Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 20:5
And he stooping down, [and looking in,] saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
5. stooping down, and looking in ] In the Greek this is expressed in a single word, which occurs again Joh 20:11 and Luk 24:12, in a literal sense, of ‘bending down to look carefully at;’ and in a figurative sense in 1Pe 1:12 and Jas 1:25 (see notes in both places). In Sir 14:23 it is used of the earnest searcher after wisdom, in Joh 21:23 of the rude prying of a fool.
saw ] Better, seeth, at a glance ( blepei).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 5. Went he not in.] Why? Because he was fully satisfied that the body was not there. But why did he not seize upon the linen clothes, and keep them as a most precious relic? Because he had too much religion and too much sense; and the time of superstition and nonsense was not yet arrived, in which bits of rotten wood, rags of rotten cloth, decayed bones (to whom originally belonging no one knows) and bramble bushes, should become objects of religious adoration.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
John stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and saw the linen clothes lying, but he would not adventure to go in.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 comments on Mr 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”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Stooping and looking in (). Originally to stoop and look, but in the LXX (Gen 26:8; Judg 5:28; 1Kgs 6:4, etc.) and the papyri rather just to peep in and so Field (Ot. Norv.) urges here. See also verse John 20:11; Luke 24:12 (the verse bracketed by Westcott and Hort). For (linen cloth) see Joh 19:40.
Lying (). Present middle participle of , predicative accusative. John notices this fact at once. If the body had been removed, these clothes would have gone also. John’s timid nature made him pause (yet, , however).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Stooping down [] . See on James. Jas 1:25, and compare 1Pe 1:12. See also Song of Solomon, Son 2:9 (Sept.). “He looketh forth [] at the windows.”
Seeth [] . Simple sight. Compare the intent gaze of Peter [] , ver. 6, which discovered the napkin, not seen by John.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he stooping down, and looking in,” (kai parakupsas) “And upon stooping, and peeping inside,” the tomb proper, through a small opening to the inner tomb, beyond the preparation room.
2) “Saw the linen clothes lying,” (blepei keimena ta othonia) “He sees the sheets (with which Jesus had been wrapped) lying there,” strips of linen that had been used to swathe the corpse of the Lord, Luk 24:12.
3) “Yet went he not in.” (ou mentoi eiselthen) “However he did not enter or go in,” with fear, with awe, with wonder, and with reverence he paused, in unbelief, Luk 24:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
5. And seeth the linen clothes lying. The linen clothes might be regarded as the spoils, intended to lead to the belief of Christ’s resurrection; for it was not probable that his body had been stripped naked, in order that it might be removed to another place. This would not have been done by a friend, nor even by an enemy.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying.Better, . . . seeth the linen clothes lying. The tense still describes the scene as it actually occurred. The words looking in rightly complete the meaning. (Comp. Note on Joh. 11:38, and for the word, Note on Luk. 24:12.) It is used again in the New Testament only in Joh. 20:11, Jas. 1:25, and 1Pe. 1:12. It meant, originally, to stoop sideways, and was used, e.g., of a harp-player; then, to stoop over, peer into, inquire into. For the linen clothes, comp. Joh. 19:40.
Yet went he not in.He is restrained by wonder, not unaccompanied, perhaps, by fear, at what he sees, and waits for his friend and companion.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Went he not in The younger disciple was too fleet a runner for the elder, and he paused at the end of the race. Some suppose that he went not in from juvenile inattention, others from fear of pollution. More probably it was from reverence.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 20:5-8 . John is withheld by natural terror (not dread of pollution, as Wetstein, Ammon, and several others think) from going in at once; the bolder and older Peter , however, goes in, and then, encouraged by his example and presence, John also enters.
Note how earnestly the fourth Gospel also states the fact of the empty grave, which is by no means veiled in the darkness of an experience made in twilight, and of the reports of the women (Weizscker).
, he sees; on the other hand, Joh 20:6 , , he contemplates . See Tittmann, Synon . p. 111 f., 120 f.
] The handkerchief (Joh 20:7 ) must consequently have so lain, that it did not meet the eye of John, when he, standing before the grave, bent down ( ), i.e . bowed his head forwards through the low entrance in order to see within (Luk 24:12 ; Sir 21:23 ; Sir 14:23 ; Lucian, Paras . 42, et al ., Aristoph., Theocr., Plutarch, etc.). Observe, further, that . here in Joh 20:6 is placed first (otherwise in Joh 20:5 ) in opposition to .
.] Joh 11:44 ; Luk 19:20 .
] used adverbially ( separatim ) only here in the N. T., very frequently in the Greek writers.
] belongs to .: wrapped up (Aristoph. Plut . 692; Nub . 983) in one place apart , so that it was not, therefore, lying along with the bandages, but apart in a particular place, and was not spread out, but folded together. In so orderly a manner, not in precipitate confusion, did that take place which had been here done. In is implied that the and the handkerchief occupied two places. How thoroughly does this whole pictorial representation, comp. with Luk 24:12 , reveal the eyewitness!
] Namely, the state of matters in the grave just related.
] that Jesus was risen . Comp. Joh 20:25 . This, the grand object of the history, taken as a matter of course, and, from these unmistakeable indicia , now bringing conviction to the disciples, and see Joh 20:9 . Hence neither generally: he believed on Jesus as the Christ , as in Joh 19:35 (Hengstenberg, Godet), nor merely: he believed that which Mary , Joh 20:2 , had said (Erasmus, Luther, Aretius, Jansen, Clarius, Grotius, Bengel, Ebrard, Baeumlein, and several others, following Augustine and Theophylact). The articles left behind in the grave and laid aside, as related, in so orderly a manner, testified, in truth, precisely against a removal of the corpse. See already Chrysostom, Euth. Zigabenus, Nonnus. The singular only satisfies the never-to-be-forgotten personal experience of that moment, but does not exclude the contemporaneous faith of Peter also (in answer to Hilgenfeld and others), as is, moreover, unmistakeable from the following plur. , although even Hengstenberg makes Peter, in conformity with Luk 24:12 , remain standing only in amazement (in which Godet also substantially follows him), but of which John says never a word.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
5 And he stooping down, and looking in , saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
Ver. 5. Yet went he not in ] He dared not; so some fearful are afraid of every step, saying, as Caesar at Rubicon, Yet we may go back; and as the king of Navarre told Beza, that he would launch no further into the sea, than he might be sure to return safe to the haven. Petago se non ira commissurus esset quin, quando liberet, pedem referre posset.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 20:5 . The R.V [94] renders by “stooping and looking in,” A.V [95] has merely “stooping down”; the Vulgate “cum se inclinasset,” Weizscker “beugte sich vor”. Field ( Otium Norvic. on Luk 24:12 ) prefers “looking in,” although, he says, “peep in” would more accurately define the word . He quotes Casaubon’s opinion that the word implies “protensionem colli cum modica corporis incurvatione”. See also Kypke on Luk 24:12 , and Lid. and Scott Lex. are the strips of linen used for swathing the dead; the cerecloths. is frequent in Homer ( Il. , 3, 141; 18, 595) to denote the fine material of women’s dress; in Lucian and Herodian of sails; in Act 10:11 of a sheet. is the word used by Luke (Luk 23:53 ); so Herodotus, ii. 86. , “he did not however enter,” withheld by dread of pollution, according to Wetstein; by terror, according to Meyer. It is enough to suppose that it did not occur to John to enter the tomb, or that he was withheld by a feeling of reverence or delicacy.
[94] Revised Version.
[95] Authorised Version.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
stooping down. Greek. parakupto. The word implies bending down to see more clearly. Compare the other occurance: Joh 20:11. Luk 24:12. Jam 1:25. 1Pe 1:12.
saw. Greek. blepo. App-133.
linen clothes. See Joh 19:40.
yet went he = however he went.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Joh 20:5. , he did not however go in) and on this account did not see the napkin (sudarium), etc. He seems to have been kept back through fear.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 20:5
Joh 20:5
and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths lying; yet entered he not in.-[He was too timid to enter the tomb immediately. He went close enough to see the linen in which Jesus had been wrapped.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
saw: Joh 11:44, Joh 19:40
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
John went near enough only to see the empty clothes.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And he stooping down, and looking in; saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
[He stooping down, etc.] standing within the cave, he bowed himself to look down into the place where the body was laid, which was four cubits lower than the floor of the cave itself. See Bava Bathra about places of burial; which place I have quoted and explained, Century Chorograph.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 20:5. And stooping down, and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths lying; yet went he not in. A feeling of awe and mystery in all probability possessed him. He was afraid to enter. It was not so with Peter.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
John saw (Gr. blepei, cf. Joh 20:1) the linen strips (ta othonia, cf. Joh 19:40) that had formerly covered Jesus’ body lying in the tomb. If grave robbers had removed the body, they would have undoubtedly taken the expensive cloth with which Joseph and Nicodemus had prepared it for burial. John may have assumed that Jesus’ body was still there if the light was bad at that hour. Perhaps John did not enter the tomb because he did not want to violate its sanctity or incur ritual defilement.