 | ||
Jesus wept (Greek: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς) 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.
Contents
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 of Bethany, 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.
Interpretation
Significance has been attributed to Jesus' deep emotional response to his friends' weeping, and his own tears, including the following:
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 (particularly Dublin and Belfast) and Australia, the phrase "Jesus wept" is a common expletive, curse or minced oath spoken when something goes wrong or to express mild incredulity. It is also used sarcastically when expressing unsympathetic indifference to someone else's perceived unfortunate situation or self-pity.
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, Dan Simmons in Hyperion Cantos and James S. A. Corey in Leviathan Wakes.
This usage is also evidenced in films and television programmes including Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Get Carter (1971), Razorback (1984), Hellraiser (1987), The Stand (1994), Michael Collins (1996), Dogma (1999), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Cranford (2008), The Bank Job (2008), Call the Midwife (2013), and Community (2015).