Verse Lens · Context pointer

John 20:12 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 12. And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Role in This Section

This verse serves as the second turn in The Risen Jesus Calls Mary by Name, where it keeps a named person, place, or action in the foreground: “And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain”.

Read It With

  • John 20:11-18

Read John 20:12 with 20:11-18. This verse serves as the second turn in The Risen Jesus Calls Mary by Name, where it keeps a named person, place, or action in the foreground: “And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain”. The controlling movement is: Mary remains weeping, encounters angels and Jesus without recognizing him, recognizes him when he says her name, hears a command concerning his ascending relation to Father and disciples, and announces that she has seen the Lord.

Why It Needs Context

This verse serves as the second turn in The Risen Jesus Calls Mary by Name, where it keeps a named person, place, or action in the foreground: “And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain”. Read as the second turn in The Risen Jesus Calls Mary by Name, its subject, reply, connective, or narrated force depends on John 20:11-18: Mary remains weeping, encounters angels and Jesus without recognizing him, recognizes him when he says her name, hears a command concerning his ascending relation to Father and disciples, and announces that she has seen the Lord.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read John 20:11-18 — The Risen Jesus Calls Mary by Name
Sources used for this context pointer

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.

Exact location: John 20:11-18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

Greek textual evidence

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos

Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010

Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and critical-text reading checked independently of the KJV.

Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/John.txt, 20:11-18

Open the John Greek text file ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — John with translators' and textual notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition

Supports: Verse-level syntax, older-English clarification, material variants, background, and alternatives.

Exact location: NET Bible John PDF, John 20:11-18 and attached translator, study, and textual notes

Open the official NET John PDF ↗
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