John 11:5

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

John 11:14

11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

John 11:43

11:43 When ²  he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, ³  “Lazarus, come out!”

John 12:10

12:10 So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too, ⁴ 

John 11:1-2

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. ⁵  11:2 (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil ⁶  and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) ⁷ 

John 11:11

11:11 After he said this, he added, ⁸  “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. ⁹  But I am going there to awaken him.”

John 12:1-2

Jesus’ Anointing

12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he ¹⁰  had raised from the dead. 12:2 So they prepared a dinner for Jesus ¹¹  there. Martha ¹²  was serving, and Lazarus was among those present at the table ¹³  with him.

John 12:17

12:17 So the crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify about it. ¹⁴ 

John 12:9

12:9 Now a large crowd of Judeans ¹⁵  learned ¹⁶  that Jesus ¹⁷  was there, and so they came not only because of him ¹⁸  but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.

[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.

[11:43]  ² tn Grk “And when.”

[11:43]  ³ 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).

[12:10]  ³ sn According to John 11:53 the Jewish leadership had already planned to kill Jesus. This plot against Lazarus apparently never got beyond the planning stage, however, since no further mention is made of it by the author.

[11:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.”

[11:2]  ⁵ tn Or “perfume,” “ointment.”

[11:2]  ⁶ 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.

[11:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “He said these things, and after this he said to them.”

[11:11]  ⁷ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “asleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term, especially in light of the disciples’ confusion over what Jesus actually meant (see v. 13).

[12:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “whom Jesus,” but a repetition of the proper name (Jesus) here would be redundant in the English clause structure, so the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[12:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity and to conform with contemporary English style.

[12:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “And Martha.” The connective καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation because it would produce a run-on sentence in English.

[12:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “reclining at the table.”

[12:17]  ⁹ tn The word “it” is not included in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[12:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “of the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e), the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding area who by this time had heard about the resurrection of Lazarus and were curious to see him.

[12:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “knew.”

[12:9]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; normal English clause structure specifies the referent first and substitutes the pronoun in subsequent references to the same individual, so the referent (Jesus) has been specified here.

[12:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “Jesus”; normal English clause structure specifies the referent first and substitutes the pronoun in subsequent references to the same individual, so the pronoun (“him”) has been substituted here.