16:4a

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But is often translated as “and.” Here it connects the women’s question in 16:3 with what they saw in 16:4. They did not expect to see that the stone was already rolled away from the entrance to the tomb. Some English versions use “then” or do not use a conjunction to connect the verses. Connect these verses in a natural way in your language.

when they looked up: Here in 16:4 the women were close enough to see the entrance to the tomb. The clause when they looked up indicates that the women looked toward the tomb. It does not imply that they looked up at the sky.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

when they looked ahead
-or-
when they looked

16:4b

they saw that the stone had been rolled away: This clause is passive. It does not tell who rolled away the stone, and the women did not know how it had been rolled away. In some languages it may be necessary to use an active verb here and to supply a subject. If this is the case in your language, you should supply a general subject. For example:

they saw that someone had rolled away the stone

even though it was extremely large: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as even though it was extremely large is literally “for it was very large.” The word “for” often introduces an explanation. In this context the clause probably explains why the stone could not be moved easily. It may also explain why the women could see from a distance that the stone had already been rolled away.

In Greek this explanation comes at the end of 16:4. In some languages it may be more natural to place it in a different place in 16:3 or 16:4. See the General Comment on 16:3–4 for suggestions.

extremely large: In this context the words extremely large also imply that the stone was extremely heavy. The women were not strong enough to move such a large and heavy stone.

General Comment on 16:3–4

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of the clause “for the stone was very large.” For example:

3aThey asked each other, 3b“Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4a–bAnd looking up they saw that this very large stone had already been rolled away from the entrance.
-or-
3–4On the way they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” (It was a very large stone.) Then they looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled back. (Good News Bible)

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