Matthew 27:59

59 Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.

Matthew 27:59 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 27:59

And when Joseph had taken the body
Down from the cross, with the assistance of others, or from the hands of those who had orders to deliver it to him:

he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth:
that is, he wound up the body in it round and round, as was the custom of the Jews; see ( Acts 5:6 ) ( John 11:44 ) . Nor was it usual to bury in any thing but linen: so it is said F13,

``let the wrappings, or grave clothes, be (Mynbl Ntvp lv) , "of white linen"; and let not the price of them be dear, for it is forbidden to bury in wrappings of silk, or broidered garments, even to a prince of Israel: for this is pride and destruction, and the work of the Gentiles.''

This clean linen cloth, in which the dead body of Christ was wrapped, may be an emblem of his purity and innocence, who did no sin; nor did he die for any of his own, but for the sins of others; and also of his pure and spotless righteousness, which is compared to fine linen, clean and white, and which he now had wrought out, and brought in; see ( Revelation 19:8 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Juchasin, fol. 54. 2. Vid. Maimon. Hilchot Ebel, c. 4. sect. 2.

Matthew 27:59 In-Context

57 That evening a rich man named Joseph, a follower of Jesus from the town of Arimathea, came to Jerusalem.
58 Joseph went to Pilate and asked to have Jesus' body. So Pilate gave orders for the soldiers to give it to Joseph.
59 Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.
60 He put Jesus' body in a new tomb that he had cut out of a wall of rock, and he rolled a very large stone to block the entrance of the tomb. Then Joseph went away.
61 Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary were sitting near the tomb.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.