Editing Holy Lance (section)

== Biblical references ==
{{main|Longinus}}

The lance ({{langx|el|λόγχη}}, {{transliteration|el|lonkhē}}) is mentioned in the [[Gospel of John]],<ref>{{Bibleverse|John|19:31–37}}</ref> but not in the [[Synoptic Gospels]]. The gospel states that the Romans planned to break Jesus' legs, a practice known as {{lang|la|crurifragium}}, which was a method of hastening death during a [[crucifixion]]. Because it was the eve of the Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown), the followers of Jesus needed to "entomb" him because of Sabbath laws. Just before they did so, they noticed that Jesus was already dead and that there was no reason to break his legs ("and no bone will be broken").<ref>{{Bibleverse|John|19:36}}</ref>{{efn|This verse is reference to {{Bibleverse|Psalms|34:20}} regarding the righteous person, and commandments concerning the [[Passover sacrifice|paschal lamb]] in {{Bibleverse|Exodus|12:46}} and {{Bibleverse|Numbers|9:12}}.}} To make sure that he was dead, a Roman soldier (named in extra-Biblical tradition as [[Saint Longinus|Longinus]]) stabbed him in the side.

{{Blockquote|One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance {{lang|el|(λόγχη)}}, and immediately there came out blood and water.|{{Bibleverse|John|19:34|KJV}}}}

The name of the soldier who pierced Christ's side with a {{transliteration|el|lonchē}} is not given in the Gospel of John, but in the oldest known references to the legend, the apocryphal [[Gospel of Nicodemus]] appended to late manuscripts of the 4th century ''[[Acts of Pilate]]'', the soldier is identified as a [[centurion]] and called Longinus (making the spear's Latin name ''{{lang|la|Lancea Longini}}'').<ref name="Peebles 1911">{{cite book |author-last=Peebles |author-first=Rose Jeffries |date=1911 |title=The Legend of Longinus in Ecclesiastical Tradition and in English Literature, and its connection with the Grail |location=Baltimore |publisher=J. H. Furst. |url=https://archive.org/details/TheLegendOfLonginus/page/n7/mode/1up |access-date=2023-07-29 |via=[[The Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{rp|6–8}}<ref name="Hone 1926">{{cite book |author-last=Hone |author-first=William |author-link=William Hone |title=The Lost Books of the Bible: being all the gospels, epistles, and other pieces now extant attributed in the first four centuries to Jesus Christ, His apostles and their companions, not included, by its compilers, in the authorized New Testament; and, the recently discovered Syriac mss. of Pilate's letters to Tiberius, etc. |publisher=Alpha House |location=New York |date=1926 |url=https://archive.org/details/lostbooksofbible00unse_0 |access-date=2023-07-27 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{rp|73}}

A form of the name Longinus occurs in the [[Rabula Gospels]] in the late 6th-century. In a [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature]], the name ''{{small|{{lang|el|ΛΟΓΙΝΟΣ}} (LOGINOS)}}'' is written above the head of the soldier who is thrusting his lance into Christ's side. This is one of the earliest records of the name, if the inscription is not a later addition.<ref name="Thurston 1910">{{CathEncy|wstitle= The Holy Lance |volume= 8 |last= Thurston |first= Herbert |author-link= Herbert Thurston |short=1}}</ref>