Mark 15:40

There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(40) Among whom was Mary Magdalene.—The list is the same as that in Matthew 27:56, with the exceptions (1) of the epithet “less,” or better, little, as applied to James, and (2) the name of Salome instead of “the mother of Zebedee’s children.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:33-41 There was a thick darkness over the land, from noon until three in the afternoon. The Jews were doing their utmost to extinguish the Sun of Righteousness. The darkness signified the cloud which the human soul of Christ was under, when he was making it an offering for sin. He did not complain that his disciples forsook him, but that his Father forsook him. In this especially he was made sin for us. When Paul was to be offered as a sacrifice for the service saints, he could joy and rejoice, Php 2:17; but it is another thing to be offered as a sacrifice for the sin of sinners. At the same instant that Jesus died, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom. This spake terror to the unbelieving Jews, and was a sign of the destruction of their church and nation. It speaks comfort to all believing Christians, for it signified the laying open a new and living way into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The confidence with which Christ had openly addressed God as his Father, and committed his soul into his hands, seems greatly to have affected the centurion. Right views of Christ crucified will reconcile the believer to the thought of death; he longs to behold, love, and praise, as he ought, that Saviour who was wounded and pierced to save him from the wrath to come.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the scripture was fulfilled ... - This passage of Scripture is found in Isaiah 53:12. This does not mean that he "was" a transgressor, but simply that in dying he "had a place" with transgressors. Nor does it mean that God regarded him as a sinner; but that at his death, in popular estimation. or by the sentence of the judge, he was "regarded as" a transgressor, and was treated in the same manner as the others who were put to death for their transgressions. Jesus died, the "just" for the "unjust," and in his death, as well as in his life, he was "holy, harmless, undefiled."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Mr 15:38-47. Signs and Circumstances Following the Death of the Lord Jesus.—He Is Taken Down from the Cross and Buried—The Sepulchre Is Guarded. ( = Mt 27:51-66; Lu 23:45, 47-56; Joh 19:31-42).

See on [1520]Mt 27:51-56; and [1521]Joh 19:31-42.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Mark 15:38"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

There were also women looking on afar off,.... At some distance from the cross, observing what was said and done;

among whom was Mary Magdalene; who had received great favours from Christ:

and Mary the mother of James the less; or "little", so called to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee, and because he might be little of stature: nor was it unusual with the Jews to distinguish persons after this manner: so we read (z) of R. Jesa, "the little", and of Samuel, "the little" (a), which some have thought to be the Apostle Paul, so called from the littleness of his stature:

and of Joses; or "Joseph", as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read;

and Salome; the mother of Zebedee's children, James and John; See Gill on Matthew 27:56. This was a common name among the Jews; Herod had a sister and a daughter of this name; and the daughter of Herodias, who demanded the head of John, the Baptist, was of this name; and it is the same with Shalom: we read (b) of one Imme Shalom, or mother Shalom, wife of R. Eliezer, and sister to Rabban Gamaliel. Salome, with the Ethiopians (c), is said to be Mary's midwife, and to accompany Christ, with Mary, and Joseph, when they fled into Egypt.

(z) Zohar in Exod. fol. 63. 2. & passim. (a) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 28. 2. & 29. 1.((b) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 116. 1.((c) Ludolph. Lex. Ethiop. p. 525, & Castell. Lex. Polyglot, col. 3767.

Geneva Study Bible

{8} There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

(8) Christ, to the great shame of the men who forsook the Lord, chose women for his witnesses, who beheld this entire event.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 15:40. On the faithful women who looked on from afar, vide on Mt. Mk. singles out for special mention the same three as Mt.: Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children. Mk. distinguishes James, the brother of Joses, as τοῦ μικροῦ = either the little in stature (Meyer and Weiss), or the less in age, the younger (Schanz). Mk. refers to the mother of Zebedee’s children by her own name, Salome. Neither evangelist mentions Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

40. There were also women] forerunners of the noble army of Holy Women, who were, in the ages to come, throughout the length and breadth of Christendom, to minister at many a death-bed out of love for Him Who died “the Death.”

Mary Magdalene] Mary of Magdala, out of whom had gone forth seven demons (Luke 8:2). This is the first time she is mentioned by St Mark.

Mary the mother of James the less] The “Mary of Clopas” (John 19:25) who stood by the cross, and “Mary of James the Less” (comp. Matthew 27:56), are the same person; she was the sister of the Blessed Virgin, and had married Clopas or Alphæus.

James the less] James the Little, so called to distinguish him from the Apostle St James, the son of Zebedee. Some think he was so called (a) because he was younger than the other James; or (b) on account of his low stature; or (c) because, when elevated to the bishopric of Jerusalem (Galatians 2:12), he took the name in humility, to distinguish him from his namesake, now famous in consequence of his martyrdom (Acts 12:2).

Joses] See note above, Mark 3:31.

Salome] See note above, Mark 10:35.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 40. - And there were also women holding from afar (ἀπὸ μακρόθεν θεωροῦσαι). St. Matthew (Matthew 27:55) says that there were many. Amongst them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Clopas, or Alphaeus, and mother of James the less and of Joses, called brethren of our Lord, and the mother of Zebedee's children, that is, Salerno. The mother of our Lord had been there until the time when, having with St. John crept as near the cross of Jesus as she might venture, she was consigned by our Lord to St. John's care, and taken away by him. St. Mark mentions this to show the faith and love of these holy women, because in the very presence of the enemies of Christ they dared to stand by his cross, and shrank not from testifying their piety and devotion. St. John says that they stood near. He must have known; for at one time at least he was standing near. St. Matthew and St. Mark speak of them as at a distance. They were at a distance, no doubt, for the most part, as compared with the soldiers, whose duty it was to be in close attendance and to keep the people off. But these devoted women came as near as they could, so as to see and hear their Lord. Perhaps they were sometimes further off and sometimes nearer, as they saw opportunity, or as the humor of the officials suffered them. Mark 15:40

Vincent's Word Studies

Magdalene

See on Matthew 27:56.