He came to the synagogue ruler’s house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing.
Parallel Translations
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He came to the synagogue ruler’s house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing.
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And he came vnto the housse of the ruler of the synagoge and sawe the wondrynge and them that wepte and wayled greatly
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So hee came vnto the house of the ruler of the Synagogue, and sawe the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Mark 5:38 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 9:23-24 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd in noisy disorder, he said to them, “Make room, because the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him.
- Luke 8:52-53 All were weeping and mourning her, but he said, “Don’t weep. She isn’t dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him, knowing that she was dead.
- Jeremiah 9:17-20 Yahweh of Armies says, “Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come. Send for the skillful women, that they may come. Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ” Yet hear Yahweh’s word, you women. Let your ear receive the word of his mouth. Teach your daughters wailing. Everyone teach her neighbor a lamentation.
- Matthew 11:17 and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’
- Mark 5:22 Behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet,
- Acts 9:39 Peter got up and went with them. When he had come, they brought him into the upper room. All the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 38 And he cometh to the house of the…
38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
Ver. 38. {See Trapp on "Mat 9:23"} {See Trapp on "Mat 9:24"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he cometh to the house of the ruler…
And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue,.... Along with him, and the three disciples above mentioned; and the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions read, "and they came", the above persons:
and seeing the tumult; the throng and crowd of people, of relations, friends, neighbours, and acquaintance, on this occasion, all in a hurry, and in one motion or another, expressing their concern by words and gestures.
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And them that wept and wailed bitterly; the mourning women, the same with the "preficae" of the Romans, who sung mournful songs, and made hideous noises, being hired for this purpose; as also those who played doleful tunes on musical instruments; See Gill on Mat 9:23.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 38. He cometh] But ερονται, they come, is…
Verse 38. He cometh] But ερονται, they come, is the reading of ABCDF, four others, and several versions.
Wept and wailed] See Clarke on Mt 9:23.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mar 5:38-42. He seeth the tumult — The crowd…
Mar 5:38-42. He seeth the tumult — The crowd of people that wept and wailed greatly — Greek αλαλαζοντας πολλα, howling much, as some render the word. “From several passages of Scripture, (see Jer 9:17; Jer 16:6-7; Eze 24:17,) it appears that the people of the East used to bewail the dead by tearing their hair, and cutting their flesh, and crying most bitterly. Nor did the relations of the deceased content themselves with these expressions of violent grief. They hired persons of both sexes, whose employment it was to mourn over the dead in the like frantic manner, and who besides sung doleful ditties, in which honourable mention was made of the age, the beauty, the strength, the courage, the virtues, and the actions of the deceased, with an intention to increase the sorrow of the afflicted relations. In process of time they accompanied these lamentations with music, particularly of flutes, (Josephus, Bell., Mar 3:8,) a custom which prevailed likewise in the West. Ovid, Fast., lib. 6, Cantabant mæstis tibia funeribus. But the Jews were forbidden to tear their hair and cut their flesh in mourning for the dead, (Lev 19:28; Deu 14:1,) because such expressions of grief were inconsistent with resignation to the divine will, and looked as if they had no hope of their friends’ resurrection. Hence the apostle’s precept, 1Th 4:13, Sorrow not as others which have no hope. Besides, these rites were practised by the heathen, as a kind of sacrifices to the manes of the dead.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 38. them that wept] These were the hired mourners,…
38. them that wept] These were the hired mourners, chiefly women; whose business it was to beat their breasts (Luk_8:52), and to make loud lamentations at funerals; comp 2Ch_35:25; Jer_9:17-18; Amo_5:16. The Rabbinic rule provided for the poorest Israelite at least two flute-players, and one mourning woman. “A Ruler of the Synagogue, bereaved of his only child, may well have been prodigal in the expression of his grief.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (38) Wailed greatly.—The word used is the same as…
(38) Wailed greatly.—The word used is the same as that in 1Co_13:1, in connection with the “tinkling” (or better, clanging) sound of a cymbal, and, formed as it is from an interjection, alala, is applied to the inarticulate cries either of despair or victory.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain St. Matthew here says (Mat_9:23) that when Jesus came…
St. Matthew here says (Mat_9:23) that when Jesus came into the ruler"s house, he "saw the minstrels" (touv), i.e. the flute-players, "and the people making a noise." This was the custom both with Jews and with Gentiles, to quicken the sorrow of the mourners by funeral dirges. The record of these attendant circumstances is important as evidence of the fact of death having actually taken place.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 38. Many weeping and wailing greatly. At a Jewish…
38. Many weeping and wailing greatly. At a Jewish funeral were professional mourners called by Matthew “minstrels.” It is still the funeral fashion in the East.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Recalling the dead girl to life:
Recalling the dead girl to life:
v. 38. And He cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
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v. 39. And when He was come in,. He saith unto them, Why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
v. 40. And they laughed Him to scorn. But when He had put them all out, He taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with Him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
v. 41. And He took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, Talitha, cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
v. 42. And straightway the damsel arose and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
v. 43. And He charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
Upon arriving at the house of Jairus, they were met by sights and sounds that emphasized the fact of a dead person’s being on the premises. Even the poorest Jews felt constrained to hire two pipers and at least one woman to take care of the mourning in the case of a death. Note: Mark calls attention, above all, to the turmoil, to the confused din caused by the many mourners; Matthew speaks of the minstrels and the piping; Luke refers to the weeping and bewailing. They were busily engaged when Jesus stepped into the house with His companions, weeping and howling without restraint. But Jesus took charge of the situation at once. He reproached them for the noise they were making, stating that the child was not dead, but sleeping. Those were the words of a man that lived in the certainty of the resurrection, Jesus Christ, the Master of death, who has conquered and bound death. "These words we should diligently note, that the Lord here says: The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth; for they are comforting words, for which, if they were purchasable, we should gladly pay all, in order that we might remember, understand, and believe them. For he that can look upon a dead person as though he were merely lying in bed; he that can change his eyesight so that he can look upon death as a sleep,-he might well boast of a peculiar art, which no man otherwise possesses. Therefore learn from this gospel that death, in the sight of Christ the Lord, is nothing but a sleep, as we see here that He wakes the dead maiden with the hand, as out of a sleep. " The derisive laughter of the official mourners did not deter the Lord for a minute. He cast them all out of the house, not one as permitted to remain as witness of the miracle. He then took the father and mother of the maiden, as the parents, and His three disciples as witnesses, went into the room of death, grasped the maiden by the hand, and spoke the almighty words: Maiden, arise. He used the Aramaic language, which was probably the tongue which He learned as a boy, and which He commonly employed in His discourses. Mark translates the words for the sake of his Roman readers. Death was obliged to flee at the words of Christ, it must yield its hold on the maiden’s body. The girl could get up from her couch, she could walk about, she could partake of food; in short, she was returned to life, she was fully recovered. And she could now sustain life by the usual means. No wonder that those present, parents and disciples, were astonished and wrought up almost to ecstasy, since this miracle was the first one to show the power of Christ over the most dreaded enemy of mankind. Jesus finally gave them all orders that they should not make it public. He wants no false Messianic hopes to be aroused, and the way and manner of the restoration should also not be made a matter of common talk. Especially should the expectation of the repetition of such acts not be awakened in the people, lest His ministry be seriously interfered with. We have in Jesus, to this day, the Lord that can save from death. And when Christ, our Life, will be made manifest on that great day, then He will awaken, by the almighty power of His voice, all our dead relatives and friends, and will take all that died in the faith in Him, into the eternal home above which He has prepared for them that love Him. "We should, then, learn from this gospel that all misfortune, no matter how great it appears before thine eyes, is before our Lord Jesus less than nothing. For since death in a Christian is nothing, then blindness, leprosy, pestilence, and other sickness must be still smaller and of less import. Therefore, if Thou seest sin, sickness, poverty, or anything else in thee, do not let this terrify thee; close thy carnal eyes and open the spiritual ones, and say: I am a Christian, and I have a Lord who with one word can stop all this foolishness; why should I be so seriously worried about it? For certain it is, as easily as Christ helps this maiden out of bodily death, in which she was lying, so easily will He help us also, if only we believe and trust Him to help us."
Summary.Jesus drives out the devils from the Gadarene demoniac and makes him His witness in the region of Decapolis; He then returns to the west side of the sea, heals the, woman with the issue of blood, and raises the daughter of Jairus from the dead.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:38 The commotion and weeping and wailing confirmed the…
5:38 The commotion and weeping and wailing confirmed the report of the messengers and dramatized the hopelessness of the situation. Such outbursts of grief were typical of funerals in Jesus’ day, where professional mourners were often hired (cp. Matt 9:23).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.