Bible Strands
John 19:36
Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator of John's Gospel addresses his readers, inserting this fulfillment note between the witness testimony (v. 35) and the second scriptural quotation (v. 37), after the spear has already been thrust.
The words — ὀστοῦν (ostoun, "bone") stands in the singular here, while the LXX of Psalm 33:11 (34:20) and the Masoretic text both read the plural; the singular extends the claim to every individual bone.
The thread — The direct quotation is Psalm 34:20; the legal background is the Passover command in Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12 that no bone of the lamb be broken.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to see the spear-wound (v. 34) not as incidental violence but as the precise fulfillment of a command governing the Passover lamb, binding Jesus' death to the sacrificial system.
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
For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
Cross-references
- Psalms 34:20 He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken.
- Numbers 9:12 they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones. They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes.
- Exodus 12:46 It must be eaten inside one house. You are not to take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of the bones.
- Psalms 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed. My heart is like wax; it melts away within me.
- John 19:28 After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- Psalms 35:10 All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
- Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
- John 19:24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it. Instead, let us cast lots to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture: “They divided My garments among them, and cast lots for My clothing.” So that is what the soldiers did.