According to most modern English gospel translations, including the New Revised Standard Version (below), when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary arrived at Jesus’ tomb, the stone protecting the entrance had been “rolled away.” But archaeology suggests this might not be the best translation of the original Greek term, kulio, which can also mean “moved” or “dislodged.”
Author Amos Kloner suggests that if we replace the term “rolled away” or “rolled back” with “moved” or “pulled back” in the following passages, we will come closer to understanding the scene that confronted the two Marys.
According to Matthew
“He [Joseph of Arimathea] went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away” (Matthew 27:58–60). “After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it” (Matthew 28:1–2).
According to Mark
“He [Pilate] granted the body to Joseph [of Arimathea]. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid. When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed” (Mark 15:45–16:5).
According to Luke
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen’” (Luke 24:1–5).
According to John
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw the stone had been removed from the tomb … Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet” (John 20:1, 11–12).
