Discovery BoxJohn 11:43-45
Context11:43 When 1 he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, 2 “Lazarus, come out!” 11:44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, 3 and a cloth wrapped around his face. 4 Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him 5 and let him go.”
11:45 Then many of the people, 6 who had come with Mary and had seen the things Jesus 7 did, believed in him.
[11:43] 2 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] 3 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.
[11:44] 4 tn Grk “and his face tied around with cloth.”
[11:45] 6 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 and the phrase “people who had come to mourn” in v. 36.
[11:45] 7 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
