John 11:44

11:44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, ¹  and a cloth wrapped around his face. ²  Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him ³  and let him go.”

John 19:40

19:40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices, ⁴  in strips of linen cloth ⁵  according to Jewish burial customs. ⁶ 

[11:44]  ¹ sn Many have wondered how Lazarus got out of the tomb if his hands and feet were still tied up with strips of cloth. The author does not tell, and with a miracle of this magnitude, this is not an important fact to know. If Lazarus’ decomposing body was brought back to life by the power of God, then it could certainly have been moved out of the tomb by that same power. Others have suggested that the legs were bound separately, which would remove the difficulty, but the account gives no indication of this. What may be of more significance for the author is the comparison which this picture naturally evokes with the resurrection of Jesus, where the graveclothes stayed in the tomb neatly folded (20:6-7). Jesus, unlike Lazarus, would never need graveclothes again.

[11:44]  ² tn Grk “and his face tied around with cloth.”

[11:44]  ³ tn Grk “Loose him.”

[19:40]  ⁴ tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these materials were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition.

[19:40]  ⁵ tn The Fourth Gospel uses ὀθονίοις (oqonioi") to describe the wrappings, and this has caused a good deal of debate, since it appears to contradict the synoptic accounts which mention a σινδών (sindwn), a large single piece of linen cloth. If one understands ὀθονίοις to refer to smaller strips of cloth, like bandages, there would be a difference, but diminutive forms have often lost their diminutive force in Koine Greek (BDF §111.3), so there may not be any difference.

[19:40]  ⁶ tn Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”