Joseph of Arimathea
20 BCE · Jerusalem
Joseph of Arimathea is named in all four Gospels as the man who buried Jesus. Mark calls him a respected member of the council who was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke adds that he had not agreed with the council's decision against Jesus. Matthew describes him as rich, and John as a disciple who kept his allegiance secret out of fear (Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:50-53; Matthew 27:57-60; John 19:38). On the evening of the crucifixion he asked Pilate for the body, wrapped it in linen and laid it in a tomb cut from rock. In John's account Nicodemus helped him (John 19:39-42). Luke calls Arimathea a town of Judea (Luke 23:51), but its location is uncertain. In the 4th century Eusebius identified it with Ramathaim, the hometown of the prophet Samuel. Nothing reliable is known of Joseph's later life. Medieval legends, beginning in French Grail romance around 1200 and later attached to Glastonbury in England, connected him with the Holy Grail. They appear more than a thousand years after the events and are not historical sources. He is honoured as a saint in Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican calendars.
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JerusalemירושליםJudea
What they did here
All four Gospels set Joseph's request to Pilate and the burial in a new rock-cut tomb near the place of crucifixion, outside Jerusalem (Mark 15:42-46; Matthew 27:57-60; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42).
Jerusalem in this era
Under Roman rule Jerusalem was, according to the Gospels, where Jesus was crucified and, in Christian belief, rose from the dead; Acts places Pentecost and the first Christian community, led by the apostles and later by James, there. The Romans destroyed the city in 70 CE.
About Jerusalem
Jerusalem, in the Judean hills, is a sacred city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible it is King David's capital and the site of Solomon's Temple; the First Temple was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and the Second Temple, rebuilt from about 516 BCE, by Rome in 70 CE. Christians revere it as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and, in their faith, his resurrection; in Islamic tradition it is the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer, marked by the Dome of the Rock (691-92) and al-Aqsa Mosque. It was ruled in turn by Rome and Byzantium, by Muslim dynasties from 638, by Crusaders (1099-1187), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans (1517-1917), and by Britain. Divided between Israel and Jordan from 1948 to 1967, it has since been under Israeli control. Israel regards the city as its capital; Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state; most countries do not recognize sovereignty over the whole city.
In Jerusalem at the same time
Nicodemus, Mary, mother of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Philip the Apostle, Matthias the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle
Across the traditions, in Jerusalem at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Joseph of Arimathea’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
In the same tradition
Nicodemus, Mary, mother of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Philip the Apostle, Matthias the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle, Thomas the Apostle, Mary Magdalene, James, son of Zebedee, Barnabas, Andrew the Apostle, Peter the Apostle, Paul the Apostle, John the Apostle, Stephen the Protomartyr, Judas Iscariot, Jude the Apostle, James the Just
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Joseph of Arimathea’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.