Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
The Annual Sabbath and the First of the Sabbaths
"Mark 16:1 And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first of the Sabbaths, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun" (DLT: torahtimes.org).
the Sabbath: This was the annual Passover Sabbath on the 15th of Nisan, on Thursday that year (cf. John 19:31). Lev. 23:11 was regarded by the Jews to refer to the annual Passover Sabbath. The Babylonians also called the 15th day of the month Shabbatu or Shapattu so the concept of calling the 15th of Nisan "The Sabbath" was not foreign in the ancient near east. Also called Yom Tov and translated Rest Day by Rashi.
first...Sabbath: The weekly Sabbath was also called the "first of the Sabbaths" on account of Leviticus 23:15, where instructions are given to count seven Sabbaths after the annual Passover Sabbath."
comment: The KJV errors by translating, "had bought". The Greek ηγορασαν is not pluperfect. It is aorist. This means they bought the spices after the Sabbath. This is the main verb in the sentence and the participle "was past", διαγενομενου, is temporally dependent on the main verb. It would be grammatically incorrect to say that they "had" bought the spices before the Sabbath. (DLC: torahtimes.org)
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/mar1601.html)
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