John 20:9

9 For as yet ¹they did not understand the Scripture, ²that He must rise again from the dead.

John 20:9 Meaning and Commentary

John 20:9

For as yet they knew not the Scripture
Meaning not some particular passage of Scripture, but the writings of the Old Testament in general, and the various places in it, which spoke of the resurrection of Christ, either in a way of type, or prophecy; such as ( Genesis 22:3 Genesis 22:4 ) ( 10:13 ) ( Jonah 2:1-7 ) ( Psalms 16:10 ) ( Hosea 6:2 ) ( Isaiah 26:19 ) and though our Lord had often referred to some of them, at least as in ( Matthew 12:40 ) ( 16:21 ) ( Matthew 20:18 Matthew 20:19 ) yet such was the dulness of the disciples, or such their prejudices in favour of the Messiah being to continue, and set up a temporal kingdom, that even John, who leaned on his breast, and Peter, who was so inquisitive and desirous of knowing our Lord's meaning in everything, did not understand the sense of his words, nor of those places of Scripture he had reference to:

that he must rise again from the dead:
so it was determined, thus it was predicted, and the justification and salvation of God's elect required it; and yet they knew not the thing, nor the necessity and importance of it.

John 20:9 In-Context

7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed.

9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.

11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;

Cross References

• 1. Matthew 22:29; John 2:22
• 2. Luke 24:26ff, 46