What does ἐντυλίσσω (entylíssō) mean in the Bible?
Entylissō means to wrap, roll, or fold something up. Its three governed uses belong to Jesus' burial and empty-tomb narratives.
Greek · G1794
ἐντυλίσσω
To wrap up
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ἐντυλίσσω G1794
Pronunciation entylíssō
What does ἐντυλίσσω (entylíssō) mean in the Bible?
Entylissō means to wrap, roll, or fold something up. Its three governed uses belong to Jesus' burial and empty-tomb narratives.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐντυλίσσω (G1794) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1794?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include wrapped (2), was rolled up (1).
Where does ἐντυλίσσω (entylíssō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 27:59. Its strongest book concentrations include John (1), Luke (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Entylissō means to wrap, roll, or fold something up. Its three governed uses belong to Jesus' burial and empty-tomb narratives. Matthew 27:59 says Joseph wrapped Jesus' body in clean linen, while Luke 23:53 says he wrapped the body in linen before laying it in an unused rock-cut tomb. John 20:7 uses a passive form for the face cloth, which lay apart from the linen cloths in a wrapped or rolled state.
The verb supplies a concrete physical action or condition. It does not say who arranged the face cloth after the burial, describe the exact shape of its folds, or prove by itself how the body left the tomb. John 20 places the cloths within the beloved disciple's seeing and believing, but the Gospel's resurrection witness also includes the empty tomb, Scripture, testimony, and appearances of the risen Jesus.
Teaching should preserve the detail without turning a small verb into an exhaustive apologetic argument.
How the Bible Uses It
All three governed G1794 uses concern linen or a face cloth in Jesus' burial and empty-tomb accounts.
- Matt.27.59
So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
Joseph wraps Jesus' body in clean linen before placing it in his new tomb.
- Luke.23.53
Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid.
Luke also applies the active verb to Joseph's burial action before the body is laid in an unused tomb.
- John.20.7
The cloth that had been around Jesus' head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths.
John applies the passive form to the face cloth lying apart from the other linen cloths in the empty tomb.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It wrapped 2× Matthew 27:59, Luke 23:53
was rolled up 1× John 20:7
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 27:59
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 3
Matthew 1 Luke 1 John 1
Source forms
ἐνετύλιξεν 2x enetylixen Matthew 27:59, Luke 23:53
ἐντετυλιγμένον 1x entetyligmenon John 20:7
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x Matthew 27:59, Luke 23:53
Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Neuter Singular 1x John 20:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Treat the face cloth as one observed detail within John's cumulative resurrection witness.
- Distinguish what the text reports from later reconstructions of the tomb scene.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G1794 itself means neatly folded.
- Do not claim the verb proves that Jesus personally arranged the cloth.
- Do not claim the cloth alone constitutes the whole case for the resurrection.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To wrap or roll something carefully around an object, often with cloth or burial materials.
Strong's G1794
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 2 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to wrap up
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To wrap or roll something carefully around an object, often with cloth or burial materials.
to wrap up (LS), roll or coil about (DCG, ii, 227, 507a): with accusative and dative, Mat.27:59 (iv, Tr. [WH], cf. similar sentence in π.; MM, Exp., xiii), Luk.23:53; pass., Jhn.20:7.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 27:59 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐνετύλιξεν enetulixen
I wrap up, roll round, envelop
Read verse Luke 23:53 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐνετύλιξεν enetulixen
I wrap up, roll round, envelop
Read verse John 20:7 Verb Perfect Passive Participle Accusative Singular Neuter
ἐντετυλιγμένον entetuligmenon
I wrap up, roll round, envelop
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 3 Tenses Aorist, Perfect Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 2×
Aorist Active Matt 27:59 · Luke 23:53 2×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Perfect Passive John 20:7 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 2 perfect 1
Voice
active 2 passive 1
Mood
indicative 2 participle 1
NT Occurrences
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 23:50–56 ἐνετύλιξεν entylíssō
Wrapped in linen
Showing 1 selected witness from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐντυλίσσω is built from these roots:
εἱλίσσω G1507
For the Preacher and Teacher
G1794 contributes physical specificity to the burial and empty-tomb accounts. Matthew and Luke show Joseph wrapping Jesus' body in linen before burial, while John records the face cloth lying separately in a rolled or wrapped condition after the tomb is found empty. That continuity makes the word useful: the same ordinary action associated with burial appears later as part of what the disciples observe.
Yet responsible preaching must resist embellishment. John does not say the cloth was folded with mathematical precision, explain who arranged it, or offer it as a self-sufficient refutation of grave robbery. The beloved disciple's seeing and believing gives the scene narrative weight, but John also points readers to Scripture, eyewitness testimony, and encounters with the risen Christ.
The verb supports careful observation within that cumulative witness rather than replacing it.
Anchor passage
John.20.7
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 27:57-60 locates Joseph's wrapping action within Jesus' burial in a new tomb.
- Luke 23:50-56 joins the wrapped body, unused tomb, and approaching Sabbath.
- John 20:6-8 places the linen cloths and separate face cloth within the beloved disciple's observation.
- John 20:9-31 adds Scripture, testimony, appearances, and the Gospel's stated purpose.
Matthew and Luke use active forms for Joseph wrapping the body; John uses a passive participle for the face cloth's condition. The verb alone does not specify neatness, agency, or apologetic conclusion.
From Old to New Testament
Biblical burial practices provide historical background, but G1794's direct New Testament evidence remains limited to the three Gospel verses.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain