{"id":78,"date":"2009-01-15T15:24:54","date_gmt":"2009-01-15T15:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.returningking.com\/?p=74"},"modified":"2009-01-15T15:24:54","modified_gmt":"2009-01-15T15:24:54","slug":"jesus-and-the-folded-napkin-email-examined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/?p=78","title":{"rendered":"Jesus and the Folded Napkin (email) Examined"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us\u00a0have received an email concerning Jesus\u2019 folding of his napkin upon his resurrection.\u00a0 As a pastor, I\u2019ve received it dozens of times, myself.\u00a0 At first, I – like many people- found the story fascinating and was actually moved at the thought of it.\u00a0 But, a bit of internet wisdom compelled me to investigate further.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Email<\/span><\/h1>\n

The email heading asks this question, \u201cWhy Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?\u201d\u00a0 And, the answer (with some variations, of course) is contained in the text below, a condensed version of the original email, usually beginning with: \u201cI\u2019VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS!!!\u201d

<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never
\nnoticed this\u2026 .<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over
\nthe face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the
\ntomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus
\nloved. She said, \u2018They have taken the Lord\u2019s body out of the tomb, and I don\u2019t know where they have put him!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.. The other disciple
\noutran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn\u2019t go in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen
\nwrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus\u2019 head was folded up and lying to the side.<\/span><\/p>\n

Was that important? Absolutely!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Is it really significant? Yes!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to
\nunderstand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded
\nnapkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this
\ntradition.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just
\nout of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe
\nhis fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that
\nnapkin and toss it onto the table.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, \u2018I\u2019m done\u2019.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid
\nit beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,
\nbecause\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The folded napkin meant, \u2018I\u2019m coming back!\u2019

<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Deductions:<\/span><\/h1>\n

Well, Aunt Erma, it turns out that there are good reasons why you\u2019ve never heard of this tradition.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

I find historical\/cultural traditions- particularly Jewish ones- of great interest and value.\u00a0 Yet, they are apparently made up at alarming rates.\u00a0 So, I wanted to verify this story.\u00a0 It turns out that I did.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are several problems with this story.\u00a0 Separately, perhaps they could be overlooked.\u00a0 Compiled together, the story lacks even a hint of authenticity.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The KJV rendering of John 20:7 reads,<\/span><\/p>\n

John 20:7 (KJV) <\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\n7 <\/sup>And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The more modern NIV reads,<\/span><\/p>\n

John 20:7 (NIV) <\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\n7 <\/sup>as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus\u2019 head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

One says \u201cburial cloth\u201d while the other says \u201cnapkin.\u201d\u00a0 One says \u201cwrapped\u201d while the other says \u201cfolded.\u201d\u00a0 These types of variances in English translations are clues that further study on an original language term is needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1-\u00a0 Like many are, this idea is falsely based on a western application of an English term: in this case, the term, \u201cnapkin\u201d in the text.\u00a0 When English speakers use that term, we\u2019re thinking Wendy\u2019s drive-thru.\u00a0 Using the English understanding of that term, a scenario was obviously invented.\u00a0 The underlying Greek term is soudarion, <\/em>which is defined as a piece of cloth used for one of two purposes in the East:\u00a0 to wipe sweat off the face or to cover the face of the dead.\u00a0 As such, no self-respecting Jew would EVER use such an article at a meal setting (it would be either unclean or in the least thought of <\/em>as unclean), and thus no such mental association would ever be made between the soudarion<\/em> (or lit. \u201csweat-cloth\u201d) and a dinner napkin.\u00a0 It would be tantamount to modern day people associating a diaper with a napkin.\u00a0 Only a few (older) translation use the term \u201cnapkin\u201d for this reason.\u00a0 It is a technically proper translation, but gives a western reader the wrong impression. \u00a0More modern translations use other terms, such as \u201cburial cloth\u201d (NIV), \u201cface-cloth\u201d (NASB), \u201chandkerchief\u201d (NKJV), etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2-\u00a0 The second problem is with the term \u201cfolded,\u201d also necessary to the postulated cultural reference of folding a napkin at the dinner table.\u00a0 That underlying Greek term is entylisso, <\/em>which is a compilation of two terms, en<\/em> (meaning \u201cat a primary fixed position\u201d – or \u201cat,\u201d \u201cin,\u201d \u201camong,\u201d etc.) and heilisso,<\/em> meaning \u201ctwisted\u201d or \u201ccoiled.\u201d\u00a0 While \u201cfolded\u201d is again a technically accurate translation, it\u00a0conjures up the\u00a0idea of the creasing and flattening out of an article.\u00a0 In fact, it is more akin to the wadding up and throwing aside (used in the supposed practice of the master leaving the table) than an intentional folding and creasing.\u00a0 This issue may<\/em>\u00a0could be explained away if it were not for the problems with the term soudarion.<\/em>\u00a0 But, coupled together, it\u2019s just another hole in the cheese.\u00a0 Entylisso<\/em> gives no clear indication that the face-cloth was folded in an intentional way, but rather that it was somehow handled and distorted as being discarded separately from the grave clothes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3-\u00a0 I have a sizeable arsenal of Jewish background resources.\u00a0 I searched them all to find a reference to this practice and could not find it.\u00a0 Afterward, I set off in research online.\u00a0 Surely you can\u2019t believe everything you read online (as this email demonstrates) but I thought it worth a try to find a legitimate biblical scholar who may have referenced the custom.\u00a0 As it turned out, I found only one Jewish scholar (David Bivin of The Jewish Perspective)<\/em> who had referenced this custom (of folding the napkin at the dinner table) and he did so in response to this very email.\u00a0 His answer?\u00a0 \u201cThere is no historical or cultural documentation which supports claims of this assertion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, you can find this reference in numerous online sermons by pastors who should know better than to randomly quote a tradition they learned of in an email from Aunt Erma.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next week:\u00a0 \u201cAsk and you shall receive: How Bill Gates will return to you $.50 for every email you send out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Make no mistake:\u00a0 Jesus is returning.\u00a0 But, not because someone had the creative ability to fabricate this outlandish email.\u00a0 He is returning because scripture says he will.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of us\u00a0have received an email concerning Jesus\u2019 folding of his napkin upon his resurrection.\u00a0 As a pastor, I\u2019ve received it dozens of times, myself.\u00a0 At first, I – like many people- found the story fascinating and was actually moved at the thought of it.\u00a0 But, a bit of internet wisdom compelled me to investigate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[63,100,107,131],"series":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tidbits","tag-email","tag-hoax","tag-jesus-linen-cloth","tag-napkin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/returningking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}