Matthew 27:56

Matthew 27:55-56 are the fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh verses of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The crucifixion and death of Jesus have just occurred, and these verses make note of a group of women who were present at that event.

The original Koine Greek, according to Westcott and Hort, reads:

In the King James Version of the Bible it is translated as:

The modern World English Bible translates the passage as:

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 27:55

These verses introduce a group of women, two of whom will be the central witnesses to the events of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. The women followers of Jesus have been little mentioned in Matthew up to this point. Keener notes that the very mention of a religious leader with female followers could have been considered scandalous in this era. It was traditional for female relatives to gather around and mourn at an execution. It was very rare to execute women, so while the disciples have fled in fear of the authorities, the female followers of Jesus could expect to be free from danger.

The act of serving occurs several times in Matthew, by angels at 4:11, by a female follower at 8:15, by Jesus at 20:28, and by townsfolk towards Jesus at 25:44. It refers to "practical, domestic" serving in this verse.

These verses are based on Mark 15:40 and 41, with several alterations. Matthew adds the word many to the opening line, moving it from towards the end of Mark 15:41. 27:55 is also paralleled by Luke 23:49, but Luke does not make mention of any specific women being present.

This is the first mention of Mary Magdalene in Matthew. She will play a leading role in the events of the resurrection, but the gospel gives no details about her. Luke is the only gospel to mention her before the crucifixion, with Luke 8:2 stating that she had 7 demons driven out of her, and was now one of the followers of Jesus. In Roman Catholic Churches a tradition developed equating Magdalene with Mary of Bethany, but most scholars do not feel there is textual evidence to support this.

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