John 11:5

11:5 (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) ¹ 

John 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. ² 

John 11:3

11:3 So the sisters sent a message ³  to Jesus, ⁴  “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.”

John 19:25

19:25 Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ⁵ 

John 11:28

11:28 And when she had said this, Martha ⁶  went and called her sister Mary, saying privately, ⁷  “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” ⁸ 

John 11:39

11:39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” ⁹  Martha, the sister of the deceased, ¹⁰  replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, ¹¹  because he has been buried ¹²  four days.” ¹³ 

John 21:23

21:23 So the saying circulated ¹⁴  among the brothers and sisters ¹⁵  that this disciple was not going to die. But Jesus did not say to him that he was not going to die, but rather, “If I want him to live ¹⁶  until I come back, ¹⁷  what concern is that of yours?”

[11:5]  ¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. It was necessary for the author to reaffirm Jesus’ love for Martha and her sister and Lazarus here because Jesus’ actions in the following verse appear to be contradictory.

[11:1]  ² tn Grk “from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.”

[11:3]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “to him, saying”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:25]  ⁴ sn Several women are mentioned, but it is not easy to determine how many. It is not clear whether his mother’s sister and Mary the wife of Clopas are to be understood as the same individual (in which case only three women are mentioned: Jesus’ mother, her sister Mary, and Mary Magdalene) or as two different individuals (in which case four women are mentioned: Jesus’ mother, her sister, Mary Clopas’ wife, and Mary Magdalene). It is impossible to be certain, but when John’s account is compared to the synoptics it is easier to reconcile the accounts if four women were present than if there were only three. It also seems that if there were four women present, this would have been seen by the author to be in juxtaposition to the four soldiers present who performed the crucifixion, and this may explain the transition from the one incident in 23-24 to the other in 25-27. Finally, if only three were present, this would mean that both Jesus’ mother and her sister were named Mary, and this is highly improbable in a Jewish family of that time. If there were four women present, the name of the second, the sister of Jesus’ mother, is not mentioned. It is entirely possible that the sister of Jesus’ mother mentioned here is to be identified with the woman named Salome mentioned in Mark 15:40 and also with the woman identified as “the mother of the sons of Zebedee” mentioned in Matt 27:56. If so, and if John the Apostle is to be identified as the beloved disciple, then the reason for the omission of the second woman’s name becomes clear; she would have been John’s own mother, and he consistently omitted direct reference to himself or his brother James or any other members of his family in the Fourth Gospel.

[11:28]  ⁵ tn Grk “she”; the referent (Martha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:28]  ⁶ tn Or “in secret” (as opposed to publicly, so that the other mourners did not hear).

[11:28]  ⁷ tn Grk “is calling you.”

[11:39]  ⁶ tn Or “Remove the stone.”

[11:39]  ⁷ tn Grk “the sister of the one who had died.”

[11:39]  ⁸ tn Grk “already he stinks.”

[11:39]  ⁹ tn Or “been there” (in the tomb – see John 11:17).

[11:39]  ¹⁰ 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.

[21:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “went out.”

[21:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “the brothers,” but here the term refers to more than just the immediate disciples of Jesus (as it does in 20:17). Here, as R. E. Brown notes (John [AB], 2:1110), it refers to Christians of the Johannine community (which would include both men and women).

[21:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “to stay” or “to remain”; but since longevity is the issue in the context, “to live” conveys the idea more clearly.

[21:23]  ¹⁰ tn The word “back” is supplied to clarify the meaning.