Luk 24:1-12 | NETfull | STEP | Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared.

Luke 24:1-12

1 Now on the first day ^{▼▼ The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.} of the week, at early dawn, the women ^{▼▼ Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices ^{▼▼ On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in 23:56.} they had prepared. 2 They ^{▼▼ Here δέ (de) has not been translated.} found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, ^{▼▼ 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.} 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ^{▼▼ The translation follows the much better attested longer reading here, “body of the Lord Jesus” (found in {Ƥ⁷⁵ א A B C L W Θ Ψ f^{1, 13} 33 565 700 Maj.}), 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.} ^{▼▼ What they found was not what they expected - an empty tomb.} 4 While ^{▼▼ 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.} they were perplexed ^{▼▼ Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.} about this, suddenly ^{▼▼ Grk “behold.”} two men stood beside them in dazzling ^{▼▼ The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).} attire. 5 The ^{▼▼ Here δέ (de) has not been translated.} women ^{▼▼ Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).} were terribly frightened ^{▼▼ Or “They were extremely afraid.”} and bowed ^{▼▼ Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.} their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living ^{▼▼ By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.} among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has been raised! ^{▼▼ 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.} ^{▼▼ The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, ēgerthē). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437–38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God, and such activity by God is a consistent Lukan theological emphasis: Luke 20:37; 24:34; Acts 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 37. A passive construction is also used to refer to Jesus’ exaltation: Luke 24:51; Acts 1:11, 22.} Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ^{▼▼ 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.} 7 that ^{▼▼ 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.’”} the Son of Man must be delivered ^{▼▼ See Luke 9:22, 44; 13:33.} into the hands of sinful men, ^{▼▼ 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 (anqrōpōn hamartōlōn) is retained here.} and be crucified, ^{▼▼ See the note on crucify in 23:21.} and on the third day rise again.” ^{▼▼ Here the infinitive ἀναστῆναι (anastēnai) is active rather than passive.} 8 Then ^{▼▼ Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.} the women remembered his words, ^{▼▼ On his words see Luke 9:22.} 9 and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven ^{▼▼ Judas is now absent and “the twelve” have now become “the eleven.” Other disciples are also gathered with the remaining eleven.} and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, ^{▼▼ 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.} Joanna, ^{▼▼ On Joanna see Luke 8:1–3.} Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed like pure nonsense ^{▼▼ The term pure nonsense can describe idle talk or a tale. The point is important, since the disciples reacted with disbelief that a resurrection was possible. Sometimes it is thought the ancients were gullible enough to believe anything. But these disciples needed convincing about the resurrection.} to them, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. ^{▼▼ While the others dismissed the report of the women, Peter got up and ran to the tomb, for he had learned to believe in what the Lord had said.} He bent down ^{▼▼ In most instances the entrance to such tombs was less than 3 ft (1 m) high, so that an adult would have to bend down and practically crawl inside.} and saw only the strips of linen cloth; ^{▼▼ In the NT this term is used only for strips of cloth used to wrap a body for burial (LN 6.154; BDAG 693 s.v. ὀθόνιον).} then he went home, ^{▼▼ Or “went away, wondering to himself.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros heauton) can be understood with the preceding verb ἀπῆλθεν (apēlqen) or with the following participle θαυμάζων (qaumazōn), but it more likely belongs with the former (cf. John 20:10, where the phrase can only refer to the verb).} wondering ^{▼▼ Peter’s wondering was not a lack of faith, but struggling in an attempt to understand what could have happened.} what had happened. ^{▼▼ Some Western mss (D it) lack 24:12. The verse has been called a Western noninterpolation, meaning that it reflects a shorter authentic reading in D and other Western witnesses. Many regard all such shorter readings as original (the verse is omitted in the RSV), but the ms evidence for omission is far too slight for the verse to be rejected as secondary. It is included in Ƥ⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition.}