Jesus' Crucifixion: Division of Garments Among Soldiers
When Jesus was crucified, the Roman soldiers divided his garments among themselves, a detail recorded in all four Gospels [1, 2, 9]. This act was a common practice, as the clothing of those executed by crucifixion became the perquisite of the executioners [6, 11].
Crucifixion itself was a brutal form of capital punishment, known to various ancient civilizations including the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans [3, 4]. It was considered the most horrible and ignominious form of death, often reserved for the vilest criminals [3, 4, 8]. While its use among ancient Jews is debated, it was certainly a Roman method of execution [3, 4]. Before crucifixion, victims were typically scourged [4]. In Jesus' case, he was also stripped of his clothes by the soldiers [13].
The Gospel accounts provide specific details about the division of Jesus' clothing. John's Gospel states, "When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided His garments into four parts, one for each soldier, with the tunic remaining. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom" [1]. Matthew's Gospel notes, "When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots" [2]. Mark's account similarly mentions the soldiers parting his garments and casting lots [9].
Commentators explain that there were typically four soldiers involved in a crucifixion, and these soldiers would divide the condemned person's clothing [6, 7, 10]. The garments Jesus wore consisted of an outer garment (mantle) and an inner garment (tunic) [5]. The soldiers divided the outer garments into four parts, one for each soldier [1, 6, 10].
However, Jesus' tunic presented a unique situation. John describes it as "seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom" [1]. Because of its construction, the soldiers decided not to tear it into pieces. Instead, they cast lots to determine who would take the tunic whole [6, 9, 11]. This detail is significant because it directly fulfills a prophecy found in Psalm 22:18, which states, "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots" [6, 9]. John Gill notes that this prophecy was "exactly fulfilled in Christ" [6]. The seamless nature of the tunic might have indicated considerable skill in its making, possibly crafted by one of the women who ministered to Jesus [7].
The act of casting lots for the clothing of the condemned was a common practice [11]. The division of spoils, including garments, among soldiers or those involved in a conflict, is also seen in other biblical contexts, such as the division of plunder after battle [12]. In Jesus' crucifixion, this customary act took on prophetic significance, highlighting the fulfillment of Old Testament scripture in the events surrounding his death [6, 9]. The soldiers, in their routine duty, unknowingly participated in the precise fulfillment of ancient prophecy [6].
Sources
- John “John 19:23 (BSB) — When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided His garments into four parts, one for each soldier, with the tunic remaining. It was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.”
- Matthew “Matthew 27:35 (BSB) — When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Crucifixion — was in used among the Egyptians, (Genesis 40:19) the Carthaginians, the Persians, (Esther 7:10) the Assyrians, Scythains, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. Among the Romans the degradation was also a part of the infliction, and the punishment if applied to freemen was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. The one ”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the Mosaic law were, by the sword (Ex. 21), strangling, fire (Lev. 20), and stoning (Deut. 21). This was regarded as the most horrible form of death, and to a Jew it would acquire greater horror from the curse in Deut. 21:23. This punishment began by subjecting the sufferer to scourging. In the case of our Lord, however, his scourging was rather before the sente”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Apparel — In Old Testament times the distinction between male and female attire was not very marked. The statute forbidding men to wear female apparel (Deut. 22:5) referred especially to ornaments and head-dresses. Both men and women wore (1) an under garment or tunic, which was bound by a girdle. One who had only this tunic on was spoken of as "naked" (1 Sam. 19:24; Job 24:10; Isa. 20:2). Those in high stations sometimes wore two tunics, the outer being called the "upper garment" (1 Sam. 15:27; 18:4; 24:5; Job 1:20). (2.) They wore in common an over-garment ("mantle”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 22:18: They part my garments among them,.... Such as died the death of the cross were crucified naked (h), and their clothes were the perquisites of the executioners; there were four soldiers concerned in the crucifixion of Christ, and these parted his garments into four parts, and everyone took his part; and cast lots on my vesture; which was a seamless coat, wove from the top to the bottom; and therefore, not willing to rend it, they cast lots upon it who should have it; all this was exactly fulfilled in Christ, Joh 19:23. (h) Vid Lipsium de Cruce, l. 2. c. 7. p. 81.”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 19:23: Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts; to every soldier--the four who nailed Him to the cross, and whose perquisite they were. a part, and also his coat--the Roman tunic, or close-fitting vest. without seam, woven from the top throughout--"perhaps denoting considerable skill and labor as necessary to produce such a garment, the work probably of one or more of the women who ministered in such things unto Him, Luk 8:3" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].”
- Matthew (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Matthew 27:34: And they crucified him,.... That is, the soldiers: they laid the cross upon the ground, and stretched Christ upon it; they extended his two arms as far as they could, to the transverse part of it, and nailed his hands unto it: his two feet they fixed by each other on a basis, in the body of the cross, through which they also drove nails; and then raising it up, fixed it in the earth, and left him hanging on it till he expired. This death was not only painful and cruel, but exceedingly shameful and ignominious: it was what was inflicted on the meanest of persons, as ”
- Mark (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Mark 15:22: And when they had crucified him,.... Had fastened him to the cross, and reared it up, and he was hanging upon it: they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. This last clause, "what every man should take", is left out in the Arabic version. His garments they divided into four parts; and each soldier, as there were four of them, took a part; and upon his vesture, or seamless coat, because they would not rend it, they cast lots who should have it, and so fulfilled a prophecy in Psa 22:18; See Gill on Mat 27:35.”
- John (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on John 19:23: Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus,.... The crucifixion of Christ was at the request and solicitation of the Jews, was ordered by the Roman governor, and performed by the Roman soldiers; the sinful men into whose hands Christ was to be delivered: took his garments; which they had stripped his body of, crucifying him naked; as what properly belonged to them, it being usual then, as now, for executioners to have the clothes of the persons they put to death; these were his inner garments: and made four parts, to every soldier a part; for it seems there w”
- John (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on John 19:23: 19:23-24 As was their common practice, the Roman soldiers divided his clothes. The soldiers gambled for his valuable robe, which was seamless, rather than dividing it up.”
- Numbers (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Numbers 31:25: Take the sum of the prey that was taken--that is, of the captives and cattle, which, having been first lumped together according to ancient usage (Exo 15:9; Jdg 5:30), were divided into two equal parts: the one to the people at large, who had sustained a common injury from the Midianites and who were all liable to serve: and the other portion to the combatants, who, having encountered the labors and perils of war, justly received the largest share. From both parts, however, a certain deduction was taken for the sanctuary, as a thank offering to God f”
- Matthew (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Matthew 27:27: And they stripped him,.... Of his clothes; at least of his upper garment: for one man to spit upon another, as these soldiers afterwards did on Christ, or to strip him of his garment, according to the Jewish canons, were punishable with a fine of four hundred pence (z), which amounted to twelve pounds and ten shillings of our money; but the soldiers were in no danger of being prosecuted, for stripping Christ. This is one part of the low estate Christ submitted to: his clothes on his back seem to be all he had in this world, and of these he is stripped: and put on ”