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John 11:34

ESV And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."
NIV "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.
NASB and He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They *said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.'
CSB "Where have you put him?" he asked. "Lord," they told him, "come and see."
NLT Where have you put him?' he asked them. They told him, 'Lord, come and see.'
KJV And said, Where have ye laid him They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
NKJV And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

What does John 11:34 mean?

Scripture often shows God asking questions of human beings. In every case, the point is not to gain information—God already knows. The purpose of God asking questions (Genesis 3:9; 4:9) is the same as a parent who asks questions of a child, such as "what did you do?" or "should you be touching that?" Here, Jesus follows that pattern by asking to be shown where Lazarus' body is buried (John 11:17). As with other moments, this is an opportunity for the surviving sisters—Martha and Mary—to further validate their faith through action.

In the prior verse, Jesus was shown to be troubled and agitated by the emotions of the crowd. The following verse proves that Jesus wasn't unhappy with their sorrow. Rather, He is indignant at the fact that they experience sorrow, at all. The purpose of Jesus' earthly ministry was to resolve the problems of sin and death (John 10:10). His experience as a fully-human man allows Him to sympathize with our struggles in a meaningful way (Hebrews 4:15–16).
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