^24:1Now on the first day¹ of the week, at early dawn, the women² went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices³ they had prepared. ^24:2They⁴ found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb,⁵^24:3but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.⁶^24:4While⁷ they were perplexed⁸ about this, suddenly⁹ two men stood beside them in dazzling¹⁰ attire. ^24:5The¹¹ women¹² were terribly frightened¹³ and bowed¹⁴ their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living¹⁵ among the dead? ^24:6He is not here, but has been raised!¹⁶ Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,¹⁷^24:7that¹⁸ the Son of Man must be delivered¹⁹ into the hands of sinful men,²⁰ and be crucified,²¹ and on the third day rise again.”²²^24:8Then²³ the women remembered his words,²⁴^24:9and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven²⁵ and to all the rest. ^24:10Now it was Mary Magdalene,²⁶ Joanna,²⁷ Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

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Luke 24:5–6: And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee…

Footnotes

1 The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.
2 Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 On this term see ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in .
4 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
5 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.
6 The translation follows the much better attested longer reading here, “body of the Lord Jesus” (found in {𝔓75 א A B C L W Θ Ψ f1, 13 33 565 700 𝔐}), rather than simply “the body” (found in D it) or “the body of Jesus” (found in 579 1241 ). 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.
7 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.
8 Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.
9 Grk “behold.”
10 The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).
11 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
12 Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).
13 Or “They were extremely afraid.”
14 Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.
15 By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.
16 The phrase “He is not here, but has been raised” is omitted by a few (D it), but it has wide support and differs slightly from the similar statement in Matt 28:6 and Mark 16:6. Although places the phrase at the beginning of v. 6, as do most modern English translations, it is omitted from the and placed at the end of v. 5 in the . The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, ēgerthē). This “divine passive” (see ) 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.
17 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.
18 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.’ ”
20 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 (anthrōpōn hamartōlōn) is retained here.
21 See the note on crucify in .
22 Here the infinitive ἀναστῆναι (anastēnai) is active rather than passive.
23 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
24 On his words see Luke 9:22.
25 Judas is now absent and “the twelve” have now become “the eleven.” Other disciples are also gathered with the remaining eleven.
26 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.
27 On Joanna see Luke 8:1–3.

Cross references

19 See Luke 9:22, 44; 13:33.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,

NIVNew International Version (2011)

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground.

“Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’And they remembered his words.

Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things.

NLTNew Living Translation

But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Now on the first day of the week, at very early dawn, they came back to the tomb bringing the fragrant spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men in gleaming clothing stood near them. And as they were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of men who are sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise?” And they remembered his words, and when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the others with them were telling these things to the apostles.

KJV 1900King James Version

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.

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