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23 Now when the soldiers crucified[a] Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier,[b] and the tunic[c] remained. (Now the tunic[d] was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.)[e]

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Footnotes

  1. John 19:23 sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.
  2. John 19:23 sn Four shares, one for each soldier. The Gospel of John is the only one to specify the number of soldiers involved in the crucifixion. This was a quaternion, a squad of four soldiers. It was accepted Roman practice for the soldiers who performed a crucifixion to divide the possessions of the person executed among themselves.
  3. John 19:23 tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, chitōn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.
  4. John 19:23 tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). See the note on the same word earlier in this verse.
  5. John 19:23 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

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