John 20:15 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 20:15
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
saith
λέγειlegei
G3004
properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
her
αὐτῇautēa
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular feminine
Woman
γύναι,gunai
G1135
a woman · noun — vocative singular feminine
why
τίti
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
weepest thou
κλαίεις;klaieis
G2799
to sob · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person singular
whom
τίναtina
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular masculine
seekest thou
ζητεῖς;zēteis
G2212
to seek (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active indicative, 2nd person singular
She
ἐκείνηekeinē
G1565
that one (or (neuter) thing) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
supposing
δοκοῦσαdokousa
G1380
compare the base of G1166 (δεικνύω)) of the same meaning · verb — present active participle, nominative singular feminine
him
ὁho
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular masculine
be
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
gardener
κηπουρόςkēpouros
G2780
a garden-keeper · noun — nominative singular masculine
saith
λέγειlegei
G3004
properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
him
αὐτῷ·autō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
Sir
κύριε,kurie
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — vocative singular masculine
if
εἰei
G1487
if · conditional particle
thou
σὺsu
G4771
thou · personal pronoun — 2nd person nominative singular
borne
ἐβάστασαςebastasas
G941
to lift · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person singular
him
αὐτόν,auton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
hence
βαστάζωbastázō
G941
to lift
tell
εἰπέeipe
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular
me
μοίmoí
G3427
to me
where
ποῦpou
G4226
as adverb of place · adverb — interrogative
laid
ἔθηκαςethēkas
G5087
to place (in the widest application · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person singular
him
αὐτόν,auton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
I
κἀγώkagṓ
G2504
so also the dative case
take
ἀρῶ.arō
G142
to lift up · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
away
αἴρωaírō
G142
to lift up
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 18:7 Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
John 20:13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have la…
Song of Solomon 3:2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found…
John 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted…
1 Samuel 1:16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
Matthew 28:5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place whe…
John 18:4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 20:11-18
St. Mark tells us that Christ appeared first to Mary Magdalene (Mar 16:9); that appearance is here largely related; and we may observe,
I. The constancy and fervency of Mary Magdalene's affection to the Lord Jesus, Joh 20:11.
1. She staid at the sepulchre, when Peter and John were gone, because there her Master had lain, and there she was likeliest to hear some tidings of him. Note, (1.) Where there is a true love to Christ there will be a constant adherence to him, and a resolution with purpose of heart to cleave to him. This good woman, though she has lost him, yet, rather than seem to desert him, will abide by his grave for his sake, and continue in his love even when she wants the comfor…
Sir, if thou have borne him hence--borne whom? She says not. She can think only of One, and thinks others must understand her. It reminds one of the question of the Spouse, "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" (Sol 3:3).
tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away--Wilt thou, dear fragile woman? But it is the language of sublime affection, that thinks itself fit for anything if once in possession of its Object. It is enough. Like Joseph, He can no longer restrain Himself (Gen 45:1).
Adam Clarke on John 20:15
Supposing him to be the gardener - Κηπουρος, the inspector or overseer of the garden, from κηπος, a garden, and ουρος, an inspector - the person who had the charge of the workmen, and the care of the produce of the garden; and who rendered account to the owner.
And I will take him away - How true is the proverb, Love feels no load! Jesus was in the prime of life when he was crucified, and had a hundred pounds weight of spices added to his body; and yet Mary thinks of nothing less than carrying him away with her, if she can but find where he is laid!
John Gill on John 20:15
Jesus saith unto her, woman, why weepest thou,.... The same question he puts to her, as was put by the angels: adding,
whom seekest thou? for she was not only weeping for the loss of him, but was inquiring after him, if anyone saw him removed from thence, and where he was carried:
she supposing him to be the gardener; that had the care of the garden, in which the sepulchre was; for not the owner of the garden, who was Joseph, but the keeper of it is meant; she could not imagine that Joseph should be there so early in the morning, but might reasonably think the gardener was:
saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away; she a…
The Church Fathers
Be the first to see the stone taken away, and perhaps you will see the angels and Jesus himself. Say something. Hear his voice. If he says to you, "Do not touch me," stand far away. Reverence the Word, but do not grieve because he knows those to whom he appears first.
And our Lord acted this way so that when she suddenly sees the one who she thought was beyond hope of ever seeing again because she still thought he was dead, she might not be overcome with emotion and think that he was some demonic apparition. He also wanted her first to speak to him gradually, as to a man, and after she had realized that she was speaking to a real man, she might finally understand who he was and at the same time might believe and admire the greatness of the event.
(Hom. xxv.) Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? He asks the cause of her grief, to set her longing still more. For the mere mentioning His name whom she sought would inflame her love for Him. (Hom. xxv.) Perhaps, however, the woman was right in believing Jesus to be the gardener. Was not He the spiritual Gardener, who by the power of His love had sown strong seeds of virtue in her breast? But how is it that, as soon as she sees the gardener, as she supposes Him to be, she says, without having told Him who it was she was seeking, Sir, if Thou hast borne Him hence? It arises from her love; when one loves a person, one never thinks that any one else can be ignorant of him.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
John, Gospel of — The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its…
Mary Magdalene — Different explanations have been given of this name; but the most natural is that she came from the town of Magdala. She appears before us for the first time in (Luke 8:2) among the women who…
Art · .Of the gar — .Of the gar
Arts Of The · Gardener — Gardener
Friendship · .The Marys, and Joseph of Arimathaea, for Jesus — .The Marys, and Joseph of Arimathaea, for Jesus
Gardens · Taken care of by gardeners — Taken care of by gardeners
Love · 8:2,3;23:27,55,56;24:1-10; — 8:2,3;23:27,55,56;24:1-10;
Mary · .Recognizes Jesus after the resurrection — .Recognizes Jesus after the resurrection
Trouble · .Mary at the gravesite of Jesus — .Mary at the gravesite of Jesus
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 20:10-15
10. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. 11. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping; and as she wept, she stooped down to the sepulcher, 12. And seeth two angels in white garments sitting, one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13. And they say to her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14. Having said this, she turned back, and seeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15. Jesus saith to her, Woman, why weepest thou? She, thinking that he was the gardener, saith to him, Sir, if thou hast carried him hence, tell…
Jesus, whom Mary mistook for the gardener, repeated the angel’s question and added, Who are you looking for? Jesus’ question was to provoke Mary’s thinking: At this point Mary was looking for the body of Jesus, but she was about to meet the living Christ.
