Yohanes 11:1

The Death of Lazarus

11:1 Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. ¹ 

Yohanes 11:14

11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

Yohanes 11:17

Speaking with Martha and Mary

11:17 When ²  Jesus arrived, ³  he found that Lazarus ⁴  had been in the tomb four days already. ⁵ 

Yohanes 11:38-39

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

11:38 Jesus, intensely moved ⁶  again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) ⁷  11:39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” ⁸  Martha, the sister of the deceased, ⁹  replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, ¹⁰  because he has been buried ¹¹  four days.” ¹² 

[11:1]  ¹ tn Grk “from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.”

[11:17]  ² tn Grk “Then when.”

[11:17]  ³ tn Grk “came.”

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Lazarus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:17]  ⁵ tn Grk “he had already had four days in the tomb” (an idiom).

[11:17]  sn There is no description of the journey itself. The author simply states that when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already. He had died some time before this but probably not very long (cf. Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:6,10 who were buried immediately after they died, as was the common practice of the time). There is some later evidence (early 3rd century) of a rabbinic belief that the soul hovered near the body of the deceased for three days, hoping to be able to return to the body. But on the fourth day it saw the beginning of decomposition and finally departed (Leviticus Rabbah 18.1). If this belief is as old as the 1st century, it might suggest the significance of the four days: After this time, resurrection would be a first-order miracle, an unequivocal demonstration of the power of God. It is not certain if the tradition is this early, but it is suggestive. Certainly the author does not appear to attach any symbolic significance to the four days in the narrative.

[11:38]  ⁶ tn Or (perhaps) “Jesus was deeply indignant.”

[11:38]  ⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[11:39]  ⁸ tn Or “Remove the stone.”

[11:39]  ⁹ tn Grk “the sister of the one who had died.”

[11:39]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “already he stinks.”

[11:39]  ¹¹ tn Or “been there” (in the tomb – see John 11:17).

[11:39]  ¹² sn He has been buried four days. Although all the details of the miracle itself are not given, those details which are mentioned are important. The statement made by Martha is extremely significant for understanding what actually took place. There is no doubt that Lazarus had really died, because the decomposition of his body had already begun to take place, since he had been dead for four days.