When he had entered in, he said to them, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.”
Parallel Translations
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When he had entered in, he said to them, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.”
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and went in and sayde vnto them: why make ye this adoo and wepe? The mayde is not deed but slepith.
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And he went in, and said vnto them, Why make ye this trouble, and weepe? the childe is not dead, but sleepeth.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Mark 5:39 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 20:10 Paul went down and fell upon him, and embracing him said, “Don’t be troubled, for his life is in him.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10 who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
- Daniel 12:2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
- John 11:11-13 He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.” The disciples therefore said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.
- 1 Corinthians 11:30 For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 39 And when he was come in, he saith…
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.
Ver. 39. {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 when he was come in,.... Into the house,…
And when he was come in,.... Into the house, within doors, into one of the apartments, and where the company of mourners, and the pipers, and mourning women were, singing and saying their doleful ditties:
he saith unto them, why make ye this ado and weep? why all this tumult and noise? this grief and mourning, whether real or artificial?
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the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth: not but that she was truly dead, but not so as to remain under the power of death: she was like a person in a sleep, who would in a little time be awaked out of it: and which was as easily performed by Christ, as if she had been only in a natural sleep; See Gill on Mat 9:24.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 39. Sleepeth — See on Mat_9:24.
39. Sleepeth — See on Mat_9:24.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 39. but sleepeth] Comp. His words in reference to…
39. but sleepeth] Comp. His words in reference to Lazarus (Joh_11:11). The Lord of life takes away that word of fear, “She is dead,” and puts in its room that milder word which gives promise of an awakening, “She sleepeth.”
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Some have regarded the words of our Lord, the…
Some have regarded the words of our Lord, the child is not dead, but sleepeth, as really meaning that she was only in a swoon. But although she was actually dead in the ordinary sense of that word, namely, that her spirit had left the body, yet Christ was pleased to speak of death as a sleep; because all live to him, and because all will rise at the last day. Hence in the Holy Scriptures the dead are constantly described as sleeping, in order that the terror of death might be mitigated, and immoderate grief for the dead be assuaged under the name of sleep, which manifestly includes the hope of the resurrection. Hence the expression with regard to a departed Christian, that "he sleeps in Jesus." Then, further, this child was not absolutely and irrecoverably dead, as the crowd supposed, as though she could not be recalled to life; since in fact our Lord, who is the Lord of life, was going at once to call her back by his almighty power from the realms of death into which she had entered. So that she did not appear to him to be dead so much as to sleep for a little while. He says elsewhere, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." Christ, by the use of such language as this, meant to show that it is as easy with him to raise the dead from death as sleepers from their slumbers.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 he said to them
he said to them
"Jesus said to the people who were weeping"
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Why are you upset and why do you weep?
Jesus asked this question to help them see their lack of faith. This may be written as a statement. AT: "This is not a time to be upset and crying." (See: Rhetorical Question)
The child is not dead but sleeps." They laughed at him
Jesus uses the common word for sleep, and so should the translation. The reader should understand that the people who hear Jesus laugh at him because they truly do know the difference between a dead person and a sleeping person and they think he does not.
put them all outside
"sent all the other people outside the house"
those who were with him
This refers to Peter, James, and John.
went in where the child was
It may be helpful to state where the child is. AT: "went into the room where the child was lying" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
die
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 5:39 Sleep is a metaphor for death (John 11:11;…
5:39 Sleep is a metaphor for death (John 11:11; 1 Thes 4:13-15). The child isn’t dead because she will be resurrected—she’s only asleep and will shortly “wake up” and resume her life. The same Greek word translated here as “sleep” refers to death in Matt 27:52; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Cor 15:6, 18, 20, 51; 1 Thes 4:13-15.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.