John 19:24
in John 19So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it. Instead, let us cast lots to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture: “They divided My garments among them, and cast lots for My clothing.” So that is what the soldiers did.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They said therefore one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my garments among them, And upon my vesture did they cast lots.
KJV
They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
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This verse in John 19
Commentary
24 notes on this verseThe soldiers, then, divided our Saviour's garments among themselves, and this is indicative of their brutal ferocity and inhuman disposition. For it is the custom of executioners to be unmoved by the misery of condemned criminals, and to obey orders sometimes with unnecessary harshness, and to show a masculine indifference to the fate of the sufferers, and to divide their garments among themselves, as though the lot fell upon them by some sufficient and lawful reason. They divided, then, the dissevered garments into four portions, but kept the one coat whole and uncut.
This site's exposition
woven in one piece from top to bottom
on John 19:23-24
Four soldiers take four parts of the clothing and cast lots for the tunic, woven top to bottom in one piece. John quotes Psalm 22:18, written centuries before Rome used the cross. Josephus describes the high priest's robe as one woven piece.
This site's exposition
Let us not tear it
The soldiers cast lots for the tunic. Clarke notes that the fulfilment line stands in John in every manuscript, while at Matthew 27:35 most witnesses lack it. Cyril reads the dividing of His garments as the hardness of soldiers toward the man they had crucified.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
On Pilate giving sentence, the soldiers under his command crucified Jesus: Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments. And yet if we look to their intentions, their clamours, the Jews were rather the people which crucified Him. On the parting and casting lots for His garment, John gives more circumstances than the other Evangelists, And made four parts, to every soldier a part: whence we see there were four soldiers who executed the governor's sentence. And also His coat: took, understood. They took His coat too. The sentence is brought in so to shew that this was the only garment for which they cast lots, the others being divided. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. (Tract. cxviii) Why they cast lots for it, next appears: They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it whose it should be. It seems then that the other garments were made up of equal parts, as it was not necessary to rend them; the tunic only having to be rent in order to give each an equal share of it; to avoid which they preferred casting lots for it, and one having it all. This answered to the prophecy: That the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith, They parted My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast lots. (Tract. cxviii. 3) Matthew in saying, They parted His garments, casting lots, (Mat. 27:35.) means us to understand the whole division of the garments, including the tunic also for which they cast lots. Luke says the same: They parted His raiment, and cast lots. (Luke 23:34) In parting His garments they came to the tunic, for which they cast lots. Mark is the only one that raises any question: They parted His garments, casting upon them what every man should take: (Mark 15:24) as if they cast lots for all the garments, and not the tunic only. But it is his brevity that creates the difficulty. […]
The things that were done beside the Lord's cross, when at length He was now crucified, we would take up, in dependence on His help, in the present discourse. "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Him, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots." It was done as the Jews wished; not that it was they themselves, but the soldiers who obeyed Pilate, who himself acted as judge, that crucified Jesus: and yet if we reflect on their wills, their plots, their endeavors, their delivering up, and, lastly, on their extorting clamors, it was the Jews certainly, more than any else, who crucified Jesus.
But we must not speak in a mere cursory way of the partition and dividing by lot of His garments. For although all the four evangelists make mention thereof, yet the others do so more briefly than John: and their notice of it is obscure, while his is in the plainest manner possible. For Matthew says, "And after they crucified Him, they parted His garments, casting lots." Mark: "And they crucified Him, and parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take." Luke: "And they parted His raiment, and cast lots." But John has told us also how many parts they made of His garments, namely, four, that they might take one part apiece. From which it is apparent that there were four soldiers, who obeyed the governor's orders in crucifying Him. For he plainly says: "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Him, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and likewise the coat," where there is understood, they took: so that the meaning is, they took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and they took also His coat. And he so spake, that we might see that there was no lot cast on His other garments; but His coat, which they took along with the others, they did not similarly divide.
Some one, perhaps, may inquire what is signified by the division that was made of His garments into so many parts, and of the casting of lots for the coat. The raiment of the Lord Jesus Christ parted into four, symbolized His quadripartite Church, as spread abroad over the whole world, which consists of four quarters, and equally, that is to say, harmoniously, distributed over all these quarters. On which account He elsewhere says, that He will send His angels to gather His elect from the four winds: and what is that, but from the four quarters of the world, east, west, north, and south? But the coat, on which lots were cast, signifies the unity of all the parts, which is contained in the bond of charity. And when the apostle is about to speak of charity, he says, "I show you a more excellent way;" and in another place, "To know also the love of Christ, which far excelleth knowledge;" and still further elsewhere, "And above all these things charity which is the bond of perfectness." If, then, charity both has a more excellent way, and far excelleth knowledge, and is enjoined above all things, it is with great propriety that the garment, by which it is signified, is represented as woven from the top. And it was without seam, that its sewing might never be separated; and came into the possession of one man, because He gathereth all into one. […]
And yet let no one say that such things had no good signification because they were done by the bad, that is to say, not by those who followed Christ, but by those who persecuted Him. For what could we have to say of the cross itself, which every one knows was in like manner made and fastened to Christ by enemies and sinners? And yet it is to it we may rightly understand the words of the apostle to be applicable, "what is the breadth, and the length, and the height, and the depth." For its breadth lies in the transverse beam, on which the hands of the Crucified are extended; and signifies good works in all the breadth of love: its length extends from the transverse beam to the ground, and is that whereto the back and feet are affixed; and signifies perseverance through the whole length of time to the end: its height is in the summit, which rises upwards above the transverse beam; and signifies the supernal goal, to which all works have reference, since all things that are done well and perseveringly, in respect of their breadth and length, are to be done also with due regard to the exalted character of the divine rewards: its depth is found in the part that is fixed into the ground; for there it is both concealed and invisible, and yet from thence spring up all those parts that are outstanding and evident to the senses; just as all that is good in us proceeds from the depths of the grace of God, which is beyond the reach of human comprehension and judgment. But even though the cross of Christ signified no more than what was said by the apostle, "And they who are Jesus Christ's have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts," how great a good it is! And yet it does not this, unless the good spirit be lusting against the flesh, seeing that it was the opposing, or, in other words, the evil spirit that constructed the cross of Christ. […]
16 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers3 voices
That they cast lots for his tunic alone, "woven from the top without seam," rather than dividing it, demonstrated clearly enough that the visible sacraments, even though they too are the garments of Christ, can still be had by anybody, good or bad. But that sincere and genuine faith, which "works through love" to achieve the integrity of unity—because "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us"5—that this faith does not belong to anybody at all but is given by God's hidden grace as by lot. Thus to Simon, who had baptism but did not have this, Peter could say, "You have no lot or part in this faith."
This sacrament of unity, this bond of a concord inseparably cohering, is set forth where in the Gospel the coat of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at all divided nor cut, but is received as an entire garment, and is possessed as an uninjured and undivided robe by those who cast lots concerning Christ's garment, who should rather put on Christ. Holy Scripture speaks, saying, "But of the coat, because it was not sewed, but woven from the top throughout, they said one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots whose it shall be." That coat bore with it an unity that came down from the top, that is, that came from heaven and the Father, which was not to be at all rent by the receiver and the possessor, but without separation we obtain a whole and substantial entireness. He cannot possess the garment of Christ who parts and divides the Church of Christ. On the other hand, again, when at Solomon's death his kingdom and people were divided, Abijah the prophet, meeting Jeroboam the king in the field, divided his garment into twelve sections, saying, "Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten sceptres unto thee; and two sceptres shall be unto him for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen to place my name there." As the twelve tribes of Israel were divided, the prophet Abijah rent his garment. But because Christ's people cannot be rent, His robe, woven and united throughout, is not divided by those who possess it; undivided, united, connected, it shows the coherent concord of our people who put on Christ. By the sacrament and sign of His garment, He has declared the unity of the Church.
The soldiers parted the garments, but not the coat. See the prophecies in every instance fulfilled by their wickednesses; for this also had been predicted of old; yet there were three crucified, but the matters of the prophecies were fulfilled in Him. For why did they not this in the case of the others, but in His case only? Consider too, I pray you, the exactness of the prophecy. For the Prophet saith not only, that they "parted," but that they "did not part." The rest therefore they divided, the coat they divided not, but committed the matter to a decision by lot. And the, "Woven from the top" is not put without a purpose; but some say that a figurative assertion is declared by it, that the Crucified was not simply man, but had also the Divinity from above. Others say that the Evangelist describes the very form of the coat. For since in Palestine they put together two strips of cloth and so weave their garments, John, to show that the coat was of this kind, saith, "Woven from the top"; and to me he seems to say this, alluding to the poorness of the garments, and that as in all other things, so in dress also, He followed a simple fashion.
The Medieval Church5 voices
Others say that they did not weave in Palestine, as we do, the shuttle being driven upwards through the warp; so that among them the woof was not carried upwards but downwardsb. The garment without seam denotes the body of Christ, which was woven from above; for the Holy Ghost came upon the Virgin, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her. This holy body of Christ then is indivisible: for though it be distributed for every one to partake of, and to sanctify the soul and body of each one individually, yet it subsists in all wholly and indivisibly. The world consisting of four elements, the garments of Christ must be understood to represent the visible creation, which the devils divide amongst themselves, as often as they deliver to death the word of God which dwelleth in us, and by worldly allurements bring us over to their side.
What the devil contrives in his cunning serves to fulfill the prophecies. And behold the truth. There were three who were crucified, and yet the words of the prophets are fulfilled in Him alone. And note the precision of the prophecy. The prophet spoke not …
Here is noted the division of the tunic made by lot: and the reason is given: Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top throughout, that is, entirely continuous: and because it could not be conveniently divided, the soldiers said to one another: Let …
While the soldiers were doing their cruel work, He was thinking anxiously of His mother: These things therefore the soldiers did. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
2430 The Evangelist says that lots were cast for Christ's tunic, they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. There is one way of casting lots which is a form of divination; …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They parted my garments among them - No circumstance of David's life bore any resemblance to this, or to several other passages in the 22nd Psalm. So that in this scripture, as in some others, the prophet seems to have been thrown into a preternatural ecstasy, wherein, personating the Messiah, he spoke barely what the Spirit dictated, without any regard to himself.
They said therefore among themselves,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
That the scripture might be fulfilled - These words are found in the common printed text, in Mat 27:35; but they are omitted by ABDEFGHKLMSU, Mt. BHV, 150 others; the principal versions, Chrysostom, Titus Bost., Euthymius, Theophylact, Origen, Hilary, Augustin, Juven. See Griesbach’s second edition. But in the text of John they are not omitted by one MS., version, or ancient commentator. The words are taken from Psa 22:18, where it appears they were spoken prophetically of this treatment which Jesus received, upwards of a thousand years before it took place!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
And it is very remarkable that now while it was receiving its real fulfilment, it should be made more public and more impressive by the insulting proclamation of His enemies. Hence the importance attached to it after the resurrection, Joh 2:22" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
He that can read a passage like this without a deep sense of man's debt to Christ, must have a very cold, or a very thoughtless heart. Great must be the love of the Lord Jesus to sinners, when He could voluntarily endure such sufferings for their salvation. Great must be the sinfulness of sin, when such an amount of vicarious suffering was needed in order to provide redemption. We should observe, first, in this passage, how our Lord had to bear His CROSS when He went forth from the city to Golgotha.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)
proposed
He that can read a passage like this without a deep sense of man's debt to Christ, must have a very cold, or a very thoughtless heart. Great must be the love of the Lord Jesus to sinners, when He could voluntarily endure such sufferings for their salvation. Great must be the sinfulness of sin, when such an amount of vicarious suffering was needed in order to provide redemption. We should observe, first, in this passage, how our Lord had to bear His CROSS when He went forth from the city to Golgotha. We need not doubt that there was a deep meaning in all this circumstance. For one thing, it was part of that depth of humiliation to which our Lord submitted as our substitute. One portion of the punishment imposed on the vilest criminals, was that they should carry their own cross when they went to execution; and this portion was laid upon our Lord. In the fullest sense He was reckoned a sinner, and counted a curse for our sakes. For another thing, it was a fulfillment of the great type of the sin-offering of the Mosaic law. It is written, that "The bull and goat given as sin offerings , whose blood Aaron brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement for Israel, will be carried outside the camp to be burned." (Lev. 16:27.) Little did the blinded Jews imagine, when they madly hounded on the Romans to crucify Jesus outside the gates, that they were unconsciously perfecting the mightiest sin-offering that was ever seen. It is written, "So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates in order to make his people holy by shedding his own blood." (Heb. 13:12.) The practical lesson which all true Christians should gather from the fact before us, is one that should be kept in continual remembrance. Like our Master, we must be content to go forth "outside the camp," bearing His reproach.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Let us not rend it - It would then have been useless. The outer garment, being composed of several parts - fringes, borders, etc. Deu 12:12 - could be easily divided. That the scripture ... - Psa 22:18.
Modern Voices1 voice
And with that thought came a larger one, and the colossal figure of her Master had also crossed the theatre of my thoughts. The same modern difficulty which darkened the subject-matter of Anatole France also darkened that of Ernest Renan. Renan also divided his hero's …
The words behind it
37 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἶπαν | eipan | They said | G2036 → | 925 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| ἀλλήλους· | allelous | one another; | G240 → | 100 times |
| μὴ | me | Not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| σχίσωμεν | schisomen | let us tear up | G4977 → | |
| αὐτόν, | auton | it, | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἀλλὰ | alla | but | G235 → | 635 times |
| λάχωμεν | lachomen | let us cast lots | G2975 → | |
| περὶ | peri | for | G4012 → | 332 times |
| αὐτοῦ | autou | it | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τίνος | tinos | whose | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ἔσται· | estai | it will be; | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἵνα | ina | that | G2443 → | 668 times |
| ἡ | he | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γραφὴ | graphe | Scripture | G1124 → | 49 times |
| πληρωθῇ | plerothea | may be fulfilled | G4137 → | 86 times |
| ἡ | he | what | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λέγουσα· | legousa | is being spoken: | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| διεμερίσαντο | diemerisanto | They divided | G1266 → | |
| τὰ | ta | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἱμάτιά | himatia | garments | G2440 → | 60 times |
| μου | mou | of Mine | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| ἑαυτοῖς | he'autois | among themselves | G1438 → | 322 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐπὶ | epi | for | G1909 → | 883 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἱματισμόν | himatismon | clothing | G2441 → | |
| μου | mou | of Mine | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| ἔβαλον | ebalon | they cast | G906 → | 121 times |
| κλῆρον.¶ | kleron | a lot. | G2819 → | |
| Οἱ | hoi | The | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μὲν | men | indeed | G3303 → | 176 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| στρατιῶται | stratiotai | soldiers | G4757 → | 26 times |
| ταῦτα | tauta | these things | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ἐποίησαν, | epoiesan | did, | G4160 → | 569 times |
εἶπανThey said
eipanG2036 →925 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
ἀλλήλους·one another;
allelousG240 →100 times
μὴNot
meG3361 →1066 times
σχίσωμενlet us tear up
schisomenG4977 →
αὐτόν,it,
autonG846 →5565 times
ἀλλὰbut
allaG235 →635 times
λάχωμενlet us cast lots
lachomenG2975 →
περὶfor
periG4012 →332 times
αὐτοῦit
autouG846 →5565 times
τίνοςwhose
tinosG5101 →563 times
ἔσται·it will be;
estaiG1510 →2333 times
ἵναthat
inaG2443 →668 times
ἡthe
heG3588 →19766 times
γραφὴScripture
grapheG1124 →49 times
πληρωθῇmay be fulfilled
plerotheaG4137 →86 times
ἡwhat
heG3588 →19766 times
λέγουσα·is being spoken:
legousaG3004 →1325 times
διεμερίσαντοThey divided
diemerisantoG1266 →
τὰthe
taG3588 →19766 times
ἱμάτιάgarments
himatiaG2440 →60 times
μουof Mine
mouG3165 →1936 times
ἑαυτοῖςamong themselves
he'autoisG1438 →322 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐπὶfor
epiG1909 →883 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἱματισμόνclothing
himatismonG2441 →
μουof Mine
mouG3165 →1936 times
ἔβαλονthey cast
ebalonG906 →121 times
κλῆρον.¶a lot.
kleronG2819 →
ΟἱThe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
μὲνindeed
menG3303 →176 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
στρατιῶταιsoldiers
stratiotaiG4757 →26 times
ταῦταthese things
tautaG3778 →1381 times
ἐποίησαν,did,
epoiesanG4160 →569 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 19:28After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
it leads to
- Psalms 69:21
They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
- Psalms 22:15
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.
- John 19:30
When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.
- Luke 22:37
For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about Me is reaching its fulfillment.”
- Luke 18:31
Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
- Psalms 69:21
Through
Psalms 22:18They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
it leads to
- Matthew 27:35
When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.
- Luke 23:34
Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
- Mark 15:24
And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take.
- Matthew 27:35
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies25
About John
This page draws on 19 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 118; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 218.9; B. F. Westcott, The Gospel according to St. John; Bonaventure, Commentary on John, Chapter 19; Cyprian, Treatise I On the Unity of the Church; Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 12; GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Ch. 3: The Suicide of Thought (1908); J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 85; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on John and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on John.