Bible Strands
John 20:9
For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — John the narrator, addressing his readers, describes the disciples' mental state in the moment between seeing the empty tomb (v. 8) and returning home (v. 10). They have witnessed the event but not yet integrated it with what they already know from Scripture.
The words — δεῖ (dei), "it is necessary for," carries the force of divine obligation: resurrection is not a contingency but a requirement laid on Jesus. The narrator's point is that the disciples lacked this specific knowledge, not general biblical literacy.
The thread — The necessity of resurrection is stated in Psalms 16:10 (God will not let His Holy One see decay) and implied in Isaiah 53:10 (the suffering servant's soul as a guilt offering, followed by vindication). Isaiah 25:8 extends the scope to death itself being swallowed up.
Why it lands — The verse implies that having access to Scripture and understanding it are separate things; the disciples possessed the texts and still did not see what they said. It asks the reader to test whether their own reading has actually produced that connection or merely familiarity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Cross-references
- Psalms 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
- Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
- Isaiah 26:19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
- Luke 24:44 Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
- Luke 24:26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
- Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
- Matthew 22:29 Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
- Mark 9:31 because He was teaching His disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise.”