# Jesus wept

"Jesus wept" (Koinē Greek: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, romanized: edákrusen ho Iēsoûs, pronounced) is a phrase famous for being the shortest verse in the King James Version of the Bible, as well as in many other translations. It is not the shortest in the original languages. The phrase 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 cite and compare.

## Context

This verse occurs in John's narrative of the death of Lazarus of Bethany, a follower of Jesus. Lazarus's 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's friends weeping, was deeply troubled and moved. After asking where Lazarus had been laid and being invited to come see him, Jesus wept. He then 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.
The Gospel of Luke also records that Jesus wept as he entered Jerusalem before his trial and death, anticipating the destruction of the Temple.

## Text

| Translation | Text |
| Biblical Greek | ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. edákrusen ho Iēsoûs. "Jesus shed tears." |
| Peshitta | ܘܐܵܬ݂ܝܵܢ ܗ̄ܘܲܝ̈ ܕܸܡ̈ܥܵܘܗܝ ܕܝܼܫܘܿܥ. Wʾatiyan hway demʿawhy d-Yushwoʿ. "And the tears of Jesus came." |
| Vulgate | Et lacrimātus est Iēsus "And Jesus wept." |
| Luther Bible | Und Jesus gingen die Augen über. "And the eyes of Jesus overcame." |
| ASV, Darby Bible, ERV, ESV, HCSB, KJV, NASB, NET, NIV, NJB, NKJV, NLT (pre-2005 version), RSV, Recovery Version, WEB, YLT | "Jesus wept." |
| Bible in Basic English | "And Jesus himself was weeping." |
| God's Word | "Jesus cried." |
| The Message | "Now Jesus wept." |
| New American Bible, Douay–Rheims Bible | "And Jesus wept." |
| New Living Translation (2005 Version) | "Then Jesus wept." |
| New Revised Standard Version | "Jesus began to weep." |
| Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) | "Yeshua cried," |
| The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures | "Jesus gave way to tears." |

## Interpretation

Significance has been attributed to Jesus's 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 (such as tears, sweat, blood, eating and drinking—note, for comparison, the emphasis laid on Jesus's eating during the post-resurrection appearances). His emotions and reactions were real; Christ was not an illusion or spirit (see the heresy of Docetism). 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 (verse 36), 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 (his disciples, Martha, Mary, and the Jews) 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's tears have figured among the relics attributed to Jesus.

## Use as an expletive

In some parts of the English-speaking world, including Great Britain, Ireland (particularly Dublin and Belfast) and Australia, the phrase "Jesus wept" is an expletive some people use when something goes wrong or to express incredulity. In Christianity, this usage is considered blasphemous and offensive by the devout, as it is seen as violating the second or third of the Ten Commandments.

### In popular culture

The verse is used in the The's song "Angels of Deception" from the 1986 album Infected.
Kanye West uses the verse to end "Bound 2", the last song on his 2013 album Yeezus: "After all these long-ass verses, I'm tired, you tired, Jesus wept."