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.”
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.”
- KJV 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.
- 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.”
- 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 5:25Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
- John 20:7and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself.
- John 11:25–26Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.
- Phil 3:21who will change the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working by which he is able even to subject all things to himself.
- Luke 7:15He who was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.
- John 5:21For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
- Gen 1:3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
- 1 Sam 2:6“Yahweh kills, and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol, and brings up.
- John 10:30I and the Father are one.”
- Acts 20:9–12A certain young man named Eutychus sat in the window, weighed down with deep sleep. As Paul spoke still longer, being weighed down by his sleep, he fell down from the third floor, and was taken up dead.
- Rev 1:18and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
- Ps 33:9For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.
- Ezek 37:3–10He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know.
- Mark 5:43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat.
- John 19:40So they took Jesus’ body, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
- Hos 13:14I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? “Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
- John 11:39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
- John 20:5Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn’t enter 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
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.