John 19:39-42

19:39 Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus ¹  at night, ²  accompanied Joseph, ³  carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes ⁴  weighing about seventy-five pounds. ⁵  19:40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices, ⁶  in strips of linen cloth ⁷  according to Jewish burial customs. ⁸  19:41 Now at the place where Jesus ⁹  was crucified ¹⁰  there was a garden, ¹¹  and in the garden ¹²  was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. ¹³  19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation ¹⁴  and the tomb was nearby, ¹⁵  they placed Jesus’ body there.

[19:39]  ¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:39]  ² sn See John 3:1-21.

[19:39]  ³ tn Grk “came”; the words “accompanied Joseph” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity.

[19:39]  ⁴ sn Aloes refers to an aromatic resin from a plant similar to a lily, used for embalming a corpse.

[19:39]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”

[19:41]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:41]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:41]  ¹¹ tn Or “an orchard.”

[19:41]  ¹² tn Or “orchard.”

[19:41]  ¹³ tn Grk “been placed.”

[19:42]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.