science

Jesus wept

Jesus wept is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Jesus wept rather than just read about it. In short: "Jesus wept" (Koine Greek: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, romanized: edákrusen ho Iēsoûs, pronounced [ɛˈdakrysɛn (h)o i.eˈsus]) 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.

Key takeaways

Jesus wept belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Jesus wept to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Jesus wept from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"Jesus wept" (Koine Greek: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, romanized: edákrusen ho Iēsoûs, pronounced [ɛˈdakrysɛn (h)o i.eˈsus]) 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

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 genuine; 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.

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.

See also Dominus Flevit Church Chapters and verses of the Bible § Statistics (including shortest verses)

References

External links

King James Bible - Book of John, Chapter 11 Archived 2021-06-13 at the Wayback Machine Oliver, Simon; Milbank, John. "The Shortest Verse". Bibledex Verses. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Jesus wept

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Jesus wept claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Jesus wept before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Jesus wept ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Jesus wept

In research: Jesus wept appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Jesus wept in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Jesus wept is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Crying, Gospel episodes, Gospel of John, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Jesus wept outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Jesus wept in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Jesus wept means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Jesus wept out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jesus wept in simple terms?

Why does Jesus wept matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Jesus wept?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Jesus wept.