He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
Parallel translations
- WEB he said to them, “Make room, because the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him.
- BSB “Go away,” He told them. “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him.
- NKJV He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him.
- NASB He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him.
- NLT “Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him.
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
Jesus says the girl is only sleeping, and the crowd mocks him. To Jesus, raising the dead is as simple as waking a sleeper.
Overview
By calling death 'sleep,' Jesus signals that for him death is not final but a state from which he can awaken her. The mourners' ridicule shows their certainty that she is dead, making the coming miracle undeniable. His words reflect the Christian hope that, in Christ, death is a sleep from which believers will be raised.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Acts 20:10And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
- John 11:11–13These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
- Isa 49:7Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.
- Isa 53:3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
- Acts 9:40But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
- John 11:4When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
- Matt 27:39–43And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
- 1 Kgs 17:18–24And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
- Ps 22:6–7But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 9:24 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.