The Widow's Son at Nain

The words

Luke 7:11–17 (opens a new tab)

1. Bare

   Luke’s “they that bare him” refers to those carrying the dead man; they stop when Jesus touches the bier, before he addresses the young man.

   Luke 7:14 (opens a new tab)

2. Bier

   A support for carrying the dead.

   Luke says Jesus touches the bier and its bearers stop; the NET note describes the support as a stretcher or wooden plank used for burial.

   Luke 7:14 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 7:11-17 (opens a new tab)

3. Carried

   Luke brings Jesus and a following crowd toward Nain as another crowd accompanies a widow’s son being carried out dead near the city gate.

   Luke 7:11–12 (opens a new tab)

4. Compassion

   Luke describes Jesus seeing the widow and having compassion on her; she has lost her only son, and people from the city accompany her.

   Luke 7:12–13 (opens a new tab)

5. Dead Man

   Luke identifies the dead man as the widow’s only son; after Jesus tells him to arise, Luke says he sits up and begins to speak.

   Luke 7:12; Luke 7:14–15 (opens a new tab)

6. Gate

   Luke places the meeting near the city gate as Jesus approaches and a dead man is carried out; the widow and many townspeople are with the procession.

   Luke 7:11–12 (opens a new tab)

7. Glorified

   Luke describes the crowd glorifying God and gives their words, “A great prophet is risen up among us” and “God hath visited his people.”

   Luke 7:16 (opens a new tab)

8. Great Prophet

   Luke records the crowd calling Jesus a “great prophet”; 1 Kings 17:22–23 also describes Elijah giving a widow’s revived son back to his mother.

   Luke 7:15–16 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 17:20–23 (opens a new tab)

9. Nain

   Luke names Nain as the destination and places the encounter at its gate; the Custody cites Eusebius’s record from the fourth century, placing the village near Mount Tabor.

   Did you know?

   The Custody of the Holy Land describes paintings from the late nineteenth century inside the Nain church; it dates the photographed building to 1881.

   Luke 7:11–12 (opens a new tab) · Custody of the Holy Land: Nain (opens a new tab)

10. Rumour

    News or a report.

    Luke closes with the report about Jesus spreading through Judaea and the surrounding region; the NET renders the KJV’s “rumour” as “report.”

    Luke 7:17 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 7:11-17 (opens a new tab)

11. Sat Up

    Luke says the man who was dead “sat up, and began to speak,” then describes Jesus giving him back to his mother after the command to arise.

    Luke 7:14–15 (opens a new tab)

12. Stood Still

    Luke places the bearers’ stopping between Jesus touching the bier and saying, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise”; the next verse reports the man sitting up.

    Luke 7:14–15 (opens a new tab)

13. Visited

    Came to help.

    Luke quotes the crowd saying God has “visited his people,” rendered “come to help” in the NET; Luke 1:68 likewise uses visited in Zacharias’s prophecy.

    Luke 7:16 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Luke 7:11-17 (opens a new tab) · Luke 1:67–68 (opens a new tab)

14. Weep Not

    Luke gives “Weep not” as Jesus’s words to the widow after describing his compassion for her; he then approaches and touches the bier.

    Luke 7:13–14 (opens a new tab)

15. Young Man

    Luke gives “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise” as Jesus’s address; the young man then sits up and speaks before being given back to his mother.

    Luke 7:14–15 (opens a new tab)