Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were previously referred to in verse 56. They will be mentioned again in 28.1.

Were … sitting is an unusual combination of a singular verb (were is literally “was”) followed by a feminine plural form of the participle sitting. This has resulted in a number of opinions concerning what may have originally been in the text. Some translations attempt to convey something of the form of the present text: “Mary of Magdala was there, and the other Mary, sitting…” (New English Bible), and “Mary of Magdala was there with the other Mary, sitting…” (Barclay). The combination of verb plus participle may also be taken to mean “remained there, sitting” (An American Translation; similarly New American Bible).

Sepulchre means the same as “tomb” in the previous verse and can be translated the same way.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .