Readiness
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Paraskeue is the Greek noun for preparation, and in the Passion narratives it refers to Preparation Day, the day of readiness before the Sabbath. The word matters because the evangelists place Jesus' death and burial inside real Jewish time, public urgency, and Sabbath constraints.
Reader summary
Full entry for παρασκευή (G3904) · Open the biblical lexicon
Paraskeue is the Greek noun for preparation, and in the Passion narratives it refers to Preparation Day, the day of readiness before the Sabbath. The word matters because the evangelists place Jesus' death and burial inside real Jewish time, public urgency, and Sabbath constraints.
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Preparation Day (2), [the] day of Preparation (1), day of Preparation (1), Preparation (1), the day of Preparation (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 27:62. Its strongest book concentrations include John (3), Luke (1), Mark (1), Matthew (1).
Paraskeue is the Greek noun for preparation, and in the Passion narratives it refers to Preparation Day, the day of readiness before the Sabbath. The word matters because the evangelists place Jesus' death and burial inside real Jewish time, public urgency, and Sabbath constraints. Mark explains that it is the day before the Sabbath. Luke says the Sabbath was beginning.
Matthew locates the next day as the one after Preparation Day. John uses the term repeatedly around Pilate's presentation of Jesus, the request to remove the bodies before the High Sabbath, and the nearby tomb. Paraskeue should not be used carelessly to solve every calendar question. It should help readers see the cross and burial occurring in ordered, pressured, covenantal time.
Paraskeue names preparation, especially Preparation Day in the Passion accounts. Its repeated use anchors the crucifixion and burial in Sabbath-adjacent urgency and should be handled carefully, especially in John 19.
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.
Matthew names the day after Preparation Day when leaders seek a guard for the tomb, tying the term to public aftermath and attempted control.
Now it was already evening. Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
Mark explains Preparation Day as the day before the Sabbath, giving readers the timing needed for Joseph's burial action.
It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning.
Luke notes that the Sabbath was beginning, so Preparation Day explains the urgency of burial and the women observing the tomb.
It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”
John's phrase, the day of Preparation for the Passover, places Pilate's presentation of Jesus inside the charged Passover setting.
It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.
The request to remove the bodies comes because the next day was a High Sabbath, so the word serves burial timing and public shame concerns.
And because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.
The nearby tomb matters because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, connecting geography, time pressure, and Jesus' burial.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. The specific day before Sabbath or feast when Jews prepared food and ceased work, not merely abstract readiness
The specific day before Sabbath or feast when Jews prepared food and ceased work, not merely abstract readiness
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
the day before the Sabbath
Read versethe day before the Sabbath
Read versethe day before the Sabbath
Read versethe day before the Sabbath
Read versethe day before the Sabbath
Read versethe day before the Sabbath
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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
παρασκευή is built from this root:
Paraskeue matters because the evangelists do not treat the death and burial of Jesus as timeless religious imagery. The day has a name. The Sabbath is near. Bodies must not remain on crosses. Joseph acts before the Sabbath begins. The women see where Jesus is laid. John repeats the word as Pilate presents the King, as leaders request the removal of bodies, and as the nearby tomb becomes the burial place.
Those details should deepen confidence in the public and historical shape of the Passion, but they should also discipline interpreters. Preparation Day language is important, yet it cannot bear more calendar certainty than each Gospel gives. A faithful teacher uses the term to show urgency, public shame, covenant timing, and burial realism while keeping the focus on the crucified and buried Christ.
John.19.14
Paraskeue means preparation and became a recognized way to refer to the day of preparation before the Sabbath. In the Passion narratives, the calendar setting is part of the word's force.
The biblical story often joins redemption to appointed times: Passover, Sabbath, feast days, and the fullness of time. Preparation Day language belongs to that ordered world, where Jesus' death and burial occur under public time, covenant memory, and divine purpose.