John 11
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
11 Now a certain man named Lazarus was ill. He was of Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.
2 This Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was [now] sick.
3 So the sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, he whom You love [so well] is sick.
4 When Jesus received the message, He said, This sickness is not to end in death; but [on the contrary] it is to honor God and to promote His glory, that the Son of God may be glorified through (by) it.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [They were His dear friends, and He held them in loving esteem.]
6 Therefore [even] when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He still stayed two days longer in the same place where He was.
7 Then after that interval He said to His disciples, Let us go back again to Judea.
8 The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews only recently were intending and trying to stone You, and are You [thinking of] going back there again?
9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? Anyone who walks about in the daytime does not stumble, because he sees [by] the light of this world.
10 But if anyone walks about in the night, he does stumble, because there is no light in him [the light is lacking to him].
11 He said these things, and then added, Our friend Lazarus is at rest and sleeping; but I am going there that I may awaken him out of his sleep.
12 The disciples answered, Lord, if he is sleeping, he will recover.
13 However, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He referred to falling into a refreshing and natural sleep.
14 So then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead,
15 And for your sake I am glad that I was not there; it will help you to believe (to trust and rely on Me). However, let us go to him.
16 Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us go too, that we may die [be killed] along with Him.
17 So when Jesus arrived, He found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away,
19 And a considerable number of the Jews had gone out to see Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house.
21 Martha then said to Jesus, Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 And even now I know that whatever You ask from God, He will grant it to You.
23 Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again.
24 Martha replied, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live;
26 And whoever continues to live and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) Me shall never [actually] die at all. Do you believe this?
27 She said to Him, Yes, Lord, I have believed [I do believe] that You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), the Son of God, [even He] Who was to come into the world. [It is for Your coming that the world has waited.]
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, privately whispering to her, The Teacher is close at hand and is asking for you.
29 When she heard this, she sprang up quickly and went to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the same spot where Martha had met Him.
31 When the Jews who were sitting with her in the house and consoling her saw how hastily Mary had arisen and gone out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to pour out her grief there.
32 When Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she dropped down at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
33 When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who came with her [also] sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. [He chafed in spirit and sighed and was disturbed.]
34 And He said, Where have you laid him? They said to Him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 The Jews said, See how [tenderly] He loved him!
37 But some of them said, Could not He Who opened a blind man’s eyes have prevented this man from dying?
38 Now Jesus, again sighing repeatedly and deeply disquieted, approached the tomb. It was a cave (a hole in the rock), and a boulder lay against [the entrance to close] it.
39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, exclaimed, But Lord, by this time he [is decaying and] throws off an offensive odor, for he has been dead four days!
40 Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you and [a]promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God?
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42 Yes, I know You always hear and listen to Me, but I have said this on account of and for the benefit of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You did send Me [that You have made Me Your Messenger].
43 When He had said this, He shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out!
44 And out walked the man who had been dead, his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths (linen strips), and with a [burial] napkin bound around his face. Jesus said to them, Free him of the burial wrappings and let him go.
45 Upon seeing what Jesus had done, many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Him. [They trusted in Him and adhered to Him and relied on Him.]
46 But some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 So the chief priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the council (the Sanhedrin) and said, What are we to do? For this Man performs many signs (evidences, miracles).
48 If we let Him alone to go on like this, everyone will believe in Him and adhere to Him, and the Romans will come and suppress and destroy and take away our [holy] place and our nation [[b]our temple and city and our civil organization].
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, declared, You know nothing at all!
50 Nor do you understand or reason out that it is expedient and better for your own welfare that one man should die on behalf of the people than that the whole nation should perish (be destroyed, ruined).
51 Now he did not say this simply of his own accord [he was not self-moved]; but being the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for the nation,(A)
52 And not only for the nation but also for the purpose of uniting into one body the children of God who have been scattered far and wide.(B)
53 So from that day on they took counsel and plotted together how they might put Him to death.
54 For that reason Jesus no longer appeared publicly among the Jews, but left there and retired to the district that borders on the wilderness (the desert), to a village called Ephraim, and there He stayed with the disciples.
55 Now the Jewish Passover was at hand, and many from the country went up to Jerusalem in order that they might purify and consecrate themselves before the Passover.
56 So they kept looking for Jesus and questioned among themselves as they were standing about in the temple [[c]area], What do you think? Will He not come to the Feast at all?
57 Now the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it to them, so that they might arrest Him.
Footnotes
- John 11:40 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation.
- John 11:48 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- John 11:56 Richard Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament.
Yochanan 11
Orthodox Jewish Bible
11 Now there was a certain man, a choleh (sick man), El’azar from Beit-Anyah (Bethany), the shtetl of Miryam and Marta her achot.
2 Now this was the same Miryam that anointed Adoneinu with mishcha (ointment, 12:3) and wiped his feet with her hair. It was she whose ach El’azar was choleh.
3 Therefore, the achayot (sisters) sent to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, saying, Adoni, hinei, the one who is your chaver haahuv is choleh.
4 And having heard this, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said, This machla (illness, krankeit) is not unto mavet (death), but for the kavod Hashem, that the Ben HaElohim may receive kavod through it.
5 Now Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach had ahavah for Marta, and her achot and El’azar.
6 When, therefore, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach heard that El’azar was choleh, then he remained in the place where he was yomayim (two days).
7 Then after this he says to his talmidim, Let us go into the land of Yehudah again.
8 His talmidim say to him, Rebbe, just now those of the land of Yehudah [Judeans] were seeking to stone you, and you go there again?
9 In reply, he said, Are there not Sheneym Asar (Twelve) sha’ot (hours) of HaYom? If the derech of anyone is a derech by Yom, he does not stumble, because the Ohr HaOlam Hazeh he sees. [Jer 13:16; Ps 1:6]
10 But if the derech of anyone is a derech baLailah, he stumbles because the Ohr is not in him.
11 These things he said. Then, after this, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to them, El’azar our chaver haahuv has fallen asleep, but I am setting out to awaken him.
12 Therefore, the talmidim said to him, Adoni, if he has fallen asleep, he will be granted refu’ah (healing).
13 But Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach had spoken about the mavet of El’azar. However, those ones supposed that he was speaking about only shlof (sleep).
14 Then, therefore, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach told them plainly, El’azar died.
15 And I have lev same’ach for your sake, that I was not there, that you may have emunah. But let us go to him.
16 Therefore, T’oma—his name means Twin—said to his fellow talmidim, Let us go also, that we may die [al kiddush ha-Shem] with him.
17 Having arrived, therefore, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach discovered El’azar had already been in the kever (tomb) arba’ah yamim (four days).
18 Now Beit-Anyah (Bethany) was near Yerushalayim, about fifteen stadia away.
19 And many of those of Yehudah had come to Marta and Miryam to give them nechamah (consolation, comfort) regarding the ach of the achayot. [IYOV 2:11]
20 Therefore, Marta when she heard that Yehoshua comes, met him; but Miryam was sitting shivah in the bais.
21 Therefore, Marta said to Yehoshua, Adoni, if you were here, achi (my brother) would not have passed away.
22 But even now I have da’as that whatever you ask Hashem, Hashem will give you.
23 Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says to her, Achich yakum (Your brother will stand up [up from the Mesim]).
24 Marta says to Yehoshua, I have da’as that he will rise in the Techiyas HaMesim on the Yom HaAcharon (Last Day). [DANIEL 12:2]
25 Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to her, Ani Hu the Tekhiyyah and the Chayyim (Life): the one having emunah in me, even if he should die, will live,
26 and everyone living and having emunah in me, never dies. Do you have emunah in this?
27 She says to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, Ken, Adoni. I have emunah that you are the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, the Ben HaElohim, Hu Habah el HaOlam.
28 And having said this, she withdrew and summoned Miryam her achot, telling her privately, Rabbeinu and Moreinu is here, and summons you.
29 And that isha, when she heard, got up quickly and was coming to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
30 Now he had not yet come into the shtetl, but was still in the place where Marta met him.
31 Therefore, those of Yehudah, the ones sitting shiva with her in the bais and giving her nechamah, when they saw Miryam get up quickly and rush out, followed her, assuming that she is going to the kever (tomb) that she might weep there.
32 Therefore, Miryam, when she came where Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was, and when she saw him, fell down at his feet, saying to Rebbe, Adoni, if you were here, achi (my brother) would not have died.
33 Therefore, when he saw her weeping and those of Yehudah coming with her and also weeping, he was deeply moved in his neshamah and was troubled in himself,
34 And said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Adoni, come and see.
35 Yehoshua wept.
36 Therefore, those of Yehudah were saying, Hinei! See how much ahavah he had for him.
37 But some of them said, Could not this man, who was able to open the eyes of the ivver, have also prevented this man from passing?
38 Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, therefore, again being deeply moved within himself, comes to the kever (tomb). Now it was a me’arah (cave) type of kever and a stone was lying against it.
39 Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach says, Lift the stone. Marta, the achot of the niftar (deceased), says to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, Adoni, already he smells, for it is now arba’ah yamim (four days).
40 He says to her, Did I not tell you that if you have emunah (faith), you will see the kavod Hashem?
41 Therefore, they lifted the stone and he lifted up his eyes and said, Avi, I thank You that You heard me.
42 And I knew that You always hear me, but, because of the multitude standing around, I said it, that they may have emunah (faith) that You sent me.
43 And having said these things, he cried out with a kol gadol, El’azar, come forth!
44 Then the niftar, having been bound feet and hands with the linen clothes of the tachrichin, and with his face covered with a mitznefet (head wrapping), came out. He says to them, Untie him and let him go.
45 Therefore, many of those of Yehudah, the ones having come to Miryam and having seen the things which Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach did, put their emunah in him. [SHEMOT 14:31]
46 But some of them went away to the Perushim and reported to them everything Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach did.
47 Therefore, the Rashei Hakohanim and the Perushim called a meeting of the Sanhedrin and were saying, What are we doing, for this man is performing many otot (miraculous signs)?
48 If we leave him thus, kol Bnei Adam will have emunah (faith) in him, and the Romans will come and will take away from us both the Beis Hamikdash and the nation.
49 But a certain one of them, Caiapha, being Kohen Gadol that year, said to them, You do not have da’as of anything
50 Nor do you consider that it is a bedievedike (expedient) thing for you that one man should die on behalf of HaAm and not that all the nation should perish. [YONAH 1:12 15; YESHAYAH 53:8]
51 But this he did not utter from himself, but, being Kohen Gadol that year, he uttered a dvar hanevu’ah that Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was about to die on behalf of the nation [Ex 28:30; Num 27:21; Isa 53:8]
52 And not on behalf of Am Yisroel only but also the yeladim of Hashem, the ones having been scattered, that he may gather into echad. [YESHAYAH 49:6]
53 From that Yom on, therefore, they planned that they might put him to death.
54 Therefore he no longer was walking openly among those of Yehudah, but went away from there into the region near the wilderness, to a shtetl called Efrayim, and there Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach remained with the talmidim. [SHMUEL BAIS 13:23]
55 Now Pesach was near and many went up to Yerushalayim from the country before the Pesach for the purpose of HITTEHARU (they purified themselves, 2Ch 30:18).
56 They were seeking, therefore, Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach and were saying to one another while they stood in the Beis Hamikdash, What does it appear to you? Surely he will not come to the Chag (Feast)!
57 Now the Rashei Hakohanim and the Perushim had given orders that if anyone had da’as of where he is, he should reveal it so that they might arrest him.
John 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11
The Raising of Lazarus.[a] 1 Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany,(A) the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 3 So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” 4 When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death,[b] but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”(B) 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?”(C) 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day,(D) he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.(E) 10 But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”[c] 11 He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” 12 So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” 13 But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep.(F) 14 So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. 15 And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called Didymus,[d] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”(G)
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles[e] away. 19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.(H) 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.(I) 22 [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”(J) 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,(K) 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 [f](L)She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. 31 So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed[g] and deeply troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” 35 And Jesus wept.(M) 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” 37 But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?”
38 So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father,[h] I thank you for hearing me. 42 I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”(N) 43 And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice,[i] “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
Session of the Sanhedrin. 45 Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.(O) 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs.(P) 48 If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come[j] and take away both our land and our nation.” 49 (Q)But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year,[k] said to them, “You know nothing, 50 nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.[l] 53 So from that day on they planned to kill him.(R)
54 So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim,[m] and there he remained with his disciples.
The Last Passover. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify[n] themselves.(S) 56 They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” 57 For the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should inform them, so that they might arrest him.
Footnotes
- 11:1–44 The raising of Lazarus, the longest continuous narrative in John outside of the passion account, is the climax of the signs. It leads directly to the decision of the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus. The theme of life predominates. Lazarus is a token of the real life that Jesus dead and raised will give to all who believe in him. Johannine irony is found in the fact that Jesus’ gift of life leads to his own death. The story is not found in the synoptics, but cf. Mk 5:21 and parallels; Lk 7:11–17. There are also parallels between this story and Luke’s parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus (Lk 16:19–31). In both a man named Lazarus dies; in Luke, there is a request that he return to convince his contemporaries of the need for faith and repentance, while in John, Lazarus does return and some believe but others do not.
- 11:4 Not to end in death: this is misunderstood by the disciples as referring to physical death, but it is meant as spiritual death.
- 11:10 The light is not in him: the ancients apparently did not grasp clearly the entry of light through the eye; they seem to have thought of it as being in the eye; cf. Lk 11:34; Mt 6:23.
- 11:16 Called Didymus: Didymus is the Greek word for twin. Thomas is derived from the Aramaic word for twin; in an ancient Syriac version and in the Gospel of Thomas (80:11–12) his given name, Judas, is supplied.
- 11:18 About two miles: literally, “about fifteen stades”; a stade was 607 feet.
- 11:27 The titles here are a summary of titles given to Jesus earlier in the gospel.
- 11:33 Became perturbed: a startling phrase in Greek, literally, “He snorted in spirit,” perhaps in anger at the presence of evil (death).
- 11:41 Father: in Aramaic, ’abbā’. See note on Mk 14:36.
- 11:43 Cried out in a loud voice: a dramatization of Jn 5:28; “the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice.”
- 11:48 The Romans will come: Johannine irony; this is precisely what happened after Jesus’ death.
- 11:49 That year: emphasizes the conjunction of the office and the year. Actually, Caiaphas was high priest A.D. 18–36. The Jews attributed a gift of prophecy, sometimes unconscious, to the high priest.
- 11:52 Dispersed children of God: perhaps the “other sheep” of Jn 10:16.
- 11:54 Ephraim is usually located about twelve miles northeast of Jerusalem, where the mountains descend into the Jordan valley.
- 11:55 Purify: prescriptions for purity were based on Ex 19:10–11, 15; Nm 9:6–14; 2 Chr 30:1–3, 15–18.
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