1. Matthew 9:23–24 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why did Jesus say that the girl who was dead is sleeping?

Matthew 9:23–24 (ESV)

23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,

In short

There are two possible reasons that Jesus said that the girl who was dead was sleeping:

  1. He was using a scriptural way of speaking of death (see Daniel 12:2; Psalm 17:15). Jesus refers to death as sleeping to imply that her death is not final. Jesus would, after all, not only raise people from their deathbed, as he would do here, but also from the bier (Luke 7:14) and the grave itself (John 11:44).

  2. Some argue that sleeping could describe the death of the righteous, who do not suffer eternal death, but remain asleep until the final resurrection. However, if this was a common expression at the time of Jesus and if this was how Jesus intended it, there would have been no reason for the bystanders to laugh at him.  Jesus thus intended, instead, to stress that the girl, despite dying from the illness, had not yet reached the end of her life on earth. The laughter in reaction must thus be seen as coming from unbelief.     

Interpretation 1:

The word sleep is often used in Scripture to refer to death (see, for example, Daniel 12:2; Psalm 17:15). Jesus here refers to death as sleeping to indicate that her death is not final. Jesus would, after all, not only resurrect people from their deathbed, as he would do here, but also from the bier (Luke 7:14) and the grave itself (John 11:44).1

Interpretation 2:

Some have argued that sleeping could be used to describe death in the sense that the righteous do not suffer eternal death, but remain in a state of sleep until the resurrection of the body. It must be objected that if this had been a common expression at the time of Jesus and if this was the sense in which Jesus intended it, there would have been no reason for the bystanders to laugh at him.  We must therefore maintain that Jesus rather intended to highlight that the girl, despite dying from the illness, had not yet reached the end of her life on earth. The laughter in reaction must therefore be understood as proceeding from unbelief.2