24:23a

but they did not find His body: The disciples implied here that the women did not find Jesus’ body because it was not there. They did not imply that the women should have searched for it more carefully. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

when they did not find his corpse
-or-
They said his body was missing (New Living Translation (2004))

24:23b–c

They came and told us: The phrase They came and told us implies that when the women left the tomb, they went to Jesus’ disciples to tell them what they saw there. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

They came to us and said
-or-
Then they came back ⌊to our group⌋ and told us

told us: The Berean Standard Bible supplies the word us here. It refers to the group of Jesus’ followers whom the women told about going to his tomb. It does not refer only to the two disciples who were walking with Jesus. It does not include the person (Jesus) to whom they are speaking.

they had seen a vision of angels: This clause is another way to say “they had seen angels.” In this context the word vision implies that the angels were sent from God. They normally live in heaven with God, and people do not usually see them. The word vision does not imply here that the women were asleep or in a trance. Another way to translate the clause is:

they had seen angels (New Living Translation (2004))

angels: The word “angel” occurred in 22:43. For more information and translation suggestions, see the notes at 22:43a. See also angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.

General Comment on 24:22–23

In some languages it may be more natural to translate the order of events in these verses in a different way. For example:

22bThen early this morning some women among us went to his tomb 23abut did not find his body. 22aThey returned to us with an amazing story. 23bThey said they saw angels 23cwho said he was alive.

Translate the information in these verses in a natural order in your language. If you combine the verses, you may put both verse numbers at the beginning of the verse. For example:

22–23And then this morning some women in our group went to the tomb. They said that they did not find his body, but they saw angels who said he was alive! We were amazed when the women said that.

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