What does ἐντυλίσσω (entylíssō) mean in the Bible?
ἐντυλίσσω means to wrap up, fold, or roll up. ' The verb's precision matters because of the contrast it implies.
Greek · G1794
ἐντυλίσσω
To wrap up
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ἐντυλίσσω G1794
Pronunciation entylíssō
What does ἐντυλίσσω (entylíssō) mean in the Bible?
ἐντυλίσσω means to wrap up, fold, or roll up. ' The verb's precision matters because of the contrast it implies.
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
ἐντυλίσσω means to wrap up, fold, or roll up. John 20:7 uses it for the face cloth found in the empty tomb: 'The cloth that had been around Jesus' head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths.' The verb's precision matters because of the contrast it implies. This is not the appearance of a body hastily unwrapped or removed by grave robbers, who would have had no reason to fold anything and every reason to move quickly; it is the appearance of a body that has simply left its wrappings behind, in order, the head cloth deliberately set apart from the rest.
John records this detail as part of what convinces the beloved disciple to believe (John 20:8) before any resurrection appearance has yet occurred. Teachers should let the physical, orderly detail carry its own evidential weight rather than treating the empty tomb scene as merely a report of absence.
How the Bible Uses It
John 20:7 offers a small, quiet detail with real evidential force. Grave robbery would not produce neatly folded, separated cloths; panic or theft leaves disorder. John's Gospel builds toward Jesus' own resurrection as something categorically greater than Lazarus' raising, and the orderly, folded grave cloths of John 20:6-7 mark that difference physically: Lazarus needed unwrapping and would die again, while Jesus needed no help leaving his wrappings and will not die again.
- John.20.7
The cloth that had been around Jesus’ head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths.
John 20:7 describes the face cloth 'rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths' in the empty tomb.
- John.20.8
Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed.
John 20:8 records that the beloved disciple 'saw and believed' upon seeing this arrangement, making the folded cloths part of the Gospel's own account of what produced resurrection faith before any appearance of the risen Jesus.
- John.11.44
The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.
John 11:44 describes Lazarus emerging from his tomb still bound in grave clothes needing to be unwrapped by others, a deliberate contrast with the orderly, self-vacated wrappings John records at Jesus' own 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...
- Use the folded cloths to show how careful physical observation supported early resurrection faith, not to suggest this detail alone constitutes full proof apart from the wider resurrection testimony.
- Keep the Lazarus contrast accurate: Lazarus needed unwrapping and would die again, while Jesus' own wrappings were left behind in an orderly state.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim the folded cloths by themselves constitute the entirety of John's resurrection evidence; they are one detail among the appearances and testimony that follow in John 20-21.
- Do not treat this detail as proof against every alternative explanation offered by skeptics; the text presents it as sufficient for the beloved disciple's own belief, not as an exhaustive apologetic argument.
Passage contextCanonical parallelBook context
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
John 20:7 offers a small, quiet detail with real evidential force. Grave robbery would not produce neatly folded, separated cloths; panic or theft leaves disorder. What the disciples find instead looks like someone who left calmly, without struggle or haste. John records that this specific detail, not an angelic announcement or a direct appearance, is what first moves the beloved disciple to belief.
Preachers can use this word to show that John's resurrection account rests on careful physical observation as well as later appearances, treating the ordered emptiness of the tomb as its own kind of testimony. This word opens a teaching doorway on quiet, physical evidence for the resurrection: the beloved disciple believes not because of a dramatic appearance but because of the orderly, folded grave cloths, a detail inconsistent with grave robbery and consistent with a body that simply was not there to be wrapped any longer.
It gives teachers a case study in how ordinary observation can produce genuine faith. It corrects readings that treat the empty tomb as merely an absence needing explanation; John presents specific, ordered physical details that actively produced belief in at least one eyewitness before any appearance occurred. Frame ἐντυλίσσω as a precise physical detail that distinguishes an orderly departure from a hasty theft, contributing directly to the beloved disciple's belief.
Anchor passage
John.20.7
Doctrinal connections
- John.20.7 - primary John anchor for to wrap up, fold, roll up.
- John.20.8 - local narrative or book-level context that supports the companion's claim.
- John.11.44 - canonical parallel or background that keeps the entry's theological claim bounded.
- Gospel of John - book context that keeps this entry anchored in John's witness to Jesus.
Frame ἐντυλίσσω as a precise physical detail that distinguishes an orderly departure from a hasty theft, contributing directly to the beloved disciple's belief. Linguistically, ἐντυλίσσω should be allowed to name to wrap up, fold, roll up without carrying claims the cited passages do not make.
From Old to New Testament
John's Gospel builds toward Jesus' own resurrection as something categorically greater than Lazarus' raising, and the orderly, folded grave cloths of John 20:6-7 mark that difference physically: Lazarus needed unwrapping and would die again, while Jesus needed no help leaving his wrappings and will not die again.
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