Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.
- KJV Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
- NKJV Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
- NASB Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
- NLT Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Martha tells Jesus that if He had been there, her brother would not have died. Her words mingle faith with sorrow and gentle reproach.
Overview
Martha believes in Jesus' power to heal yet does not yet grasp His power to raise the dead. Her statement expresses both confidence in Him and the ache of disappointment. It opens the way for Jesus to reveal Himself as the resurrection and the life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 9:18While Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.”
- John 11:32When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
- 1 Kgs 17:18“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
- Ps 78:19They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
- John 11:37But some of them asked, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept Lazarus from dying?”
- Luke 8:49–55While He was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he told Jairus. “Do not bother the Teacher anymore.”
- John 4:47–49When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.
- Luke 7:6–10So Jesus went with them. But when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends with the message: “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.
- Luke 7:13–15When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”
- Ps 78:41Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 11:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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