Bible Strands
John 19:40
So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the actions of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus immediately after Jesus’s death on the cross and before moving the body to the nearby garden tomb.
The words — ἔλαβον (elabon) means “they took,” and ἔδησαν (edēsan) means “they bound,” documenting the physical handling and securing of Jesus’s body.
The thread — The wrapping practice parallels the linen strips in John 11:44, the empty tomb scene in John 20:5, and the burial account in Acts 5:6.
Why it lands — The text explicitly states the body was wrapped in linen cloths with spices according to Jewish burial custom, establishing the factual sequence of Jesus’s interment before any theological claims about resurrection.
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
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.
Cross-references
- John 11:44 The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.
- John 20:5 He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
- Acts 5:6 Then the young men stepped forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
- Matthew 26:12 By pouring this perfume on Me, she has prepared My body for burial.
- Luke 24:12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. And after bending down and seeing only the linen cloths, he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.