Question of the Week: Are the differences in the number of women at Jesus’ tomb between the gospel accounts contradictions?
Verses: Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:10, John 20:1-2
A contradiction is when two statements are made about the same thing that cancel each other out. If the gospel accounts were contradictory on the topic of how many women were at Jesus’ tomb when He rose, then the accounts would read that some women weren’t there that the other gospels say were. Unfortunately for those that raise this objection, that is not the case. Matthew’s account read that Mary Magdalene and another Mary were there. Mark’s account reads that Mary Magdalene, another Mary, and a woman named Salome were there. Luke’s account reads that Mary Magdalene, another Mary, Joanna, and other women were there. And John’s account only mentions Mary, but speaking to the Apostles saying “We don’t know where they have laid Him.” Not a single one of these accounts conflict with the other. The only differences are the people the authors chose to mention since they were all looking at the same event but choosing to mention the names of certain people over others. Not a single one of these accounts explicitly states that Mary was the only one there.
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