John 20:5

5 and stooping down he sees the linen cloths lying; he did not however go in.

John 20:5 Meaning and Commentary

John 20:5

And he stooping down and looking in
That is, John; when he came to the sepulchre, stooped down to look into it, and see what he could see; he only went into the court, or stood upon the floor, where the bearers used to set down the bier, before they put the corpse into one of the graves in the sepulchre, which were four cubits lower; (See Gill on Mark 16:5). Hence he was obliged to stoop down, ere he could see anything within: when he

saw the linen clothes lying;
in which the body had been wrapped, but that itself not there:

yet went he not in;
to the sepulchre itself, but waited in the court or porch, till Peter came; and perhaps might be timorous and fearful of going into such a place alone; the Arabic version reads it, "he dared not go in".

John 20:5 In-Context

3 Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and came to the tomb.

4 And the two ran together, and the other disciple ran forward faster than Peter, and came first to the tomb,

5 and stooping down he sees the linen cloths lying; he did not however go in.

6 Simon Peter therefore comes, following him, and entered into the tomb, and sees the linen cloths lying,

7 and the handkerchief which was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a distinct place by itself.