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John 11:39
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37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, awho opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”  

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a astone lay against it.  
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would asee the glory of God?”  
41 Then they took away the stone1 from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  
42 And I know that You always hear Me, but abecause of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”  
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
<< John 11:38   John 11:40 >>


John 11:39

Take ye away the stone (arate ton liqon). First aorist active imperative of airw. They could do this much without the exercise of Christ's divine power. It was a startling command to them.

By this time he stinketh (hdh ozei). Present active indicative of old verb, here only in N.T. (cf. Exodus 8:14). It means to give out an odour, either good or bad.

For he hath been dead four days (tetartaiov gar estin). The Greek simply says, "For he is a fourth-day man." It is an old ordinal numeral from tetartov (fourth). Herodotus (ii. 89) has tetartaiov genesqai of one four days dead as here. The word is only here in the N.T. The same idiom occurs in Acts 28:13 with deuteraioi (second-day men). Lightfoot (Hor. Hebr.) quotes a Jewish tradition (Beresh. Rabba) to the effect that the soul hovers around the tomb for three days hoping to return to the body, but on the fourth day leaves it. But there is no suggestion here that Martha held that notion. Her protest is a natural one in spite of her strong faith in verses John 11:22-27.




Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing John 11:39:

Acts 28:13
Philippians 3:5

 

<< John 11:38   John 11:40 >>

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