Section 23:50–56
Jesus was buried
This section tells about how people buried Jesus’ body. Sometimes the Romans did not allow the body of a crucified person to be buried. But for the Jews, a proper burial was important. It was their custom to bury the body on the same day that a person died. A respected Jewish man named Joseph decided that Jesus must have a proper burial. So Joseph went to Pilate and asked permission to take Jesus’ body and bury it.
The Sabbath Day began just a few hours after Jesus died. On the Sabbath it was forbidden to move a dead body. So Joseph had to act quickly in all that he did.
Examples of other headings for this section are:
The Burial of Jesus (Good News Translation)
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Jesus Is Buried (Contemporary English Version)
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Joseph buried Jesus’ body
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Jesus’ corpse was placed in a burial cave
Parallel passages for this section are found in Matthew 27:57–61, Mark 15:42–47, and John 19:38–42.
Paragraph 23:50–54
23:50–51
Verses 50–51 give background information about Joseph and about his relationship to the Jewish Council. In some languages it may be more natural to arrange the information in a different order. See the General Comment on 23:50–51 at the end of 23:51c for examples of how to reorder these verses.
23:50a
Now there was a Council member named Joseph: This clause introduces Joseph. The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now is more literally “and see/look!” It is a way to introduce Joseph as an important person in the story of Jesus. Some other ways to introduce him are:
And listen! there was a man named Joseph.
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There was also a man called Joseph there.
Introduce Joseph in a natural way in your language.
a Council member named Joseph: The phrase a Council member describes Joseph. Joseph was one of the leaders who met together as the Jewish Council. In some languages it may be more natural to use a complete clause. For example:
a man named Joseph…. He was a member of the council (English Standard Version)
Council: The Council made many decisions for the Jewish people. It was also the highest court among them. It was discussed in the note on 22:66a–b. See how you translated “the council” in 22:66.
23:50b
This part of the verse praises Joseph as a good man. This seems to contrast with the statement in 23:50a that he was a member of the Council, since the Council condemned Jesus. Verse 51 explains that Joseph did not agree that Jesus should be condemned. In some languages it may be natural to use a contrast connector here in 23:50b. Connect the verses in a natural way in your language.
a good and righteous man: The phrase a good and righteous man indicates that Joseph was a good person who did what is right. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as righteous means “righteous, just.” Some other ways to translate a good and righteous man are:
He was a good man and his conduct was straight/righteous.
-or-
He was a good person, and he did what was right
In this context, the words good and righteous have similar meanings. In some languages it may be more natural to translate them with a single phrase. For example:
a truly good man
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