What Does Matthew 27:56 Mean?
Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.THE KEY
This verse names belonging in two forms: Mary is tied to a place whose name carries “tower,” while the other women are tied to their children.
THE MEANING
The verse keeps these women distinct and present through the names and relationships it preserves. Mary Magdalene is identified by her place association, while the other women are identified through motherhood. Belonging takes more than one shape within this single line.
THE ROOT
Μαγδαληνή
Magdalēnē
GROWS FROM
Μαγδαλ-
The Greek place-name stem associated with Magdala, commonly linked to the Semitic word for “tower.”
“Magdalene” is a place-derived identifier: it associates Mary with Magdala, whose name is commonly connected to the Semitic word for tower. The verse thus names her through place, while it names the other women through family ties.
ALSO GROWS
Mágdala: Magdala, the place-name from which the designation Magdalene is formed.
Μάγδαλα
The place-name underlies Mary’s identifier, preserving her association with a location.
migdal: Tower; a raised structure or stronghold.
מִגְדָּל
This Semitic cognate shares the consonants M-G-D-L and is commonly understood behind Magdala’s name.
μήτηρ
mētēr
GROWS FROM
μητρ-
The Greek maternal stem: mother and the relationship of motherhood.
Matthew uses the same Greek maternal noun for Mary’s relation to James and Joses and for the mother of Zebedee’s sons. The shared stem holds these women in parallel through motherhood, even as their family ties remain distinct.
ALSO GROWS
mētrikos: Maternal; belonging to or characteristic of a mother.
μητρικός
The adjective carries the same maternal stem, making the shared family relation audible across the verse.
mētropolis: Mother-city; a city regarded as the source of other settlements.
μητρόπολις
The compound preserves μήτηρ as a source or origin, extending the maternal stem beyond family relations.
THE PATTERN
Scripture keeps women present in pivotal scenes by naming them and preserving the relationships they carry into the scene.
And Miriam the prophet, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out behind her with timbrels and with dances.Now there stood beside the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.These all held fast with one passion in prayer and pleading, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.THE THREAD
Now there stood beside the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.John uses the same Greek noun μήτηρ (mētēr, “mother”) for Jesus’ mother and her sister that Matthew uses for the mothers named here. The repeated maternal word links the women across both accounts, while Magdalene remains identified through her place association.
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