And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.
Ver. 37. When they had washed] This they did to show their hope of a joyful resurrection. The heathens also, though their lives and hopes ended together, yet they washed their dead in an apish imitation of this Church custom. Faciunt et vespae faves; simlae imitantur homines.