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MARK 16:1 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Mark 16Mark 16:2
“And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.”
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body — the Sabbath's end (Saturday after sunset) is the first moment the women can purchase spices; they buy them Saturday night and come to the tomb at dawn Sunday. The anointing intention communicates that they are coming to complete the burial that the approaching Sabbath had prevented. The same three women who observed the burial (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joseph/James, Salome) are now returning to serve the dead as the chapter's first act.

Church Fathers on Mark 16:1

After the sadness of the sabbath, a happy day dawns upon them, which holds the chief place amongst days, for in it the chief light shines forth, and the Lord rises in triumph.

Pseudo-Jerome · 5th century

For these religious women after the burial of the Lord, as long as it was lawful to work, that is, up to sunset, prepared ointment, as Luke says. And because they could not finish their work from the shortness of the time, when the sabbath was over, that is, at sunset, as soon as the time for working came round again, they hastened to buy spices, as Mark says, that they might go in the morning to anoint the body of Jesus. Neither could they come to the sepulchre on the…

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation

For they do not understand the greatness and dignity of the wisdom of Christ. But they came according to the custom of the Jews to anoint the body of Christ, that it might remain sweet-smelling, and might not burst forth into moisture, for spices have the property of drying up, and absorb the moisture of the body, so that they keep the body from corruption.

Theophylact · 11th century
Read all 26 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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