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Jesus’ Burial

38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders[a]),[b] asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate[c] gave him permission, so he went and took the body away.[d] 39 Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus[e] at night,[f] accompanied Joseph,[g] carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes[h] weighing about seventy-five pounds.[i] 40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices,[j] in strips of linen cloth[k] according to Jewish burial customs.[l] 41 Now at the place where Jesus[m] was crucified[n] there was a garden,[o] and in the garden[p] was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried.[q] 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation[r] and the tomb was nearby,[s] they placed Jesus’ body there.

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Footnotes

  1. John 19:38 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.
  2. John 19:38 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
  3. John 19:38 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.
  4. John 19:38 tn Grk “took away his body.”
  5. John 19:39 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. John 19:39 sn See John 3:1-21.
  7. John 19:39 tn Grk “came”; the words “accompanied Joseph” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity.
  8. John 19:39 sn Aloes refers to an aromatic resin from a plant similar to a lily, used for embalming a corpse.
  9. John 19:39 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.
  10. John 19:40 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.
  11. John 19:40 tn The Fourth Gospel uses ὀθονίοις (othoniois) 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 (sindōn), 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. Also, Luke uses both terms to refer to the wrappings, which suggests they are interchangeable in some contexts at least (Luke 23:53; 24:12).
  12. John 19:40 tn Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”
  13. John 19:41 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. John 19:41 sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.
  15. John 19:41 tn Or “an orchard.”
  16. John 19:41 tn Or “orchard.”
  17. John 19:41 tn Grk “been placed.”
  18. John 19:42 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. John 19:42 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.

The Burial of Jesus

38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.(A) 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.(B) 41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

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