Matthew 28:1-10

The Resurrection

28:1 Now after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 28:2 Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord ¹  descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. 28:3 His ²  appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 28:4 The ³  guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him. 28:5 But the angel said ⁴  to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know ⁵  that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶  28:6 He is not here, for he has been raised, ⁷  just as he said. Come and see the place where he ⁸  was lying. 28:7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead. He ⁹  is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you!” 28:8 So ¹⁰  they left the tomb quickly, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 28:9 But ¹¹  Jesus met them, saying, “Greetings!” They ¹²  came to him, held on to his feet and worshiped him. 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. They will see me there.”

Mark 16:1-2

The Resurrection

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices ¹³  so that they might go and anoint him. 16:2 And very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, they went to the tomb.

Mark 16:9

The Longer Ending of Mark

16:9 ¹⁴ [[Early on the first day of the week, after he arose, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons.

Luke 24:1-10

The Resurrection

24:1 Now on the first day ¹⁵  of the week, at early dawn, the women ¹⁶  went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices ¹⁷  they had prepared. 24:2 They ¹⁸  found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, ¹⁹  24:3 but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ²⁰  24:4 While ²¹  they were perplexed ²²  about this, suddenly ²³  two men stood beside them in dazzling ²⁴  attire. 24:5 The ²⁵  women ²⁶  were terribly frightened ²⁷  and bowed ²⁸  their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living ²⁹  among the dead? 24:6 He is not here, but has been raised! ³⁰  Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ³¹  24:7 that ³²  the Son of Man must be delivered ³³  into the hands of sinful men, ³⁴  and be crucified, ³⁵  and on the third day rise again.” ³⁶  24:8 Then ³⁷  the women remembered his words, ³⁸  24:9 and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven ³⁹  and to all the rest. 24:10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, ⁴⁰  Joanna, ⁴¹  Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

[28:2]  ¹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.

[28:3]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[28:4]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[28:5]  ⁴ tn Grk “But answering, the angel said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[28:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “for I know.”

[28:5]  ⁶ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[28:6]  ⁷ tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, hgerqh). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God.

[28:6]  ⁸ tc Expansions on the text, especially when the Lord is the subject, are a common scribal activity. In this instance, since the subject is embedded in the verb, three major variants have emerged to make the subject explicit: ὁ κύριος (Jo kurio", “the Lord”; A C D L W 0148 Ë^1,13 Ï lat), τὸ σῶμα τοῦ κυρίου (to swma tou kuriou, “the body of the Lord”; 1424 pc), and ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”; Φ). The reading with no explicit subject, however, is superior on both internal and external grounds, being supported by א B Θ 33 892* pc co.

[28:7]  ⁹ tn Grk “And behold he.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[28:8]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s instructions to tell the disciples.

[28:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate that the return of the women from the tomb was interrupted by this appearance of Jesus. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[28:9]  ¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[16:1]  ¹³ 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.

[16:9]  ¹⁴ tc The Gospel of Mark ends at this point in some witnesses (א B 304 sy^s sa^ms arm^mss Eus Eus^mss Hier^mss), including two of the most respected mss (א B). The following shorter ending is found in some mss: “They reported briefly to those around Peter all that they had been commanded. After these things Jesus himself sent out through them, from the east to the west, the holy and imperishable preaching of eternal salvation. Amen.” This shorter ending is usually included with the longer ending (L Ψ 083 099 0112 579 al); k, however, ends at this point. Most mss include the longer ending (vv. 9-20) immediately after v. 8 (A C D W [which has a different shorter ending between vv. 14 and 15] Θ Ë¹³ 33 2427 Ï lat sy^c,p,h bo); however, Jerome and Eusebius knew of almost no Greek mss that had this ending. Several mss have marginal comments noting that earlier Greek mss lacked the verses, while others mark the text with asterisks or obeli (symbols that scribes used to indicate that the portion of text being copied was spurious). Internal evidence strongly suggests the secondary nature of both the short and the long endings. Their vocabulary and style are decidedly non-Markan (for further details, see TCGNT 102-6). All of this evidence strongly suggests that as time went on scribes added the longer ending, either for the richness of its material or because of the abruptness of the ending at v. 8. (Indeed, the strange variety of dissimilar endings attests to the probability that early copyists had a copy of Mark that ended at v. 8, and they filled out the text with what seemed to be an appropriate conclusion. All of the witnesses for alternative endings to vv. 9-20 thus indirectly confirm the Gospel as ending at v. 8.) Because of such problems regarding the authenticity of these alternative endings, 16:8 is usually regarded as the last verse of the Gospel of Mark. There are three possible explanations for Mark ending at 16:8: (1) The author intentionally ended the Gospel here in an open-ended fashion; (2) the Gospel was never finished; or (3) the last leaf of the ms was lost prior to copying. This first explanation is the most likely due to several factors, including (a) the probability that the Gospel was originally written on a scroll rather than a codex (only on a codex would the last leaf get lost prior to copying); (b) the unlikelihood of the ms not being completed; and (c) the literary power of ending the Gospel so abruptly that the readers are now drawn into the story itself. E. Best aptly states, “It is in keeping with other parts of his Gospel that Mark should not give an explicit account of a conclusion where this is already well known to his readers” (Mark, 73; note also his discussion of the ending of this Gospel on 132 and elsewhere). The readers must now ask themselves, “What will I do with Jesus? If I do not accept him in his suffering, I will not see him in his glory.”

[24:1]  ¹⁵ sn The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.

[24:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:1]  ¹⁷ tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in 23:56.

[24:2]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:2]  ¹⁹ 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.

[24:3]  ²⁰ 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.

[24:4]  ²¹ 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.

[24:4]  ²² tn Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.

[24:4]  ²³ tn Grk “behold.”

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

[24:5]  ²⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).

[24:5]  ²⁷ tn Or “They were extremely afraid.”

[24:5]  ²⁸ sn Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.

[24:5]  ²⁹ sn By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.

[24:6]  ³⁰ tc The phrase “He is not here, but has been raised” is omitted by a few mss (D it), but it has wide ms support and differs slightly from the similar statement in Matt 28:6 and Mark 16:6. Although NA²⁷ places the phrase at the beginning of v. 6, as do most modern English translations, it is omitted from the RSV and placed at the end of v. 5 in the NRSV.

[24:6]  ³¹ sn While he was still in Galilee looks back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. So the point is that this was announced long ago, and should come as no surprise.

[24:7]  ³² tn Grk “saying that,” but this would be redundant in English. Although the translation represents this sentence as indirect discourse, the Greek could equally be taken as direct discourse: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee: ‘the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”

[24:7]  ³³ tn See Luke 9:22, 44; 13:33.

[24:7]  ³⁴ tn Because in the historical context the individuals who were primarily responsible for the death of Jesus (the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem in Luke’s view [see Luke 9:22]) would have been men, the translation “sinful men” for ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτωλῶν (anqrwpwn Jamartwlwn) is retained here.

[24:7]  ³⁵ sn See the note on crucify in 23:21.

[24:7]  ³⁶ tn Here the infinitive ἀναστῆναι (anasthnai) is active rather than passive.

[24:8]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:8]  ³⁸ sn On his words see Luke 9:22.

[24:9]  ³⁹ sn Judas is now absent and “the twelve” have now become “the eleven.” Other disciples are also gathered with the remaining eleven.

[24:10]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ sn On Joanna see Luke 8:1-3.