John 11

There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.

1Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

NoteBethany was a village about two miles east of Jerusalem, on the far side of the Mount of Olives. It is a different place from the Bethany beyond the Jordan mentioned earlier in this book.

2(This Mary is the one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Lazarus, the sick man, was her brother.)

2(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

NoteJohn describes an event he has not yet narrated; he tells it later, in chapter 12. Pouring scented oil on a guest was a normal mark of honor, but pouring it on the feet and wiping them with loosened hair was not: a woman's hair was ordinarily bound up in public, and letting it down was an intimate act.

3So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus: "Lord, the man you love is sick."

3Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

4When Jesus heard this, he said, "This sickness will not end in death. It is for God's glory, so that God's Son may be honored through it."

4When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

Note"Glory" in this book does not mean fame or praise in the modern sense. It is the visible weight and splendor of God made evident, something a person could be said to see.

5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

5Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

6So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.

6When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.

7After that he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."

7Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

NoteJudea was the southern region around Jerusalem. Jesus had withdrawn across the Jordan River, outside Judean territory, which is why going back is presented as a decision.

8His disciples said to him, "Teacher, the Jews there recently tried to stone you. Are you going back there again?"

8His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?

NoteThe King James "Master" here translates the Aramaic title "Rabbi," meaning teacher. Stoning was the traditional penalty for blasphemy, carried out by a crowd rather than by an executioner, which is why a mob could attempt it on the spot.

9Jesus answered, "Aren't there twelve hours of daylight in a day? Anyone who walks during the day does not trip, because he sees by the light of this world.

9Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

NoteDaylight was divided into twelve hours regardless of the season, so an hour was longer in summer and shorter in winter. "Twelve hours in the day" means the whole span of usable light, not a fixed clock measurement.

10But anyone who walks at night trips, because the light is not in him."

10But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

11After he said this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up."

11These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

NoteCalling death "sleep" was a common and gentle way of speaking, in Greek and in Jewish usage alike. The disciples take it literally, which is the point of the next two verses.

12His disciples said, "Lord, if he is asleep, he will get better."

12Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

NoteThe King James "he shall do well" means he will recover. Falling into a natural sleep was read as a sign that a fever had broken.

13Jesus was speaking about his death, but they thought he meant ordinary sleep.

13Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

14So Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.

14Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

15And for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you will believe. But let's go to him."

15And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

16Then Thomas, who was called Didymus, which means the Twin, said to the other disciples, "Let's go too, so we can die with him."

16Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

Note"Thomas" is Aramaic and "Didymus" is Greek, and both words mean twin. The verse is giving the same nickname twice, once in each language.

17When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

17Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

NoteBurial took place on the day of death, since bodies were not embalmed. Four days mattered: a common belief held that the spirit lingered near the body for three days, so by the fourth day death was regarded as settled beyond any doubt.

18Bethany was close to Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs away.

18Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:

NoteA furlong translates the Greek "stadion," about six hundred feet. Fifteen of them is a little under two miles, an easy walk of well under an hour.

19Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother's death.

19And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

NoteFormal mourning ran seven days, during which relatives, neighbors and acquaintances came to the bereaved household to sit with them and share the grief. A large crowd of visitors was normal and expected, not a sign of unusual wealth or status.

20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed sitting in the house.

20Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

21Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

22But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask him for."

22But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

24Martha said, "I know he will rise again when the dead are raised on the last day."

24Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

NoteMany Jews of this period, the Pharisees among them, expected that at the end of the present age God would raise all the dead together for judgment. The Sadducees denied it. Martha is placing her brother in that general future raising, not expecting anything now.

25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies.

25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

26And everyone who is alive and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

27She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, God's chosen king, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world."

27She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

Note"Christ" is the Greek word for anointed, the same title as the Hebrew "Messiah." Kings and priests were installed by having oil poured on them, so the word carries the sense of the one God has commissioned and installed.

28After she said this, she went and quietly called her sister Mary aside, telling her, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you."

28And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.

29As soon as Mary heard that, she got up quickly and went to him.

29As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.

30Jesus had not yet come into the village. He was still at the place where Martha had met him.

30Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.

31The Jews who were in the house comforting Mary saw her get up in a hurry and go out. They followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb to cry there.

31The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

NoteVisiting the tomb to weep during the days of mourning was ordinary practice, so the assumption in this verse is the obvious one to make.

32When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

32Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

33When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who came with her crying too, he was deeply stirred and troubled inside.

33When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

NoteThe King James "groaned in the spirit" suggests only sorrow, but the Greek verb is used elsewhere of a horse snorting and carries anger or fierce indignation. The word behind "was troubled" means stirred or agitated himself. Translators have long disagreed about what exactly Jesus is reacting to here, and the Greek does not settle it.

34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."

34And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

35Jesus cried.

35Jesus wept.

NoteThe Greek uses a different verb for Jesus than for the mourners around him. They are wailing, the loud public grief expected at a death; he sheds tears quietly.

36So the Jews said, "Look how much he loved him!"

36Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

37But some of them said, "He opened the eyes of a blind man. Couldn't he have kept this man from dying?"

37And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

38Jesus, deeply stirred again, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the opening.

38Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

NoteTombs were caves, natural or cut into soft rock, holding a family's dead over generations. A stone slab or disc set against the entrance kept out animals.

39Jesus said, "Take the stone away." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by now there will be a bad smell, because he has been dead four days."

39Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

40Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

40Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

41So they took the stone away from the place where the dead man was laid. Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

NoteStanding with the eyes lifted was the ordinary posture for prayer, not a special gesture. Kneeling with a bowed head is a later habit.

42I knew that you always hear me. But I said it because of the people standing here, so they will believe that you sent me."

42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

43When he had said this, he called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"

43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

44The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped in burial cloths, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."

44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

NoteThe body was wrapped in strips of linen packed with aromatic spices, which stiffened as they dried. The King James "napkin" translates a word for a face cloth or sweat cloth, not a table napkin.

45Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.

45Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.

46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

46But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.

NoteThe Pharisees were a movement, largely of laymen, known for strict observance of the Law and for their own detailed traditions of interpreting it. They were influential with ordinary people and were not, as a group, the priests.

47So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the ruling council together. They said, "What are we doing? This man is performing many miraculous signs.

47Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.

NoteThe "chief priests" were the priestly aristocracy who ran the temple, drawn mostly from the rival party, the Sadducees. The "council" is the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish court of seventy-one members presided over by the high priest. Where the King James says "miracles," the Greek word is "signs," this book's regular term for an act that points beyond itself.

48If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

48If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

Note"Our place" most likely means the temple. Under Roman rule the Jewish leadership kept limited self-government and control of the temple, privileges Rome could and did revoke where it suspected unrest.

49One of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all.

49And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,

NoteCaiaphas held the office for roughly eighteen years, from about AD 18 to 36. The high priest was appointed and could be dismissed by the Roman governor, so the post was no longer strictly for life; "that year" points to the decisive year in question rather than implying a yearly rotation.

50You don't see that it is better for you that one man die for the people, instead of the whole nation being destroyed."

50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

Note"Expedient" in 1611 meant advantageous or to our benefit, without the shabby suggestion of cutting a moral corner that the word often carries today.

51He did not say this on his own. Because he was high priest that year, he was speaking God's message, that Jesus would die for the nation,

51And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;

NoteTo prophesy here means to speak a message that comes from God, whether or not the speaker grasps what he is saying. There was an established belief that the high priest could be given divine guidance by virtue of his office.

52and not only for that nation, but also to gather into one people the scattered children of God.

52And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

Note"Scattered abroad" refers to the Jews living outside the homeland, spread through the Mediterranean world and beyond, usually called the dispersion or diaspora. The comment is the writer's, extending Caiaphas's words past what he meant by them.

53So from that day on they made plans together to put Jesus to death.

53Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

54Because of this, Jesus no longer moved about openly among the Jews. He left and went to an area near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

54Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.

NoteEphraim was a town probably twelve to fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem. The "wilderness" is dry, thinly inhabited country, the barren land falling away toward the Jordan valley, not forest.

55The Jewish Passover was near. Many people went up from the countryside to Jerusalem before the Passover to make themselves ceremonially clean.

55And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.

NotePassover was the yearly festival recalling Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt, and pilgrims flooded Jerusalem for it. Arriving early was practical: ritual impurity, from contact with a corpse for example, barred a person from eating the Passover meal, and the cleansing rites could take up to a week.

56They kept looking for Jesus. As they stood in the temple they said to each other, "What do you think? Won't he come to the feast at all?"

56Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast?

NoteThe temple was an enormous walled complex of open courts, and those courts were the ordinary public meeting place of the city, where news and rumor circulated.

57The chief priests and the Pharisees had given an order that if anyone knew where Jesus was, he had to report it, so they could arrest him.

57Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him.