John 19:39

Joh_19:39

There came also Nicodemus (Text and Joh_3:1; Joh_7:50-51).

The courage-inspiring power of the cross

Each of these passages contains a vivid picture, and together they unfold the progressive spiritual experience of the man portrayed. In the first the night silence is broken by the footsteps of one who steals along, afraid, to the great Teacher. In the second, in the council-chamber of the supreme assembly of the nation, He interposes a trembling word of expostulation at a gross illegality, a word which brings down on its utterer a storm of indignation, but cannot be recalled; it shows that, though amongst His enemies, Nicodemus is at heart a friend of Jesus. In the third, at Calvary. Two men in the garb of rulers appear, and, braving the shame and scorn, advance, and with reverent gentleness take the Body down, and bear it away to the sepulchre. And of those--the two most courageous hearts in all Judaea at that moment--Nicodemus was one.

I. THE RULERS SECRET APPLICATION TO CHRIST.

1. There was at heart a secret longing for what only Christ could give. No one would have supposed that Nicodemus was unsatisfied; he seems to have had almost every temporal good. But He had hours of anxious wondering, seasons when His thirsty soul turned away from earth as from broken cisterns which could hold no water, and a conviction that somehow what he so much wanted this Teacher sent from God could give. How little we know what is going on in those around us I No one could have thought this of Nicodemus.

2. But the gratification of that longing was opposed by great difficulties. No soul can try to make its way to Christ without finding an enemy there to prevent it; but in the case of some--those whose circle is more or less antagonistic to Christ; whose training has led them to believe that morality is enough--who have taken a position in a contrary direction from which it is hard to recede; the difficulties are almost overwhelming. They are illustrated here. This man was a Pharisee; as such he had set ideas on the subject of religion, was one of the council of the LXX. and a doctor of the law. Hardly anything can be more difficult than for a man, perhaps an old man, who has prided himself on his beliefs, to come to say, Perhaps after all I am wrong, at least I am not satisfied, teach me and let me learn, but when one knows that he must have Christ or perish, he makes short work with these barriers.

3. When these difficulties were broken through, Christ received and taught the applicant. He might have said, Come to Me by day, I am tired and would rest, or, Why should I forego repose to listen to a Pharisee? He might have upbraided him with his fear, or questioned his sincerity. Christ did none of these, He will not break the bruised reed, &c. How full of help are the words, The same came to Jesus by night! Many come by day, and we see them. There are others whom we do not see, and wonder they do not come; perhaps they come to Jesus by night. All who come as he did, are welcomed as he was.

II. THE RULERS UNCONSCIOUS CONFESSION OF ATTACHMENT TO CHRIST. What was the immediate result of the interview we are left to imagine; but that is not difficult. Christ gave him instruction because He recognized in him a sincere seeker, and we cannot doubt that from that time Nicodemus was at heart a disciple of Jesus. But he makes no stand; months pass; he is in the council-chamber, the hatred of his colleagues to Christ breaks out in a storm, and then in spite of himself he lets fall a word which reveals that secretly he is on the Lords side. But why secretly? Many here may know what it would cost to stand fearlessly forward as the humble champion of righteousness in the social circle or in public, and they find the answer there. But let me remind you that such a position

1. Is one of great injustice to Christ. If we were to judge by those whom we see come forward, we should be obliged to say that comparatively few are brought to Christ when early life is passed. I have rarely seen a man of years, and position, and learning take it for the first time; and when then, we ask, Are such men past hope? we think of Nicodemus and believe there are many whose surrender to Christ is the secret of their own soul. Such do not reflect how unjust that secrecy is. We cannot estimate what would have been the consequence if Nicodemus had come boldly out at first; many of the rulers secretly believed, and only wanted a fearless leader. He who has deigned to receive us has a right to expect that we let men know what He has done for us.

2. Involves considerable pain to the man himself. Those months in which this Jewish councillor kept his allegiance to Christ a secret must have been months of great discomfort. He could not listen to debates from which he revolted, nor walk the streets and be regarded as one of those who were against Christ, without a guilty conscience. Let one live below what he knows God requires, and from that moment his happiness is doomed.

3. Is a position of great peril to spiritual hope. Whoso shall confess Me, &c. Confession of Christ is indispensable to salvation because it is the necessary result of that union with Christ in which salvation consists.

III. THE RULERS OPEN AVOWAL OF DISCIPLESHIP TO CHRIST. There is a point where the real disciple must emerge from secrecy. Where is it? Where he has a vision of Jesus crucified. We lose our courage because we do not look at the cross. There are mainly three hindrances to confession of Christ, and the cross conquers them all.

1. The cross is a declaration of redemption. That meets the difficulty in uncertainty as to our position. Many a one feels that he cannot acknowledge that he is redeemed because he is not sure of it. But can he look on the Son of God in the agony of an accursed death, and then doubt whether an atonement of such worth has not satisfied the law? If such a price was paid for my redemption it is enough, I am redeemed.

2. The cross is a revelation of Divine love. That meets the difficulty to confessing Christ in coldness of heart. It is because our hearts are cold that we are disciples secretly. What we want is hearts aglow with love to the Redeemer, and for that we may go to Calvary.

3. The cross is a manifestation of the Divine will. That destroys the difficulty to Christian confession in ignorance of what He would have us do. Lord, what is Thy will about me whom Thou hast redeemed? Follow Me, He says; and as we look we see Jesus in the crucified One. The cross becomes the symbol of Christian life which, as His people, we dare not and cannot refuse, for he that taketh not up his cross and cometh after Me cannot be My disciple. (U. New.)

The significance of the final honours

I. BY THIS SERVICE THE SACRED FORM OF THE CRUCIFIED WAS TAKEN OUT OF THE POWER OF HIS ENEMIES. The Romans had no respect for the sanctity of death. The common expression was, The crows to the cross. The Jews acted on the old words, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, and carted the bodies of the executed away to the valley of Hinnom, the great abomination into which were flung things unmentionable, and past imagination, a place thought of as the symbol of hell, and as one of its three doors. When, to satisfy the Jews, orders came that the bodies of the crucified should be instantly made away with, the weeping women were in the distraction, not only of grief, but of helplessness. Just then, when their thoughts were in hopeless entanglement, and the sorrows of a lifetime condensed into one desolating burst, two strangers approached the cross, had the shaft sawn through by workmen, then laid level on the ground, took charge of the body, and set about the observance of the last solemnities. As the watchers looked on the dead weight on their hearts was lifted, the nameless terror was gone.

II. BY THIS UNITED ACTION THE ROYALTY OF THE SAVIOUR WAS RECOGNIZED. In the acute moment when the two newly-revealed disciples bent over the face that was still shadowed by the crown of thorns, only the eyes of their faith could see the marks of royalty there. The text may seem to indicate that nothing more than ordinary was done at the funeral of Jesus, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. The reference, however, is to the nature, not to the scale of the preparations. It certainly was not the manner of the Jews to use spices at a funeral on such a scale as this. Great quantities were used when it was intended to show high respect. At the funeral of Gamaliel the elder, eighty pounds of spices were burnt; and there were five hundred spice-bearers at that Of King Herod; but such a large use of aromatics in honour of the dead was limited to cases of distinction like these. At the Crucifixion His kingly claims had been treated with mockery. There was mockery of His crown, of His sceptre, of His robe, of a court of ceremonial in the offer of vinegar and gall, of a heralds announcement, in the title written on His cross; and His cross was the mockery of a throne; but now, with a love which broke through all bounds of calculation, these men tried to show some sign of their loyalty, now so penitent because it was so late, and were resolved to treat their crucified Master only as a dead king is treated.

III. THE BURIAL OF JESUS IN THE PARTICULAR TOMB SELECTED WAS OVERRULED TO WORK OUT CERTAIN VITALLY IMPORTANT PURPOSES. The tomb was not a structure of masonry, like most others, but a chamber cut out of the living rock. Few could enjoy such a luxury. There are not probably five hundred in or about Jerusalem, and as that city must, in the days of its prosperity, have possessed a population of from thirty thousand to forty thousand souls, and as there must have been a population on this spot for more than three thousand years the inference will be irresistible that the possession of such a tomb must have been one of the things that marked a man of distinction.

1. This act helped to make the actual death of Christ an unquestionable fact. It was no obscure grave, affording an excuse for doubt; no tomb in Jerusalem could have been more conspicuous; no fact more public than Christs burial in it.

2. It prepared for, and made possible, complete and unanswerable evidence of His resurrection, which was further illustrated by the grave being in a garden.

3. Crowning all the other services to the Church; there were undesignedly instrumental in fulfilling this ancient prophecy, He made His grave with the wicked, &c., or, according to the most careful reading, His grave was appointed with the wicked, but He was with a rich man, i.e., His grave was appointed by men with the wicked--under usual circumstances, only such a grave was thought of for one who died on a cross; but He was with a rich man in His tomb after all. And why? Because He had done no violence, &c.

IV. THE ACT OF THESE MEN ILLUSTRATES THE FUNCTION OF WEALTH IN THE SERVICE OF CHRIST, and this is another practical outcome of their profession. The gospel is full of words to comfort and dignify the holy poor; but the gospel creates no class distinctions. The Church is the poor mans church; yes, and it is also the rich mans church; for there the rich and the poor meet together, and the Lord is the Maker of them all. (C. Stanford, D. D.)

A mixture of myrrh and aloes.

The mixture here mentioned was probably in the shape of powder. The two ingredients were strongly aromatic and antiseptic. The large quantity brought shows the wealth and the liberal mind of Nicodemus. It also shows his wise forethought. A dead body so torn and lacerated as that of our blessed Lord, would need an unusually large quantity of antiseptics or preservatives, to check the tendency to corruption which such a climate would cause, even at Easter. Considering also that everything must have been done with some haste, the large quantity of spices used was probably meant to compensate for the want of time to do the work slowly and carefully. Then took they the body, &c. Here we are told the precise manner of the preparation of our Lords body for burial. As always in that time and country, He was not put into a coffin. He was simply wrapped up in linen cloths, on which the preparation of myrrh and aloes had been laid. Thus the powder would be next to our Lords body, and interpose between the linen and His skin. How the linen clothes were provided, we are told by St. Mark (Joh_15:46). Joseph, being a rich man, had no difficulty in supplying funds for this purpose. (Bp. Ryle.)

Extremes in Christs history

Twice was Jesus rich in the days of His poverty. Once immediately after His birth, when the wise men offered Him gold, &c., and now after His ignominious death, when a rich man buries Him, and a distinguished man provides spices to anoint Him. Yea! a rich Joseph has taken the place of that poor Joseph who stood by the manger. (R. Besser, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19:39 Nicodemus (see 3:1; 7:50), a member of the high council, understood that these bodies had to be buried before the upcoming Sabbath (19:31, 42). His public support, as with Joseph of Arimathea, might indicate that he, too, was becoming a disciple (see study note on 7:49-51). • Myrrh was a commonly used aromatic powder. • The aloes were fragrant powdered sandalwood often used as perfume. • seventy-five pounds: This enormous amount of spices was appropriate for royalty; Jesus, the king, was given a royal burial.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 19:39 . ἦλθε δὲ καὶ Νικόδημος . “Thus Jesus by being lifted up is already drawing men unto Him. These Jewish aristocrats first confess Him in the hour of His deepest degradation.” Plummer. Nicodemus is identified as ὁ ἐλθὼν … τὸ πρῶτον , “he who came to Jesus by night at the first”; Joh 3:1 , in contrast to the boldness of his coming now. φέρων μίγμα … ἑκατόν . μίγμα , a “confection” or “compound,” cf. Sir 38:8 . σμύρνης καὶ ἀλόης , “of myrrh and aloes”. Myrrh was similarly used by the Egyptians, see Herod., ii. 83. Cf. Psa 45:9 . ὡσεὶ λίτρας ἑκατόν . The λίτρα (libra) was rather over eleven ounces avoirdupois. The enormous quantity has been accounted for as a rich man’s expression of devotion, or as required if the entire body and all the wrappings were to be smeared with it, and if the grave itself was to be filled with unguents as in 2Ch 16:14 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night--"This remark corresponds to the secrecy of Joseph's discipleship, just noticed, and calls attention to the similarity of their previous character and conduct, and the remarkable change which had now taken place" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].

brought . . . myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pounds weight--an immense quantity, betokening the greatness of their love, but part of it probably intended as a layer for the spot on which the body was to lie. (See Ch2 16:14) [MEYER].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 39. Nicodemus] See Clarke on Joh 3:1, c.

Myrrh and aloes] Which drugs were used to preserve bodies from putrefaction. Calmet says that the aloes mentioned here is a liquor which runs from an aromatic tree, and is widely different from that called aloes among us.

Some have objected that a hundred pounds' weight of myrrh and aloes was enough to embalm two hundred dead bodies and instead of εκατον, a hundred, some critics have proposed to read εκατερων - a mixture of myrrh and aloes, of about a pound EACH. See Bowyer's Conjectures. But it may be observed that great quantities of spices were used for embalming dead bodies, when they intended to show peculiar marks of respect to the deceased. A great quantity was used at the funeral of Aristobulus; and it is said that five hundred servants bearing aromatics attended the funeral of Herod: see Josephus, Ant. b. xv. c. 3, s. 4; and b. xvii. c. 8, s. 3: and fourscore pounds of spices were used at the funeral of R. Gamaliel the elder. See Wetstein in loc.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(39) Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night.—He is mentioned only by St. John. (Comp. Notes on Joh_3:1-2; Joh_7:50.)

A mixture of myrrh and aloes.—For “myrrh,” comp. Note on Mat_2:11. “Aloes” are not elsewhere mentioned in the New Testament, but they are joined with myrrh in the Messianic Psa_45:8. The aloe is an Eastern odoriferous wood—to be distinguished from the aloes of commerce—and chips of the better kinds are now said to be worth their weight in gold. The myrrh and aloes were probably pulverised and mixed together, and then placed in the linen in which the body was wrapped.

About an hundred pound weight.—Comp. Notes on Joh_12:3 et seq. The quantity is clearly much more than could have been placed in the linen which surrounded the body; but the offering was one of love, and part of it may have been placed in the sepulchre. We read of the burial of Asa, that they “laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art” (2Ch_16:14).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. Nicodemus] Another coincidence. Nicodemus also was a member of the Sanhedrin (iii. 1), and his acquaintance with Joseph is thus explained. And it is S. Mark who tells us that Joseph was one of the Sanhedrin, S. John who brings him in contact with Nicodemus. It would seem as if Joseph’s unusual courage had inspired Nicodemus also. We are not told whether or no Nicodemus had ‘consented to the counsel and deed of them.’

at the first] Either the first time that he came to Jesus, in contrast to other occasions; or simply at the beginning of Christ’s ministry. Comp. Joh_10:40).

myrrh and aloes] Myrrh-resin and pounded aloe-wood, both aromatic substances: ‘All thy garments are myrrh and aloes’ (Psa_45:8). Comp. Mat_2:11. Aloes are not mentioned elsewhere in N.T. For ‘mixture’ (migma) the two best MSS. read roll (eligma), and the purpose of this large quantity was probably to cover the Body entirely. Comp. 2Ch_16:14.

about an hundred pound] 1200 ounces. There is nothing incredible in the amount. It is a rich man’s proof of devotion, and possibly of remorse for a timidity in the past which now seemed irremediable: his courage had come too late.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there came also Nicodemus,.... To the cross, at the same time as Joseph did; who, whether they were brethren, as some conjecture, and met here by consent, since one prepared one thing, and another, for the interment of Christ, is not certain. This Nicodemus is thought to be the same with Nicodemus ben Gorion, the Talmudists speaks of, who, they say (u), was one of the three rich men in Jerusalem; as this appears to be a rich man, from the large quantity of myrrh and aloes he brought with him, and which must be very costly. Moreover, they say (w), that he had another name, which was Boni; and they themselves observe (x), that Boni was one of the disciples of Jesus, as this Nicodemus was, though a secret one, as Joseph: this is he

which at the first came to Jesus by night; who, when Christ first entered on his ministry, or when he first came unto him, came to him by night to discourse with him about his Messiahship, doctrine, and miracles, Joh 3:1 for being one of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, and a Rabbi or master in Israel, he was ashamed or afraid to converse publicly with him; however, he went away a disciple; and though he did not openly profess him, he loved him, and believed in him, and now being dead showed his respect to him:

and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight: not himself, but by his servants. This mixture of myrrh and aloes together, and which was a very large quantity, and exceeding costly, was not designed the embalming of his body, and preserving it from putrefaction; for he was not embalmed, though myrrh and cassia and other odours were used in embalming (y); but for perfuming it, and in honour and respect unto him: it was sweet smelling myrrh, and an aromatic spice called "aloe" he brought, and not the common aloe. Nonnus calls it the "Indian aloe", which was of a sweet odour; for which reason it was brought. These are both reckoned with the chief spices, Sol 4:14. Myrrh was one of the principal spices in the anointing oil and holy perfume, Exo 30:23. It is a kind of gum or resin called "stacte", that issues either by incision, or of its own accord, out of the body or branches of a tree of this name, which grows in Arabia and Egypt; and being of an agreeable smell, was used at funerals: hence those words of Martial (z) "---& olentem funera myrrham"; and so Nazianzen, speaking of his brother Caesarius, says (a),

"he lies dead, friendless, desolate, miserable, , "favoured with a little myrrh".''

And so the aloe was used to perfume, and to give a good scent, Pro 7:17 and Christ's garments are said to smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, Psa 45:8. Some have thought, that this was a mixture of the juice of myrrh, and of the juice of the aloe plant, and was a liquid into which the body of Christ was put: but this will not so well agree with the winding of the body in linen, with these in the next verse, where they are called spices. A Jew (b) objects to this relation of the evangelist as unworthy of belief: he affirms, that this was enough for two hundred dead bodies, and that it could not be carried with less than the strength of a mule, and therefore not by Nicodemus. In answer to which, it is observed by Bishop Kidder (c), that we having nothing but the Jew's own word for it, that this was enough for two hundred bodies, and a load for a mule; and that it should be told what was the weight of the or pound, mentioned by the evangelist, ere the force of the objection can be seen; and that it is a thing well known, that among the Jews the bodies of great men were buried with a great quantity of spices: it is said of Asa, that "they buried him in his own sepulchre which he had made for himself, in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours, and divers kinds of spices", Ch2 16:14. To which may be added, what is before observed, that this was not brought by Nicodemus himself, but by his servants; and what they did by his orders, and he coming along with them, he may be said to do. Just as Joseph is said to take down the body of Jesus from the cross, wind it in linen, and carry it to his sepulchre, and there bury it; this being done by his servants, at his orders, or they at least assisting in it; and as Pilate is said to put the title he wrote upon the cross, though it was done by others, at his command.

(u) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 56. 1. (w) T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 20. 1. (x) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 43. 1. (y) Herodotus in Euterpe, c. 86. (z) L. 11. Epigr. 35. (a) Epist. 18. p. 78l. Tom. I. (b) Jacob Aben Amram, porta veritatis No. 1040. apud Kidder, Demonstration of the Messiah, part 3. p. 65, 66. Ed. fol. (c) Ib.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

Ver. 39. And there came also Nicodemus] Another night bird, a chieftain in the ecclesiastical state, as Joseph of Arimathea (or Ramath, Samuel’s country) was in the civil. The faith of these two now breaks out, though it had long lain hidden, as the sun under a cloud, as seed under a clod: now they manifest their love to Christ, so cruelly handled, as the true mother did hers to her child, when it was to be cut in two.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

About a hundred pounds. This seems a great quantity. It may be, they did not use it all. And besides, it was the custom of the Jews, at their great burials, to cover the body with spices and perfumes. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The history of Nicodemus coming by night to our Saviour, and of their discourse together, we had Joh 3:1-21. We again heard of him standing up for Christ in the sanhedrim, Joh 7:50. We read no more of him till now, where he shows his love to his dead body; bringing a hundred pounds weight of myrrh and aloes, which were both of them drugs used in embalming dead bodies, as also in perfuming other things, Psa 45:8.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

39. Also Nicodemus—Mentioned by John alone. See notes on Joh_3:1-21, and Joh_7:50-53.

Myrrh—This myrrh is a gum exuding from a tree found in Arabia and more plentifully in Abyssinia. It was a very ancient article of commerce among Egyptians, Jews, Greeks, and Romans. It is first mentioned in Exo_30:23. It was celebrated in ancient times as a perfume, and burned for an agreeable fumigation; it was esteemed as a medicine. It was an ingredient in the ancient Egyptian embalmment. In the middle ages of Europe it was held that it would render a man’s body immortal, if there were any method of completely imbuing the system with it.

Aloes—The article here mentioned is not to be identified with the drug which bears that name in the modern Materia Medica, which is a very bitter and somewhat stimulant stomachic purgative; on the contrary, the article here named is an odoriferous wood, celebrated for its agreeable qualities in ancient literature. Thus in Psa_45:8 : “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.” The Hebrew word ahil became identified, both in the Greek and modern languages, with the word aloes simply from the verbal resemblance. It is curious that the Malay name of the article is agila; which, besides bearing a strong resemblance to the Hebrew word, has also a resemblance to the word eagle; and hence the same article has received the name of eagle-wood. A hundred pounds—Probably in the form of a ground or pulverized grain. Sceptical critics have raised a great outcry at the enormous amount of embalmment here mentioned. Its weight is almost equal to that of the body to be embalmed. But it is probable that St. John knew quite as well as any modern caviller whether this amount was incredibly large. Certain it is that the amount of spices bestowed was anciently considered an honour to the person entombed. Thus, when Rabbi Gamaliel, senior, died, it is said that there was burned by one proselyte more than eighty pounds of Oppo balsam. Might not Nicodemus esteem this “Teacher sent from God” above all rabbis, priests, or prophets? Might he not have dealt his spices in proportion to his estimation? Do we know that all this material was used in the first enwrapment of the body? (See note on Mat_27:59.) Might not a large amount have been reserved for a fragrant fumigation of the apartments of the sepulchre? Besides, we have already intimated, that probably this great amount of embalming material may have been furnished under some vague idea that the body of Jesus was to be preserved from corruption, and that human means might contribute to that effect. And when we note that the women also prepared spices on Friday evening, (Luk_23:56,) and others brought spices on Sunday morning, (Mar_16:1,) we plainly see that each, without regard to the others’ contributions, was anxious to furnish a share as a tribute of love. To the cavils of Strauss the reply of Ebrard is both beautiful and conclusive: “As if when flowers were to be strewn on the grave of a dear departed friend any one would now ask the question, How many were required? so that there might be just enough! If a friend sent unexpectedly a bunch of flowers, would the mourner, glad to save his money, say, Now there are sufficient flowers; I do not need to buy any more?”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But there came also Nicodemus who at the first came to him by night pointing back (as the evangelist also does at Joh_7:50) to the memorable converse with our Lord detailed in Joh_3:1-20, when Jesus made clear to his visitor that he would be lifted up, even as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness." There is no proof that this "ruler of the Jews" and "master in Israel" had been encouraged by the act of Joseph; but it might seem that these two between them had arranged the costly cerements. There is a world of suggestion lying in this quietly mentioned fact. Doubtless there were many others of timid disposition, who had received deeper convictions than the narrative of the Passion seems to suggest. Nicodemus had said, "We know that thou art a Teacher sent from God." By reason of their unacknowledged faith, the way was prepared for the marvelous conversions of Pentecost and later days. Nicodemus came to the cross, in all probability aided by the loving cares of the women and the disciple whom Jesus loved, bringing a mixture of myrrh, an odoriferous gum, and aloes, a fragrant wood, prepared for the embalming process, about a hundred pounds weight. This was a vast quantity. It reminds the reader of "the myrrh and aloes" of the royal Bridegroom of the Church; (Ps 45) of the frankincense and myrrh brought by the Wise Men of the East; of the lavish gift of Mary the sister of Lazarus; of the outburst of boundless love which, spite of all the cruel persecution and rejection to which the Lord was exposed, at length was lavished upon him. The myrrh and aloes were pounded and mixed for the purposes of resisting the decomposition of death. The method was entirely to cover the oyoniai , with its pungent and purifying powder, and then to swathe the whole body with the grave-clothes thus enriched.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

[39. Καὶ Νικόδημος, and Nicodemus) Whose faith had already put itself forth into exercise by a kind of confession (ch. Joh 7:50) six months before this time; but now it is manifested by an altogether distinguished work of love.—Harm., p. 581.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. αὐτόν for τὸν Ἰησοῦν (correction for clearness).

39. Another coincidence. Nicodemus also was a member of the Sanhedrin (Joh 3:1), and his acquaintance with Joseph is thus explained. But it is S. Mark who tells us that Joseph was one of the Sanhedrin, S. John who brings him in contact with Nicodemus. It would seem as if Joseph’s unusual courage had inspired Nicodemus also. Thus Jesus by being lifted up is already drawing men unto Him. These Jewish aristocrats first confess Him in the hour of His deepest degradation. Τὸ πρῶτον is either at the beginning of Christ’s ministry, or the first time He came to Jesus. The meaning of the Brazen Serpent, of which he heard then (Joh 3:14), is becoming plain to him now.

μίγμα. This may be a correction of ἔλιγμα (אB), a roll. Myrrhgum (Mat 2:11) and pounded aloe-wood (here only) are both aromatic: ‘All thy garments are myrrh and aloes’ (Psa 45:8). The quantity is royal (2Ch 16:14), but not improbable, and reminds us of Mary’s profusion (Joh 12:3). It is a rich man’s proof of devotion, and possibly of remorse for a timidity which now seemed irremediable: his courage had come too late.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39.] John alone mentions Nicodemus. The Galilæan narrative had no previous trace of him, and does not recognize him here. Joseph bore too prominent a part not to be mentioned by all. Luthardt beautifully remarks on the contrast between these men’s secret and timid discipleship before, and their courage now, “Their love to Jesus was called out by the might of His love. His Death is the Power which constrains men. And thus this act of love on the part of both these men is a testimony for Jesus, and for the future effect of His death. Hence also it appears why the Evangelist mentions the weight of the spices, as a proof of the greatness of their love, as Lampe observes.”

σμύρνης, myrrh,—the gum of an aromatic plant, not indigenous in Palestine, but in Arabia Felix, see reff. and Exo 30:23: Pro 7:17 (Hebr. and E. V.): Son 3:6, and Winer, Real-wörterbuch, ii. 126 (edn. 3).

ἀλόης, the name of various sorts of aromatic wood in the East,—see Winer, Realw. i. 54. Both materials appear to have been pulverized (the wood by scraping or burning?) and strewed in the folds of the linen in which the body was wrapped (De Wette). The quantity is large; but perhaps the whole Body was encased, after the wrapping, in the mixture, and an outer wrapper fastened over all. The proceeding was hurried, on account of the approaching Sabbath: and apparently an understanding entered into with the women, that it should be more completely done after the Sabbath was over. This plentiful application of the aromatic substances may therefore have been made with an intention to prevent the Body, in its lacerated state, from incipient decomposition during the interval.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39. For πρὸς αὐτόν (ABL) the rec. has the explanatory πρὸς το͂ν Ἰησοῦν, with אDsuppNΓΔΘ.

א*BW read ἕλιγμα, “a roll,” but this is probably a corruption of μῖγμα, “a mixture” or “confection” (cf. Ecclus. 38:8), which all other MS. authorities support, two cursives giving σμίγμα or σμήγμα. Probably the original was χμιγμα which could easily be corrupted into ελιγμα. Neither word occurs elsewhere in N.T.

ὡς, with אBDsuppLΘ, is to be preferred to ὡσεί of rec. text.

For Nicodemus see on 3:1: he is described here as ὁ ἐλθὼν πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς τὸ πρῶτον, recalling his former interview with Jesus (see on 7:50). It has been suggested that he is to be identified with Joseph of Arimathæa,2 which has no more probability than the fancy that he is only an ideal character invented by Jn. (see on 3:1). In this passage he is represented as assisting Joseph of Arimathæa in the preparation of the Body of Jesus for burial, after Pilate had given his permission; but with that timid caution which was a characteristic (see on 7:50) he does not seem himself to have approached Pilate in the first instance. Nicodemus was probably a rich man, for a hundred pounds weight of spicery was a costly gift. It is not said that Nicodemus bought the spices for this special purpose (there would have been little time for that); probably he brought them from his own house.

The myrrh was a sweet-smelling gum which was mixed with the powdered aromatic wood of aloes. Myrrh and aloes are mentioned together as forming a fragrant mixture or confection several times in the O.T. (Psa 45:8, Pro 7:17, Son 4:14). The use of such spices, when a dead body was placed with honour in its sepulchre, is mentioned in connexion with the burial of King Asa (2Ch 16:14). They appear also to have been used for embalming, but nothing is said of such an intention in this case.

There was little time before the Sabbath came on, and no final disposition of the Body in its resting-place was attempted. Pseudo-Peter says that it was washed, which may be only an imaginative addition to the narrative. It was not anointed; the anointing (cf. Mar 14:8, Mat 26:12) was postponed until the day after the Sabbath, when the women came to do it, having bought spices on their own account (Mar 16:1, Luk 24:1).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Came Nicodemus - came by night. The contrast is marked between his first and his second coming.

Mixture [μιγμα] . Only here in the New Testament. Some authorities read eligma, a roll.

Pounds. Roman pounds, of nearly twelve ounces. The large quantity may be explained by the intention of covering the entire body with the preparation, and by the fact that a portion was designed for the couch of the body in the grave. Compare the account of the burial of Asa, 2Ch 16:14. "Extraordinary reverence in its sorrowful excitement does not easily satisfy itself" (Meyer).

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.