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Articles
The Two Shortest Verses
There are two very short verses in the New Testament. Each one can rightly be called the shortest verse in the Bible.
The shortest verse in the original Greek language is 1 Thessalonians 5:16, translated to read, “Rejoice always.” The shortest verse in the English language is John 11:35, which reads, “Jesus wept.”
Each of these verses deals with an emotional reaction. The first deals with the feeling of joy, while the second deals with sorrow. We all experience times of both rejoicing and weeping. The Bible says that there is a time for each of these emotions (Eccl 3:4).
Our rejoicing should be for things above. We can rejoice in persecution and temptation because they help prepare us for a reward in Heaven (Matt 5:12; Acts 5:14; James 1:2-4). Jesus says to “rejoice because your names are written in Heaven” (Mark 10:20). Rejoicing takes place when sinners repent and make their lives right with God (Luke 15; Acts 8:39). We always have reason to “rejoice in the Lord” (Phil 3:1; 4:4, 10).
Our weeping should be over what is against things above. On several occasions we see weeping at the death of someone (John 11:35), with death entering the world because of sin (Gen 2:16-17). Peter “wept bitterly” when he denied the Lord (Matt 26:75). Jesus wept over the unrepentant condition of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41).
As children of God, we are to share with one another in times of joy and sorrow. We are to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15). “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor 12:26).
There is so much involved in two very short verses!
