John 19:40

The burial custom of the Jews was to place the corpse on a long sheet with the feet at one end. They would then fold the cloth over the head and back down to the feet, which they would tie together. They would also tie the arms to the body with strips of cloth. Normally a separate cloth covered the face. [Note: See my note at 11:44.] John’s interest was not in the manner of the burial as much as the honor that Joseph and Nicodemus bestowed on Jesus by burying Him in linen cloth (Gr. othonia). Their work had to be hasty because sunset was approaching quickly and all work had to cease when the Sabbath began at sunset on Friday.

The NIV translation of othonia as "strips of cloth" has seemingly contradicted the view that Joseph and Nicodemus buried Jesus in a single piece of cloth, which the Synoptics suggest (Matthew 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53). One writer believed the custom was to wrap the body in long, bandage-like strips rather than in a shroud. [Note: Morris, p. 730.] However this Greek word does not necessarily mean narrow strips of cloth. It can describe one or more large pieces of cloth. [Note: Brown, 2:942.] The burial customs of the Jews are still obscure enough that it is unwise to insist dogmatically that Jesus had only one shroud covering Him. The shroud of Turin is such a piece of cloth, though whether it was the real burial shroud of Jesus is the subject of considerable controversy.