[Greek] κουστωδία (koustōdia), [Latin] custodire, [French] garder, [French] proteger: guard, Roman sentry, watch, custody; Mt. 27:65-66, Mt. 28:11
Background Information:
Roman Empire: The Roman guard consists of 4 to 16 soldiers. In battle formation, this guard would form a square to hold off a much larger force. Roman guards consisted of soldiers and trained warriors. The Romans divided the night into four watches.
Jerusalem: A portion of the Roman soldiers were on loan to the supervision of the temple priests. The Temple guard was housed at Antonia Fortress, a military barracks located at the eastern end of the great wall of the city, near the Temple Mount. The Temple guard was in charge of the priestly vestments.
New Testament: This term means guard and watch. Pilate grants the Jewish petitioners’ request to have soldiers guard Jesus’ tomb. The Jewish leaders were fearful that Jesus’ body would be removed in order to create the notion that Jesus had resurrected. Some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests what happened at the tomb
Scripture:
“Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.”
This shows that the Roman night was divided into 4 watches. For the Jews, the night was divided into 3 watches.
“Pilate said to them, ‘The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can.’ So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.” Mt. 27:65-66
Pilate instructed the chief priests to place guards in front of the tomb. The authorities wanted to prevent anyone from stealing Jesus’ body to in order to perpetuate the “rumor” that Jesus rose from the dead.
Roman soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb
Conclusion:
Custody, custodial, guard, protege
From this comes the word custody and custodial. It not surprising that these soldiers enabled Caesar to take custody of his empire.