Exploring the Meaning of Eneileo in Greek

ἐνειλέω expresses the act of enwrapping, and it appears in the burial narrative of Jesus in Mark. In that single scene, it marks a careful, physical handling of the body with a linen cloth as part of placing him in a rock-cut tomb.

Root and Related Words

ἐνειλέω is related to heilisso (εἱλίσσω), “to roll up” (Strong’s G1507). It is also listed with ennomos (ἔννομος), “under law” (Strong’s G1772), as a related word.

Occurrences

“He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.” (Mark 15:46)

Here ἐνειλέω names the specific action performed with the “linen cloth”: the body is taken down and then enwrapped in that cloth before being laid in the tomb. The sequence of actions in the verse is tightly linked—buying the cloth, taking him down, winding him in the cloth, laying him in the tomb, and rolling a stone against the entrance—and ἐνειλέω occupies the center of that chain as the act that prepares the body for its resting place.

The wording ties the enwrapping directly to the material (“the linen cloth”), making the verb concrete and tactile: it is not merely the presence of cloth, but the deliberate wrapping of the body with it. In the narrative flow, the act stands between removal (“taking him down”) and placement (“laid him in a tomb”), so the enwrapping functions as a transition from public exposure to enclosed rest. The verse then immediately mentions the tomb’s construction (“cut out of a rock”) and the sealing action (“He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb”), so the wrapping belongs to a broader movement toward enclosure: cloth around the body, rock around the chamber, stone at the doorway.

Because the verse is spare and procedural, ἐνειλέω contributes a note of care and completion. The one performing the action has obtained the linen cloth specifically for this purpose, and the verb marks the use of that purchased cloth as an applied covering rather than an unused possession. In this scene, enwrapping is not incidental detail; it is an essential step that happens before the body is laid in the tomb, and it helps the reader picture the body as handled reverently and secured within the cloth.

Sense and Usage

The sense “to enwrap” fits Mark 15:46 as an action that involves surrounding or covering a body with a fabric. The object (“him”) and the instrument/material (“the linen cloth”) are both explicit, so the verb’s contribution is to describe what is done to the body by means of the cloth: it is enveloped in it. The placement of the verb amid other physical actions in the verse anchors the word in the domain of hands-on care—buying, taking down, wrapping, laying, rolling—so ἐνειλέω is experienced as a concrete movement rather than a merely formal statement.

Within this one attestation, enwrapping is presented as purposeful preparation. The cloth is acquired first, which makes the act intentional; the wrapping happens after the body is taken down, which makes the act responsive to the needs of burial; and the wrapping happens before the body is laid in the tomb, which makes the act preparatory for interment. In other words, the verb portrays a covering that is applied at the threshold between death and entombment, an act that both handles the body and marks the transition to its resting place.

The narrative also invites a layered picture of enclosure without changing the verb’s basic sense. The body is enwrapped in cloth, then placed inside a tomb “cut out of a rock,” and finally shut in by a stone rolled against the door. ἐνειλέω contributes the first of these enclosing motions at the level of the body itself. This makes the verb’s imagery intimate: before the larger stone barrier is moved into place, there is a smaller, nearer boundary formed by the linen cloth around the body.

Because the verse states the action plainly and without elaboration, the verb carries its weight through the simplicity of the depiction. It does not draw attention to the cloth as ornament, but as functional wrapping; and it does not separate wrapping from burial, but integrates it as a necessary step performed in immediate proximity to the tomb. In Mark 15:46, ἐνειλέω therefore communicates enwrapping as a concrete act of covering that accompanies and supports the act of laying the body in its burial place.

Imagery

In Mark 15:46, the imagery of ἐνειλέω is the imagery of closeness and containment: cloth drawn around a body, followed by a body placed within rock, followed by an entrance closed with stone. The verb focuses the reader on the quiet, physical action that happens at arm’s length—winding the linen around him—before the tomb is sealed.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).