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39 Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus[a] at night,[b] accompanied Joseph,[c] carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes[d] weighing about seventy-five pounds.[e] 40 Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it, with the aromatic spices,[f] in strips of linen cloth[g] according to Jewish burial customs.[h] 41 Now at the place where Jesus[i] was crucified[j] there was a garden,[k] and in the garden[l] was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried.[m]

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Footnotes

  1. John 19:39 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  2. John 19:39 sn See John 3:1-21.
  3. John 19:39 tn Grk “came”; the words “accompanied Joseph” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity.
  4. John 19:39 sn Aloes refers to an aromatic resin from a plant similar to a lily, used for embalming a corpse.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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).
  8. John 19:40 tn Grk “cloth as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial.”
  9. John 19:41 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  10. John 19:41 sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.
  11. John 19:41 tn Or “an orchard.”
  12. John 19:41 tn Or “orchard.”
  13. John 19:41 tn Grk “been placed.”