So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the 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.
- KJV When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same 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.
- 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 30:18Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.
- Isa 55:8–9“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh.
- Gen 43:29–31He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”
- Gen 22:14Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
- Gen 42:24He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes.
- Gen 44:1–5He commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
- Matt 15:22–28Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!”
- Gen 45:1–5Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, “Cause everyone to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
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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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