Mark 16:3

New Living Translation

On the way they were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?”

King James Version (1611)
And they said among themselues, who shall roll vs away the stone from the doore of the sepulchre?

King James Version
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

English Standard Version
And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

New American Standard Bible
They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?"

New Century Version
They said to each other, "Who will roll away for us the stone that covers the entrance of the tomb?"

Amplified Bible
And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

Legacy Standard Bible
And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

Berean Standard Bible
They were asking one another, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?"

Contemporary English Version
On their way, they were asking one another, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?"

Complete Jewish Bible
They were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?"

Darby Translation
And they said to one another, Who shall roll us away the stone out of the door of the sepulchre?

Easy-to-Read Version
The women said to each other, "There is a large stone covering the entrance of the tomb. Who will move the stone for us?"

Geneva Bible (1587)
And they saide one to another, Who shall rolle vs away the stone from the doore of the sepulchre?

George Lamsa Translation
And they said among themselves, Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?

Good News Translation
On the way they said to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" (It was a very large stone.) Then they looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled back.

Lexham English Bible
And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

Literal Translation
And they said to themselves, Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?

American Standard Version
And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb?

Bible in Basic English
And they were saying among themselves, Who will get the stone rolled away from the door for us?

Hebrew Names Version
They were saying among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"

International Standard Version
They kept saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

Etheridge Translation
and they said between themselves, Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the sepulchre ? [fn]

Murdock Translation
And they said among them. selves: Who will roll back for us the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And they sayde among them selues, who shall roule vs away the stone from the doore of the sepulchre?

English Revised Version
And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb?

World English Bible
They were saying among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And they said one to another, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Weymouth's New Testament
and they were saying to one another, `Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thei seiden togidere, Who schal meue awey to vs the stoon fro the dore of the sepulcre?

Update Bible Version
And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb?

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll away for us the stone from the door of the sepulcher?

New English Translation
They had been asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

New King James Version
And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"

New Life Bible
They said to themselves, "Who will roll the stone away from the door of the grave for us?"

New Revised Standard
They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they were saying one to another - Who, shall roll away for us the stone, out of the door of the tomb?

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

Revised Standard Version
And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?"

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And they sayd one to another: who shall rolle vs awaye the stone from the dore of the sepulcre?

Young's Literal Translation
and they said among themselves, `Who shall roll away for us the stone out of the door of the sepulchre?'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& sayde one to another: Who shal rolle vs ye stone fro ye dore of the sepulcre?

Mace New Testament (1729)
and they said to one another, who will remove the stone from the mouth of the sepulchre for us?

Simplified Cowboy Version
they worried about how they were going to move the heavy stone that had been placed in front of the tomb.

Contextual Overview

¹ Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus' body. ² Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. ³ On the way they were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" ⁴ But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. ⁵ When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, ⁶ but the angel said, "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. ⁷ Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died." ⁸ The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.

---

[The most ancient manuscripts of Mark conclude with verse 16:8. Later manuscripts add one or both of the following endings.]

[Shorter Ending of Mark]

Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Who: Mark 15:46, Mark 15:47, Matthew 27:60-66

Reciprocal: Genesis 29:8 - roll Matthew 28:2 - for Luke 24:2 - General John 11:39 - Take John 20:1 - the stone

Cross-References

Genesis 16:1
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

Genesis 16:4
So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.

Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, "This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she's pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who's wrong—you or me!"

Genesis 25:6
But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.

Genesis 28:9
So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael's family and married one of Ishmael's daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife's name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son.

Genesis 30:4
So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.

Genesis 30:9
Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn't getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Genesis 32:22
During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them.

Genesis 35:22
While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it. These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:

2 Samuel 5:13
After moving from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more concubines and wives, and they had more sons and daughters.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they said among themselves,.... Either before they set out, or as they were going along:

who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? Which they saw was placed there by Joseph, or his orders: this was the only difficulty they had, that they were aware of; for they seem to know nothing of the sealing of the stone, and of the watch that was set to guard the sepulchre: things which were done on the sabbath day, on which they rested: for had they, in all likelihood they would never have attempted to have gone to it; the guard of soldiers would have been a sufficient discouragement: but all their concern was, how, and by whom, the stone should be rolled away, that lay at the door of the sepulchre; and perhaps their concern might be, not only on account of the largeness of the stone, as being too much for them to remove, but because such a stone defiled by touching it, according to the Jewish traditions i.

i Misn. Oholot, c. 2. sect 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 28:1-8.

Mark 16:1

Sweet spices - “Aromatics.” Substances used in embalming. The idea of sweetness is not, however, implied in the original. Many of the substances used for embalming were “bitter” - as, for example, myrrh - and none of them, perhaps, could properly be called “sweet.” The word “spices” expresses all that there is in the original.

Anoint him - Embalm him, or apply these spices to his body to keep it from putrefaction. This is proof that they did not suppose he would rise again; and the fact that they did not “expect” he would rise, gives more strength to the evidence for his resurrection.

Mark 16:4

It was very great - These words belong to the third verse: “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” for, the evangelist adds, it was very great.

Mark 16:5

Sitting on the right side - As they entered. The sepulchre was large enough to admit persons to go into it; not unlike, in that respect, our vaults.

Mark 16:7

Tell his disciples and Peter - It is remarkable that Peter is singled out for special notice. It was proof of the kindness and mercy of the Lord Jesus. Peter, just before the death of Jesus, had denied him. He had brought dishonor on his profession of attachment to him. It would have been right if the Lord Jesus had from that moment cast him off and noticed him no more. But he loved him still. Having loved him once, he loved unto the end, John 13:1. As a proof that he forgave him and still loved him, he sent him this “special” message - the assurance that though he had denied him, and had done much to aggravate his sufferings, yet he had risen, and was still his Lord and Redeemer. We are not to infer, because the angel said, “Tell his disciples and Peter,” that Peter was not still a disciple. The meaning is, “Tell his disciples, and especially Peter,” sending to him a particular message. Peter was still a disciple. Before his fall, Jesus had prayed for him that his faith should not fail Luke 22:32; and as the prayer of Jesus was “always” heard John 11:42, so it follows that Peter still retained faith sufficient to be a disciple, though he was suffered to fall into sin.

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 28:1-8.

Tell his disciples and Peter - It is remarkable that Peter is singled out for special notice. It was proof of the kindness and mercy of the Lord Jesus. Peter, just before the death of Jesus, had denied him. He had brought dishonor on his profession of attachment to him. It would have been right if the Lord Jesus had from that moment cast him off and noticed him no more. But he loved him still. Having loved him once, he loved unto the end, John 13:1. As a proof that he forgave him and still loved him, he sent him this “special” message - the assurance that though he had denied him, and had done much to aggravate his sufferings, yet he had risen, and was still his Lord and Redeemer. We are not to infer, because the angel said, “Tell his disciples and Peter,” that Peter was not still a disciple. The meaning is, “Tell his disciples, and especially Peter,” sending to him a particular message. Peter was still a disciple. Before his fall, Jesus had prayed for him that his faith should not fail Luke 22:32; and as the prayer of Jesus was “always” heard John 11:42, so it follows that Peter still retained faith sufficient to be a disciple, though he was suffered to fall into sin.