John 19:37-42

19:37 And again another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” ¹ 

Jesus’ Burial

19:38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders ² ), ³  asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate ⁴  gave him permission, so he went and took the body away. ⁵  19:39 Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus ⁶  at night, ⁷  accompanied Joseph, ⁸  carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes ⁹  weighing about seventy-five pounds. ¹⁰  19:40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices, ¹¹  in strips of linen cloth ¹²  according to Jewish burial customs. ¹³  19:41 Now at the place where Jesus ¹⁴  was crucified ¹⁵  there was a garden, ¹⁶  and in the garden ¹⁷  was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. ¹⁸  19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation ¹⁹  and the tomb was nearby, ²⁰  they placed Jesus’ body there.

[19:37]  ¹ sn A quotation from Zech 12:10. Here a single phrase is quoted from Zech 12, but the entire context is associated with the events surrounding the crucifixion. The “Spirit of grace and of supplication” is poured out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the first part of v. 10. A few verses later in 13:1 Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) says “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.” The blood which flowed from Jesus’ pierced side may well be what the author saw as the connection here, since as the shedding of the blood of the sacrificial victim it represents cleansing from sin. Although the Jewish authorities and Roman soldiers certainly “looked on the one whom they have pierced” as he hung on the cross, the author may also have in mind the parousia (second coming) here. The context in Zech 12-14 is certainly the second coming, so that these who crucified Jesus will look upon him in another sense when he returns in judgment.

[19:38]  ² tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially the Pharisees (see John 12:42). See also the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.

[19:38]  ³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:38]  ⁴ tn Grk “And Pilate.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:38]  ⁵ tn Grk “took away his body.”

[19:39]  ⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:39]  ⁷ sn See John 3:1-21.

[19:39]  ⁸ tn Grk “came”; the words “accompanied Joseph” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity.

[19:39]  ⁹ sn Aloes refers to an aromatic resin from a plant similar to a lily, used for embalming a corpse.

[19:39]  ¹⁰ sn The Roman pound (λίτρα, litra) weighed twelve ounces or 325 grams. Thus 100 Roman pounds would be about 32.5 kilograms or 75 pounds.

[19:40]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”

[19:41]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:41]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:41]  ¹⁶ tn Or “an orchard.”

[19:41]  ¹⁷ tn Or “orchard.”

[19:41]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “been placed.”

[19:42]  ¹⁹ sn The day of preparation was the day before the Sabbath when everything had to be prepared for it, as no work could be done on the Sabbath.

[19:42]  ²⁰ sn The tomb was nearby. The Passover and the Sabbath would begin at 6 p.m., so those who had come to prepare and bury the body could not afford to waste time.