And they returned,.... To the city, and to their own houses, or to some one of them;
and prepared spices and ointments; for the anointing, and embalming the body of Christ, called by the Jews the spices of the dead; see the note on Mark 16:1
and rested the sabbath day, according to the commandment, in
Exodus 20:8 not knowing as yet the abolition of it, with the rest of the ceremonial law; and therefore, though they had bought and prepared the spices and ointments, they did not carry them to the sepulchre to anoint the body with them, till the sabbath was over; for this was forbidden to be done on a sabbath day. It is asked f,
"what is that thing that is lawful to be done to a living man, and is forbidden a dead man? It is said, זה סיכה, "this is anointing".''
Though elsewhere g this
"is allowed of; for so runs one of their traditions; they do all things necessary for the dead, (i.e. on a sabbath day,) סכין, "they anoint", and wash him, only they may not move a limb of him.''
But how he could be anointed, and washed, without a limb being moved, is not very easy to say, as his foot, or hand, or eye brows, which are the parts one of their commentators instances in h.
f T. Hieros. Sahbat. fol. 12. 2. g Misn. Sabbat. c. 23, sect. 5. h Bartenora in ib.