And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Free him, and let him go.”
- BSB The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth. “Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them.
- NKJV And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
- NASB Out came the man who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
- NLT And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
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
Lazarus emerges still bound in graveclothes, and Jesus orders him freed. Life triumphs visibly over death.
Overview
The bound man walking from the tomb dramatizes resurrection power; Jesus then directs that he be released to live freely. The graveclothes recall Jesus' own burial wrappings, which he will later leave behind in an even greater rising. Lazarus, though raised, will die again, while Christ's resurrection conquers death forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- John 5:25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
- John 20:7And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
- John 11:25–26Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
- Phil 3:21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
- Luke 7:15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
- John 5:21For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
- Gen 1:3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
- 1 Sam 2:6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
- John 10:30I and my Father are one.
- Acts 20:9–12And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
- Rev 1:18I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
- Ps 33:9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
- Ezek 37:3–10And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
- Mark 5:43And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
- John 19:40Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
- Hos 13:14I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
- John 11:39Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
- John 20:5And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
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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 11:44 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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