John 20:5

5 He bent over and saw the linen cloths, but he did not 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 Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb.

4 The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first.

5 He bent over and saw the linen cloths, but he did not go in.

6 Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there

7 and the cloth which had been around Jesus' head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up by itself.