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Verse

John 20:13

ESV They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
NIV They asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying?' 'They have taken my Lord away,' she said, 'and I don't know where they have put him.'
NASB And they *said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She *said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they put Him.'
CSB They said to her, "Woman, why are you crying? ""Because they've taken away my Lord," she told them, "and I don't know where they've put him."
NLT Dear woman, why are you crying?' the angels asked her. 'Because they have taken away my Lord,' she replied, 'and I don’t know where they have put him.'
KJV And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

What does John 20:13 mean?

The two men Mary Magdalene sees here are angels (John 20:12). She is looking into Jesus' empty grave (John 20:11), after Peter and John have left (John 20:10). They did so without, it seems, explaining what they saw inside (John 20:3–9), though it was Mary who came to get them in the first place (John 20:1–2).

A typical reaction to seeing an angel is abject terror (Luke 1:11–13; 2:9–10; Acts 10:3–4), at least when they appear in a dramatic form. These angels seem to take on a more normal appearance, as they have sometimes done in Scripture (Genesis 19:1–3). Mary's grief doesn't seem to be interrupted by fear. Most likely, she thinks these men have been in the tomb since Peter and John were there.

Another common aspect of angelic encounters is rhetorical questions: they are either obvious or meant to make a point, rather than literally asking for information (Numbers 22:32; Zechariah 1:12; Luke 24:4–5; Acts 1:10–11; Revelation 17:7). Here, the angels know exactly why Mary is upset. But they also know who is standing right behind her, and the conversation which is about to happen (John 20:14–16).
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