Paragraph 16:6–7
In this paragraph, the young man in the tomb first told the women not to be afraid of him. He then told them that Jesus has risen from the dead and was going ahead of his disciples to Galilee.
16:6a
But: The word But introduces the way that the young man (the angel) responded to the women’s alarm. Even though they were afraid, he told them they did not need to be and explained why. This word indicates that contrast and introduces what he said to them.
he said to them: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he said to them occurs at the beginning of this verse. Place it where it is natural in your language.
Do not be alarmed: The young man calmed the women by telling them not to be alarmed. The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as alarmed is the same one that was used in 16:5c. You may translate it in the same way here.
16:6b
You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene: The young man knew why the women had come. They were expecting to find the dead body of Jesus. Do not translate You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene in a way that sounds as though they expected Jesus to be alive.
Jesus the Nazarene: The phrase Jesus the Nazarene identifies Jesus as a person from the town of Nazareth (see 10:47a). See also how you translated this phrase in 14:67c.
who was crucified: The phrase who was crucified identifies very clearly the person whom the women were looking for. The young man indicated clearly that Jesus had really been killed. This phrase makes the following statement in 16:6c more dramatic because of the contrast.
The verb was crucified is a passive. In some languages it may be necessary to make it active. For example:
whom they/men crucified
-or-
who died on a cross
crucified: The word crucified comes from the verb “crucify.” It means to execute (kill) someone by nailing or tying him to a cross, then setting the cross upright. This was a Roman way to cause criminals to die a slow and painful death.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
killed/executed on a cross
-or-
nailed/fastened to a cross to kill him
Here are some other ways to translate cross:
plank/wood of death
-or-
crossed-beam(s) of death
-or-
a tree for killing people
-or-
a stake/post to which they fasten/nail someone to kill him
See how you translated crucified in 15:13.
16:6c
He has risen: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He has risen is literally “he was raised.” It is a passive. It means “He has risen from the dead” or “He is alive again.” If you need to say who raised Jesus from the dead, you should say that it was God. For example:
God has raised him to life (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God has caused him to live again
He is not here: The phrase He is not here refers to the fact that Jesus was not in the tomb anymore.
General Comment on 16:6c
In your language it may be more natural to reorder the two statements in this part of the verse. For example:
He is not here. God raised him from the dead!
16:6d
See the place where they put Him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as See is often used to call attention to something. In this context the word See calls the women’s attention to the place where Jesus’ body had been. The man was probably pointing to this place.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Look, there is the place they laid him.
-or-
Here is the place where they placed him.
the place where they put Him: The young man was probably pointing to the stone shelf inside the tomb, where Jesus’ body had been placed when he was buried.
The pronoun they refers to Joseph of Arimathea and the people who helped him place the body of Jesus in the tomb. In some languages it may be natural to translate this pronoun with a general word such as “people”:
the place where the people/men laid him
In some languages it may be natural to use a passive. For example:
the place where he was placed (Good News Bible)
-or-
the place where his body was laid
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