St John 20: 1-18
[1]Τῇ δὲ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ ἔρχεται πρωῒ σκοτίας ἔτι οὔσης εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, καὶ βλέπει τὸν λίθον ἠρμένον ἐκ τοῦ μνημείου.
[2]τρέχει οὖν καὶ ἔρχεται πρὸς Σίμωνα Πέτρον καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἄλλον μαθητὴν ὃν ἐφίλει ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· ἦραν τὸν Κύριον ἐκ τοῦ μνημείου, καὶ οὐκ οἴδαμεν ποῦ ἔθηκαν αὐτόν.
[3]ἐξῆλθεν οὖν ὁ Πέτρος καὶ ὁ ἄλλος μαθητὴς καὶ ἤρχοντο εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον.
[4]ἔτρεχον δὲ οἱ δύο ὁμοῦ· καὶ ὁ ἄλλος μαθητὴς προέδραμε τάχιον τοῦ Πέτρου καὶ ἦλθε πρῶτος εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον,
[5]καὶ παρακύψας βλέπει κείμενα τὰ ὀθόνια, οὐ μέντοι εἰσῆλθεν.
[6]ἔρχεται οὖν Σίμων Πέτρος ἀκολουθῶν αὐτῷ, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον καὶ θεωρεῖ τὰ ὀθόνια κείμενα,
[7]καὶ τὸ σουδάριον, ὃ ἦν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, οὐ μετὰ τῶν ὀθονίων κείμενον, ἀλλὰ χωρὶς ἐντετυλιγμένον εἰς ἕνα τόπον.
[8]τότε οὖν εἰσῆλθε καὶ ὁ ἄλλος μαθητὴς ὁ ἐλθὼν πρῶτος εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον, καὶ εἶδε καὶ ἐπίστευσεν·
[9]οὐδέπω γὰρ ᾔδεισαν τὴν γραφὴν ὅτι δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι.
[10]ἀπῆλθον οὖν πάλιν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς οἱ μαθηταί.
[11]Μαρία δὲ εἱστήκει πρὸς τῷ μνημείῳ κλαίουσα ἔξω.
[12]ὡς οὖν ἔκλαιε, παρέκυψεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον καὶ θεωρεῖ δύο ἀγγέλους ἐν λευκοῖς καθεζομένους, ἕνα πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ ἕνα πρὸς τοῖς ποσίν, ὅπου ἔκειτο τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ.
[13]καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῇ ἐκεῖνοι· γύναι, τί κλαίεις; λέγει αὐτοῖς· ὅτι ἦραν τὸν Κύριόν μου, καὶ οὐκ οἶδα ποῦ ἔθηκαν αὐτόν.
[14]καὶ ταῦτα εἰποῦσα ἐστράφη εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, καὶ θεωρεῖ τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν ἑστῶτα, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι ᾿Ιησοῦς ἐστι.
[15]λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· γύναι, τί κλαίεις; τίνα ζητεῖς; ἐκείνη δοκοῦσα ὅτι ὁ κηπουρός ἐστι, λέγει αὐτῷ· κύριε, εἰ σὺ ἐβάστασαςαὐτόν, εἰπέ μοι ποῦ ἔθηκας αὐτόν, κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἀρῶ.
[16]λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· Μαρία. στραφεῖσα ἐκείνη λέγει αὐτῷ· ῥαββουνί, ὃ λέγεται, διδάσκαλε.
[17]λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· μή μου ἅπτου· οὔπω γὰρ ἀναβέβηκα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου· πορεύου δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφούς μου καὶ εἰπὲ αὐτοῖς· ἀναβαίνω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ πατέρα ὑμῶν, καὶ Θεόν μου καὶ Θεὸν ὑμῶν.
[18]ἔρχεται Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ ἀπαγγέλλουσα τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὅτι ἑώρακε τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ταῦτα εἶπεν αὐτῇ.
Comments
The narrative is cast largely in the historic present, (i.e. the present indicative is used instead of the aorist indicative). Such vivid use of the present to relate past events is typical of St John, Mark, and Matthew. The eager race of Peter and John to the tomb (evoked by an unusual ‘volitive’ imperfect tense), the slow motion of their viewing of the inside of the tomb, their interlocking gazes (imitated by chiasmus), Mary Magdalen’s continuous crying (the verb ‘to cry, weep’ occurs three times in rapid succession), the short conversations introduced with the historic present ‘she says’, ‘he says’, ‘they say’, Μary’s persistent holding of Jesus—all this is conveyed in a casual, vernacular tone.
[1] ἔρχεται… καὶ βλέπει: ‘she comes…and sees’. Two independent sentences coordinated by καὶ; the sense is ‘When Mary Magdalen went to the tomb, she saw.’ St John is generally fond of the historic present, which is used by historians to enliven a chronicle of events or may just indicate vernacular usage. Either way, ‘the narrator imagines himself to be present’ (Blass-Debr.-Funk, par. 321, p.167); in fact the narrator was present in the main events recounted. Many of the historic presents employed throughout the text are conjoined with past tenses, as in v. 5, βλέπει… οὐ μέντοι εἰσῆλθεν, ‘He sees… but did not enter.’ In such cases the present that replaces the aorist (e.g., ‘He sees’) usually has the same meaning as the aorist. But there is an exception, see on v. 6.
[2] τρέχει οὖν καὶ ἔρχεται: the particle οὖν is continuative, it pushes the narrative forward: ‘So she runs and goes…’ Resumptive οὖν will be repeated many times in the narrative. Again, note the historic presents, including λέγει (‘and [καὶ] she says’). Λέγει and similar vbs are used to report a conversation: this is vernacular usage (Blass-Debr.-Funk, ibid.).
οὐκ οἴδαμεν: Mary’s direct speech is quoted in the present tense, ‘We don’t know…’ Who we are is debated.
[3] ἐξῆλθεν οὖν: οὖν is continuative herse as in v. 2 and elsewhere. ‘So Peter went out’.
ἤρχοντο εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον: ἤρχοντο, impf., does not suggest iteration in the past (‘they kept going’) but is conative or rather, volitive, i.e., ‘they eagerly went’, as is ἔτρεχον, v. 4,
[5] παρακύψας βλέπει κείμενα τὰ ὀθόνια: ‘peeking inside, he sees LYING the linen strips’, the placement of κείμενα (‘lying on the ground’) is emphatic, and sets in motion the sequence of St John’s spotting something on the ground and then realising it is the wrappings.
[6] ἔρχεται οὖν Σίμων Πέτρος… καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον καὶ θεωρεῖ τὰ ὀθόνια κείμενα: οὖν, once again continuative, ‘So Simon Peter comes… The aor. εἰσῆλθεν, ‘entered’, denotes a one-off, brief (‘punctiliar’) action. As in the previous verse, the historic present that follows may imply a continuous action in the imagined present, ‘and he went into the tomb and he sees/ is seeing the linen strips lying.’ Peter took a long look at the wrappings. τὰ ὀθόνια κείμενα (‘the linen strips lying’) forms a chiasmus with κείμενα τὰ ὀθόνια (‘lying the linen cloths’) of the previous verse. The observations of John and Peter are repeated and bound by the chiasmus.
[7] καὶ τὸ σουδάριον: A further detail comes into view. Peter also sees the ‘face veil’ (lit. for wiping sudor, Latin for ‘sweat’), which would have been wrapped around the face of the deceased.
οὐ μετὰ τῶν ὀθονίων κείμενον: the narrator repeats κείμενον for a third time, ‘NOT lying together with the linen cloths’.
ἀλλὰ χωρὶς ἐντετυλιγμένον εἰς ἕνα τόπον: ‘but separately folded up in one place’.
[8] τότε οὖν: the particle οὖν is continuative as in vv. 2, 3, 6,8, 10, and 12.
[9] δεῖ αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι: δεῖ, ‘it is necessary’, construed with an inf., as here. It is avivid present, and expresses something necessitated by ‘divine decree’ (EDNT s.v. δεῖ, 2).
[12] ἔκλαιε: impf. (< κλαίω), ‘she was crying, kept crying’; cf. the part. κλαίουσα, ‘weeping, lament’ in v. 11. Cf. 13 immed. below. The vb ‘to weep’ is repeated three times. Note the succession of historic presents in vv. 12-18, ‘she sees, they say to her, she says to them, etc.’
[13] γύναι, τί κλαίεις;: γύναι, voc., ‘woman’ is a neutral address, neither deferential nor intimate. The question will be repeated verbatim by Jesus in v. 15.
[14] καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι ᾿Ιησοῦς ἐστι: ‘and she did not know that it is Jesus’; καὶ (‘and’) is contrastive (=’but’). The indirect discourse is vivid, ‘that it is Jesus’ (instead of the less vivid ‘that it was Jesus’). Jesus ‘is’, he lives on in St John’s narrative.
[17] μή μου ἅπτου: ἅπτου, 2nd pers. sg., present imperative < ἅπτομαι, mid., c. gen., ‘grasp a person or their body’ (Cambridge Lexicon s.v., 10). ‘Don’t keep clinging to me, don’t hold on to me.’
[18] ἑώρακε τὸν Κύριον: ‘Mary Magdalen goes to the disciples declaring that she has seen the Lord’, a vivid pf. tense in indirect discourse, cf. on v. 14 above.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 