Luke 8:49

Luke 8:49, in plain English

While Jesus was still talking, someone came from Jairus' house with devastating news: 'Your daughter is dead. Do not bother the Teacher anymore.'

Why it's here

Imagine Jairus hearing those words. The delay to help another woman seemed to have cost him everything. But Jesus was about to show that His timeline is never too late.

Who's speaking

A messenger delivers the heartbreaking news to Jairus.

Where it sits in the story

The worst possible words reached Jairus' ears: your daughter has died, it is over. The messenger assumed death was the final word. He did not know who he was standing next to.

The scholarly reading

While Jesus still speaks (eti autou lalountos), a messenger arrives from Jairus' oikia ('house') with the devastating news: tethnēken hē thygatēr sou ('your daughter has died'). The perfect tense indicates a completed, irreversible event. The instruction mēketi skylle ton didaskalon ('do not trouble the Teacher') implies death is beyond even Jesus' power.

Language and setting

The delay caused by the hemorrhaging woman's encounter now appears to have cost Jairus' daughter her life, creating maximum dramatic tension. The messenger's assumption that death ends hope sets up Jesus' response as a challenge to conventional expectations.

Voice

A messenger from Jairus' house delivers the devastating news.

Significance

While Jesus was still speaking to the healed woman, a messenger arrived with the worst possible news for Jairus: his daughter was dead. The delay for one miracle seemed to have cost another.

47Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.

48“Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

49While He was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he told Jairus. “Do not bother the Teacher anymore.”

50But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

51When He entered the house, He did not allow anyone to go in with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.

Read all of Luke 8 — A storm, a legion of demons, a bleeding woman, and a dead girl — Jesus moves through a world of chaos and brings order with a word or a touch.