June 25th, 2024
107. How many women were at the tomb on Easter?
How many women were at the tomb on Easter? The lists seem confusing.
The Women Around Jesus
There were many women who were touched by Jesus’ ministry—enough to be the subject of a book. Most important of course was his mother Mary. Second most prominent—Mary Magdalene. Also the many women Jesus healed. In this FAQ we will discuss only the women who were present at the cross and at the tomb on Good Friday and Easter.
The Women of Easter
In the different Gospels the lists of the women who were present on Good Friday and in the Easter story are not identical, so the lists raise some questions about how many women were present and who they were.
Matthew 27:56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Matthew 28:1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
Mark 15:40, 47 There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where the body was laid.
Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint Jesus.
The lists in Matthew and Mark seem to name three women: 1. Mary Magdalene, named in both lists; 2. Mary the mother of James and Joseph = Mary the mother of James the Less (or Younger) and of Joses; and 3. the mother of the sons of Zebedee = Salome. It appears that there were other women present besides those named.
John 19:25 names Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene as women standing near the cross. (Only Mary Magdalene is mentioned on Easter in John 20).
Here the question is whether there are three women or four. Are Jesus’ mother’s sister and Mary wife of Clopas the same person? Is Mary the wife of Clopas also the mother of James and Joseph? Is Mary’s sister Salome? It is possible that the list in John 19:25 refers to the same individuals as the previous lists, plus Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is added to the list because of Jesus’ words of her and the apostle John.
Luke 23:49, 55 49All those who knew Jesus, and the women who followed with him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. 55The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed after Joseph, and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid there.
The women are not named in Luke’s Easter account until verse 24:10:
Luke 24:10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.
In Luke 24:10 an additional woman is named, Joanna. Again the account mentions that other women were present.
Luke 8:2-3 Some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; 3Joanna, the wife of Cuza, Herod’s household manager; Susanna; and many others who provided support for them out of their own possessions.
This provides more information about some of the women and adds another name, Susanna.
It seems there were five women named in the Easter accounts (Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Joses, Mary wife of Clopas, Salome, and Joanna) but other women also seem to have been present. Here is a summary of the common understanding about them.
Mary Magdalene
She was probably from the town of Magdala on the west bank of the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus delivered her from seven demons (Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9). She is not the sinful woman in Luke 7.
She was a witness to the crucifixion and burial (Matt. 27:61; 28:1; Mark 15:40, 47; John 19:25).
She was among the women who went to the tomb on Easter Sunday (Mark 16:1; John 20:1).
She was the first person to see Jesus alive (Mark 16:9).
She told the other disciples about his resurrection (Luke 24:10; John 20:18).
Mary (mother of James and Joses/Joseph)
She was a witness of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection appearances.
Her sons were named James the Younger or Less and Joses/Joseph (Matt. 27:61; 27:56; Mark 15:40, 47).
Mary (wife of Clopas)
She was a Galilean witness of Jesus’s crucifixion.
In John 19:25, the grammar may indicate that “his mother’s sister” equals “Mary the wife of Clopas,” rather than two separate women (“his mother’s sister” + “Mary the wife of Clopas”). The identity of “his mother’s sister” is a key disputed point.
According to Hegesippus, as quoted by the historian Eusebius, Mary’s husband Clopas was the brother of Joseph of Nazareth (Hist. Eccl. 3.11; 3.32.6; 4.22.4). If so, Jesus was Mary and Clopas’s nephew. This seems to conflict with the previous point that Mary the mother of Clopas is the Virgin Mary’s sister, unless “sister” means “ sister in law” or there was a double relationship. Would Mary’s sister also be named Mary?
It seems wise not to place too much confidence in traditional stories about Mary’s family.
Their son Simeon (Jesus’s cousin) became a leader of the Jerusalem church, succeeding James the brother of Jesus.
Salome (mother of James and John)
She was one of Jesus’s followers in Galilee.
She witnessed the crucifixion and went to the tomb on Sunday (Mark 15:40; 16:1).
She is identified as the mother of the sons of Zebedee (i.e., the apostles James and John).
Some traditions identify her as the Virgin Mary’s sister.
Joanna (wife of Cuza)
Among the first women to discover the empty tomb (Luke 24:10)
Her husband was Cuza, the manager or steward of King Herod Antipas (Luke 8:3).
She followed Jesus and helped to provide financially for his ministry, along with Susanna and many others (Luke 8:3).
Mary (mother of Jesus, wife and widow of Joseph of Nazareth)
She gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, moved with her son and her husband Joseph to Egypt for a time; then she moved to Nazareth where they raised him.
She was present at Jesus’s crucifixion, and she witnessed his post-resurrection life.
From the cross Jesus entrusted his widowed mother to John’s care, and she went to live in his home (John 19:25-27)—perhaps because Mary’s other sons were not yet believers (John 7:5; see also Matt. 13:57; Mark 3:21, 31; 6:4).
Mary had at least six other children (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:2-3; Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:4-5; Gal. 1:19), including four sons—James (author of the biblical book of James), Joseph/Joses, Simon, and Judas/Jude (author of the biblical book of Jude)—and least two daughters (Mark 6:3). Some believe that Jesus’ brothers and sisters were not Mary’s children but her step-children.
The data is not sufficient for us to be certain of all the suggested identifications.