Luke 24

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared, and some other women came with them.

1Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

NoteJewish days ran from sunset to sunset, and the Sabbath, Saturday, was a day on which no work could be done. The women had prepared spices before the Sabbath began on Friday evening and had to wait until Sunday morning, the first day of the week, to use them. The spices were aromatic oils and powders packed around a corpse to slow and mask decay; the visit was to finish a burial that had been done in haste.

2They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb.

2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

NoteA rock-cut tomb of this kind was closed with a large stone, either a disc rolled along a channel or a plug-shaped block wedged into the opening. Either way it took several people to move, which is why the women had been wondering who would shift it for them.

3They went inside, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

4While they were standing there completely puzzled about this, two men in bright, shining clothes suddenly stood beside them.

4And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

Note"Behold" in the King James is not a command to the reader to look. It is the translators' way of rendering a word that marks something sudden or startling, closer to "and there, all at once."

5The women were afraid and bowed their faces to the ground. The two men said to them, "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?

5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

NoteDropping the face toward the ground was the ordinary gesture of fear and deference before a king or a heavenly messenger, not a posture of prayer.

6He is not here. He has risen. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee.

6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

7He said that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be nailed to a cross, and rise again on the third day."

7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

Note"The Son of man" is the title Jesus regularly uses for himself in the Gospels. In ordinary Hebrew and Aramaic it can simply mean a human being, but it also echoes a figure in the book of Daniel who is given lasting authority, and the phrase carries both senses at once. Crucifixion was the Roman public execution reserved for slaves, rebels and provincials: the condemned man was fastened to a wooden beam and left to die of exhaustion and suffocation.

8Then the women remembered what he had said.

8And they remembered his words,

9They came back from the tomb and reported all of this to the eleven apostles and to everyone else there.

9And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

Note"The eleven" is the group of twelve close followers Jesus had chosen, now short one man after Judas. Luke uses the number as a name for the group, the way one might say "the board."

10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

10It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.

NoteJoanna was introduced earlier in Luke as the wife of Chuza, an official in Herod's household, so she was a woman of some standing. "Mary the mother of James" is a way of distinguishing her from the other Marys, since the name was extremely common.

11But what the women said sounded to them like nonsense, and they did not believe them.

11And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.

Note"Idle tales" translates a Greek word used in medical writing for the babbling of someone delirious with fever. It is stronger than "nonsense": it means talk not worth taking seriously. In Jewish legal practice of the period a woman's testimony was generally not accepted as evidence, which is part of why the report landed the way it did.

12Peter, though, got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there by themselves. Then he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

12Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

NoteThe "linen clothes" are the burial wrappings, long strips of cloth wound around the body with the spices. Seeing them lying there and the body gone is what puzzles Peter. Some ancient copies of Luke do not contain this verse at all.

13That same day, two of them were walking to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

13And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.

Note"Threescore" means sixty, and a furlong here stands for the Greek stadion, about 600 feet, so sixty of them is roughly seven miles, a walk of two to three hours. The exact site of Emmaus is no longer known.

14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

14And they talked together of all these things which had happened.

15While they were talking it over and trying to work it out, Jesus himself came near and walked along with them.

15And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

16But they were kept from recognizing him.

16But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

Note"Holden" is simply the old past participle of "hold." The Greek is passive and does not say who or what kept them from recognizing him, and the rendering leaves that open as the original does.

17He said to them, "What are you two talking about with each other as you walk along, looking so sad?"

17And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

Note"Communications" in 1611 English meant conversation, not messages or technology. The word has narrowed since.

18One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know what has happened there these last few days?"

18And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

NoteJerusalem filled with pilgrims at Passover, so the city was full of outsiders. Cleopas is asking whether this man is the one visitor in town who somehow missed the news everyone else has been talking about.

19"What things?" he asked. They said to him, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet, powerful in what he did and what he said, in the sight of God and all the people.

19And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:

Note"Mighty in deed and word" describes a prophet in the classic mold, one whose actions and whose speech both carried force. Nazareth was a small and unremarkable village in Galilee, and identifying a man by his home town was the normal way of saying which Jesus you meant.

20Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they nailed him to a cross.

20And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

NoteThe chief priests were the senior families who ran the temple, and together with the other "rulers" they made up the council that governed Jewish internal affairs under Roman oversight. The council could not carry out an execution itself, which is why it handed Jesus over to the Roman governor.

21But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to set Israel free. On top of all that, this is the third day since it all happened.

21But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.

NoteTo "redeem" was originally a commercial word: to buy something or someone back out of debt or slavery. The hope in the phrase "redeemed Israel" was for national liberation, freedom from Roman rule. Days were counted inclusively, so Friday counted as the first day and Sunday as the third.

22What is more, some of the women in our group amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning,

22Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;

23and they did not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels, who said that he is alive.

23And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.

24Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him."

24And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.

25Then he said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow your hearts are to believe everything the prophets said.

25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Note"Fools" translates a word that means unperceiving or slow to put things together, not stupid or wicked. "Slow of heart" uses "heart" in its Hebrew sense, the seat of thought and will rather than of feeling, so it is closer to slow to grasp than to unfeeling.

26Did the Christ not have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?"

26Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

Note"Christ" is not a surname. It is the Greek word for "anointed one," translating the Hebrew title Messiah. Kings and priests were installed by having oil poured over the head, and the title came to mean the deliverer Israel expected.

27Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them what all the scriptures said about himself.

27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Note"Moses and all the prophets" names the parts of the Jewish scriptures: the five books attributed to Moses, then the prophetic books. "Expounded" means explained or interpreted, and the word behind it is the one from which "hermeneutics" comes.

28They came near the village they were going to, and he acted as if he were going on farther.

28And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.

29But they urged him to stay, saying, "Stay with us. It is almost evening, and the day is nearly over." So he went in to stay with them.

29But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.

NoteTravel after dark was dangerous, and pressing a guest to stay the night was the expected courtesy rather than mere politeness. "Abide" and "tarry" both simply mean stay.

30While he was at the table eating with them, he took bread, gave thanks for it, broke it, and gave it to them.

30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

Note"Sat at meat" is old English for being at a meal; "meat" in 1611 meant food of any kind. Diners reclined on their sides around a low table rather than sitting on chairs. Taking the bread, giving thanks, breaking it and distributing it was the job of the host or the head of the household, so the guest here has quietly taken the host's role.

31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.

32They said to each other, "Weren't our hearts burning inside us while he talked with us on the road and opened up the scriptures to us?"

32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Note"Our heart burned within us" was an idiom for being stirred or set alight inside, the way we might say something made our pulse race.

33They got up that very hour and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven apostles gathered together with the others who were with them.

33And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,

34They were saying, "The Lord has really risen, and he has appeared to Simon!"

34Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.

NoteSimon is Simon Peter, the same man who ran to the tomb in verse 12. Jesus had given him the additional name Peter, and Luke uses both.

35Then the two told what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized him when he broke the bread.

35And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

36While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

36And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Note"Peace be unto you" is the ordinary everyday greeting, the Hebrew shalom, roughly "hello" but carrying the fuller sense of wholeness and wellbeing.

37But they were startled and terrified. They thought they were seeing a ghost.

37But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

Note"Affrighted" is simply the older form of frightened. The word translated "spirit" here means the shade of a dead person, what we would call a ghost; the common ancient assumption was that such an apparition had no solid body.

38He said to them, "Why are you upset? Why are these doubts coming up in your hearts?

38And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

39Look at my hands and my feet. It is really me. Touch me and see. A spirit does not have flesh and bones, but you can see that I do."

39Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

Note"Handle me" means touch me, take hold of me. The usual pairing in Greek and Hebrew is "flesh and blood" for a living human being; "flesh and bones" here points to a body with physical substance.

40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

40And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.

41They still could not believe it for joy, and they were amazed. So he said to them, "Do you have anything here to eat?"

41And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?

Note"Meat" in the King James means food of any kind, not flesh specifically. Jesus is asking whether they have anything at all to eat. "Believed not for joy" describes the state of finding news too good to take in.

42They gave him a piece of broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb.

42And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.

NoteHoneycomb appears here in some ancient copies of Luke and not in others, which is why some modern translations mention only the fish.

43He took it and ate it in front of them.

43And he took it, and did eat before them.

44He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."

44And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Note"The law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms" names the three divisions of the Jewish scriptures as they were then reckoned: the five books of the Law, the prophetic books, and the collection of writings that opens with the Psalms. Naming all three is a way of saying the whole of scripture.

45Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures.

45Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

46He said to them, "This is what is written: the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day.

46And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

Note"Behoved" is an old word meaning it was necessary, it had to be so.

47And in his name, a call to turn from sin and the forgiveness of sins would be announced to all nations, starting at Jerusalem.

47And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Note"Repentance" translates a word meaning a change of mind that turns into a change of direction, not sorrow or regret by itself. "Remission" is a release or cancellation, the word used for wiping out a debt, and here means the letting go of sins. "All nations" is the standard phrase for the peoples outside Israel.

48You are witnesses of these things.

48And ye are witnesses of these things.

49Now I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from above."

49And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Note"The promise of my Father" is a compressed way of saying what my Father promised. "Endued" means clothed or invested: the image is of having power put on you like a garment, not generated from within. "Tarry" means wait.

50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

50And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

NoteBethany was a village about two miles from Jerusalem, on the far side of the Mount of Olives. Lifting both hands over people was the formal gesture a priest made when pronouncing a blessing over the congregation.

51While he was blessing them, he left them and was carried up into heaven.

51And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

NoteSome ancient copies of Luke end the verse at "was parted from them" and do not have the words about being carried up into heaven.

52They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem full of joy.

52And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

53And they were always in the temple, praising and thanking God. Amen.

53And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

NoteThe temple was the single national sanctuary in Jerusalem, with large public courts where people gathered daily; being "continually in the temple" means in those courts, not inside the sanctuary building itself. "Amen" is a Hebrew word meaning something like "truly" or "so be it," used to close a prayer or a book.