He was wrapped in strips of linen.
“Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.” John 19:39-40
Interestingly the article posted after this one is about the burial strips.
Had a thought just now; please let me know what you think.
What if Christ was indeed wrapped in the shroud, and the shroud itself (with the body inside it) was what was wrapped in strips of linen?
SOMEONE is logically challenged!
Actually, the original Greek in which the New Testament Gospels were written does not say that. The original Greek words in John are:
“ἔλαβον οὖν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἔδησαν αὐτὸ ὀθονίοις μετὰ τῶν ἀρωμάτων, καθὼς ἔθος ἐστὶν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἐνταφιάζειν.”. . .
“ ἔρχεται οὖν καὶ Σίμων Πέτρος ἀκολουθῶν αὐτῷ, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον· καὶ θεωρεῖ τὰ ὀθόνια κείμενα,”
τὰ ὀθόνια translated in multiple Greek Dictionaries to “the Linen Cloths” or “the Linen wrappings” and only the quaternary, or fourth, definition of the word is “bandages or strips,” which was primarily used in Greek war literature.
In addition, elsewhere in the Bible, a version of the Greek word ὀθόνια, plural, is used to metaphorically describe a “great sheets” and then later to describe TENT cloth, but never bandages or strips. In Acts 10:11 cf. Acts 10:15—
“καὶ θεωρεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγμένον καὶ καταβαῖνον σκεῦός τι ὡς ὀθόνην μεγάλην τέσσαρσιν ἀρχαῖς καθιέμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς,”“And [Peter] saw heaven opened, and something descending, like a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth...”
The root word, which ὀθονίοις othonioic is a diminutive (smaller version of the original, i,e, a smaller cloth) of, is ὀθόνη othone ( pronounced: Otho-nay):
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3607: ὀθόνηὀθόνη, ὀθονης, ἡ (from Homer down);
1. linen (i. e. fine white linen for women's clothing; cf. Vanicek, Fremdwörter, under the word).2. linen cloth (sheet or sail); so Acts 10:11; Acts 11:5. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
sheet.
Of uncertain affinity; a linen cloth, i.e. (especially) a sail -- sheet.
John 19:40 use of ” ὀθονίοις” is now interpreted by scholars to refer to a SINGULAR cloth, and the entire passage then comports with the Synoptic Gospels reference to Joseph of Arimathea buying a Syndon, an expensive Linen sheet, for example Mark 15:46: “καὶ ἀγοράσας σινδόνα καὶ καθελὼν αὐτὸν ἐνείλησεν τῇ σινδόνι καὶ κατέθηκεν αὐτὸν ἐν μνημείῳ ὃ ἦν λελατομημένον ἐκ πέτρας καὶ προσεκύλισεν λίθον ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν τοῦ μνημείου” — Stephanus Textus Receptus Greek Translation of 1550
This bold and underlined section translated to “He (Joseph of Arimathea) purchased a Syndon (a fine Linen sheet or shroud) and enwrapped him (Jesus) in the syndon *the cloth)...”
Matthew 27:59:
“καὶ λαβὼν τὸ σῶμα ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἐνετύλιξεν αὐτὸ σινδόνι καθαρᾷ” — Same 1550 translation
Luke 23:53:
“ καὶ καθελὼν αὐτὸ ἐνετύλιξεν αὐτὸ σινδόνι καὶ ἔθηκεν αὐτὸ ἐν μνήματι λαξευτῷ οὗ οὐκ ἦν οὐδέπω οὐδεὶς κείμενος” — Ditto on tranlation
All three Synoptic Gospels refer to a σινδόνι, a syndon, a large sheet, a fine linen, not strips of cloth.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 4616: σινδώνσινδών, σινδονος, ἡ (of uncertain origin; Sanskritsindhu (Egyptian,sehenti or 'sent'; cf. Vanicek, Fremdwörter under the word); the Sept. for סָדִין, Judges 14:12; Proverbs 29:42 (), fine cloth (Latin sindon), i. e.:
1. linen cloth, especially that which was fine and costly, in which the bodies of the dead were wrapped: Matthew 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53 (cf. Herodotus 2, 86 who says of the Egyptians, κατειλισσουσι πᾶν τό σῶμα σινδονος βυσσινης (see Wilkinson's note in Rawlinson's Herod. 3rd edition, the passage cited)). 2. thing made of fine cloth: so of a light and loose garment worn at night over the naked body, Mark 14:51f (others suppose a sheet rather than a shirt to be referred to; A. V. linen cloth; cf. B. D. American edition, under the word Sheets). (Besides Herodotus, the writers Sophocles, Thucydides, Strabo, Lucian, others use the word.)This mischaracterization came about because at the time English translations of the Bible were being done, Egyptian mummies were being unearthed and were being reported as swathed in yards and yards of bandages. English translators assumed that all such ancient burials with cloth involved were buried in such a manner and ignored the synoptic Gospels relating that Joseph of Arimathea purchasing a Syndon.
Further the Jewish Mishnah specifies that for those who can afford it a Syndon is allowed in Jewish burials:
“ סדיןn (sadin — Swordmaker) Mishnaic usage is discussed in some detail by Jastrow: as a sheet usually of fine linen (cmp. σινδων )