a27:59-60
bDeut 21:22-23
c2 Kgs 9:37
dPs 79:3
eJer 16:4
gEzek 29:5
hRev 11:9
iMark 5:38-39
jActs 9:37
kMatt 26:6-13
lJohn 12:3
n19:39
oMatt 27:59
pGen 50:2-3
qMatt 23:27

‏ Matthew 27:59-60

Summary for Matt 27:59-60: 27:59-60  a Burial customs were important in Judaism, especially in contrast to the Greeks and Romans, who cremated their dead. Leaving a corpse unburied was the severest form of judgment (Deut 21:22-23  b; 2 Kgs 9:37  c; Ps 79:3  d; Jer 16:4  e, 6  f; Ezek 29:5  g; Rev 11:9  h). Death was lamented and mourned (Mark 5:38-39  i); the body was washed (Acts 9:37  j), anointed (Matt 26:6-13  k; John 12:3  l, 7  m; 19:39  n), and wrapped in burial cloths (Matt 27:59  o; see Gen 50:2-3  p). The body was placed in a tomb (see Matt 23:27  q) that had been tunneled into a rock or carved into the side of a cave wall. The entrance to a tomb was often closed with a huge stone and sealed to prevent ceremonial uncleanness or robbery.

• clean linen ... new tomb: Both reflect ceremonial purity. Joseph had purchased the tomb for his own family, but it had not yet been used.
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