Verse 47. - And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid (ἐθεώρουν ποῦ τίθεται); literally, were beholding where he was laid. These women were two of the group mentioned at ver. 40. They remained, after the body of our Lord had been deposited, in sad and silent contemplation. The women appear to have broken up into two groups. One group went alone to purchase spices and ointments, which it was necessary for them to do before six o'clock, when the sabbath commenced; in readiness for the embalming. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses and Salome appear to have bought them after six o'clock on the Saturday night.
15:42-47 We are here attending the burial of our Lord Jesus. Oh that we may by grace be planted in the likeness of it! Joseph of Arimathea was one who waited for the kingdom of God. Those who hope for a share in its privileges, must own Christ's cause, when it seems to be crushed. This man God raised up for his service. There was a special providence, that Pilate should be so strict in his inquiry, that there might be no pretence to say Jesus was alive. Pilate gave Joseph leave to take down the body, and do what he pleased with it. Some of the women beheld where Jesus was laid, that they might come after the sabbath to anoint the dead body, because they had not time to do it before. Special notice was taken of Christ's sepulchre, because he was to rise again. And he will not forsake those who trust in him, and call upon him. Death, deprived of its sting, will soon end the believer's sorrows, as it ended those of the Saviour.
And Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses,.... Or Joseph, as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read:
beheld where he was laid: very likely they saw Joseph, and his men, take him down from the cross, and they followed him, and observed where he laid him; or, as the Ethiopic version reads, "where they buried him"; placing themselves, as Matthew suggests, right "over against the sepulchre", Matthew 27:61; so that they were witnesses of his death, and of his burial, as they afterwards were of his resurrection from the dead.
beheld where he was laid: very likely they saw Joseph, and his men, take him down from the cross, and they followed him, and observed where he laid him; or, as the Ethiopic version reads, "where they buried him"; placing themselves, as Matthew suggests, right "over against the sepulchre", Matthew 27:61; so that they were witnesses of his death, and of his burial, as they afterwards were of his resurrection from the dead.