greek word "sabbaton" -- as it appears in the Greek New
Testament -- means "a period of seven days, a week" according to Liddell-Scott, page 722.

Therefore, the statement made here in Matthew 28:1 places the coming of the women to the
tomb "after the sabbaths" (after the first day of Passover AND the weekly Sabbath -- Nisan 15)
and "as it was dawning (drawing towards dawn)" into the first of the Sabbaths (or week(s)). Since
it was dawn it could not be "late on the sabbath." As a result, the correct understanding of Matthew
28:1 is that it refers to the morning of the first day of the week. In opposition to the argument that it
can still refer to Sabbath morning, this is the ONLY correct way to read the passage. This precise
understanding is supported by the Hebrew of Shem Tob.

The Shem Tob is a Hebrew manuscript of Matthew which was found preserved in the Jew-
ish polemical treatise called Even Bohan. This treatise was the work of one Shem Tob ben Isaac
ben Shaprut, a Spanish writer who composed his work in 1380. This work was first published by
George Howard of the University of Georgia in 1987 under the title, The Gospel of Matthew Ac-
cording to a Primitive Hebrew Text, Mercer University Press. Eight years later a second and
fully revised edition was published and re-titled, Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, Mercer University
Press, 1995. Both editions contain the Hebrew text and a detailed analysis. In both editions of
Howard's work, he notes that the text predates the 14th century, and that Shem Tob received his
text from earlier Jewish scribes.

The manuscripts in Matthew 28:1 of Shem Tob perfectly and unmistakeably render: "And
on the first day (be-yowm ha-roshown, Strong's #3117 and 7223) from the week (ma-ha-shabua,
Strong's #7620) in the early morning (be-ha-shakamah, Strong's #7926-7929) came Miriam

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