John 19:40

Linen cloths [ο θ ο ν ι ο ι ς]. Used only by John, if Luke 24:12 is rejected, as by some editors. The Synoptists all have sindwn, linen cloth. See on Mark 14:51. Matthew and Luke have ejntulixen, rolled or wrapped, and Mark ejneilhsen, wound, instead of John's edhsan bound. With the spices. Spread over the sheet or bandages in which the body was wrapped.

The manner of the Jews. As contrasted with that of the Egyptians, for instance, which is thus described by Herodotus : "They take first a crooked piece of iron, and with it draw out the brains through the nostrils, thus getting rid of a portion, while the skull is cleared of the rest by rinsing with drugs; next they make a cut along the flank with a sharp Ethiopian stone, and take out the whole contents of the abdomen, which they then cleanse, washing it thoroughly with palm - wine, and again, frequently with an infusion of pounded aromatics. After this they fill the cavity with the purest bruised myrrh, with cassia, and every other sort of spicery except frankincense, and sew up the opening. Then the body is placed in natrum (subcarbonate of soda) for seventy days, and covered entirely over. After the expiration of that space of time, which must not be exceeded, the body is washed, and wrapped round, from head to foot, with bandages of fine linen cloth, smeared over with gum" (ii. 86). Or, possibly, a contrast may be implied with the Roman custom of burning the bodies of the dead. Tacitus says of the Jews : "The bodies of the deceased they choose rather to bury than burn, following in this the Egyptian custom; with whom also they agree in their attention to the dead" (" History, " 5 5).

To bury [ε ν τ α φ ι α ζ ε ι ν]. Properly, to prepare for burial. See on 12 7. Compare Septuagint, Genesis 1:2, where the same word is used for embalming the body of Joseph.