Concerning the Greek words used to refer to a burial place or tomb, A. T. Robertson in Word Pictures in the New Testament (1932, Vol. V, p. 87) states: “Taphos (grave) presents the notion of burial (thapto, to bury) as in Matt. 23:27, mnemeion (from mnaomai, mimnesko, to remind) is a memorial (sepulchre as a monument).” Related to mne·meiʹon is the word mneʹma, which appears to have a corresponding meaning, referring also to “a memorial or record of a thing or a dead person, then a sepulchral monument, and hence a tomb.”​—Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1981, Vol. 2, p. 173.

Such a tomb might be an excavated grave in the ground or, as was often the case among the Hebrews, might be a natural cave or a rock-cut vault. (Compare Ac 7:16 and Ge 23:19, 20.) As has been seen above, whereas the word taʹphos (grave) gives emphasis to the idea of burial, the words mneʹma (tomb) and mne·meiʹon (memorial tomb) lay stress on the thought of preserving the memory of the deceased person. These latter words, therefore, appear to carry a greater idea of permanence than taʹphos; they are related to the Latin word monumentum.

Remembrance by God. In view of the underlying thought of remembrance associated with mne·meiʹon, the use of this word (rather than taʹphos) at John 5:28 with regard to the resurrection of “all those in the memorial tombs” seems particularly appropriate and contrasts sharply with the thought of complete repudiation and effacement from all memory as represented by Gehenna. (Mt 10:28; 23:33; Mr 9:43)