ContradictionsReading order 391Bible context 2 min read
When did the Temple curtain tear?
The temple curtain's tearing appears on opposite sides of Jesus' death in the narrative sequence.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Supporting
- A supporting event, teaching, or biographical claim.
The tearing appears before versus after death in narration, but neither excerpt explicitly fixes that relation as chronology rather than arranging simultaneous surrounding events.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Luke narrates the torn curtain before Jesus dies
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:45-46
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Luke 23
Matthew and Mark narrate the torn curtain after Jesus dies
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Matthew 27:50-51
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)