They returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
- BSB Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.
- NKJV Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
- NASB And then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
- NLT Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The women prepared spices, then rested on the Sabbath per the commandment. Their devotion and obedience frame the approach to Easter morning.
Overview
After preparing burial spices, the women honored the Sabbath rest required by the law. Their piety shows reverence for God's commandment even amid grief. This pause before the first day of the week sets the stage for their discovery of the empty tomb, as love and obedience give way to astonishment and joy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Luke 24:1But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.
- Mark 16:1When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.
- Deut 5:14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
- Isa 58:13–14“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words:
- Exod 35:2–3‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death.
- Exod 31:14You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
- Jer 17:24–25It shall happen, if you diligently listen to me,” says Yahweh, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein;
- Exod 20:8–10“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- 2 Chr 16:14They buried him in his own tomb, which he had dug out for himself in David’s city, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers’ art; and they made a very great fire for him.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 23:56 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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