Jesus wept is a phrase famous for being the shortest verse in the King James
Version of the Bible, as well as many other versions. It is not the shortest
in the original languages. It is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verse
35. Verse breaks – or versification – were
introduced into the Greek text by Robert Estienne in 1551 in order to make the
texts easier to reference and compare. Context
This verse occurs in John's narrative of the death of Lazarus, a follower of
Jesus. Lazarus' sisters - Mary and Martha - sent word to Jesus of their
brother's illness and impending death, but Jesus arrived four days after
Lazarus died. Jesus, after talking to the grieving sisters and seeing Lazarus'
friends weeping, was deeply troubled and moved. After asking where Lazarus had
been laid, and being invited to come see,
Jesus wept. He went to the tomb and told the people
to remove the stone covering it, prayed aloud to his Father, and ordered Lazarus
to come out, resurrected. Text
Interpretation Significance has been attributed to
Jesus' deep emotional response to his friends' weeping, and his own tears,
including the following: Weeping demonstrates that Christ was a
true man, with real bodily functions. His emotions and reactions were real;
Christ was not an illusion or spirit. Pope Leo I referred to this passage when
he discussed the two natures of Jesus: "In his humanity Jesus wept for Lazarus;
in his divinity he raised him from the dead."
The sorrow, sympathy, and compassion Jesus felt for all mankind.
The rage he felt against the tyranny of death over mankind.
Although the bystanders interpreted his weeping to mean that Jesus loved
Lazarus, Witness Lee considered the Jews' opinion to be unreasonable, given
Jesus' intention to resurrect Lazarus. Lee argued instead that every person to
whom Jesus talked in John 11 was blinded by their misconceptions. Thus he
"groaned in his spirit" because even those who were closest to him failed to
recognize that he was, as he declared in verse 26, "the resurrection and the
life". Finally, at the graveside, he "wept in sympathy with their sorrow over
Lazarus's death". In history
Jesus' tears have figured among the relics attributed to Jesus.
Use as an expletive In some places in the English-speaking
world, including Great Britain, Ireland and Australia, the phrase "Jesus wept"
is a common expletive, curse or minced oath spoken when something goes wrong or
to express mild incredulity. In 1965 broadcaster Richard Dimbleby
accidentally used the expletive live on air during the state visit of Elizabeth
II to West Germany. It is commonly used as an expletive in
novels by author Stephen King. In his book On Writing, he explained that in
grade school he was forced to memorize a verse from the Bible, so he picked
"Jesus wept" due to its short length. Other authors using it as an expletive
include Neil Gaiman in the Sandman series, David Lodge in Nice Work, Mike
Carey in the Hellblazer series and The Devil You Know, Peter F. Hamilton in The
Night's Dawn Trilogy, Mark Haddon in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time, and Dan Simmons in Hyperion Cantos.
This usage is also evidenced in films and television programmes including
Lawrence of Arabia, Get Carter, Razorback, Hellraiser, The Stand,
Michael Collins, Dogma Notes on a Scandal, Cranford,The Bank Job(2008),
Call the Midwife(2013), and Community. See also
Dominus Flevit Church Chapters and verses of the
Bible#Statistics References
External links John 11:35 at NETBible
Oliver, Simon; Milbank, John. "The Shortest Verse". Bibledex Verses. Brady
Haran for the University of Nottingham.