John 20:13

Joh 20:13. Γύναι, woman) They address her respectfully, as if she were unknown to them. So Joh 20:15, γύναι, woman; a title of respect, answering to the Κύριε, Sir or Lord, in her reply. Comp. with this Joh 20:16, Μαρία, Mary!—τί κλαίεις; why weepest thou?) She ought rather to have wept, if she had found His dead body. [Her not finding it was really cause for joy, as implying that He had risen again.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Many speak as the common people use to speak: for they speak of a dead carcass, as they do of a whole man.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Woman, why weepest thou?--You would think the vision too much for a lone woman. But absorbed in the one Object of her affection and pursuit, she speaks out her grief without fear.

Because, &c.--that is, Can I choose but weep, when "they have taken away," &c., repeating her very words to Peter and John. On this she turned herself and saw Jesus Himself standing beside her, but took Him for the gardener. Clad therefore in some such style He must have been. But if any ask, as too curious interpreters do, whence He got those habiliments, we answer [with OLSHAUSEN and LUTHARDT] where the two angels got theirs. Nor did the voice of His first words disclose Him to Mary--"Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?" He will try her ere he tell her. She answers not the stranger's question, but comes straight to her point with him.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. They have taken away my Lord] It was conjectured, on Joh 19:42, that the body of our Lord was only put here for the time being, that, after the Sabbath, they might carry it to a more proper place. Mary seems to refer to this: They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. This removal she probably attributed to some of our Lord's disciples, or to some of his friends.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Woman, why weepest thou? From the statements of the Evangelists, it may be readily concluded, that the angel held a long conversation; but John gives a brief summary of what was spoken, because this was sufficient for proving the resurrection of Christ. The conversation consists of reproof mingled with comfort. The angel reproves Mary for her excessive weeping, but, at the same time, mingles joy, when he says that there is no reason to weep, since Christ has risen.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(13) And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?—Comp. Mat_28:5.

Because they have taken away my Lord.—The passionate feeling of Joh_20:2 still has entire possession of her mind. It is now more fervent, for she is not addressing her own friends and the Lord’s disciples: “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.” (Comp. Note on the plural, “we know not,” in Joh_20:2.) She is here alone, speaking to strangers, and may, therefore, have used the singular, whether she went in the early morning with other women or not.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. Woman] See on Joh_2:4, Joh_19:26.

my Lord, and I know not] In Joh_20:2 it was ‘the Lord and we know not.’ In speaking to Apostles she includes other believers; in speaking to strangers she represents the relationship and the loss as personal. These words express the burden of her thoughts since she first saw that the stone had been removed. We may reasonably suppose that the Evangelist obtained his information from Mary Magdalene herself. “The extreme simplicity of the narrative, it may be added, reflects something of the solemn majesty of the scene. The sentences follow without any connecting particles till Joh_20:19. (Comp. c. 15)” Westcott in loco.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they say unto her, woman, why weepest thou?.... Signifying, that she had no reason to weep, but to rejoice and be glad; since, though the body of her Lord was not there, yet he was risen from the dead, and was alive. This they said, partly to rebuke her for her grief, and to comfort her under it: Beza's ancient copy adds here, as in Joh 20:15 "whom seekest thou?" and so does the Ethiopic version: "she saith unto them"; without any concern of mind about what they were, and as if they had been of the human kind; for her grief made her fearless, and she cared not who she opened the case to, so that she could get any relief, and any tidings of her Lord:

because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him; and which she thought was reason sufficient for her weeping; could she but have known, that if he was taken away, it was by his friends, and was well used, and she could have had the opportunity of paying her last respects to him, it would have been a satisfaction; but nothing short of this could dry up her tears.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

Ver. 13. Woman, why weepest thou?] Angels pity human frailty still, and secretly suggest comfort. But Mary had no such cause to cry, if she had known all, but to rejoice rather; so hath a Christian, in what condition soever, all things reckoned. Had Elizabeth known she should have been queen, she would not have wished herself a milkmaid. Saints are "heirs of the kingdom," saith James, Jas 2:5, heads destinated to the diadem, saith Tertullian; what mean they then to be at any time in their dumps?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They have taken away - That is the disciples or friends of Jesus who had laid him there. Perhaps it was understood that the body was deposited there only to remain over the Sabbath, with an intention then of removing it to some other place of burial. Hence, they hastened early in the morning to make preparation, and Mary supposed they had arrived before her and had taken him away.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Woman—A perfectly respectful address.

Why weepest thou?—Asked, not because they knew not why she wept, but to open the way to make her know that there was no reason to weep.

They have taken away—It may be that she supposed Joseph had intended the sepulchre to be but a temporary abode for the body, and had intended to remove it to some other place.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? keinoi here," says Westcott, "like the name inserted in ver. 15, marks the pause during which Mary regarded those before her without speaking." Here we witness angelic wonder at human incredulity. Angelic ministry to human sorrow; for the mystery of our tears does not arrest the sympathy of these triumphant spirits. Often, if we are compelled to put into words the supposed cause of our bitterest agony, we deliver ourselves from our fears. She saith unto them, as if she were speaking simply and naturally to human beings. However, Mary of Magdala alone of the women knows them to be "angels," but is so overpowered with the loss of her Lord that she does not quail or flee, but wails forth anew the language she had already uttered to the disciples. I weep because they have taken away my Lord. That "my" makes a characteristic difference from "the Lord" of whom she had spoken to Peter and John. She did not at the instant know that her Lord was the Lord of angels. The "I know," rather than "we know," shows unquestionably that now she is alone, and the other women have left her and are electrifying the city with their strange tales. I know not where they (who have taken his sacred body) have laid him.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. That the best company in the world will not satisfy or content such as are seeking for Jesus Christ, when they find not him whom their souls seek: Mary now enjoyed the presence and company of two angels, but this did not satisfy her in the absence of Christ himself.

Observe, 2. How passionately did Mary mourn for the loss and want of Christ’s bodily presence, thereby giving testimony of her great affection towards him; but truly our love to Christ is best shown, not by our passionate desires for his bodily presence, but by our holy longings after his spiritual presence in his word and ordinances here on earth, and his blessed and immediate presence in heaven.

Observe, 3. How Christ may be present with, and very near unto, his people, and yet not be presently discerned by them: Jesus stood by Mary, and she knew not that it was Jesus. Her not expecting a living Christ, was one cause why she did not discern him.

Observe, 4. How exceedingly Mary’s thoughts were taken up with Christ. She saith to the gardener, If thou have borne him hence.

What him? She doth not say whom, but her heart was so taken up with Christ, and her mind so full of him, that she concluded every body would understand whom she meant, though she did not say whom she meant.

Hence note, that the soul of a sincere believer is full of earnest and longing desires after Jesus Christ.

2. That such a soul is yet sometimes at a loss for Christ, and cannot tell where to find him.

3. That whilst the soul is at a loss for Christ, its desires are often quicker and more stirring after Christ. This was the case of Mary here; with the spouse by night on her bed, and early in the morning, she sought him whom her soul loved.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. τ. κύριόν μου … οἶδα. In Joh 20:2 it was τ. κύριον and οἴδαμεν. In speaking to Apostles she includes other believers; in speaking to strangers she represents the relationship and the loss as personal. These words express the burden of her thoughts since she first saw that the stone had been removed. She is so full of it that she has no thought of the strangeness of this appearance in the tomb. We may reasonably suppose that the Evangelist obtained his information from Mary herself. “The extreme simplicity of the narrative reflects something of the solemn majesty of the scene. The sentences follow without any connecting particles till Joh 20:19. Comp. c. 15.” (Westcott).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13.] Here again the finest psychological truth underlies the narrative. The other women (Mark, ver. 5: Luke, ver. 5) were afraid at the vision; but now Mary, having but one thought or desire, to recover the lost Body of her Lord (τὸν κύριόν μου), feels no fear.

The angels doubtless are proceeding further to assure her as they did the women before:—but this is broken off by the appearance of the Lord Himself, or perhaps by Mary’s turning away.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. καὶ (א a b d f g sah om. καί) λέγουσιν κτλ. All they say is “Woman, why are you weeping?” There is nothing in the Johannine narrative of any counsel given by the watchers at the tomb, or (except the use of the word “angels”) any hint that they were not ordinary men. In the other Gospels, the women are represented as being terrified when addressed by the angels at the tomb; but in Jn. Mary shows no fear, nor does she indicate by her demeanour that she has seen anything unusual. She answers her questioners quite simply, by telling them why she is in grief. The story, so far, has nothing of the miraculous about it; and it probably represents a tradition more primitive than that of the other Gospels, in that it may go back to Mary herself

For γύναι as a mode of address, see on 2:4.

῏Ηραν τὸν κύριον κτλ., repeated from v. 2 with the significant addition of μοῦ after κύριον.

οὐκ οἶδα, not οἴδαμεν as in v. 2, for the other women were not with Mary on this, her second, visit to the tomb.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

She saith. She is so absorbed in her grief and love that she is not appalled by the supernatural manifestation which, under ordinary circumstances, would have terrified her, but enters into conversation as if addressed by a human being.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.