The Greek Word Not Used

What the Gospels Reveal About Jesus’ Burial and the Shroud

When Christians read the resurrection narratives, our attention naturally goes to the empty tomb, the folded face cloth, and the astounding claim that Jesus rose from the dead bodily and victoriously. But tucked inside the Greek vocabulary of the Gospels is a remarkable detail — a detail that not only illuminates first-century Jewish burial customs, but also provides striking internal coherence with the image on the Shroud of Turin.

It is a detail so small that most readers never notice it. Yet its absence from the Gospel narratives may tell us something profound about the nature of Jesus’ burial and the meaning of His resurrection.

The Gospels give us three Greek words to describe the burial cloths of Jesus:

σινδών (sindōn) — the shroud
ὀθόνια (othonia) — linen cloths
σουδάριον (soudarion) — the face cloth

These three terms appear across Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They represent the normal vocabulary used for Jewish burial cloths — a large sheet (the shroud), smaller linen cloths, and a separate face cloth.

But there is one Greek word that never appears in connection with the burial of Christ, even though it is used by John in his Gospel in the clearest possible way.

That word is κείρια (keiria) — binding strips.
It is used only in John 11, in the story of Lazarus.

And its absence from the burial of Jesus may be telling us something far greater than we first assume.

The Vocabulary the Gospels Do Use: Three Terms Consistent with a Shroud

Before examining the one word the Gospels purposely avoid, we need to look at the words they actually use. All three relate directly to known Jewish burial practices in the first century, which, in turn, align with what we see reflected in the Shroud of Turin.

1. ἡ σινδών (hē sindōn) — “the shroud”

Matthew 27:59 says that Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud (sindōn).
Mark 15:46 repeats the same term.
Luke 23:53 also uses sindōn.

A sindōn was a large, single sheet — not strips, not bandages — used to wrap a body lengthwise from head to foot.

This corresponds perfectly to the Shroud of Turin:
a single, long linen sheet approximately 14 feet long and 3.5 feet wide, folded once over the body.

2. τὰ ὀθόνια (ta othonia) — “linen cloths”

John uses ὀθόνια in John 19:40, saying that they wrapped the body of Jesus “in linen cloths” along with spices.

This word is plural and can refer to multiple linen cloths used in burial, but it does not necessarily mean strips. It can refer generically to linen grave cloths of various sizes.

Many scholars hold that othonia refers to:

the shroud,
the smaller auxiliary cloths used in burial, and
perhaps the strips used to tie the shroud closed at certain points.

But othonia does not inherently carry the meaning of “binding strips.” It does not imply that the body was tightly bound or mummified.

3. τὸ σουδάριον (to soudarion) — “the face cloth”

John 20:7 tells us that the face cloth was:

“not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.”

This soudarion was a small cloth covering the head or face, which harmonizes with Jewish burial customs (and is exactly what we find in the “Sudarium of Oviedo”).

Taken together, these three terms — sindōn, othonia, soudarion — give us a unified picture of a Jewish man prepared for burial in the ordinary way of the time.

All three words fit neatly and naturally within what we see on the Shroud of Turin: But One Greek Word Is Never Used: κείρια (keiria). The binding strips of Lazarus

The Gospel of John tells the story of Lazarus in vivid detail. When Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, John records:

“The man who had died came out, bound hand and foot with keiria, and his face wrapped with a soudarion.”
— John 11:44

This is the only place the word keiria appears in the New Testament.

Keiria means:

binding bands,
tie-strips,
cloths used to tie the limbs,
wrappings designed to hold the body in place.

These are not simply cloths — they are bindings.

John draws a dramatic picture: Lazarus shuffles out of the tomb, his hands and feet bound with cloth ties, unable to move freely. Jesus commands, “Unbind him and let him go.”

This is an explicitly tied, bound, restricted corpse.

If the Gospel writers had wanted to describe Jesus’ body as wrapped like Lazarus — tied, bound, packaged — they had the exact vocabulary word ready at hand.

They could have said Jesus was bound with keiria.

But they did not. Not once.

Four Gospels. Four Burial Descriptions. Zero Keiria.

Here is the striking facts: Not one Gospel writer ever uses the Lazarus word “keiria” to describe Jesus’ burial.

Instead, they use:

sindōn (a shroud)
othonia (linen cloths)
soudarion (a face cloth)

But the one word that would indicate that Jesus was tied is completely absent. This is not an accident of vocabulary. This is deliberate.

John, who wrote both John 11 and John 20, knew the difference between othonia and keiria. He used both terms in very close proximity in his Gospel. He knew exactly what keiria meant — and he never applied it to Jesus.

Why? Because Jesus’ body was not bound the way Lazarus’ was.

Why This Matters Historically: Jesus Was Not “Mummified” or Bound

The Lazarus account suggests a type of burial where the body was wrapped in cloths, tied around the hands and feet, with the face covered. But the burial of Jesus follows a different pattern entirely.

The women were preparing to return on Sunday morning because the burial was incomplete. The full anointing and final wrapping had not yet been finished due to the arrival of the Sabbath.

This means Jesus’ body was wrapped in a shroud but not yet tied in place for final burial.

He had a shroud (sindōn), auxiliary cloths (othonia), a face cloth (soudarion),
but no keiria — no binding bands.

This directly aligns with the Shroud of Turin, which has no marks of binding around the wrists, feet, or torso, shows no compressions indicating tight wrapping, displays a natural, unrestrained positioning of the body, and records the image in a way consistent with a body lying freely in a loose shroud.

If the Shroud were wrapped tightly or bound with strips, the forensic image would be dramatically different. But it is not. The absence of keiria in Scripture matches the physical absence of binding on the Shroud.

Why This Matters Theologically: Death Had No Binding on Christ

The Gospel of John gives us more than linguistic detail. It gives us symbolism. Lazarus comes forth bound, requires human help to remove the bindings, walks out still wrapped in the trappings of death. Jesus does not. Jesus needs no loosening, no unbinding, no assistance. He simply leaves the cloths behind.

The Gospels describe:

The shroud lying there
The face cloth folded separately
No need for unbinding
No human hands required to help Him emerge

This is the stark contrast John wants us to see:

Lazarus needed to be unbound. Jesus left the bindings unnecessary. Lazarus was raised back into mortal life, only to die again. Jesus rose into indestructible, resurrected life, never to die again. Thus, symbolically and literally: Death had no binding on Christ. The Greek vocabulary conveys this truth with a precision we rarely appreciate.

The Shroud of Turin and the Absence of Binding Marks

The Shroud of Turin displays several consistent features:

No marks of compression around the ankles or wrists
No evidence of lateral pressure consistent with tied cloths
A non-wrapped image, with no distortions caused by tight wrapping
A full dorsal and frontal image showing the body lying freely
Blood flows that match a body resting without constriction

If the body were wrapped tightly with keiria, the image would reveal:

angular distortions,
compressed blood patterns,
lateral distortions along the sides,
or tie-points where cloth bands pressed into the skin.

Instead, the Shroud image shows the opposite: A body placed gently, loosely, and reverently within a single linen sheet. This is exactly what we would expect if the burial described in the Gospels — with sindōn and othonia but no keiria — matches the historical reality. And it does.

The Women and the Final Anointing: Another Clue

All four Gospels emphasize that the women returned on Sunday morning to complete the burial.

This alone tells us:

The burial was incomplete.
The body had not undergone the final tying process.
The spices had been applied but not finished.
The wraps had begun but not been secured.
There was no final binding.

In other words: Jesus was wrapped, not bound. He was shrouded, not tied. He was laid in cloth, not packaged in strips. The women intended to return to finish the job — but God finished it in a very different way.

The Gospel Writers Knew the Difference — and Chose Their Words Carefully

John, especially, is precise with his vocabulary:

He knows sindōn — the shroud.
He knows othonia — the burial cloths.
He knows soudarion — the face covering.
He knows keiria — the binding strips.

He uses keiria for Lazarus — and intentionally omits it for Jesus.

Why?

Because the burial of Lazarus and the burial of Jesus are not parallel events — one is a resuscitation; the other is a resurrection.

And the vocabulary reflects this.

Jesus did not shuffle out of the tomb like a man bound hand and foot.
Jesus did not require helpers to remove wrappings.
Jesus did not emerge constrained by the trappings of death.

He rose in power, leaving behind the cloths that no longer had any claim on Him.