Yohanes 11:1-4
Konteks11:1 Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 1 11:2 (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil 2 and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 3 11:3 So the sisters sent a message 4 to Jesus, 5 “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” 11:4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, 6 but to God’s glory, 7 so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 8
Yohanes 11:17
Konteks11:17 When 9 Jesus arrived, 10 he found that Lazarus 11 had been in the tomb four days already. 12
Yohanes 11:34-44
Konteks11:34 He asked, 13 “Where have you laid him?” 14 They replied, 15 “Lord, come and see.” 11:35 Jesus wept. 16 11:36 Thus the people who had come to mourn 17 said, “Look how much he loved him!” 11:37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! 18 Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus 19 from dying?”
11:38 Jesus, intensely moved 20 again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) 21 11:39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” 22 Martha, the sister of the deceased, 23 replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, 24 because he has been buried 25 four days.” 26 11:40 Jesus responded, 27 “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 11:41 So they took away 28 the stone. Jesus looked upward 29 and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. 30 11:42 I knew that you always listen to me, 31 but I said this 32 for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 11:43 When 33 he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, 34 “Lazarus, come out!” 11:44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, 35 and a cloth wrapped around his face. 36 Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him 37 and let him go.”
[11:1] 1 tn Grk “from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.”
[11:2] 2 tn Or “perfume,” “ointment.”
[11:2] 3 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. It is a bit surprising that the author here identifies Mary as the one who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, since this event is not mentioned until later, in 12:3. Many see this “proleptic” reference as an indication that the author expected his readers to be familiar with the story already, and go on to assume that in general the author in writing the Fourth Gospel assumed his readers were familiar with the other three gospels. Whether the author assumed actual familiarity with the synoptic gospels or not, it is probable that he did assume some familiarity with Mary’s anointing activity.
[11:3] 4 tn The phrase “a message” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from context.
[11:3] 5 tn Grk “to him, saying”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:4] 6 tn Grk “This sickness is not to death.”
[11:4] sn Jesus plainly stated the purpose of Lazarus’ sickness in the plan of God: The end of the matter would not be death, but the glorification of the Son. Johannine double-meanings abound here: Even though death would not be the end of the matter, Lazarus is going to die; and ultimately his death and resurrection would lead to the death and resurrection of the Son of God (11:45-53). Furthermore, the glorification of the Son is not praise that comes to him for the miracle, but his death, resurrection, and return to the Father which the miracle precipitates (note the response of the Jewish authorities in 11:47-53).
[11:4] 7 tn Or “to God’s praise.”
[11:4] 8 sn So that the Son of God may be glorified through it. These statements are highly ironic: For Lazarus, the sickness did not end in his death, because he was restored to life. But for Jesus himself, the miraculous sign he performed led to his own death, because it confirmed the authorities in their plan to kill Jesus (11:47-53). In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ death is consistently portrayed as his ‘glorification’ through which he accomplishes his return to the Father.
[11:17] 11 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Lazarus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:17] 12 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.
[11:34] 13 tn Grk “And he said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
[11:34] 14 tn Or “Where have you placed him?”
[11:34] 15 tn Grk “They said to him.” The indirect object αὐτῷ (autw) has not been translated here for stylistic reasons.
[11:35] 16 sn Jesus wept. The Greek word used here for Jesus’ weeping (ἐδάκρυσεν, edakrusen) is different from the one used to describe the weeping of Mary and the Jews in v. 33 which indicated loud wailing and cries of lament. This word simply means “to shed tears” and has more the idea of quiet grief. But why did Jesus do this? Not out of grief for Lazarus, since he was about to be raised to life again. L. Morris (John [NICNT], 558) thinks it was grief over the misconception of those round about. But it seems that in the context the weeping is triggered by the thought of Lazarus in the tomb: This was not personal grief over the loss of a friend (since Lazarus was about to be restored to life) but grief over the effects of sin, death, and the realm of Satan. It was a natural complement to the previous emotional expression of anger (11:33). It is also possible that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus because he knew there was also a tomb for himself ahead.
[11:36] 17 tn Or “the Judeans”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the friends, acquaintances, and relatives of Lazarus or his sisters who had come to mourn, since the Jewish religious authorities are specifically mentioned as a separate group in John 11:46-47. See also the notes on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 8 and “the Jewish people of the region” in v. 19, as well as the notes on the word “people” in vv. 31, 33.
[11:37] 18 tn Grk “who opened the eyes of the blind man” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
[11:37] 19 tn Grk “this one”; the second half of 11:37 reads Grk “Could not this one who opened the eyes of the blind have done something to keep this one from dying?” In the Greek text the repetition of “this one” in 11:37b referring to two different persons (first Jesus, second Lazarus) could confuse a modern reader. Thus the first reference, to Jesus, has been translated as “he” to refer back to the beginning of v. 37, where the reference to “the man who caused the blind man to see” is clearly a reference to Jesus. The second reference, to Lazarus, has been specified (“Lazarus”) in the translation for clarity.
[11:38] 20 tn Or (perhaps) “Jesus was deeply indignant.”
[11:38] 21 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
[11:39] 22 tn Or “Remove the stone.”
[11:39] 23 tn Grk “the sister of the one who had died.”
[11:39] 24 tn Grk “already he stinks.”
[11:39] 25 tn Or “been there” (in the tomb – see John 11:17).
[11:39] 26 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.
[11:40] 27 tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”
[11:41] 28 tn Or “they removed.”
[11:41] 29 tn Grk “lifted up his eyes above.”
[11:41] 30 tn Or “that you have heard me.”
[11:42] 31 tn Grk “that you always hear me.”
[11:42] 32 tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.
[11:43] 34 sn The purpose of the loud voice was probably to ensure that all in the crowd could hear (compare the purpose of the prayer of thanksgiving in vv. 41-42).
[11:44] 35 sn Many have wondered how Lazarus got out of the tomb if his hands and feet were still tied up with strips of cloth. The author does not tell, and with a miracle of this magnitude, this is not an important fact to know. If Lazarus’ decomposing body was brought back to life by the power of God, then it could certainly have been moved out of the tomb by that same power. Others have suggested that the legs were bound separately, which would remove the difficulty, but the account gives no indication of this. What may be of more significance for the author is the comparison which this picture naturally evokes with the resurrection of Jesus, where the graveclothes stayed in the tomb neatly folded (20:6-7). Jesus, unlike Lazarus, would never need graveclothes again.
