ContradictionsReading order 345Bible context 2 min read
Where did the women watching the crucifixion stand?
The women are distant observers in the first three accounts, while John places a named group, including Mary Magdalene, by the cross.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Major
- A major event or claim with wider implications.
Mary Magdalene is placed at different distances, but the accounts do not fix the same instant or exclude movement.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
Women watch Jesus' crucifixion from a distance
And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
Matthew 27:55
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Matthew 27
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;
Mark 15:40
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Mark 15