Matthew 9 · Verse 24

Matthew 9:24

He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
Matthew 9:24, King James Version

Matthew 9:24 in other translations

BSB“Go away,” He told them. “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him.
WEBhe said to them, “Make room, because the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him.
ASVhe said, Give place: for the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
YLThe saith to them, ‘Withdraw, for the damsel did not die, but doth sleep,' and they were deriding him;
DARBYhe said, Withdraw, for the damsel is not dead, but sleeps. And they derided him.
BBEHe said, Make room; for the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they were laughing at him.
WebsterHe said to them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they derided him.

What does Matthew 9:24 mean?

Barnes' Notes
Verse 24. The maid is not dead, but sleepeth. It cannot be supposed that our Lord means literally to say that the child was not dead. Every possible evidence of her death had been given, and he acted on that himself, and conveyed to the people the idea that he raised her from the dead. He meant to speak in opposition to their opinions. It is not unlikely that Jarius and the people favoured the opinions of the Sadducees; and that they understood by her being dead that she had ceased to be, and that she would never be raised up again. In opposition to this he used the expression she sleepeth; affirming mildly both that the body was dead, and implying that her spirit still lived, and that she would be raised up again. A similar mode of speaking is seen in Jn 11:11: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." The sacred writers, who hold the doctrine of the resurrection, often spoke of the dead as sleeping, 2Pet 3:4, Acts 7:60, 1Cor 15:6,18 1Thes 4:13-15. The meaning of this passage then is--the maid has not ceased to exist; but though her body is dead, yet her spirit lives, and she sleeps in the hope of the resurrection.

Laughed him to scorn. Derided him, ridiculed him.

(h) "is not dead" Acts 20:10

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 The maid is not dead, but sleepeth - That is, she is not dead so as to continue under the power of death; but shall be raised from it as a, person is from natural sleep. They laughed him to scorn - Κατεγελων αυτον, they ridiculed him; from κατα, intensive, and γελαω, I laugh: - they grinned a ghastly smile, expressive of the contempt they felt for his person and knowledge. People of the world generally ridicule those truths which they neither comprehend nor love, and deride those who publish them; but a faithful minister of God, (copying the example of Christ), keeps on his way, and does the work of his Lord and Master.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 9:18-26

The death of our relations should drive us to Christ, who is our life. And it is high honour to the greatest rulers to attend on the Lord Jesus; and those who would receive mercy from Christ, must honour him. The variety of methods Christ took in working his miracles, perhaps was because of the different frames and tempers of mind, which those were in who came to him, and which He who searches the heart perfectly…

Read the full comment on Matthew 9:18-26 →

Matthew 9:24 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἔλεγενelegenHe was sayingG3004
ἀναχωρεῖτε,anachōreitedo go away,G402
οὐouNotG3756
γὰρgarforG1063
ἀπέθανενapethanenis deadG599
τὸtotheG3588
κοράσιονkorasiongirlG2877
ἀλλὰallabutG235
καθεύδει.katheudeisleeps.G2518
καὶkaiAndG2532
κατεγέλωνkategelōnthey were mockingG2606
αὐτοῦ.autouHim.G846

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 9:24

  • Acts 20:10

    And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

  • John 11:11-13

    These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

  • John 11:4

    When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

  • 1 Kings 17:18-24

    And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. …

  • Isaiah 49:7

    Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

  • Matthew 27:39-43

    And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. …

  • Acts 9:40

    But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

  • Isaiah 53:3

    He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

  • Psalms 22:6-7

    But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Give.
1Ki 17:18-24; Ac 9:40; 20:10
not.
Joh 11:4,11-13
And.
27:39-43; Ps 22:6,7; Isa 49:7; 53:3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Matthew 9:23

    And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

  • Matthew 9:24

    He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

  • Matthew 9:25

    But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

Read all of Matthew 9

Matthew 9:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Díceles: Apartaos, que la muchacha no es muerta, mas duerme. Y se burlaban de él.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		dit: Retirez-vous, car la jeune fille n’est pas morte, mais elle dort. Et ils se riaient de lui.
German
Elberfelder 1871		sprach er: Gehet fort, denn das Mägdlein ist nicht gestorben, sondern es schläft. Und sie verlachten ihn.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Recedite: non est enim mortua puella, sed dormit. Et deridebant eum.