Exegesis:

The syntactic structure is as follows: katakolouthēsasai (subordinate participle) hai gunaikes (subject) … etheasanto (main verb); hupostrepsasai (subordinate participle) hētoimasan (second main verb, same subject).

katakolouthēsasai de hai gunaikes ‘the women, having followed,’ i.e. Joseph. The placing of the participle before the subject at the beginning of the clause is for stylistic reasons. The participle denotes the act that connects the events of these verses with the preceding story.

katakoloutheō ‘to follow,’ ‘to follow after (somebody),’ with the implication of following at some distance.

haitines ēsan sunelēluthuiai ek tēs Galilaias autō ‘who had come with him from Galilee,’ identifying the women as those referred to in v. 49.

etheasanto to mnēmeion kai hōs etethē to sōma autou ‘(they) saw the tomb and how his body was laid.’ Note the twofold object of etheasanto, i.e. a noun (to mnēmeion) and an indirect question (hōs etethē …), which denotes the act of burial, rather than the manner. For to sōma cf. on v. 52. As implied in the story as a whole the women saw the grave with a view to coming back later. Hence etheasanto may be rendered, ‘they noted,’ ‘they took note.’

(V. 56a) arōmata kai mura ‘spices and ointments.’

Translation:

For followed see on 7.9. A specification of the person followed may be preferable, or of the place reached, ‘followed to-that-place’ (Balinese, Batak Toba 1885).

Saw. The verb may have to be repeated, cf. e.g. ‘saw the grave and burial affair saw’ (Ekari), ‘looked at the grave: saw how they had put his body’ (Sranan Tongo).

(V. 56a) Then they returned, or, ‘after that they went back home,’ i.e. to their lodgings in Jerusalem, not to Galilee.

For ointment above on 7.37.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.