15:47a

Mary Magdalene: The name Mary Magdalene indicates that Mary was from a town called Magdala. The name Mary Magdalene also occurs in 15:40b.

Mary the mother of Joseph: This is the Mary who is called “Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses” in 15:40c–d. She is mentioned once more in 16:1b, where she is called “Mary the mother of James.” To avoid confusion, you may want to refer to her in the same way each time she is mentioned. For example:

Mary the mother of James/Jacob and Joses/Joseph

15:47b

saw: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as saw means “watched purposefully and with attention.” Here the women saw where Joseph laid Jesus’ body. They carefully noticed where it was so that they could find their way there again.

Here is another way to translate this:

attentively/carefully observed

where His body was placed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as was placed is the same Greek word as in 15:46d. There the Berean Standard Bible translates this word as “placed.” In both places, you should use whatever word is most natural in your language for the context.

Paragraph 16:1–4

The events of this paragraph happened on the day after the Sabbath. It was against the Jewish religious law to do any work on the Sabbath day. So the women had to wait until the next day to anoint Jesus’ body.

16:1a

When the Sabbath was over: The clause When the Sabbath was over refers to the end of the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day ended when the sun went down. So the phrase When the Sabbath was over refers to the evening of the seventh day of the week (Saturday).

Sabbath: The word Sabbath is the name of the seventh and last day of the week for the Jews. The Sabbath was the special day of the week when the Jews rested and worshiped God. The Law of Moses said that the Jews must not do any work on that day (Deuteronomy 5:12–15).

Here are some other ways to translate Sabbath:

the Jewish rest day
-or-
the day for resting
-or-
the day to rest and worship God

If the word Sabbath is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may also want to include a phrase to explain the meaning. For example:

the Sabat, the Jews’ day for resting

Be careful that the term you choose is not confused with Sunday, the day when Christians worship. The Sabbath for the Jews began at sundown on Friday and went until sundown on Saturday. You may want to include a footnote to give more information. For example:

The Sabbath is a name for the seventh day of the week. It is the day when the Jews rested from work and worshiped God.

Use the same word or phrase for Sabbath as you did in 1:21b and 15:42b. See the note there.

16:1b

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome: These three women were mentioned in 15:40b and 15:40c–d. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James were also mentioned in 15:47a.

In some languages the order of this list of women may be confusing. Your translation should not imply that the second Mary is the mother of both James and Salome. One way to avoid this is to change the order of the list. For example:

Salome, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James

See how you translated these names in 15:40b, 15:40c–d and 15:47a.

Mary the mother of James: Notice that Mary the mother of James is referred to as “Mary the mother of James and Joses” in 15:40. In 15:47 she is referred to as “Mary the mother of Joses.”. In some languages it may be necessary to refer to her in the same way each time she is mentioned. For example:

Mary the mother of James and Joses

Another option is to translate the names as they occur in each reference and add a footnote. A footnote here could say:

Mary was also the mother of Joses. See 15:40 and 15:47.

16:1c

bought spices: The women bought these spices in order to follow a burial custom of the Jews. Jews put spices onto a person’s dead body so that it would smell good. In this way they honored the dead person. In some languages it may be natural to include a verb like “went” here. For example, the New Living Translation says:

went out and purchased burial spices

spices: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as spices refers in general to things that smell good such as ointments, oils, and perfumes. In this context, the oil or ointment was to be used to anoint Jesus’ dead body. Make sure that your translation does not give the impression that the spices were for food preparation.

so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus: This clause tells the women’s purpose for buying spices. They wanted to carry them to the tomb and use them to anoint Jesus’ body.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

intending to go and anoint him (Revised English Bible)
-or-
to take to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body
-or-
to put on Jesus’ body (Contemporary English Version)

go: In some languages it may be natural to use a verb like “come” here. According to 16:2, the women did not actually go (or “come”) to the tomb until the next morning. Your translation should not imply here that they went to the tomb as soon as they bought the spices. In some languages, it may be natural to leave the verb go untranslated here. See the General Comment on 16:1–2 at the end of 16:2b for a way to do this.

and anoint the body of Jesus: In this context, the verb anoint means “to put oil or ointment on a person’s corpse to prepare it for burial.” Jesus’ body had already been wrapped in cloth, so the women were probably intending to pour or rub the ointment onto the cloth.

Some languages have a word that refers to putting, rubbing or pouring oil or ointment on a person’s body as a part of burial preparations. If you have such a word, you may use it here. Otherwise, you should use a general expression, since we do not know exactly how the women intended to anoint Jesus’ body. For example:

to prepare Jesus’ body
-or-
to use on Jesus’ corpse

The Jews did not embalm dead bodies. They used the spices to reduce the smell and to show respect. See the notes on 14:8b–c for similar information. See also the account in John 19:39–40, which describes how Nicodemus and Joseph wrapped Jesus’ body along with burial spices.

General Comment on 16:1a–c

In some languages it may be more natural to tell about what the women did before giving their names. For example:

1aWhen the Sabbath was over, some women 1cbought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 1bThe women’s names were Salome, Mary Magdalene, and Mary who was the mother of James.

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