Luke 23:56

56 Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Luke 23:56 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 23:56

And they returned
To the city, and to their own houses, or to some one of them; and prepared spices and ointments;
for the anointing, and embalming the body of Christ, called by the Jews the spices of the dead; see the note on ( Mark 16:1 ) and rested the sabbath day, according to the commandment,
in ( Exodus 20:8-11 ) not knowing as yet the abolition of it, with the rest of the ceremonial law; and therefore, though they had bought and prepared the spices and ointments, they did not carry them to the sepulchre to anoint the body with them, till the sabbath was over; for this was forbidden to be done on a sabbath day. It is asked F6,

``what is that thing that is lawful to be done to a living man, and is forbidden a dead man? It is said, (hkyo hz) , "this is anointing".''
Though elsewhere F7 this
``is allowed of; for so runs one of their traditions; they do all things necessary for the dead, (i.e. on a sabbath day,) (Nyko) , "they anoint", and wash him, only they may not move a limb of him.''
But how he could be anointed, and washed, without a limb being moved, is not very easy to say, as his foot, or hand, or eye brows, which are the parts one of their commentators instances in F8.
FOOTNOTES:

F6 T. Hieros. Sahbat. fol. 12. 2.
F7 Misn. Sabbat. c. 23, sect. 5.
F8 Bartenora in ib.

Luke 23:56 In-Context

54 It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.
56 Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.