Mark 16:3

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?"

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?

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

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 The next day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus' body. ² Very early on that day, the first day of the week, the women were going to the tomb. It was very early after sunrise. ³ The women said to each other, "There is a large stone covering the entrance of the tomb. Who will move the stone for us?" ⁴ Then the women looked and saw that the stone was moved. The stone was very large, but it was moved away from the entrance. ⁵ The women walked into the tomb and saw a young man there wearing a white robe. He was sitting on the right side of the tomb. The women were afraid. ⁶ But the man said, "Don't be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, the one who was killed on a cross. He has risen from death! He is not here. Look, here is the place they put him when he was dead. ⁷ Now go and tell his followers. And be sure to tell Peter. Tell them, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee and will be there before you come. You will see him there, as he told you before.'" ⁸ The women were very afraid and confused. They left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell about what happened, because they were afraid.

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
Sarai was Abram's wife, but she did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar.

Genesis 16:4
Abram slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar realized this, she became very proud and began to feel that she was better than Sarai her owner.

Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, "My slave girl now hates me, and I blame you for this. I gave her to you, and she became pregnant. Then she began to feel that she is better than I am. I want the Lord to judge which of us is right."

Genesis 28:9
Esau already had two wives, but he went to Abraham's son Ishmael and married another woman, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. Mahalath was Nebaioth's sister.

Genesis 30:4
So Rachel gave Bilhah to her husband Jacob. He had sexual relations with Bilhah.

Genesis 30:9
Leah saw that she could have no more children. So she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob.

Genesis 32:22
During the night, Jacob got up and began moving his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons across the Jabbok River at the crossing.

Genesis 35:22
Israel stayed there for a short time. While he was there, Reuben slept with Israel's slave woman Bilhah. Israel heard about this, and he was very angry. These are the names of Jacob's twelve sons:

2 Samuel 5:13
David moved from Hebron to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, he got more slave women and wives. So David had more children who were born in Jerusalem.

1 Kings 11:3
He had 700 wives who were the daughters of leaders from other nations. He also had 300 slave women who were like wives to him. His wives caused him to turn away from God.

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.