Luke 24:1

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

XXIV.

(1-8) Now upon the first day of the week.—See Notes on Matthew 28:1-4; Mark 16:1-4.

Very early in the morning.—The original has a more poetic form “in the deep dawn,” agreeing with “while it was yet dark.” The last clause, “certain others with them,” is not found in the best MSS., and may have been inserted by transcribers to bring in the second group, who are named in the other Gospels, but not in this.

MacLaren's Expositions

Luke

THE FIRST EASTER SUNRISE

Luke 24:1 - Luke 24:12.

No Evangelist narrates the act of Resurrection. Apocryphal Gospels cannot resist the temptation of describing it. Why did the Four preserve such singular reticence about what would have been irresistible to ‘myth’ makers? Because they were not myth-makers, but witnesses, and had nothing to say as to an act that no man had seen. No doubt, the Resurrection took place in the earliest hours of the first day of the week. The Sun of Righteousness rose before the Easter Day sun. It was midsummer day for Him, while it was but spring for earth’s calendar. That early rising has no setting to follow.

The divergences of the Evangelists reach their maximum in the accounts of the Resurrection, as is natural if we realise the fragmentary character of all the versions, the severely condensed style of Matthew’s, the incompleteness of the genuine Mark’s, the evidently selective purpose in Luke’s, and the supplementary design of John’s. If we add the perturbed state of the disciples, their separation from each other, and the number of distinct incidents embraced in the records, we shall not wonder at the differences, but see in them confirmation of the good faith of the witnesses, and a reflection of the hurry and wonderfulness of that momentous day. Differences there are; contradictions there are not, except between the doubtful verses added to Mark and the other accounts. We cannot put all the pieces together, when we have only them to guide us. If we had a complete and independent narrative to go by, we could, no doubt, arrange our fragments. But the great certainties are unaffected by the small divergences, and the points of agreement are vital. They are, for example, that none saw the Resurrection, that the first to know of it were the women, that angels appeared to them at the tomb, that Jesus showed Himself first to Mary Magdalene, that the reports of the Resurrection were not believed. Whether the group with whom this passage has to do were the same as that whose experience Matthew records we leave undetermined. If so, they must have made two visits to the tomb, and two returns to the Apostles,-one, with only the tidings of the empty sepulchre, which Luke tells; one, with the tidings of Christ’s appearance, as in Matthew. But harmonistic considerations do not need to detain us at present.

Sorrow and love are light sleepers, and early dawn found the brave women on their way. Nicodemus had bound spices in with the body, and these women’s love-gift was as ‘useless’ and as fragrant as Mary’s box of ointment. Whatever love offers, love welcomes, though Judas may ask ‘To what purpose is this waste?’ Angel hands had rolled away the stone, not to allow of Jesus’ exit, for He had risen while it was in its place, but to permit the entrance of the ‘witnesses of the Resurrection.’ So little did these women dream of such a thing that the empty tomb brought no flash of joy, but only perplexity to their wistful gaze. ‘What does it mean?’ was their thought. They and all the disciples expected nothing less than they did a Resurrection, therefore their testimony to it is the more reliable.

Luke marks the appearance of the angels as sudden by that ‘behold.’ They were not seen approaching, but at one moment the bewildered women were alone, looking at each other with faces of dreary wonder, and the next, ‘two men’ were standing beside them, and the tomb was lighted by the sheen of their dazzling robes. Much foolish fuss has been made about the varying reports of the angels, and ‘contradictions’ have been found in the facts that some saw them and some did not, that some saw one and some saw two, that some saw them seated and some saw them standing, and so on. We know so little of the laws that govern angelic appearances that our opinion as to the probability or veracity of the accounts is mere guess-work. Where should a flight of angels have gathered and hovered if not there? And should they not ‘sit in order serviceable’ about the tomb, as around the ‘stable’ at Bethlehem? Their function was to prepare a way in the hearts of the women for the Lord Himself, to lessen the shock,-for sudden joy shocks and may hurt,-as well as to witness that these ‘things angels desire to look into.’

Their message flooded the women’s hearts with better light than their garments had spread through the tomb. Luke’s version of it agrees with Mark and Matthew in the all-important central part, ‘He is not here, but is risen’ {though these words in Luke are not beyond doubt}, but diverges from them otherwise. Surely the message was not the mere curt announcement preserved by any one of the Evangelists. We may well believe that much more was said than any or all of them have recorded. The angels’ question is half a rebuke, wholly a revelation, of the essential nature of ‘the Living One,’ who was so from all eternity, but is declared to be so by His rising, of the incongruity of supposing that He could be gathered to, and remain with, the dim company of the dead, and a blessed word, which turns sorrow into hope, and diverts sad eyes from the grave to the skies, for all the ages since and to come. The angels recall Christ’s prophecies of death and resurrection, which, like so many of His words to the disciples and to us, had been heard, and not heard, being neglected or misinterpreted. They had questioned ‘what the rising from the dead should mean,’ never supposing that it meant exactly what it said. That way of dealing with Christ’s words did not end on the Easter morning, but is still too often practised.

If we are to follow Luke’s account, we must recognise that the women in a company, as well as Mary Magdalene separately, came back first with the announcement of the empty tomb and the angels’ message, and later with the full announcement of having seen the Lord. But apart from the complexities of attempted combination of the narratives, the main point in all the Evangelists is the disbelief of the disciples, ‘Idle tales,’ said they, using a very strong word which appears only here in the New Testament, and likens the eager story of the excited women to a sick man’s senseless ramblings. That was the mood of the whole company, apostles and all. Is that mood likely to breed hallucinations? The evidential value of the disciples’ slowness to believe cannot be overrated.

Peter’s race to the sepulchre, in Luke 24:12, is omitted by several good authorities, and is, perhaps, spurious here. If allowed to stand as Luke’s, it seems to show that the Evangelist had a less complete knowledge of the facts than John. Mark, Peter’s ‘interpreter,’ has told us of the special message to him from the risen, but as yet unseen, Lord, and we may well believe that that quickened his speed. The assurance of forgiveness and the hope of a possible future that might cover over the cowardly past, with the yearning to sob his heart out on the Lord’s breast, sent him swiftly to the tomb. Luke does not say that he went in, as John, with one of his fine touches, which bring out character in a word, tells us that he did; but he agrees with John in describing the effect of what Peter saw as being only ‘wonder,’ and the result as being only that he went away pondering over it all, and not yet able to grasp the joy of the transcendent fact. Perhaps, if he had not had a troubled conscience, he would have had a quicker faith. He was not given to hesitation, but his sin darkened his mind. He needed that secret interview, of which many knew the fact but none the details, ere he could feel the full glow of the Risen Sun thawing his heart and scattering his doubts like morning mists on the hills.

Benson Commentary

Luke 24:1. Upon the first day of the week, &c. — On the morning of the first day of the week, when every thing was made ready, all the women, mentioned Luke 24:10; and Mark 16:1; and certain others with them, who were not from Galilee, went out very early, carrying the spices which they had prepared, to the sepulchre, at which some or all of them arrived about the rising of the sun. Whether they went and returned all in one company, or at different times, and by different ways, is not quite certain. See the notes on Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:1-2; John speaks of none of the women who made this visit to the sepulchre but Mary Magdalene. Yet, because he mentions none but her, it does not follow that there were no others with her. In the gospels there are many such omissions. For instance, Mark and Luke speak of one demoniac only, who was cured at Gadara, though Matthew tells us there were two who had devils expelled out of them at that time In like manner Mark and Luke speak only of one blind man, to whom Jesus gave sight near Jericho, while from Matthew it is certain two had that benefit conferred on them there. Before Jesus rode into Jerusalem both the ass and its colt were brought to him, though Mark, Luke, and John speak only of the colt. Wherefore, since it is the manner of the sacred historians in other instances to make such omissions, John may be supposed to have mentioned Mary Magdalene singly in this part of his history, notwithstanding he knew that others had been with her at the sepulchre; and the rather, because his intention was to relate only what things happened in consequence of her information, and not to speak of the transactions of the rest, which his brother historians had handled at large.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:1-12 See the affection and respect the women showed to Christ, after he was dead and buried. Observe their surprise when they found the stone rolled away, and the grave empty. Christians often perplex themselves about that with which they should comfort and encourage themselves. They look rather to find their Master in his grave-clothes, than angels in their shining garments. The angels assure them that he is risen from the dead; is risen by his own power. These angels from heaven bring not any new gospel, but remind the women of Christ's words, and teach them how to apply them. We may wonder that these disciples, who believed Jesus to be the Son of God and the true Messiah, who had been so often told that he must die, and rise again, and then enter into his glory, who had seen him more than once raise the dead, yet should be so backward to believe his raising himself. But all our mistakes in religion spring from ignorance or forgetfulness of the words Christ has spoken. Peter now ran to the sepulchre, who so lately ran from his Master. He was amazed. There are many things puzzling and perplexing to us, which would be plain and profitable, if we rightly understood the words of Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 28:1-11.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 24

Lu 24:1-12. Angelic Announcement to the Women That Christ Is Risen—Peter's Visit to the Empty Sepulchre.

(See on [1742]Mr 16:1-8; and [1743]Mt 28:1-5).Luke 24:1-11 Christ’s resurrection is declared by two angels to

the women that came to the sepulchre, who report it

to others, but are not believed.

Luke 24:12 Peter visiteth the sepulchre.

Luke 24:13-35 Christ appeareth to two disciples going to Emmaus,

Luke 24:36-48 and to the apostles, eating before them, and

explaining the Scriptures concerning himself.

Luke 24:49 He promises them the Holy Ghost,

Luke 24:50-53 and ascendeth into heaven.

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were the two women that took up their seat right over against the sepulchre, to see where Christ was laid, Matthew 27:61 Mark 15:47. They had bought spices some time of that day after they knew he must die, or else they bought them immediately after his burial, as they went home, for they rested on the sabbath day. They had now got some others into their society, and came very early upon the first day of the week,

(See Poole on "Matthew 28:1", as to the particular time), intending to show their last act of love to their friend by embalming his body.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Now upon the first day of the week,.... On which day it appears by what follows, Christ rose from the dead, and which was the third day from his death, and so verified the Scriptures, and his own predictions:

very early in the morning; just as light began to spring, the day to dawn, and break; the first appearance of the morning; when it first began to dawn;

when it was yet dark, as in John 20:1 and so read the Syriac and Persic versions here; and the Ethiopic version, "while it was yet night": this must be understood of the time when the women set out from the city, or suburbs; for by that time they got to the sepulchre it was at sunrise, Mark 16:2 and shows their great love, zeal, and devotion for Christ, and great courage and fearlessness to go out of the city at such a time, without any man with them, and to a grave:

they came unto the sepulchre, where Christ was laid; that is, the women who came with Christ from Galilee, and who had observed where, and how his body was interred:

bringing the spices which they had prepared; on the sabbath eve, to anoint the body, but were prevented by reason of the sabbath; see Luke 23:56

and certain others with them; that is, other women; besides Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses, and Salome, and other Galilean women, there were other Jerusalem women, or of Bethany, it may be, Mary, and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, and of the parts adjacent: this clause is left out in the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions, and in one ancient copy of Beza's; but is retained in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions.

Geneva Study Bible

Now upon the {1} first day of the week, very {a} early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

(1) Poor humble women, who were certainly not expecting it, are chosen to be the first witnesses of the resurrection, so that there might not be any suspicion of either deceit or violence.

(a) Very early, as Mark says: or as John says, while it was yet dark, that is, when it was yet hardly the dawning of day.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 24:1-12. Comp. on Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8.

The question of the special sources from which Luke has taken the considerable portion that is peculiar to him in the account of the resurrection (Griesbach: from the mouth of the Joanna named by him alone, Luke 24:10), as well as in all that still follows that account, cannot be decided; but assuredly he did not as yet know the conclusion of Mark as it now stands.

βαθέως (see the critical remarks): the adverb[267] of degree is immediately annexed to a substantive. See on 2 Corinthians 11:23. Hence: deep in the morning, i.e. in the first morning twilight. Comp. Plat. Crit. p. 43 A, Prot. p. 310 A. The opposite is: ὁ ἔσχατος ὄρθρος, Theocr. xvi. 63.

Luke 24:2. ΕὖΡΟΝ ΔῈ Κ.Τ.Λ.] agrees as little as Mark 16:4 with the narrative of the rolling away of the stone in Matthew 28:2.

Luke 24:4. ἘΝ Τῷ ΔΙΑΠΟΡ. ΑὐΤ. ΠΕΡῚ ΤΟΎΤΟΥ] while they were in great perplexity concerning this. Comp. Plat. Phaedr. p. 237 A, Soph. p. 217 A, Tim. p. 49 B. In the New Testament only in Luke. Still Lachmann and Tischendorf have the simple form ἀπορεῖσθαι (B C D L א), but this easily crept in through neglect of the compound form. Also Luke 9:7, Acts 2:12, the reading ἨΠΟΡΕῖΤΟ occurs.

ἘΠΈΣΤ.] as Luke 2:9.

ἌΝΔΡΕς] The angels (Luke 24:23) are designated according to the form of the appearance which they had in the view of the women.[268] Comp. Acts 1:10; Mark 16:5. And their clothes had a flashing brightness (ἀστραπτ.).

Luke 24:5. τί ζητεῖτε κ.τ.λ.] indicating the groundlessness of their search.

τὸν ζῶντα] denotes Jesus not as Him who is Himself the life (Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, following John 1:4), nor yet the conquering life (de Wette), but, according to the context, quite simply Him who is alive, and no νεκρός. Comp. Luke 24:23.

μετὰ τῶν νεκρῶν] the grave is in general conceived of as the place where the dead are, where, therefore, he who is sought, is sought among the dead. Luke 24:6 f. ὡς ἐλάλ] Luke 9:22, Luke 18:32 f. The reference to Galilee (Matthew and Mark) Luke could not adopt; see Luke 24:49-50.

τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρ.] The designation of Himself previously used by Jesus. After the resurrection He no longer calls Himself by this name. Comp. Luke 24:26. ἀνθρώπ. ἁμαρτ.] heathens. Comp. Luke 18:32; Galatians 2:15. Otherwise Matthew 26:45.

Luke 24:8. It is psychologically improbable that the remembrance occurred to them now for the first time and at the prompting of the angel, if Jesus actually foretold His resurrection in terms so definite. But see on Matthew 16:21.

Luke 24:9. κ. πᾶσι τοῖς λοιποῖς] who adhered to the company of the disciples as followers of Jesus.

Luke 24:10 f. According to the corrected reading (see the critical remarks), ἦσαν δὲ … Ἰακώβου is a supplementary enumeration of the most eminent of the women who brought the tidings; after which by means of καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ κ.τ.λ. the same bringing of the tidings is related also of their female companions, and then by καὶ ἐφάνησαν κ.τ.λ. the narration is further continued. There were, however (these women who returned and announced, etc.), Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; moreover (καὶ), the rest of the women with them told this to the apostles, and their words appeared to them as a fable, and they believed them not. As to Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, see on Matthew 27:55 f.; as to Joanna, on Luke 8:3.

ἐφάνησαν] the plural of the verb with the neuter plural (see, in general, Winer, p. 456 [E. T. 645]) denotes here the declarations of the several individual persons. See Kühner, ad Xen. Mem. iv. 3. 12.

λῆρος] a foolish rumour, trick. Plat. Protag. p. 347 D, Hipp. maj. p. 304 B: λήρους καὶ φλυαρίας; Xen. Hist. iv. 8. 15; Arist. Plut. 23, and elsewhere; Soph. Trach. 435: ληρεῖν ἀνδρὸς οὐχὶ σώφρονος.

Luke 24:12. The disciples did not believe the women, but Peter, hasty and impetuous as he was, desired to inform himself by his own sight about this enigmatical state of affairs. To take ἔδραμεν as a pluperfect (Paulus) is on account of βλέπει impossible; a perverted system of harmonizing, in which even Calvin led the way. Of the ἄλλος μαθητής of John 20:3, Luke says nothing, but, according to Luke 24:24, does not exclude him. The account is vague in the connection of its several parts,[269] as even Luke 24:34 presupposes something that is not related.

παρακύψ.] stooping down into the grave, John 20:5; John 20:11.

μόνα] so that thus the corpse was gone.[270]

πρὸς ἑαντ.] not: with Himself (as Mark 14:4; Luke 18:11), so that it would belong to θαυμάζων (Luther, Castalio, Grotius, Wolf, Schegg, and others, following the Vulgate), in which case, however, it would be superfluous, and its position before θαυμάζων would have no motive; but it belongs to ἀπῆλθε: to his home, i.e. πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διαγωγήν, Euthymius Zigabenus. Comp. John 20:10

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 24:1-11. The women at the tomb (Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. Now] Rather, But.

very early in the morning] Literally, at deep dawn, i.e. at the earliest morning twilight, ‘while it was yet dark’ (John 20:1), though the sun began to rise before they reached the tomb (Mark 16:2). St John mentions only Mary of Magdala (John 20:1); St Matthew adds Mary, mother of James (Matthew 28:1); St Mark adds Salome (Mark 16:1); and St Luke Joanna, Luke 24:10. They may have gone singly or in small groups, the Marys being separate from the others. There is no discrepancy in the different narratives, although, as we might have expected, they are fragmentary and seem to reflect the varied and tumultuous emotions of those who were the first to see the Lord. The Easter music, as Lange says, is not ‘a monotonous chorale’ but an impassioned fugue.

and certain others with the?n] These words are probably spurious, not being in א, B, C, L.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 24:1. Τίνες, some) viz. other women, who had not come from Galilee.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 1-49. - THE RESURRECTION. All the four evangelists give an account of the Resurrection. None of the four, however, attempt to give a history of it simply from a human point of sight. Each Gospel probably reproduces the special points dwelt on in certain great centres of Christian teaching, in what we should now term different schools of thought. (Attempts have been made by theological scholars to classify these as Jewish, Gentile, Greek, Roman; but only with indifferent success). The teaching which St. Matthew's Gospel represents, evidently in the Resurrection preaching dwelt with peculiar insistence on the great Galilaean appearance of the Risen. St. Luke confines himself exclusively to the appearance, in Judaea. St. John chooses for his Resurrection instruction scenes which had for their theatre both Galilee and Judaea. St. John, as his central or most detailed piece of teaching, dwells on a fishing scene on Gennesaret, the actors being the well-known inner circle of the apostles. While St. Luke chooses for his detailed Resurrection narrative a high-road in a Jerusalem suburb; and for actors, two devoted, but historically unknown, disciples. Then there is no question of discrepancies in this portion of the great history. It is not easy to frame a perfectly satisfactory harmony of all the events related by the four, after the Lord had risen; for, in fact, we possess no detailed account or history of what took place in that eventful period in presence of the disciples. We simply have memoranda of eye-witnesses of certain incidents connected with the Resurrection selected by the great first teachers as specially adapted to their own preaching and instruction. The events of the first Easter Day have Been tabulated by Professor Westcott, in what he terms a provisional arrangement, as follows: - APPROX. TIME. Very early on Sunday

The Resurrection, followed by the earthquake, the descent of the angel, the opening of the tomb (Matthew 28:2-4). 5 a.m....

Mary Magdalene, Mary the [mother] of James and Salome, probably with others, start for the sepulchre in the twilight. Mary Magdalene goes before the others, and returns at once to Peter and John (John 20:1, etc.), 5:30 a.m....

Her companions reach the sepulchre when the sun had risen (Mark 16:2). A vision of an angel. Message to the disciples (Matthew 28:5, etc,; Mark 16:5, etc.). 6 a.m....

Another party, among whom is Joanna, come a little later, but still in the early morning (Luke 24:1, etc.; comp. Mark 16:1, note). A vision of "two young men." Words of comfort and instruction (Luke 24:4, etc.). 6:30 a.m....

The visit of Peter and John (John 20:3-10). A vision of two angels to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11 13). About the same time the company of women carry their tidings to the apostles (Luke 24:10, etc.). 7 a.m....

The Lord reveals himself to Mary Magdalene (John 20:14-18; Mark 16:9). Not long after he reveals him self, as it appears, to the company of women who are returning to the sepulchre. Charge to the brethren to go to Galilee (Matthew 28:9, etc.). 4-6 p.m....

The appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13, etc.; Mark 16:12).

After 4 p.m...

An appearance to St. Peter (ch. 24:34; comp. 1 Corinthians 15:5). 8 p.m....

The appearance to the eleven and others (Luke 24:36, etc.; Mark 16:14; John 20:19, etc.).

In the above table one point must be specially noticed: two companies or separate groups of women are mentioned as going to the sepulchre with the same pious object of assisting in the final embalming of the sacred body. If this be assumed to be the fact, there will be nothing improbable in the supposition that both these groups of women, all doubtless intimate friends belonging to the little company of the Master, but living probably some distance apart in Jerusalem, came together some time on the sabbath day, and then arranged to meet early on the first day at the sepulchre. Probably the spices purchased in some haste just before the sabbath commenced were judged inadequate.

(1) For in Luke 23:56 we read of a company of women, most probably including all, i.e. both groups, of holy women, who, after beholding the sepulchre, "returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day."

(2) In Mark 16:1 we read, "When the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought [not had bought] sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him." This company (alluded to in Mark 16:1) arrives the first at the sepulchre, and sees the vision of one angel (Mark 16:5). The other company (alluded to in Luke 24:1) arrives not long after at the sepulchre, and sees the vision of two angels (Luke 24:4). In considering the accounts of the Resurrection, the following memoranda will be found suggestive: -

(1) The holy women are the principal actors in all the four accounts of the circumstances connected with the tomb. But their assertions were not believed by the disciples until their statements were confirmed by the Lord's personal appearance.

(2) When St. Paul (1 Corinthians 15:5-8) sums up the great appearances of our Lord, the basis of our faith, he makes no reference to his appearance to Mary Magdalene (John 20:14, etc.; Mark 16:9) or to the women (two Maries mentioned Matthew 28:9, 10).

(3) No evangelist describes the Resurrection-no earthly being having been present. St. Matthew is the evangelist who, in his narrative, goes furthest back. He mentions the shock of the earthquake, the awful presence of the angel, the benumbing terror which seized the guards who were watching. Most probably these signs accompanied the Resurrection.

(4) The risen Lord appeared only to his own.

(5) That no future doubt should be thrown on the reality of the appearances of the Risen, he showed himself not only to solitary individuals, but to companies, i.e. to two, to the eleven (repeatedly), and to above five hundred brethren at once. And these manifestations took place

(a) at different hours of the day;

(b) in different localities - in Judaea, in Galilee, in rooms of houses, in the open air. Verses 1-12. - The Resurrection. At the sepulchre. Verse 1. - Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. In the foregoing general note on the Resurrection, the probability has been discussed of the holy women having been divided into two companies who separately came to the sepulchre. St. Luke's notice here refers to the party who arrived the second at the tomb. Luke 24:1

Vincent's Word Studies

Very early in the morning (ὄρθρου βαθέως)

Lit., at deep dawn, or the dawn being deep. It is not uncommon in Greek to find βαθύς, deep, used of time; as deep or late evening. Plutarch says of Alexander, that he supped "at deep evening;" i.e., late at night. Philo says that the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea "about deep dawn (as here), while others were yet in bed." So Socrates, in prison, asks Crito the time of day. He replies, ὄρθρος βαθύς, the dawn is deep, i.e. breaking (Plato, "Crito," 43).