Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 20:16

"Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher." — John 20:16 (ASV)

Only one thing was necessary to establish Jesus’ identity—his uttering her name. One of the strange commonplaces of life is that the most penetrating utterance one can understand, no matter by whom spoken, is one’s personal name. Furthermore, the way it is spoken often identifies the speaker. No gardener would ever have known her name, and no one else would pronounce it the way Jesus did. Turning again for a second look, she addressed him in Aramaic as “Rabboni” (a term by which one addressed a teacher). In this ecstatic moment of recognition, Mary must have prostrated herself before Jesus and clasped his feet, as the other women had done .