{Jesus wept} (edakrusen ho I(8873)ous). Ingressive first
aorist active indicative of dakru(935c), old verb from dakru or
dakruon, a tear ( Ac 20:19 ), only here in N.T. It never means
to wail, as klai(935c) sometimes does. "Jesus burst into tears."
Klai(935c) is used of Jesus in Lu 19:41 . See Heb 5:7 "with
strong crying and tears" (meta kraug(8873) kai dakru(936e)). Apparently
this was as Jesus started towards (see verse 38 ) the tomb. In a
sense it was a reaction from the severe strain in verse 33 , but
chiefly it was the sheer human sympathy of his heart with Martha
and Mary touched with the feeling of our common weakness ( Heb
4:15 ). Often all that we can do is to shed tears in grief too
deep for words. Jesus understood and understands. This is the
shortest verse in the Bible, but no verse carries more meaning in
it.
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