Discovery BoxJohn 19:38-39 
Context19:38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus (but secretly, because he feared the Jewish leaders 1 ), 2 asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. Pilate 3 gave him permission, so he went and took the body away. 4 19:39 Nicodemus, the man who had previously come to Jesus 5 at night, 6 accompanied Joseph, 7 carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes 8 weighing about seventy-five pounds. 9
1 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially the Pharisees (see John 12:42). See also the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.
2 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
3 tn Grk “And Pilate.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
4 tn Grk “took away his body.”
5 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 sn See John 3:1-21.
7 tn Grk “came”; the words “accompanied Joseph” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity.
8 sn Aloes refers to an aromatic resin from a plant similar to a lily, used for embalming a corpse.
9 sn The Roman pound (λίτρα, litra) weighed twelve ounces or 325 grams. Thus 100 Roman pounds would be about 32.5 kilograms or 75 pounds.
