Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 5:39

"And when he was entered in, he saith unto them, Why make ye a tumult, and weep? the child is not dead, but sleepeth." — Mark 5:39 (ASV)

On entering the house, Jesus asked why they were making such a commotion since the child was not dead but only asleep. On the surface this statement is enigmatic. It could mean that she had slipped into a comatose state, from which he would awaken her. Or it could be Jesus’ way of indicating that he proposed to bring her back from the dead. Since her death was not final, he spoke of it as sleep.

The mourners misunderstood Jesus’ reference to sleeping to mean that she was not really dead. So they laughed at him. Jesus did not want any noisy crowd present when he performed this stupendous miracle; so he put the mourners out. Their lack of sensitivity disqualified them from being present at such a beautiful event. Only Jesus’ three most intimate disciples and the mother and father were allowed to enter the room where the dead child lay.