John 11:21-27

11:21 Martha ¹  said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 11:22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant ²  you.” ³ 

11:23 Jesus replied, ⁴  “Your brother will come back to life again.” ⁵  11:24 Martha said, ⁶  “I know that he will come back to life again ⁷  in the resurrection at the last day.” 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live ⁸  even if he dies, 11:26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. ⁹  Do you believe this?” 11:27 She replied, ¹⁰  “Yes, Lord, I believe ¹¹  that you are the Christ, ¹²  the Son of God who comes into the world.” ¹³ 

[11:21]  ¹ tn Grk “Then Martha.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[11:22]  ² tn Or “give.”

[11:22]  ³ sn The statement “whatever you ask from God, God will grant you” by Martha presents something of a dilemma, because she seems to be suggesting here (implicitly at least) the possibility of a resurrection for her brother. However, Martha’s statement in 11:39 makes it clear that she had no idea that a resurrection was still possible. How then are her words in 11:22 to be understood? It seems best to take them as a confession of Martha’s continuing faith in Jesus even though he was not there in time to help her brother. She means, in effect, “Even though you weren’t here in time to help, I still believe that God grants your requests.”

[11:23]  ³ tn Grk “Jesus said to her.”

[11:23]  ⁴ tn Or “Your brother will rise again.”

[11:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “Martha said to him.”

[11:24]  ⁵ tn Or “will rise again.”

[11:25]  ⁵ tn That is, will come to life.

[11:26]  ⁶ tn Grk “will never die forever.”

[11:27]  ⁷ tn Grk “She said to him.”

[11:27]  ⁸ tn The perfect tense in Greek is often used to emphasize the results or present state of a past action. Such is the case here. To emphasize this nuance the perfect tense verb πεπίστευκα (pepisteuka) has been translated as a present tense. This is in keeping with the present context, where Jesus asks of her present state of belief in v. 26, and the theology of the Gospel as a whole, which emphasizes the continuing effects and present reality of faith. For discussion on this use of the perfect tense, see ExSyn 574-76 and B. M. Fanning, Verbal Aspect, 291-97.

[11:27]  ⁹ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[11:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the Son of God, the one who comes into the world.”