Luke 23:27

23:27 A great number of the people followed him, among them women ¹  who were mourning ²  and wailing for him.

Luke 23:55

23:55 The ³  women who had accompanied Jesus ⁴  from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.

Luke 8:2

8:2 and also some women ⁵  who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities: ⁶  Mary ⁷  (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out,

Matthew 27:55-56

27:55 Many ⁸  women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and given him support ⁹  were also there, watching from a distance. 27:56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Matthew 27:61

27:61 (Now Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there, opposite the tomb.)

Mark 15:40-41

15:40 There were also women, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, ¹⁰  and Salome. 15:41 When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. ¹¹  Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem ¹²  were there too.

Mark 15:47

15:47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body ¹³  was placed.

John 19:21-27

19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews ¹⁴  said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’” 19:22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

19:23 Now when the soldiers crucified ¹⁵  Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, ¹⁶  and the tunic ¹⁷  remained. (Now the tunic ¹⁸  was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) ¹⁹  19:24 So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice ²⁰  to see who will get it.” ²¹  This took place ²²  to fulfill the scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” ²³  So the soldiers did these things.

19:25 Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁴  19:26 So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, ²⁵  look, here is your son!” 19:27 He then said to his disciple, “Look, here is your mother!” From that very time ²⁶  the disciple took her into his own home.

[23:27]  ¹ sn The background of these women is disputed. Are they “official” mourners of Jesus’ death, appointed by custom to mourn death? If so, the mourning here would be more pro forma. However, the text seems to treat the mourning as sincere, so their tears and lamenting would have been genuine.

[23:27]  ² tn Or “who were beating their breasts,” implying a ritualized form of mourning employed in Jewish funerals. See the note on the term “women” earlier in this verse.

[23:55]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:55]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:2]  ⁵ sn There is an important respect shown to women in this text, as their contributions were often ignored in ancient society.

[8:2]  ⁶ tn Or “illnesses.” The term ἀσθένεια (asqeneia) refers to the state of being ill and thus incapacitated in some way – “illness, disability, weakness.” (L&N 23.143).

[8:2]  ⁷ sn This Mary is not the woman mentioned in the previous passage (as some church fathers claimed), because she is introduced as a new figure here. In addition, she is further specified by Luke with the notation called Magdalene, which seems to distinguish her from the woman at Simon the Pharisee’s house.

[27:55]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:55]  ⁹ tn Grk “and ministered to him.”

[15:40]  ¹⁰ sn In Matt 27:56 the name Joses is written as Joseph.

[15:41]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and ministered to him.”

[15:41]  ¹² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:47]  ¹³ tn Grk “it”; the referent (Jesus’ body) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Jewish chief priests.” Nowhere else in the Fourth Gospel are the two expressions οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (Joi arcierei" twn Ioudaiwn) combined. Earlier in 19:15 the chief priests were simply referred to as οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς. It seems likely that this is another example of Johannine irony, to be seen in contrast to the inscription on the cross which read ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (Jo basileu" twn Ioudaiwn). For this reason the phrase has been translated “the chief priests of the Jews” (which preserves in the translation the connection with “King of the Jews”) rather than “the Jewish chief priests.”

[19:23]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:23]  ¹⁶ sn Four shares, one for each soldier. The Gospel of John is the only one to specify the number of soldiers involved in the crucifixion. This was a quaternion, a squad of four soldiers. It was accepted Roman practice for the soldiers who performed a crucifixion to divide the possessions of the person executed among themselves.

[19:23]  ¹⁷ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[19:23]  ¹⁸ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). See the note on the same word earlier in this verse.

[19:23]  ¹⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:24]  ²⁰ tn Grk “but choose by lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throw dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling.

[19:24]  ²¹ tn Grk “to see whose it will be.”

[19:24]  ²² tn The words “This took place” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[19:24]  ²³ tn Grk “cast lots.” See the note on “throw dice” earlier in the verse.

[19:25]  ²⁴ sn Several women are mentioned, but it is not easy to determine how many. It is not clear whether his mother’s sister and Mary the wife of Clopas are to be understood as the same individual (in which case only three women are mentioned: Jesus’ mother, her sister Mary, and Mary Magdalene) or as two different individuals (in which case four women are mentioned: Jesus’ mother, her sister, Mary Clopas’ wife, and Mary Magdalene). It is impossible to be certain, but when John’s account is compared to the synoptics it is easier to reconcile the accounts if four women were present than if there were only three. It also seems that if there were four women present, this would have been seen by the author to be in juxtaposition to the four soldiers present who performed the crucifixion, and this may explain the transition from the one incident in 23-24 to the other in 25-27. Finally, if only three were present, this would mean that both Jesus’ mother and her sister were named Mary, and this is highly improbable in a Jewish family of that time. If there were four women present, the name of the second, the sister of Jesus’ mother, is not mentioned. It is entirely possible that the sister of Jesus’ mother mentioned here is to be identified with the woman named Salome mentioned in Mark 15:40 and also with the woman identified as “the mother of the sons of Zebedee” mentioned in Matt 27:56. If so, and if John the Apostle is to be identified as the beloved disciple, then the reason for the omission of the second woman’s name becomes clear; she would have been John’s own mother, and he consistently omitted direct reference to himself or his brother James or any other members of his family in the Fourth Gospel.

[19:26]  ²⁵ sn The term Woman is Jesus’ normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15; see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus’ use here? Jesus probably used the term here to help establish Mary and the beloved disciple in a new “mother-son” relationship. Someone would soon need to provide for Mary since Jesus, her oldest son, would no longer be alive. By using this term Jesus distanced himself from Mary so the beloved disciple could take his place as her earthly son (cf. John 2:4). See D. A. Carson, John, 617-18, for discussion about symbolic interpretations of this relationship between Mary and the beloved disciple.

[19:27]  ²⁶ tn Grk “from that very hour.”