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Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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NAPKIN.—The Gr. σουδάριον translation ‘napkin’ in the Gospels (cf. Acts 19:12 ‘handkerchief’), is Lat. sudarium, and became current in the East through the extension of the Roman Empire. The piece of cloth, a yard or so square, of which the σουδάριον consisted, was turned to various purposes. It usually served as a head-dress to protect the head of the living from the sun, and to give a finish to their costume, but it served other purposes as well. Two of these are mentioned in the Gospels. In Luke 19:20 the unfaithful servant confesses that he had wrapped up his master’s pound in a napkin. In John 11:44; John 20:7 we are told that the head of the dead had been bound about with a napkin.

With regard to Luke 19:20 the words put into the lips of the unfaithful servant are an example of Christ’s irony, and help to show us the true character of the servant. The fact that he admits having put the pound in a sweat-cloth is significant. It stamps him not only as a man who was discontented with his pound, but also as a man of indolent character, unwilling to use the opportunities of service which were given him. The misuse of the napkin, revealing as it does the lazy habit of the man, is of importance for the right understanding of the parable.

The reference to the napkin in John 20:7 is worthy of special attention in connexion with the Resurrection of Christ. Unfortunately neither the Authorized Version nor the Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 gives the exact translation of the Greek text. The literal rendering of the passage makes it clear that the napkin which had been placed about Christ’s head before burial was discovered by the two disciples lying where His head had been, in the undisturbed form of a coiled or twisted head-wrapper. The verb ἐντετυλιγμένον should be rendered ‘coiled’ or ‘twisted up,’ and not ‘wrapped together’ as in Authorized Version , or ‘rolled up’ as in Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 , and implies that the napkin was found coiled or twisted together in turban-like fashion, just as if His head had somehow slipped out of it, while the words χωρὶς … εἰς ἕνα τόπον, translated in both Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘in a place by itself,’ would be better translated ‘separately (not touching the linen clothes which had been swathing the body) into one place,’ εἰς ἕνα τόπον being the equivalent of εἱς ταὐτό in classical Greek. This rendering of the passage is confirmed by the impression made upon the two disciples by what they witnessed on entering the tomb. It is said that they ‘saw and believed’—saw something, that is, which persuaded them so completely that their Master was risen from the dead that their doubts were immediately resolved, and they proceeded at once to their own home (John 20:10) to await the development of events. For a full discussion of the passage and its bearing on the Resurrection, see H. Latham, The Risen Master, p. 40 ff.

Literature.—Geikie, Holy Land and the Bible; G. M. Mackie, Bible Manners and Customs; Trench, Notes on the Parables (Parable of the Pounds).

Morison Bryce.