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For the traditional Christian view as represented by several Biblical scholars, it is essential that the stories in the earliest Gospel about the burial (Mark 15:42-47) and of the women at the tomb (16:1-8) are historically reliable. Pilate's inquiry of the centurion into the death of Jesus in Mark 15:44-45 can with good reason be considered a Markan addition to the traditional burial account. The centurion episode, missing from the burial stories of Matthew and Luke, is one of the tricky minor agreements between Matthew and Luke against Mark. There are some good arguments for the assumption that in 1 Cor 15:3-5 Paul gives some evidence of a particular stage of oral tradition concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. The simplicity of the burial is most convincingly related to the official role of Joseph as a member of the Sanhedrin.Keywords: Biblical scholars; Jesus; Luke; Matthew; Paul