Bible Strands
John 19:31
It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Jews petition Pilate immediately after Jesus yields up His spirit, requesting that the legs of the crucified be broken and their bodies removed. This occurs on the day of Preparation, with the following day designated as a High Sabbath.
The words — The passage employs paraskeuē (Preparation) to identify the day preceding the Sabbath, and ina (so that) to frame the purpose of the requested action.
The thread — The preparation timeline reappears in John 19:14 and John 19:42, while Mark 15:42 likewise records the evening timing and proximity to the Sabbath.
Why it lands — The text states that ritual observance dictated the immediate removal of the bodies, requiring the reader to note how Jewish calendrical urgency directly shaped the sequence of events following the crucifixion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Cross-references
- John 19:14 It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”
- John 19:42 And because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.
- Mark 15:42 Now it was already evening. Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
- Joshua 8:29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
- Exodus 12:16 On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.
- Leviticus 23:7 On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work.
- Deuteronomy 21:22 If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,
- Joshua 10:26 After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.
- Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.
- Micah 3:3 You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”