5:39a

He went inside: This phrase indicates that Jesus entered Jairus’ house (or possibly the courtyard of the house).

and asked: The Greek includes the pronoun “them.” It refers to the people who were weeping and wailing in mourning.

5:39b

Why all this commotion and weeping?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus used it to tell the people that they did not need to make such commotion and to wail so intensely. In 5:39c Jesus gave the reason for his question. He said that the child was not really dead. There are two ways to translate this rhetorical question:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Why all this confusion? Why are you crying? (Good News Bible)
-or-
Is there any reason to make such commotion and to wail so loudly?
-or-
Do you really need to mourn and wail with such a commotion?

• As a statement or a command. For example:

There is no need for you to make all this commotion or to wail like that.
-or-
Do not make such a commotion and do not cry.

Use whichever form is most natural to express this in your language.

weeping: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as weeping is the same word that it translated as “weeping” in 5:38a–b.

5:39c

The child is not dead, but asleep: This statement gives the reason or explanation for Jesus’ words in 5:39b. Indicate this in a natural way in your language. For example, the connector “For” is often used in English to introduce a reason like this:

For the child is not dead but asleep.

This statement should not be understood literally. Jesus did not mean that the girl was not actually dead. He did not mean that she was literally only sleeping or in a coma. He used the word “sleep” here to refer to the death of a person who will be raised back to life. (For example, see John 11:11–14 and 1 Thessalonians 5:10.) But these words should be translated literally because the mourners wrongly understood them literally.

You may want to include a footnote here to explain this. For example:

Jesus knew that the girl was dead. He said that she was sleeping because he knew that he would soon make her live again. Jesus also used the word “sleep” to talk about the death of Lazarus (John 11:11–14), another person whom he raised from the dead.

child: Here Jesus used a term that can refer to either a young boy or a young girl. Use a term that is appropriate for a twelve-year-old girl (see 5:42).

General Comment on 5:39b–c

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder 5:39b–c so that the reason for the exhortation is given first. For example:

39cThe child is not dead but only sleeping. 39bSo, you do not need to make such a commotion and to weep.

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