Editor’s Desk
Jesus has power over death and sin and that is why we can always be joyful.
Traditionally, the shortest verse in the English Bible, depending on which version you read, is John 11:35: “Jesus wept.”
This came after he gathered with the sisters Martha and Mary and others who were mourning the death of Lazarus and before Jesus brought him back to life.
The Bible was not originally written in English, though, but in Greek and the Greek version of John 11:35 is “edakrusen o IhsouV” – three words consisting of 16 characters.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 reads: “Be joyful always.”
The Greek translation for this verse is “Pantote cairete” – two words consisting of 14 characters.
I am not a scholar in these things, but what fascinates me is the contrast between these two apparent shortest verses in the Bible at first glance.
The one verse is about death and sorrow, and the other one about being joyful.
God wants to teach us something here.
I think Jesus wept in sympathy with the sisters over the death of Lazarus, Jesus’s friend, because He knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead!
When Jesus ordered the stone placed in front of Lazarus’s tomb be removed and Martha said there will be a bad smell, Jesus said in verse 40: “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believed?”
After praying, Jesus said to Lazarus to come out of the tomb.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 – 17 says: “Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances.”
Jesus has power over death and sin and that is why we can always be joyful.
He is the resurrection and life.
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By the way, I also read somewhere that the oldest manuscripts of the Scriptures are the Greek Uncils, called this because they are written all in capital letters.
There is no punctuation in them, not even spaces between the words.
Chapter and verse, all punctuation, all capitalisation were added at the discretion of translators.
Thus, the shortest verse in the Bible, is the whole Bible, in its entirety, without any punctuation or spaces!
