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So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
John 11:38 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
  • KJV Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
  • BSB Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
  • NKJV Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
  • NLT Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.

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

Again deeply moved, Jesus approaches the cave-tomb sealed with a stone. The setting underscores the finality of death.

Overview

Jesus' renewed groaning shows his continued emotional engagement as he nears the grave. The description of a cave with a stone emphasizes the reality and apparent permanence of Lazarus' death. This detail magnifies the miracle to come and foreshadows Jesus' own stone-sealed tomb.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • John 11:33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
  • Luke 24:2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
  • Matt 27:60and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
  • Gen 23:19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan.
  • Isa 22:16‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!”
  • Mark 15:46He 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.
  • John 20:1Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb.
  • Mark 8:12He sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Most certainly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
  • Ezek 9:4Yahweh said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
  • Matt 27:66So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone.
  • Ezek 21:6“Sigh therefore, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitterness.
  • Gen 49:29–31He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 11:38YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 11:38 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.