Why did the women want to anoint the body of Jesus after the burial?

[tonychanyt]

After Jesus had died on the cross, Jn 19:

38 Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body. 39 Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.

Wrapping a dead body before burial was a common Jewish practice (Ac 5:5).

Ellicott:

“Aloes” are not elsewhere mentioned in the New Testament, but they are joined with myrrh in the Messianic Psalm 45:8. The aloe is an Eastern odoriferous wood—to be distinguished from the aloes of commerce—and chips of the better kinds are now said to be worth their weight in gold. The myrrh and aloes were probably pulverised and mixed together, and then placed in the linen in which the body was wrapped.
The quantity is clearly much more than could have been placed in the linen which surrounded the body; but the offering was one of love, and part of it may have been placed in the sepulchre.

Parallel account, Matthew 27:

59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Joseph was in a hurry to beat the sunset.

61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Marys followed Joseph to learn the location of the tomb. They would be back to the tomb after the Sabbath, more than 24 hours later. Mark 16:

1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.

This was not embalming, which was a far more complex procedure involving internal organs.

Why did the women want to anoint Jesus after his body had already been laid in the tomb?

Just before the Sabbath, Joseph did what he could to quickly wrap Jesus' body and spread the spices inside the tomb. After the Sabbath, the women intended to perform more meticulous work on Jesus' body.

 

[Reluctant Theologian]

After Jesus had died on the cross, Jn 19:


Wrapping a dead body before burial was a common Jewish practice (Ac 5:5).

Ellicott:


Parallel account, Matthew 27:


Joseph was in a hurry to beat the sunset.


The Marys followed Joseph to learn the location of the tomb. They would be back to the tomb after the Sabbath, more than 24 hours later. Mark 16:


This was not embalming, which was a far more complex procedure involving internal organs.

Why did the women want to anoint Jesus after his body had already been laid in the tomb?

Just before the Sabbath, Joseph did what he could to quickly wrap Jesus' body and spread the spices inside the tomb. After the Sabbath, the women intended to perform more meticulous work on Jesus' body.

Most believers in our day and age are unaware of the common burial practise in the 1st century CE for the wealthy:

After some years the bones of the remaining skeleton would be collected and placed in an ossuary.