^19:38After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders¹⁰⁷),¹⁰⁸ asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate¹⁰⁹ gave him permission, so he went and took the body away.¹¹⁰^19:39Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus¹¹¹ at night,¹¹² accompanied Joseph,¹¹³ carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes¹¹⁴ weighing about seventy-five pounds.¹¹⁵^19:40Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices,¹¹⁶ in strips of linen cloth¹¹⁷ according to Jewish burial customs.¹¹⁸^19:41Now at the place where Jesus¹¹⁹ was crucified¹²⁰ there was a garden,¹²¹ and in the garden¹²² was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried.¹²³^19:42And so, because it was the Jewish day of preparation¹²⁴ and the tomb was nearby,¹²⁵ they placed Jesus’ body there.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

107 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. .
108 This is a parenthetical note by the author.
109 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.
110 Grk “took away his body.”
111 Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
113 Grk “came”; the words “accompanied Joseph” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity.
114 Aloes refers to an aromatic resin from a plant similar to a lily, used for embalming a corpse.
115 The Roman pound (λίτρα, litra) weighed twelve ounces or 325 grams. Thus 100 Roman pounds would be about 32.5 kilograms or 75 pounds.
116 On this term see ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these materials were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition.
117 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 ( §111.3), so there may not be any difference.
118 Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”
119 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
120 See the note on Crucify in .
121 Or “an orchard.”
122 Or “orchard.”
123 Grk “been placed.”
124 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.
125 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.

Cross references

112 See John 3:1–21.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly because of his fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’s body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away. Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes. They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it. They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.

NLTNew Living Translation

Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And after these things, Joseph who was from Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but a secret one for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate allowed it, so he came and took away his body. And Nicodemus—the one who had come to him formerly at night—also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about a hundred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in strips of linen cloth with the fragrant spices, as is the Jews’ custom to prepare for burial. Now there was a garden at the place where he was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one was yet buried. So there, on account of the day of preparation of the Jews, because the tomb was close by, they buried Jesus.

KJV 1900King James Version

And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

Public Domain