Matthew 27:55

27:55 Many ¹  women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and given him support ²  were also there, watching from a distance.

Mark 15:40

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, ³  and Salome.

Mark 16:1

The Resurrection

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices ⁴  so that they might go and anoint him.

Luke 8:2-3

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, 8:3 and Joanna the wife of Cuza ⁸  (Herod’s ⁹  household manager), ¹⁰  Susanna, and many others who provided for them ¹¹  out of their own resources.

Luke 23:49

23:49 And all those who knew Jesus ¹²  stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw ¹³  these things.

Luke 23:55

23:55 The ¹⁴  women who had accompanied Jesus ¹⁵  from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.

Luke 24:10

24:10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, ¹⁶  Joanna, ¹⁷  Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

John 19:25

19:25 Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ¹⁸ 

[27:55]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:55]  ² tn Grk “and ministered to him.”

[15:40]  ³ sn In Matt 27:56 the name Joses is written as Joseph.

[16:1]  ⁴ tn On this term see BDAG 140 s.v. ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these materials were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition.

[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.

[8:3]  ⁸ sn Cuza is also spelled “Chuza” in many English translations.

[8:3]  ⁹ sn Herod’s refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

[8:3]  ¹⁰ tn Here ἐπίτροπος (epitropo") is understood as referring to the majordomo or manager of Herod’s household (BDAG 385 s.v. ἐπίτροπος 1). However, as BDAG notes, the office may be political in nature and would then be translated something like “governor” or “procurator.” Note that in either case the gospel was reaching into the highest levels of society.

[8:3]  ¹¹ tc Many mss (א A L Ψ Ë¹ 33 565 579 1241 2542 pm it co) read “for him,” but “for them” also has good ms support (B D K W Γ Δ Θ Ë¹³ 700 892 1424 pm lat). From an internal standpoint the singular pronoun looks like an assimilation to texts like Matt 27:55 and Mark 15:41.

[23:49]  ¹² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:49]  ¹³ tn Technically the participle ὁρῶσαι (Jorwsai) modifies only γυναῖκες (gunaike") since both are feminine plural nominative, although many modern translations refer this as well to the group of those who knew Jesus mentioned in the first part of the verse. These events had a wide array of witnesses.

[23:55]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:55]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:10]  ¹⁶ sn Mary Magdalene is always noted first in the appearance lists in the gospels. It is unusual that the first appearance would involve women as in this culture their role as witnesses would not be well accepted. It is a sign of the veracity of the account, because if an ancient were to create such a story he would never have it start with women.

[24:10]  ¹⁷ sn On Joanna see Luke 8:1-3.

[19:25]  ¹⁸ 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.