What Does Luke 8:52 Mean?
And all were weeping and beating their breasts for her, but he said, Do not weep, for she has not died, but is sleeping.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.THE KEY
Jesus answers grief’s bodily blows with a name for the girl’s condition that leaves waking possible.
THE MEANING
When grief makes an ending feel absolute, Jesus’ words place that appearance beside the possibility of waking. He names the girl’s condition as sleep, holding open what the mourners cannot yet see.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that death has already settled what can happen next gives way to Jesus’ image of sleep, which leaves awakening possible.
THE ROOT
ἐκόπτοντο
ekoptonto
GROWS FROM
κόπτω
koptō
to strike, smite, or cut
“beating their breasts” in this verse is ekoptonto. The verb rendered “bewailed” is a form of κόπτω, whose basic sense is to strike and whose mourning use can describe beating the breast. Beneath the English word for lament, the verse carries grief as a bodily blow.
ALSO GROWS
koptomai: to beat oneself; to lament or mourn
κόπτομαι
This middle form preserves the striking sense as an expression of grief.
kopetos: lamentation, especially with beating of the breast
κοπετός
This related noun keeps the physical action inside the word for mourning.
καθεύδει
katheudei
GROWS FROM
καθεύδω
katheudō
to sleep or lie down
The Greek form καθεύδει names her state in the present: she is sleeping. The image leaves waking within its meaning, so death is not given the last word here.
ALSO GROWS
katheudōn: sleeping; one who sleeps
καθεύδων
This participle makes sleep a present state, as Jesus names it for the girl.
katheudein: to sleep
καθεύδειν
This infinitive keeps the verb’s simple sense visible beneath the image of sleep and waking.
THE PATTERN
Scripture calls the dead asleep when awakening remains within the horizon of death.
He said these things, and after this he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go, so that I may wake him from sleep.But now the Anointed One has been awakened from the dead, and has become the first portion of those who have lain down to sleep.And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground shall awake, some to the life of the ages, and some to exposure and contempt for the ages.THE THREAD
And when he had entered, he said to them, "Why make this uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeps."Mark preserves Jesus’ same words and the same Greek verb, καθεύδω, for the girl’s condition. The parallel places his name for her state beside the raising that follows, making the possibility of waking visible in Luke’s image of sleep.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us