Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Then said Martha . . . Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died—As Mary afterwards said the same thing (John 11:32), it is plain they had made this very natural remark to each other, perhaps many times during these four sad days, and not without having their confidence in His love at times overclouded. Such trials of faith, however, are not peculiar to them.
Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him—true to the energy and activity of her character, as seen in Luke 10:38-42. (See on Luke 10:38-42).
but Mary sat . . . in the house—equally true to her placid character. These undesigned touches not only charmingly illustrate the minute historic fidelity of both narratives, but their inner harmony.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing John 11:21:
John 11:31
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