John 19:38-42

Jesus’ Burial

19:38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders ¹ ), ²  asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate ³  gave him permission, so he went and took the body away. ⁴  19:39 Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus ⁵  at night, ⁶  accompanied Joseph, ⁷  carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes ⁸  weighing about seventy-five pounds. ⁹  19:40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices, ¹⁰  in strips of linen cloth ¹¹  according to Jewish burial customs. ¹²  19:41 Now at the place where Jesus ¹³  was crucified ¹⁴  there was a garden, ¹⁵  and in the garden ¹⁶  was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. ¹⁷  19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation ¹⁸  and the tomb was nearby, ¹⁹  they placed Jesus’ body there.

[19:38]  ¹ 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]  ² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:38]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “took away his body.”

[19:39]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:39]  ⁶ sn See John 3:1-21.

[19:39]  ⁷ tn Grk “came”; the words “accompanied Joseph” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity.

[19:39]  ⁸ sn Aloes refers to an aromatic resin from a plant similar to a lily, used for embalming a corpse.

[19:39]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”

[19:41]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:41]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:41]  ¹⁵ tn Or “an orchard.”

[19:41]  ¹⁶ tn Or “orchard.”

[19:41]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “been placed.”

[19:42]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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.