“And they said among themselves,
Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?”
Mark 16:3
Sepulchre vs. Tomb
Why does the KJV use a word like ‘sepulchre’ instead of a simpler word like ‘tomb’? The words are used in a couple places simultaneously, and it would seem that they could be casually interchanged.
“And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.”
Matthew 27:60
The special use of this distinct word portrays a choice of God thru the translators of the KJV to voice the intelligence and cadence of the way only God can speak.
The Lord selected ‘sepulchre,’ to be the choice word for Mark’s Gospel. Mark is not famous for being wordy, as his account pushes through the life of Christ very rapidly. Yet, when it came to the resurrection, it is almost as if the Holy Spirit wanted to insert a verbal speed bump to catch the rushed reader’s attention.
Here are four reasons I believe why He did.
I. For Meter’s Sake
Regular meter in prose is easier for both speaking and for hearing. The King James Version is definitive as a prime example of both the deployment of and departure from regular meter in genius ways.
A quick comparison of two other versions with the KJV, if spoken aloud, will reveal the royal cadence of Mark 16:2
| KJV | ESV | NIV |
| “And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.” | And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. | Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb. |
Everyone except a dishonest critic will agree that the rhythym of the KJV is regular, predictable, and conducts the tongue. The ESV and NIV stumble through the story, relaying information in a stiff, unnatural way. See how smoothly the KJV doubles the pattern:
"And
1-2-3-4, very early
1-2-3-4, in the morning
1-2-3, the first day
1-2-3, of the week,
1-2-3-4 they came unto
1-2-3-4 the sepulchre
1-&-2-3 at the rising
1-2-3 of the sun."
This not only aids the learning, but also the memorizing of Scripture. The words beat in time with the heart of God. You don’t have to have a gifted memory. You just have to have a set of ears and a willing mind.
II. For Meaning’s Sake
Use of this unusual word multiple times in Mark 16 serves to associate this word with the Resurrection. In fact, it is used primarily to refer to the temporary setting of the body of Jesus Christ.
- In Matthew 28, it is used twice.
- In Mark 16, it is used 5 times.
- In Luke 24, 6 times.
- In John 20, 9 times.
The reader is introduced to the word fairly early in Scripture in Genesis 23:3-6. Abraham negotiates with the children of Heth concerning the buryingplace of Sarah:
“And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.“
First, notice how you are taught that a sepulchre is a buryingplace from the start. Secondly, and strange as it may seem, the first sepulchre in the Bible belonged to some other man; much like Joseph of Arimathaea lent his tomb to Jesus. God set the precedent for this to be fully understood in Matthew 27:59-60:
“And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. “
By using the word “sepulchre” consistently from the beginning, the truth of the temporality of the tomb is made clear. All will rise someday to face judgment according to Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.“
Those who tamper with ‘sepulchre’ should take heed to what comes after!
III. For Majesty’s Sake
There are a great many other words for “Sepulchre” in English. The “Roget’s II The New Thesaurus” gives some suggestions under “tomb”:
- Grave
- Catacomb
- Cinerarium
- Crypt
- Masoleum
- Ossuary
- Sepulture
- Tomb
- Vault
Yet, there is only one word that has beneath it the support of a throne, and behind it the power of a king. I cannot fully explain why, but the sound of ‘sepulchre’ has a noble ring to it. Perhaps it is because that word was chosen to be the “word of a king.” (Ecclesiastes 8:4)
IV. For Mastery’s Sake
Lastly, and distinctly from the other three, there is a mastery of language that is realized in the use of the word ‘sepulchre’ in the Bible.
First off, we restate: this use of ‘sepulchre’ in Mark 16 is a KJV-ONLY use. You won’t find it in the NIV, NASB, CEV, NKJV1, ESV, or NLT. I would guess that is the same statistic across the board for most modern versions. They all swap the word for ‘tomb’ mostly, or ‘grave’. They all fail in the language department.
God’s Book will edify you. It will leave you better than It found you. Simply reading the King James Bible will pour into your heart living words like a fountain of knowledge that will educate your mind, minister to your heart, strengthen your spirit, and admonish your soul. The first use of the word sepulchre as it relates to the buryingplace of Jesus Christ you will find a simple to complex word link to give you the correct meaning. Again, Matthew 27:60,
“And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.”
From this point on, as it concerns the Resurrection in the Gospels, the word ‘tomb’ disappears. You not only gain the correct meaning, but you gain an enhancement to your vocabulary. The simple-to-complex narrative of the Bible supports a new reader and surprises the veteran bibliophile.
Conclusion
You’ll not find another Book to compare with the King James Bible. The Book cannot be beaten for its modernity, supremacy, unity, and poetry. The Lord placed it into our hands at this point in history to read and to preach it. Many fools believe they are still looking for ‘comparative data’ and to ‘get a sense of the history of the New Testament Greek text.’2 If that is true, and the search is still ongoing– will we ever have the truth?
But what if God picked a point in history to distill His Word into the world in one particular language, at one particular point in time? If so, I have it. Do you?
Discover more from Spiritual Reload
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
