Bible Strands
John 20:15
“Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asked. “Whom are you seeking?” Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene at the tomb after she turns and sees Him but fails to recognize Him. She addresses Him as a gardener, unaware of His identity.
The words — The text records γύναι (gunai), literally "Woman," and τίνα (tina), meaning "Whom." Jesus uses these terms to shift the conversation from her grief to His identity.
The thread — Jesus’s question "Whom are you seeking?" echoes His earlier interrogation of the temple guards in John 18:7. Mary’s initial plea to the figure she mistakes for a gardener parallels the seeker’s search in Song of Solomon 3:2.
Why it lands — The passage demands that the reader examine whether they seek a corpse or a living Lord. It requires a direct response to Jesus’s question before recognition becomes possible.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- John 18:7 So He asked them again, “Whom are you seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
- John 20:13 “Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked. “Because they have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I do not know where they have put Him.”
- Song of Solomon 3:2 I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and squares. I will seek the one I love. So I sought him but did not find him.
- John 1:38 Jesus turned and saw them following. “What do you want?” He asked. They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are You staying?”
- 1 Samuel 1:16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman, for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.”
- Matthew 28:5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
- Mark 16:6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.
- John 18:4 Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon Him, stepped forward and asked them, “Whom are you seeking?”
- Luke 24:5 As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
- Song of Solomon 6:1 Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.