Jesus wept. (John 11:35)
Most people regard John 11:35 to be the shortest verse in the New Testament: “Jesus wept.” Having just nine letters, it is the shortest verse in the King James Version of the Bible, as well as in most other modern English translations. Coming in a close second in many modern translations is First Thessalonians 5:16 with 13 letters: “Rejoice always.” In the King James Version it is slightly longer with 15 letters: “Rejoice evermore.”
However, there is a potential spoiler to this competition – Luke 20:30. Many modern translations read: “the second” (9 letters) or “and the second” (12 letters), referring to the second husband of a woman in a question addressed to Jesus. This would tie Luke 20:30 with John 11:35 as the shortest verse (both with 9 letters), or place it in second place ahead of First Thessalonians 5:16 (12 letters vs. 13 letters). Note that the King James Version has a much longer translation: “And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.” Why is the King James Version longer? It is based on Greek manuscripts that appear to have an addition made by a scribe to clarify the meaning of the text. The addition copies text from Mark 12:21 which records the same account of a debate between Jesus and some religious leaders. Many earlier Greek manuscripts do not have this scribal addition, so most modern English translations base their translations on these older manuscripts since they are considered authentic. If we remove this spoiler verse, John 11:35 wins as the shortest English verse in the New Testament.
But what about the shortest verse in the Greek text of the New Testament? Not surprisingly, John 11:35, First Thessalonians 5:16, and Luke 20:30 (the “spoiler” version) are also the shortest Greek text verses in the New Testament. Here is a comparison:
John 11:35
ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς
edakrusen ho Iēsous
“Jesus wept.”
16 Greek Letters
1 Thess. 5:16
πάντοτε χαίρετε
pantote chairete
“Rejoice always.”
14 Greek Letters
Luke 20:30
καὶ ὁ δεύτερος
kai ho deuteros
“and the second”
12 Greek Letters
Luke 20:30 is the shortest Greek verse in the New Testament based on the shorter Greek text used by modern translations. However, the longer Greek text used by the King James Version has 51 letters! If we again remove Luke 20:30 from the competition, the shortest Greek text verse is First Thessalonians 5:16, and the shortest English verse is John 11:35.
John 11:35 is part of a larger account about the death of a man named Lazarus and Jesus’s miracle of raising him back to life. Lazarus, and his sisters Mary and Martha, were beloved friends of Jesus. The entire account is recorded in chapter 11 of the Gospel of John. The miracle illustrates Jesus’s power over death because He was able to raise Lazarus back to life after he had been dead for four days – it demonstrates that Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).
Even though Jesus knew he would raise Lazarus back to life, he still wept. He felt grief over the death of a dear friend. He was probably also moved by the sorrow of Mary and Martha.
You may be wondering why just three Greek words make up a single verse. Who created the verse and chapter divisions in the Bible? That will be the topic of the next post.
Unless otherwise noted, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
Koine Foundations 
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