When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
Parallel translations
- WEB When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.
- BSB So on hearing that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two days,
- NKJV So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
- NASB So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
- NLT he stayed where he was for the next two days.
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
On hearing of the sickness, Jesus deliberately stays two more days where He was. His delay is purposeful, not negligent.
Overview
The word 'therefore' ties this delay to His love just affirmed, showing it serves a loving purpose. By waiting, Jesus allows Lazarus to die so that a far greater work may follow. The episode teaches that God's delays often prepare for greater displays of His grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 30:18And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
- Isa 55:8–9For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
- Gen 43:29–31And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.
- Gen 22:14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
- Gen 42:24And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
- Gen 44:1–5And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
- Matt 15:22–28And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
- Gen 45:1–5Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
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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 11:6 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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