Matthew Chapter 27 verse 56 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 56. - The historian mentions the most prominent of these pious women. Mary Magdalene (ἡ Μαγδαληςή, the Magdalene). She was a native of Magdala (Matthew 15:39, where see note), a small village on the shore of Gennesaret. Some have identified her with the sister of Lazarus, chiefly because, taking her to be the "sinner" mentioned in Luke 7:37, she is related to have behaved in a somewhat similar way to our Lord as her namesake. But this is clearly a mistake. Of the two events, the locality, the scene, the occasion, the circumstances, are different. Of this Mary of Magdala we really know nothing, except that out of her Jesus had cast seven devils (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2). That these were demons of impurity, or that she was the sinful woman who anointed our Lord, there is nothing whatever to prove; though the notion connected with the name Magdalene is so rooted in men's minds and language that it is impossible to eradicate it, however erroneous it may be shown to be. She had probably been one who was melancholy mad, and subject to fits; Christ had seen the spiritual cause of this malady, and removed it by freeing her from demoniacal possession. What wonder is it that she followed him from Galilee, tending him lovingly and anxiously until the end? Mary the mother of James and Joses. Some manuscripts read Joseph; but the Received Text is correct. These two persons are mentioned among our Lord's "brethren" in Matthew 13:55. The former is called "James the Less" (Mark 15:40), and is the apostle of that name. Mary is usually supposed to be the wife of Cleophas (John 19:25), and the sister of the mother of our Lord; so that these two disciples would be Christ's first cousins. The matter is shrouded in difficulty, and cannot be decided with absolute certainty. From the present passage, at any rate, one fact is shown, that they were not Christ's uterine brothers - a truth which needed no mention, were not the dishonouring heresy of Helvidius still rife among us. The mother of Zebedee's children. Salome (Matthew 20:20; Mark 15:40). The rejection of her ambitious petition had not lessened her love and devotion to Christ.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(56) Mary Magdalene.--This is the first mention of the name in St. Matthew. The most natural explanation of it is that she came from the town of Magdala, or Magadan (the reading of the chief MSS.), not far from Tiberias, on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. The two prominent facts in her history prior to her connection with the Resurrection are, (1) that our Lord had cast "seven devils out of her" (Mark 16:9, Luke 8:2)--i.e., had freed her from some specially aggravated form of demoniacal possession--and that she followed Him and ministered to Him of her substance. The question whether she was identical (1) with Mary the sister of Lazarus, or (2) with the "woman which was a sinner" of Luke 7:37, will be better discussed in the Notes on the latter passage. It may be enough to intimate here my conviction that there is not the shadow of any evidence for either identification.Mary the mother of James and Joses.--In St. Mark (Mark 15:40) she is described as the mother of "James the Less" (or, better, the Little) "and Joses," the epithet distinguishing the former from James the son of Zebedee, and possibly also from James the son of Alphaeus. She may, however, have been identical with the wife of Clopas (possibly another form of Alphaeus) mentioned in John 19:25 as standing near the cross with the mother of the Lord, and, according to a natural construction of the words, described as her sister. In this case, the word "Little" would attach to the son of that sister. Whether the two names, which occur also in the list of the "brethren of the Lord" (Mark 6:3), indicate that she was the mother of those brethren, is a point which we have no evidence to settle. The presumption seems to me against it, as on this supposition the "brethren" would be identical with the three sons of Alphaeus in the list of the Twelve, a view which we have seen reason to reject (see Note on Matthew 12:46). . . .