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He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
John 20:5 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn’t enter in.
  • KJV And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
  • NKJV And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in.
  • NASB and he stooped to look in, and *saw the linen wrappings lying there; however he did not go in.
  • NLT He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The other disciple stoops, sees the linen cloths, but does not enter. The grave clothes are the first physical clue.

Overview

Looking in, the beloved disciple notices the linen wrappings lying there, an unexpected sight if the body had been stolen. His hesitation to enter may reflect reverence or caution. The lingering linen cloths become important evidence that something other than theft has occurred.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • John 19:40So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.
  • John 11:44The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.
  • John 20:11But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 20:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 20:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.