InEastern Orthodox Christian tradition theMyrrhbearers (Greek:Μυροφόροι;Latin:Myrophora;Serbian:мироноснице;Church Slavonic:Жены́-мѷроно́сицы;Romanian:mironosițe) are the individuals mentioned in theNew Testament who were directly involved in the burial or who discovered theempty tomb following theresurrection of Jesus. The term traditionally refers to the women who came withmyrrh to thetomb of Christ early in the morning to find it empty. Also included areJoseph of Arimathea andNicodemus, who took the body of Jesus down from the cross, anointed it withmyrrh andaloes, wrapped it in cleanlinen, and placed it in a new tomb.[a] InWestern Christianity, thewomen at the tomb,the Three Marys or other variants are the terms normally used.
The women followed Jesus during his earthly ministry inGalilee, providing for him and his followers out of their own means.[b] They remained faithful to him even during the most dangerous time of his arrest and execution, and not only stood by the cross, but accompanied him to his burial, noticing where the tomb was located. Because of the impendingShabbat (Sabbath), it was necessary for the burial preparations to be brief. Jewish custom at the time dictated that mourners return to the tomb every day for three days. Once the Sabbath had passed, the women returned at the earliest possible moment, bringing myrrh to anoint the body. It was at this point that the Resurrection was revealed to them, and they were commissioned to go and tell theApostles. They were, in effect, the apostles to the Apostles. For this reason, the myrrhbearing women, especiallyMary Magdalene, are sometimes referred to as "equal to the Apostles."
Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly.[c] He went toPontius Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus and, together with Nicodemus, hurriedly prepared the body for burial. He donated his own newtomb for the burial. A native ofArimathea, he was apparently a man of wealth, and probably a member of theSanhedrin.Sanhedrin is the way theNew Testament Greek:bouleutēs,lit. 'counselor', is often interpreted inMatthew 27:57.[d] andLuke 23:50.[e] Joseph was an "honourable counselor, who waited" (or "was searching") for thekingdom of God.[f] Luke describes him as "a good man, and just".[g]
Nicodemus (Greek:Νικόδημος) was aPharisee, first mentioned early in theGospel of John when he visits Jesus to listen to his teachings; he comes by night out of fear.[h] He is mentioned again when he states the teachingof the Law of Moses concerning the arrest of Jesus during theFeast of Tabernacles.[i] He is last mentioned following the Crucifixion, when he and Joseph of Arimathea prepare the body of Jesus for burial.[j] There is anapocryphalGospel of Nicodemus that purports to be written by him.
The Myrrhbearers are traditionally listed as:[1]
There are also generally accepted to be other Myrrhbearers, whose names are not known.
In theEastern Orthodox andGreek Catholic Churches, theThird Sunday ofPascha (i.e. the second Sunday after Easter) is called the 'Sunday of the Myrrhbearers'. The Scripture readings appointed for the services on this day emphasize the role of these individualsin the Death andResurrection of Jesus:Matins Gospel,Divine Liturgy,Epistle and Gospel.[k]
Since this day commemorates events surrounding not only the Resurrection, but also the entombment of Christ, some of the hymns fromHoly Saturday are repeated. These include theTroparion of the Day: "The noble Joseph ..." (but with a new line added at the end, commemorating the Resurrection), and theDoxastikhon at theVespersAposticha: "Joseph together with Nicodemus ..."
The week that follows is called theWeek of the Myrrhbearers and the Troparion mentioned above is used every day at theCanonical Hours and the Divine Liturgy. The Doxastikhon is repeated again atVespers on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Many of the Myrrhbearers also have separate feast days on which they are commemorated individually in theMenaion.
There are numerous liturgical hymns which speak of the Myrrhbearers, especially in the SundayOctoechos and in thePentecostarion. Every Sunday, there is a special hymn that is chanted atMatins and theMidnight Office, called theHypakoë, (Greek:Ύπακοί,Church Slavonic:Ўпаκои), which means 'sent', in reference to the Myrrhbearing women being sent to announce the Resurrection to the Apostles.
There are several prominent Orthodoxcathedrals and churches named after the Myrrhbearers. They celebrate theirpatronal feast day on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers.
In 2022, Joanna, Mary, and Salome were officially added to theEpiscopal Church liturgical calendar with a feast day as the "myrrh-bearing women" on 3 August.[2]
In the Gospels, especially thesynoptics, women play a central role as eyewitness at Jesus' death, entombment, and in the discovery of the empty tomb. All three synoptics repeatedly make women the grammatical subject of verbs ofseeing, clearly presenting them as eyewitnesses.[3][4]: 48 [5] The presence of women as the key witnesses who discover the empty tomb has been seen as increasing the credibility of the testimony, since, in the contemporary culture (Jewish and Greco-Roman), one might expect a fabrication to place men, and especially numerous and important men, at this critical place, rather than "just some grieving women."[6]C. H. Dodd considered the narrative in John to be "self-authenticating", arguing that no one would make up the notion that Jesus had appeared to the "little known woman",Mary Magdalene.[7] However, some passages in theMishnah (Yebamoth 16:7;Ketubot 2:5;Eduyot 3:6) indicate that women could give testimony if there was no male witness available. Also,Josephus used women as witnesses to his claims.[8] In addition, Paul does not mention the women.Bart D. Ehrman argues:[9]
One of Mark's overarching themes is that virtually no one during the ministry of Jesus could understand who he was. His family didn't understand. His townspeople didn't understand. The leaders of his own people didn't understand. Not even the disciples understood in Mark—especially not the disciples! For Mark, only outsiders have an inkling of who Jesus was: the unnamed woman who anointed him, the centurion at the cross. Who understands at the end? Not the family of Jesus! Not the disciples! It's a group of previously unknown women ... the women at the tomb ...
All three Synoptics name two or three women on each occasion in the passion-resurrection narratives where they are cited as eyewitnesses: theTorah's required two or three witnesses[l] in a statute that had exerted influence beyond legal courts and into situations in everyday life where accurate evidence was needed.[3]: 218 [4]: 49 Among the named women (and some are left anonymous), Mary Magdalene is present in all four Gospel accounts, and Mary the mother of James is present in all three synoptics; however, variations exist in the lists of each Gospel concerning the women present at the death, entombment, and discovery. For example, Mark names three women at the cross and the same three who go to the tomb, but only two are observed to be witnesses at the burial. Based on this, and similar examples in Matthew and Luke,Richard Bauckham argued that theevangelists showed "scrupulous care" and "were careful to name precisely the women who were known to them as witnesses to these crucial events" since there would be no other reason, besides interest in historical accuracy, not to simply use the same set of characters from one scene to another.[4]: 50–51
Mark's account (which is the earliest of the extant manuscripts) ends abruptly and claims that the women told no one.[α] The Gospels of Matthew and Mark do not present any further involvement at the tomb. Luke describes Peter as running to the tomb to check for himself, and John adds that theBeloved Disciple did so too, the beloved disciple outrunning Peter.[β]
