Section 16:9–11

Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene

Some time after the women fled from the tomb, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. She then told Jesus’ disciples that she had seen Jesus alive again, but they did not believe her.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here is another possible heading for this section:

Jesus comes to Mary Magdalene

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 28:9–10 and John 20:11–18.

Paragraph 16:9–11

16:9a

Early on the first day of the week: See how you translated the phrase “early on the first day of the week” in 16:2a. The women arrived at the tomb very early on that day, and Jesus had already been raised from the dead.

If the first day of the week in your language is not Sunday, you may want to make this explicit, as some of the English versions do. For example, the God’s Word says:

early on Sunday

after Jesus had risen: The phrase after Jesus had risen refers to his resurrection from the dead. The context shows that it introduces an event that happened soon after he became alive again.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

After Jesus rose from death (Good News Bible)
-or-
after Jesus had risen to life (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
After God had caused Jesus to live again

See how you translated “He has risen” in 16:6c.

16:9b

He appeared first to Mary Magdalene: The first person to see Jesus after he rose from the dead was Mary Magdalene (see John 20:10–18).

He appeared: The words He appeared refer to the fact that Jesus came to Mary so that she could see him. Jesus appeared, or allowed Mary to see him, in order for her to know that he really was alive again. You should be careful not to translate this in a way that implies that he let her see his body in an inappropriate way.

Mary Magdalene: The name Mary Magdalene means “Mary who came from the town of Magdala.” See how you wrote this name in 15:40b.

16:9c

from whom He had driven out seven demons: Mary was a common name among the Jews, and there may have been several women named Mary in the town of Magdala. This verse part identifies which Mary Jesus appeared to.

Jesus drove the demons out of Mary sometime before he died. He did not drive out the demons after he rose from the dead and appeared to Mary. Be sure to make this clear in your translation.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

from whom Jesus had long before driven out seven demons
-or-
One time in the past, he had forced seven demons out of her. (New Century Version)

In some languages it may be more natural to first say that Mary had been controlled by seven demons before saying that Jesus had driven them out. For example:

In the past seven demons controlled her, but Jesus forced them to release their control.

from whom He had driven out…demons: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as from whom He had driven out…demons is literally “out of whom he had cast/thrown out…demons.” This phrase implies that demons had previously controlled Mary’s thoughts and actions. Jesus had forced them to stop controlling her.

Jewish people often spoke of demons as being in someone. Different cultures have different ways of speaking about people being controlled by demons and being released from the control of demons. Use a natural expression for this in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

from whom he had forced out…demons (God’s Word)
-or-
had sent away…demons from her
-or-
had exorcized the demons from her
-or-
had freed her from the control of…demons

See how you translated the idea of driving out demons in 1:34b.

demons: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as demons refers to spirits that are evil and can control people’s actions. The word demons refers to the same type of spirits as the Greek terms that are often translated as “evil spirits” and “unclean spirits.”

Here are some other ways to translate demons:

• Use a general term in your language that refers to spirits that are evil and can control people.

• Use a specific term in your language that refers to a certain type of spirits. These spirit should be able to do what is described in this context. Do not use a term that refers to the spirits of dead people.

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

evil/bad spirits
-or-
unclean spirits

Be sure that an expression like “unclean spirits” does not imply that the spirits are literally dirty.

See also evil spirit in the Glossary for more information.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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