Whereas Mark indicates that Joseph “bought” a linen sheet in which to wrap the body of Jesus (15.46), Matthew says only that it was clean. Luke mentions neither the purchase of the sheet nor the cleanliness of it (23.53). Good News Translation apparently derives the meaning of “new” from the context, assuming that the cleanliness of the cloth was due to its never having been used before. This is the obvious conclusion that one may gather from Mark’s text, though this should not influence the translation of Matthew’s Gospel. To render “fresh” (New American Bible) is a legitimate representation of clean.

A shroud is normally translated as “sheet,” but in places where that word is not known, then “piece of cloth” is good. Linen is the fiber used to weave the cloth, and again, this may not be known. Some translators borrow the word from English (“a clean cloth of linen”), and others simply drop it altogether.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .