Text -- Luke 24:1-4 (NET)

The Resurrection

24:1 Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared. 24:2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, 24:3 but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 24:4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 24:1

¹ sn The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.

² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in 23:56.

NET Notes: Luk 24:2

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn Luke tells the story of the empty tomb with little drama. He simply notes that when they arrived the stone had been rolled away in a position where the tomb could be entered. This large stone was often placed in a channel so that it could be easily moved by rolling it aside. The other possibility is that it was merely placed over the opening in a position from which it had now been moved.

NET Notes: Luk 24:3

¹ tc The translation follows the much better attested longer reading here, “body of the Lord Jesus” (found in {Ì⁷⁵ א A B C L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 565 700 Ï}), rather than simply “the body” (found in D it) or “the body of Jesus” (found in 579 1241 pc). Further, although this is the only time that “Lord Jesus” occurs in Luke, it seems to be Luke’s normal designation for the Lord after his resurrection (note the many references to Christ in this manner in Acts, e.g., 1:21; 4:33; 7:59; 8:16; 11:17; 15:11; 16:31; 19:5; 20:21; 28:31). Although such a longer reading as this would normally be suspect, in this case some scribes, accustomed to Luke’s more abbreviated style, did not take the resurrection into account.

sn What they found was not what they expected – an empty tomb.

NET Notes: Luk 24:4

¹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.

³ tn Grk “behold.”

⁴ sn The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).