Tomb
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The Greek noun mnema names a tomb or memorial place associated with the dead. Gospel narratives use it for the tombs where a severely distressed and demon-oppressed man lived, for the rock-cut tomb where Jesus' body was placed, and for the tomb the women visited with prepared spices.
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Full entry for μνῆμα (G3418) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Greek noun mnema names a tomb or memorial place associated with the dead. Gospel narratives use it for the tombs where a severely distressed and demon-oppressed man lived, for the rock-cut tomb where Jesus' body was placed, and for the tomb the women visited with prepared spices.
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include tomb (3), tombs (3), a tomb (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 5:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Acts (2), Mark (2), Revelation (1).
The Greek noun mnema names a tomb or memorial place associated with the dead. Gospel narratives use it for the tombs where a severely distressed and demon-oppressed man lived, for the rock-cut tomb where Jesus' body was placed, and for the tomb the women visited with prepared spices. Acts points to David's known tomb and to an ancestral burial place, while Revelation portrays enemies refusing burial to slain witnesses.
A tomb can therefore mark isolation, bodily care, grief, memory, public evidence of death, or deliberate dishonor. Mark's description of crying out and cutting must not be generalized into a diagnosis that mental illness, homelessness, self-harm, or life near a cemetery proves demonic possession. Jesus' encounter restores the man to community and dignity; it does not authorize coercive or violent exorcism.
Jesus' burial confirms real death, and the women's arrival shows faithful care before they receive resurrection news. David's tomb supports Peter's contrast between the patriarch's death and the risen Messiah, not contempt for David or burial places. Responsible teaching keeps grief, bodies, places, testimony, and resurrection distinct while directing self-harm risk toward immediate safety and qualified care.
Mnema denotes a tomb, sepulchral monument, or memorial place. Narrative setting determines whether it marks social isolation, burial care, historical memory, evidence of death, resurrection discovery, or the dishonor of denied burial.
This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains.
A demon-oppressed man lives among the tombs and cannot be restrained even with chains before Jesus meets him.
Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.
The man cries out night and day among the tombs and mountains and cuts himself with stones.
Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid.
Joseph takes Jesus' body down, wraps it in linen, and places it in a new rock-cut tomb.
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared.
The women come to the tomb very early on the first day of the week carrying prepared spices.
Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Peter states that David died, was buried, and had a tomb known to his hearers as he develops the resurrection argument.
For three and a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view their bodies and will not permit them to be laid in a tomb.
The vision portrays peoples and nations viewing the witnesses' bodies and refusing them burial in a tomb.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. A tomb as a physical structure or monument, often emphasizing its visible, constructed nature
A tomb as a physical structure or monument, often emphasizing its visible, constructed nature
(μνάομαι), [in LXX for קֶבֶר, קְבוּרָה ;]
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a tomb, monument
Read versea tomb, monument
Read versea tomb, monument
Read versea tomb, monument
Read versea tomb, monument
Read versea tomb, monument
Read versea tomb, monument
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
μνῆμα is built from this root:
Establishes location and reality of burial.Luke 23:50–56
Mnema is a place word shaped by the people and actions around it. Mark 5 places a suffering man among tombs, crying out and injuring himself after coercive restraint has failed. The narrative names demonic oppression in this particular case, but it does not permit teachers to label every psychiatric crisis, disability, homelessness, grief response, or self-harm behavior as demonic.
Jesus moves toward the man, ends the oppression, and restores him clothed and in his right mind within a community that had feared and restrained him. Any present response should reject force disguised as exorcism and seek immediate safety, clinical care, and compassionate support. Luke 23 shows Joseph handling Jesus' body with linen and a prepared tomb, confirming real death and dignified burial.
Luke 24 shows women bringing spices before finding the tomb open. Their grief-shaped action matters even though resurrection transforms what they expect. Acts 2 points to David's tomb as publicly known evidence that David's psalm ultimately speaks beyond himself to the Messiah whom God raised. Revelation 11 uses denied burial to intensify the world's hostility toward the witnesses.
Faithful application respects bodies and burial places, listens to mourners, protects people at risk of self-harm, and proclaims resurrection without turning graves into magical objects or apocalyptic spectacle.
Luke.24.1
Mnema transliterates Greek μνῆμα and is related to remembering or a memorial. Case and number locate people in, at, or denied a tomb, while the surrounding narrative establishes whether the place bears isolation, burial, memory, evidence, resurrection, or dishonor.
Old Testament burial, grave, memorial, and dead-body texts use several Hebrew words, including H5038 for remains in this batch. Canonical comparison can illuminate bodily dignity and hope, but a tomb and a body are distinct referents and should not be merged lexically.