One angel at the tomb, or two
Then next, mixing things that do not mix and making alike things that are unlike, he adds to his story of the sixty or seventy angels who, as he says, came down and, according to him, wept springs of hot water, that two angels are reported by some to have come to the tomb of Jesus himself, and one by others. He did not notice, I think, that Matthew and Mark reported one (Matthew 28:2–5; Mark 16:5), and Luke and John two (Luke 24:4; John 20:12). These accounts were not contradictory. For those who recorded one say that this was the one who rolled away “the stone” from the tomb (Matthew 28:2); while the others say that the two are those who, “in dazzling clothing” (Luke 24:4), stood by the women who had come to the tomb, or those who were seen inside “sitting in white” (John 20:12).
To show now that each of these is both possible and actually happened, and that it points to a figurative meaning about the things that appear beforehand to those prepared to behold the resurrection of the Word, does not belong to the present treatise but rather to commentaries on the Gospel.
Greek
Εἶτα ἑξῆς τὰ ἄμικτα καὶ ἀνόμοια μιγνὺς καὶ ἐξομοιῶν ἀλλήλοις ἐπιφέρει τῷ περὶ τῶν, ὥς φησι, καταβεβηκότων ἑξήκοντα ἢ ἑβδομήκοντα ἀγγέλων λόγῳ. πηγὰς θερμῶν κατὰ αὐτὸν δακρυσάντων, ὅτι καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸν τάφον ἱστόρηνται ἐληλυθέναι ὑπό τινων μὲν ἄγγελοι δύο ὑπό τινων δὲ εἷς· οὐκ οἶμαι τηρήσας Ματθαῖον μὲν καὶ Μάρκον ἕνα ἱστορηκέναι, Λουκᾶν δὲ καὶ Ἰωάννην δύο. ἅπερ οὐκ ἦν ἐναντία. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀναγράφαντες ἕνα τὸν ἀποκυλίσαντα „τὸν λίθον“ ἀπὸ τοῦ μνημείου τοῦτόν φασιν εἶναι, οἱ δὲ τοὺς δύο τοὺς ἐπιστάντας „ἐν ἐσθῆτι ἀστραπτούσῃ“ ταῖς γενομέναις ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον γυναιξὶν ἢ τοὺς θεωρηθέντας ἔνδον „ἐν λευκοῖς καθεζομένους.“ ἕκαστον δὲ τούτων νῦν παραδεικνύναι δυνατὸν καὶ γεγενημένον καὶ δηλωτικόν τινος εἶναι τροπολογίας, τῆς περὶ τῶν προφαινομένων τοῖς τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ λόγου θεωρεῖν παρεσκευασμένοις, οὐ τῆς παρούσης ἐστὶ πραγματείας ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τῶν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ἐξηγητικῶν.