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?

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Two men in radiant apparel address the women at the empty tomb immediately after they puzzle over the missing body. The speakers ask why the women seek a living person among the dead.

The words — κλινουσῶν (klinousōn) means bowing or prostrating, describing the women’s physical posture. ἐμφόβων (emphobōn) denotes terror, explaining their reaction to the sudden appearance.

The thread — The motif of seeking the living among the dead echoes Mark 16:5 and finds its resolution in Revelation 1:18, where the Living One declares victory over death. The radiant appearance parallels Matthew 28:3.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the tomb’s contents no longer apply to Jesus. It requires the reader to shift expectation from a dead messiah to a resurrected one.

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

And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

Cross-references

Mark 16:5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
Revelation 1:18 the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
Matthew 28:3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.
Luke 1:12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear.
Revelation 2:8 To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
Daniel 10:16 And suddenly one with the likeness of a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and said to the one standing before me, “My lord, because of the vision, I am overcome with anguish, and I have no strength.
Daniel 10:19 “Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!” As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”
Daniel 8:17 As he came near to where I stood, I was terrified and fell facedown. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”
Daniel 10:7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men with me did not see it, but a great terror fell upon them, and they ran and hid themselves.
Acts 10:3 One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”