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John

About this book
Chapter 20

1 Now very early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. 2 So she went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out to go to the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived and went right into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, came in, and he saw and believed. 9 (For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.) 10 So the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Mary replied, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”⁠ 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Because she thought he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus replied, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them,⁠ ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came and informed the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her. 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together and locked the doors of the place because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.⁠ 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” 24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the wounds from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!”⁠ 26 Eight days later the disciples were again together in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and examine my hands. Extend your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe.” 28 Thomas replied to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people who have not seen and yet have believed.”⁠ 30 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Texts in conversation

Compare Song of Solomon 3:1 and John 20:15

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In the Song of Solomon, a woman searches the city at night for her beloved, finds him, and holds him fast. The gospel of John echoes this searching as Mary Magdalene comes to the garden tomb seeking Jesus, finds him, and is told not to hold onto him.

Passages

Song of Solomon 3:1

Hebrew Bible · Song of Songs
1 The Beloved about Her Lover: All night long on my bed I longed for my lover. I longed for him, but he never appeared. 2 “I will arise and look all around throughout the town, and throughout the streets and squares; I will search for my beloved.” I searched for him, but I did not find him. 3 The night watchmen found me—the ones who guard the city walls. “Have you seen my beloved?” 4 Scarcely had I passed them by when I found my beloved! I held onto him tightly and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house, to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me. 5 The Beloved to the Maidens: I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields: “Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!”
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Song of Solomon

John 20:15

New Testament
11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Mary replied, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” Because she thought he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus replied, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

References

"... In the Song of Songs, the garden is identified with the body and person of the female lover. Mary's search for the body of Jesus echoes the search of the lover for the beloved in Song of Songs 3:1–4. This passage depicts the woman searching for the one whom her soul loves but not finding him, calling him but receiving no answer. She asks the sentinels of the city, “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?” She then finds him, holds him, and declares that she will not let him go until she brings him into her mother's house. The verb “to seek” appears four times in these verses. Other parallels between the Song of Songs and John 20 include the use of the verb parakypto to mean “peering in” (John 20:5; Song of Solomon 2:9) and the emphasis on spices associated with both gardens (John 19:39 and Song of Solomon 1:12; 3:6; 4:6, 10; 5:1, 13). These parallels suggest that Mary Magdalene symbolizes the beloved in the Song of Songs, the spouse of the New Covenant that is mediated by Jesus in his glorification, and the representative figure of the New Israel which emerges from the new creation ..."
Adele Reinhartz, Befriending the Beloved Disciple: A Jewish Reading of the Gospel of John (New York: Continuum, 2001), 108.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Song of Solomon 3:1 and John 20:15

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