Joseph D. L. wrote: ↑Fri Jul 10, 2020 1:15 pmBut this would contradict the references to the Psalm about having his garments divided.
John 19: 23 (RSV):
[23] When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom;
Observant as always, Joseph D. L.
"But wait! There's more!"
What is the name of a tunic that has no seam?
CUIRASS.
A cuirass is a defensive garment designed to protect a person from being run through by a sword that pierces the armor at a joint or seam.
Is there History here with this?
Glad you asked:
Suetonius,
12 Caesars, "Galba":
As he was offering sacrifice on the morning before he was killed, a soothsayer warned him again and again to look out for danger, since assassins were not far off.
Not long after this he [Galba] learned that Otho held possession of the Camp, and when several advised him to proceed thither as soon as possible — for they said that he could win the day by his presence and prestige — he decided to do no more than hold his present position and strengthen it by getting together a guard of the legionaries, who were encamped in many different quarters of the city.
He did however put on a linen cuirass, though he openly declared that it would afford little protection against so many swords..."
What does this have to do with the gospels? Again, it's GJohn to the rescue:
John 20: 6 - 7 (RSV):
[6] Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying,
[7] and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.
I've been told that the word "Napkin" here is Latin "Soudarion".
Suetonius
12 C, "Galba":
"He was killed beside the Lake of Curtius and was left lying just as he was, until a common soldier, returning from a distribution of grain, threw down his load and cut off the head. Then, since there was no hair by which to grasp it, he put it under his robe, but later thrust his thumb into the mouth and so carried it to Otho. He handed it over to his servants and camp-followers, who set it on a lance and paraded it about the camp with jeers, crying out from time to time, "Galba, thou Cupid, exult in thy vigour!" The special reason for this saucy jest was, that the report had gone abroad a few days before, that when someone had congratulated him on still looking young and vigorous, he replied:
"'As yet my strength is unimpaired.'
"From these it was bought by a freedman of Patrobius Neronianus for a hundred pieces of gold and thrown aside in the place where his patron had been executed by Galba's order. At last, however, his steward Argivus consigned it to the tomb with the rest of the body in Galba's private gardens on the Aurelian Road. "
CW