Under that custom of the Roman law was now the body of our Saviour on the cross, and the guard was set: there was "the centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus." (Matt. xxvii. 54.) The centurion returned as soon as Christ was dead, and gave testimony unto Pilate of his death; bat the watch continueth still. How then can the ancient predictions be fulfilled? How can this Jonas be conveyed into the belly of the whale? Where shall " he make his grave with the wicked, or with the rich, in his death" (Isa. liii. 9.) of crucifixion? By the providence of him who did foretell it, it shall be fulfilled. They who petitioned that he might be crucified, shall intercede that he may be interred. For the custom of the Jews required, that whosoever suffered by the sentence of their law, should be buried, and that the same day he suffered.* Particularly they could not but remember the express words of Moses," If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day." (Deut. xxi. 22, 23.) Upon this ge neral custom and particular law, especially considering the sanctity of the day approaching, "the Jews, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath-day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." (John xix. 31.) And this is the first step to the burial of our Saviour. For though by the common rule of the Roman law, those that were condemned to the cross were to lose both soul and body on the tree, as not being permitted either sepulchre or mourning; yet it was in the power of the magistrate to indulge the leave of burial:‡ and therefore Pilate, who crucified Christ because the Jews desired it, could not possibly deny as taken for ἀνασταυρῶσαι, for not long after in the same author it follows: 'oxiγαις δὲ ὕστερον ἡμέραις, οἱ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κλεομένους ἀνεσταυρωμένον παραφυλάττοντες εἶδον εὐμεγέθη δράκοντα τῇ κεφαλῇ περιπεπλεγμένον, καὶ ἀποκρύπτοντα τὸ πρόσωπον, ὡς μηδὲν ὄρνεον ἐφίπτασθαι σαρκοφάγον. Plutarch. in vit. Cleom. c. 38. Where we see a guard set to keep him from burial, and the voracious fowls ready to seize on him, had they not been kept off by a serpent involving his head. Thus were soldiers, upon the crucifixion of any person set as a guard, τὸν ἀνεσταυρωμένον παραφυλάττοντες, οι τηροῦντες, ' et crucem asservantes, viz. ne quis ad sepulturam corpus detraheret.' מצות עשה לקבור את כל הרוגי בית דין Maimon. Tract. Sanhed. c. 15. So Josephus : Τοσαύτην Ἰουδαίων περὶ τὰς ταφὰς πρόνοιαν ποιουμένων, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ἐκ καταδίκης ἀνασταυρουμένους πρὸ δύναντος ἡλίου áveλeïv te xai Járrew. De Bell. Jud. I. iv. c. 18. + Non solent autem lugeri (ut Neratius ait) hostes, vel perduelliones damnati, nec suspendiosi, nec qui manus sibi intulerunt, non tædio vitæ, sed mala conscientia.' Digest. 1. iii. tit. 2. l. Liberorum. So Ulpianus, 1. ix. de Officio Proconsulis: Corpora eorum qui capite damnantur cognatis ipsorum neganda non sunt: et id se observasse etiam Divus Augustinus libro decimo de vita sua scribit. Hodie autem eorum in quos animadvertitur corpora non aliter sepeliuntur, quam si fuerit petitum et permissum; et nonnunquam non permittitur, maxime majestatis causa damnatorum.' So Paulus, 1. i. Sententiarum: Corpora animadversorum quibuslibet petentibus ad sepulturam danda sunt. Obnoxios criminum digno supplicio subjectos sepul turæ tradi non vetamus.' Cod. l. iii. tit. 43. 1. 11. him burial when they requested it; he that professed to find no fault in him while he lived, could make no pretence for an accession of cruelty after his death. Now though the Jews had obtained their request of Pilate, though Christ had been thereby certainly buried; yet had not the prediction been fulfilled, which expressly mentioned "the rich in his death." For, as he was crucified between two thieves, so had he been buried with them, because by the Jews there was appointed a public place of burial for all such as suffered as malefactors. Wherefore to rescue the body of our blessed Saviour from the malicious hands of those who caused his crucifixion, "there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, an honourable counsellor, a good man and a just; who also himself waited for the kingdom of God, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews: this Joseph came and went in boldly unto Pilate, and besought him that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave, and commanded the body to be delivered: he came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus." (Matt. xxvii. Mark xv. Luke xxiii. John xix.) Beside, "there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, a man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a master of Israel:" this Nicodemus came "and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury." (John iii. 1. 10. xix. 39, 40.) And thus was the burial of the Son of God performed, according to the custom of the people of God. For the understanding of which there are three things considerable; first, What was done to the body, to prepare it for the grave; secondly, How the sepulchre was prepared to receive the body; thirdly, How the persons were fitted by the interring of our Saviour to fulfil the prophecy. As for fulfilling the custom of the Jews as to the preparation in respect of his body, we find the spices and the linen clothes. When" there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she brake the box, and poured it on his head;" Christ made this interpretation of that action," She is come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying." (Mark xiv. 3. 8.) When Christ was risen, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary brought the spices which they had prepared, that they might come and anoint him." (Mark xvi. 1. Luke xxiv. 1.) Thus was there an interpreted and an intended unction of our Saviour, but really and actually he was interred with the spices which Nicodemus brought. The custom of wrapping in the clothes we see in Lazarus rising from the grave; for he came forth bound hand and foot, with grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin.” (John xi. 44.) In the same manner when our Saviour was risen, "Simon Peter went into the se pulchre, and saw the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself." (John. xx. 6, 7.) Thus, according to the custom of the Jews, was the body of Christ bound in several linen clothes with an aromatical composition, and so prepared for the sepulchre.* There are four words in the Gospel expressing the linen clothes in which the dead were buried, Σινδων, οθόνια, κειρίας, and σουδάριον. The Σινδων is used by three evangelists, as what was brought by Joseph: Καὶ ἀγοράσας σινδόνα, καὶ καθελὼν αὐτὸν, ἐνείλησε τῇ σινδόνι, Mark xv. 46. and St. Matthew xxvii. 59. and St. Luke xxiii. 53. ἐνετύλιξεν αὐτὸ σινδόνι. Οθόνια is used by St. John xix. 40. Ελαβον οὖν τὸ σῶμα Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ἔδησαν αὐτὸ ὀθονίας. Now both these words shew that the clothes were linen. Σινδων, tunica linea. Gloss. Φωσσώνιον, λινοῦν τι, ἤτοι σινδόνιον. Etym. So Οθόνια, λινᾶ ἱμάτια. Hesych. This was according to the custom of the Jews, amongst whom there was a kind of law, that they should use no other grave. clothes. As therefore the Egyptians in Herodotus, l. ii. c. 86. Λούσαντες τὸν νεκρὸν, κατειλίσσουσι πᾶν αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα σινδόνος βυσσίνης, so the Jews. But it is farther to be observed, that St. John saith ἔδησαν αὐτὸ ὀθονίοις, they bound up his body with several clothes, which signifies it was done fasciatim. As Herodotus in another case, l. vii. c. 181. Σμύρνησί τε ἰώμενοι τὰ ἕλκεα, καὶ σινδόνος βυσσίνης τελαμῶσι και τειλίσσοντες. Whereas then Julius Pollux observes, Onomast. I. vii. c. 16. εἴρηται δέ που καὶ τελαμὼν σινδονίτης, I conceive these οθόνια in St. John were such τελαμώνες σινδονίται, lineæ fascia, or instite, called in the case of Lazarus κειρίαι, John xi. 44. for as he is described δεδεμένος κειρίαις, 50 it is said of the body of Christ, ἔδησαν αὐτὸ ὀθονίοις, they bound it with linen bandages or swathes. These are the ἐντάφια δεσμά, as the grammarians interpret κειρία tanquam κηρία. So the ancient MS. in the library at St. James's reads it: Alμένος τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας κυρίας. And so Hesychius reads it when he made that interpretation. Κειρίαις (leg. Κυρίαις) ἐπισ θανάτια ἐντετυλιγμένα. What anciently κηρία was, will appear by the words ef Julius Pollux, l. x. c. 7. Καὶ μὴν τόγε τη κλίνῃ ἢ τῷ σκίμποδι ἐντεταμένον, ὡς φέρειν τὰ τυλεία, σπαρτία, σπάρτα, τόνος, κειρία· the bands or cords by which the beds or couches are fastened, and upon which the bedding lies. In this sense it is to be taken in that known place of Aristophanes, in Avibus, ver. 815. Σπάρτην γὰρ ἂν θείμην ἐγὼ τῇ μὴ πόλει, Οὐδ ̓ ἂν χαμεύνη, πάνυγε κειρίαν ἔχων. Of which Eustathius, Iliad. β'. gives us this account : Φησὶ μὴ ἂν δεηθῆναι σπάρτης, κειρίαν ἔχων· ἤτοι μὴ δεηθῆναι σπαρτίνου πλέγματος, ἐὰν ἄλλην ἔχοι κειρίαν, ἤτοι δεσμὸν κλίνης. Hence the grammarians give that interpretation of Κειρία. As Etymologus : Κειρία, σημαίνει τὸ σχοινίον τὸ δεσμεύον τὴν κλίνην' in reference to that place of Aristophanes, otherwise it hath no relation to a bed, but indifferently signifieth any fascia or band. So the scholiast of Aristophanes : 'Η δὲ κειρία εἶδος ζώνης ἐκ σχε νίων παρεοικὸς ἱμάντι, ᾗ δεσμοῦσε τὰς κλίνες not the cord of a bed, but a fascia or girdle like unto it. With such linen fascic, swathes, or bandages, was the body of Lazarus involved. Ἐκ ποδὸς ἄχρι καρήνου Σφιγγόμενον πλεκτῇσιν ὅλον δέμας εἶχε κερείαις, says Nonnus, c. xi. 169. And Juvencus, Nec mora, connexis manibus pedibusque repente Hence Basil, bishop of Seleucia, makes xigías then were instita, as the Vulgar Latin; fascia, as Juvencus and the Syriac translation, oda yox, vinctus fasciis. Of the same nature I conceive were the ὀθόνια mentioned in our Saviour's burial ; and so St. Augustin does express them in reconciling the rest of the evangelists, who mentioned only Joseph and the Sindon, with St. John, who addeth Nicode As for the preparation of the sepulchre to receive the body of our Saviour, the custom of the Jews was also punctually observed in that. Joseph of Arimathea had prepared a place of burial for himself, and the manner of it is expressed: for "in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein never man was laid, which Joseph had hewn out of a rock for his own tomb: there laid they Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre." (Matt. xxvii. Mark xv.) And so Christ was buried, after the manner of the Jews, in a vault made by the excavation of the rocky firm part of the earth, and that vault secured from external injury by a great massy stone rolled to the mouth or door thereof.* After which stone was once rolled mus and the ὀθόνια : • Neque hic aliquid repugnet recte intelligentibus. Neque enim illi qui de Nicodemo tacuerunt, affirmaverunt, a solo Josepho Dominum sepultum, quamvis solius commemorationem fecerint; aut quia illi una sindone a Josepho involutum dixerunt, propterea prohibuerunt intelligi et alia lintea potuisse afferri a Nicodemo et superaddi: ut verum narraret Johannes quod non uno linteo, sed linteis, involutus sit; quamvis et propter sudarium quod capiti adhibebatur, et institas quibus totum corpus alligatum est, quia omnia de lino erant, etiamsi una sindon ibi fuit, verissime dici potuit, ligaverunt eum linteis.' De consensu Evang. 1. iii. c. 23. These which he calls instita quibus totum corpus alligatum est, were the non involucra mortui. Beside these we read in the history of Lazarus, ἡ ὄψις αὐτοῦ σουδαρίῳ περιεδέδετο, John xi. 44. And of our Saviour, καὶ τὸ σουδάριον, ὃ ἦν ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ, John II. 7. The same is rendered by the Syriac TTD, and Nonnus makes it a Syriac word, Καὶ λινέῳ σεπύκατο καλύμματι κυκλάδα κόρσην, Σουδάριον τό πες εἶπε Σύρων στόμα. c. xỉ. 172. Whereas the word is not of a Syriac but Latin origination; and from the Latins came to the Greek and eastern people, sudor and sudare, from thence sudarium. 'Vatinius reus, agente in eum Calvo, sudario candido frontem detersit.' Quintil. Instit. Orat. 1. vi. c. 3. §. 60. Suetonius of Nero: Plerumque prodiit in publicum ligato circa collum sudario.' c. 53. This was translated into their own language by the latter Greeks, to signify that which before was called ἡμιτύβιον and αψιδρώ Tiv, as is observed by Julius Pollux, l. vii. c. 16. Τὸ δὲ ἡμιτύβιον, ἔστι μὲν καὶ τοῦτο Αἰγύπτιον, εἴη δὲ ἂν κατὰ τὸ ἐν τῇ μέση και μωδία καψιδρώτιον καλούμενον, ὃ νῦν σουδάριον ὀνομάζεται. ̓Αριστοφάνει γὰρ ἐν Πλούτῳ Επειτα καθαρὸν ἡμιτύβιον λαβὼν, where τὰ βλέφαρα περιέψησε, is the same Túßo then was the same with sudarium. So the scholiast upon this place: Ημιτύβιον ῥάκος ἡμιτριβὲς λινοῦν τι, οἷον ἐκμα yov. This is the proper signification of Zoudágiov, viz. a linen cloth used to wipe off sweat but when it was translated into the Chaldee or Syriac language, it received a more general signification, of any cloth, or veil, or covering of linen, for any other use, as Ruth iii. 15. Bring the veil that thou hast upon thee :" the הבו סודרא די עליך Chaldee rendereth it and it held six measures of barley. So when Moses is said to "put a veil on his face," Exod. xxxiv. 53. the Chaldee ויהב על איקונין דבית again rendereth it So the Rabbins ordinarily אכפרי סודרא. the veil er covering of סודרא על רישיה,use : his head and in that sense it is here taken, not with any relation to the etymology, as Nonnus conceived in those words, c. xi. 171. Θερμὸν ἔχων ἱδρῶτα καλυπτόμενος προσώπου, as if Lazarus had come sweating out of his grave; but the only use, is being bound about the head, and covering the face, which the Epistle of Martialis calls 'sudarium mortuorum.' Epist. ad Tolo san. c. 1. • Strabo observeth of Jerusalem, that the ground about it, ἐντὸς ἐξήκοντα σταδίων was inò mirgas, for nine miles rocky underneath, 1. xvi. p. 1104. ed. Amst. 1707. p. 761. ed. Par. 1620. It is therefore no wonder that in a garden so near Jerusalem there should be found ground which was petrosa. It is said therefore of Joseph, Matt. xxvii. 60. that μmμstov iλatóμnσev iv T Tirea of the sepulchre, Mark xv. 46. that ἦν λελατομημένον ἐκ πέτρας, and Luke thither, the whole funeral action was performed, and the sepulture completed: so that it was not lawful by the custom of the Jews any more to open the sepulchre, or disturb the interred body.* Thirdly, Two eminent persons did concur unto the burial of our Saviour, a ruler and a counsellor,† men of those orders xxiii. 53. λažeurov, which signify no less than that it was cut out of a rock and Nonnus makes a particular paraphrase to that purpose of λαξευτὸν only, c. xx. 214. —Εην ἐν γείτονι κήπω Τύμβος ἀδωμήτοιο βαθυνομένης ἀπὸ πέτρης Where Bauvoué signifies the excavation of the rock, and yλurròs the manner by which that excavation was performed by incision, or exsculption. But Salmasius hath invented another way, making the earth to be digged, and a sepulchre built by art, of stone, within it. And this interpretation he endeavours to prove out of the text; first alleging that wέrça signifies, in the writers of that age, a stone, not a rock, and therefore λελατομημένον ἐκ πέτρας is ἐκ λίθου, made of stone : otherwise the article would have been added in r Térgas, if he meant the rock which was there. But this is soon answered; for in St. Matthew the article is expressly added, ἐλατόμησεν ἐν τῇ πέτρᾳ. St. Matthew therefore understood it of that rock which was in the garden; and the rest without question understood the same. Again, he objects that aroμeiv signifies not only lapides ex lapicidina cadere, but also polire et quadrare ad ædificandum; and λaževɛiv signifies the last only. Wherefore being it is said not only λελατομημένον, which may be understood of building, but also λαξευτὸν, which can be understood of no other; therefore he concludes that it was a vault built of square stone within the ground. But there is no necessity of such a precise sense of λαξεύειν, which may be extended to any sense of λατομεῖν (as Orie gen indifferently λατομητὸν ἢ λαξευτὸν μνηMetov v méτga, c. Cels. I. ii. §. 69.), and that, when it speaks of a Jewish custom, must be taken in that sense which is most congruous to their custom, and as they used the word. Now they rendered the word ayn by λarousiv, as 1 Kings v. 15. 79 237 λατόμων ἐν τῷ ὄρει. Isa. li. 1. the same sense with λάκκος λελατομημένος, that is, digged or hewn out of the ground. This is well expressed by Origen: 'H ἔχει τὴν καθαρότητα διὰ τοῦ συμβολικού δηλουμένην ἐν τῷ ἀποτεθεῖσθαι αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ἐν μνημείῳ καινῷ ὑφεστῶτι· οὐκ ἐκ λογάδων λίθων οἰκοδομηθέντι, καὶ τὴν ἕνωσιν οὐ φυσικὴν ἔχοντι, ἀλλ ̓ ἐν μιᾷ καὶ δι ̓ ὅλων ἡνωμένη πέτρα λarouμnty nai λaževry. 1. ii. adv. Celsum, 69. And this cutting the sepulchre out of the rock, rather than building it in the earth, is very material in the opinion of St. Jerome, who makes this observation, Comm. on Matt. xxvii. 64. In monumento novo, quod excisum fuerat in Petra, conditus est: ne si ex multis lapidibus ædificatum esset, suffossis tumuli fundamentis, ablatus furto diceretur:' and gives this interpretation of the prophet Isaiah: Quod autem in sepulcro ponendus esset, Prophetæ testimonium est, dicentis, Hic habitabit in excisa spelunca petra fortissime, statimque post duos versiculos sequitur, Regem cum gloria videbitis.' Ibid. Another use of the same supposition is made likewise by St. Ambrose: Domini corpus tanquam per Apostolorum doctrinam infertur in vacuam et in novam requiem lapidis excisi; scilicet in pectus duritiæ gentilis quodam doctrinæ opere excisum Christus infertur, rude scilicet ac novum, et nullo antea ingressu timoris Dei pervium.' In Matt. c. xxvii. Thus was the sepulchre prepared for the body: and when Joseph had laid it there, προσεκύλισε λίθον μέγαν πρὸς τὴν θύραν, he rolled a great stone to the door, the last part of that solemnity. Matt. xxvii. 60. For this great stone was said to be rolled, by reason of the bigness, as being not portable, (from whence arose the wcmen's doubt, Mark xvi. 3. "Who shall roll us away the stone from the sepulchre?") and that very properly, for it had its name from that rolling, being called from,נוללא or גולל,constantly by the Jews הגולל אבן גדולה ורחבה שסותמים .voluere גלל iuxtars sig Ty הביטו אל צור חצבתם בה פי הקבר מלמעלה מלשן וגללו את האבן : |