John 20:7

and the face cloth, ¹  which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. ² 

biblegateway Joh 20:7

as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.

biblegateway Joh 20:7

and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

biblegateway Joh 20:7

while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side.

biblegateway Joh 20:7

and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself.

SABDAweb Joh 20:7

And the cloth, which had been round his head, not with the linen bands but rolled up in a place by itself.

bibleoremus Joh 20:7

and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

biblegateway Joh 20:7

and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.

biblegateway Joh 20:7

and the face cloth, ¹  which had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. ² 

¹ sn The word translated face cloth is a Latin loanword (sudarium). It was a small towel used to wipe off perspiration (the way a handkerchief would be used today). This particular item was not mentioned in connection with Jesus’ burial in John 19:40, probably because this was only a brief summary account. A face cloth was mentioned in connection with Lazarus’ burial (John 11:44) and was probably customary. R. E. Brown speculates that it was wrapped under the chin and tied on top of the head to prevent the mouth of the corpse from falling open (John [AB], 2:986), but this is not certain.

² sn Much dispute and difficulty surrounds the translation of the words not lying with the strips of linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself. Basically the issue concerns the positioning of the graveclothes as seen by Peter and the other disciple when they entered the tomb. Some have sought to prove that when the disciples saw the graveclothes they were arranged just as they were when around the body, so that when the resurrection took place the resurrected body of Jesus passed through them without rearranging or disturbing them. In this case the reference to the face cloth being rolled up does not refer to its being folded, but collapsed in the shape it had when wrapped around the head. Sometimes in defense of this view the Greek preposition μετά (meta, which normally means “with”) is said to mean “like” so that the comparison with the other graveclothes does not involve the location of the face cloth but rather its condition (rolled up rather than flattened). In spite of the intriguing nature of such speculations, it seems more probable that the phrase describing the face cloth should be understood to mean it was separated from the other graveclothes in a different place inside the tomb. This seems consistent with the different conclusions reached by Peter and the beloved disciple (vv. 8-10). All that the condition of the graveclothes indicated was that the body of Jesus had not been stolen by thieves. Anyone who had come to remove the body (whether the authorities or anyone else) would not have bothered to unwrap it before carrying it off. And even if one could imagine that they had (perhaps in search of valuables such as rings or jewelry still worn by the corpse) they would certainly not have bothered to take time to roll up the face cloth and leave the other wrappings in an orderly fashion.