Matthew 9:24 Meaning and Explanation
“He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Jesus tells the mourners to make room, saying the girl only sleeps, and they laugh him to scorn.
What Does Matthew 9:24 Mean?
Jesus tells the crowd to step back and make room, for the girl, he says, "is not dead, but sleepeth." Their response is immediate and scornful laughter; they have no doubt whatever that she is dead, and his words sound to them like the foolishness of a man who does not understand what has happened. The mourners know death when they see it.
In calling her death "sleep," Jesus speaks from a vantage point the mourners cannot share or even imagine. For him, raising this child will be no harder than waking a sleeper from rest, a thing easily and gently done. The scornful laughter that fills the room measures exactly the distance between human despair, which sees only the end, and the quiet authority of the One who holds life and death alike within his hands.
Matthew 9:24 in the Original Language
katheudei (καθεύδει), 'sleepeth' -- to sleep; in Jesus' mouth, a gentle name for a death he is about to undo.
Frequently Asked Questions About Matthew 9:24
What does Matthew 9:24 mean?
Jesus tells the mourners to make room, saying the girl only sleeps, and they laugh him to scorn.