John 11:16

Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Then	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
said	Εἶπεν Eipen	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Thomas	Θωμᾶς Thōmas	G2381	the twin · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
called	λεγόμενος legomenos	G3004	properly · verb — present passive participle, nominative singular masculine
Didymus	Δίδυμος Didumos	G1324	double · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
fellowdisciples	συμμαθηταῖς· summathētais	G4827	a co-learner (of Christianity) · noun — dative plural masculine
Let	ἄγωμεν agōmen	G71	properly · verb — present active subjunctive, 1st person plural
us	ἡμεῖς hēmeîs	G2249	we (only used when emphatic)
also	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
go	ἄγω ágō	G71	properly
that	ἵνα ina	G2443	compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
die	ἀποθάνωμεν apothanōmen	G599	to die off (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
with	μετ᾽ met᾽	G3326	properly · preposition
him	αὐτοῦ. autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

John 13:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Matthew 10:3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
Matthew 26:35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.
Mark 3:18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
Luke 6:15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphæus, and Simon called Zelotes,
John 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
John 20:24-29 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
John 21:2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 11:1-16

We have in these verses, I. A particular account of the parties principally concerned in this story, Joh 11:1, Joh 11:2. 1. They lived at Bethany, a village nor far from Jerusalem, where Christ usually lodged when he came up to the feasts. It is here called the town of Mary and Martha, that is, the town where they dwelt, as Bethsaida is called the city of Andrew and Peter, Joh 1:44. For I see no reason to think, as some do, that Martha and Mary were owners of the town, and the rest were their tenants. 2. Here was a brother named Lazarus; his Hebrew name probably was Eleazar, which being contracted, and a Greek termination put to it, is made Lazarus. Perhaps in prospect of this history our Sa…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 11:16

Thomas, . . . called Didymus--or "the twin." Let us also go, that we may die with him--lovely spirit, though tinged with some sadness, such as reappears at Joh 14:5, showing the tendency of this disciple to take the dark view of things. On a memorable occasion this tendency opened the door to downright, though but momentary, unbelief (Joh 20:25). Here, however, though alleged by many interpreters there is nothing of the sort. He perceives clearly how this journey to Judea will end, as respects his Master, and not only sees in it peril to themselves, as they all did, but feels as if he could not and cared not to survive his Master's sacrifice to the fury of His enemies. It was that kind of…

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Adam Clarke on John 11:16

Thomas, which is called Didymus - Thomas, or תאום Thaom, was his Hebrew name, and signifies a twin - one who had a brother or a sister born with him at the same time: Didymus, Διδυμος, is a literal translation of the Hebrew word into Greek. In Gen 25:24, Esau and Jacob are called תומים thomeem, twins; Septuag. διδυμα, from διδυμος, a twin - from the Anglo-Saxon, to double. Let us also go, that we may die with him - That is, "Seeing we cannot dissuade our Lord from going, and his death is likely to be the inevitable consequence, let us give him the fullest proof we can of our love, by going and suffering death with him." Some think Thomas spoke these words peevishly, and that they should be t…

The Church Fathers

Perhaps Thomas also knew that it would not be possible to live with Jesus except by having died with him, as Paul taught. But those who disagree say that he said this because he suspected the envy of the Jews that would arise from the resurrection of Lazarus, and the ensuing danger.
— Origen of Alexandria, FRAGMENT 79 ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

The disciples, checked by our Lord's answer to them, dared no longer oppose; and Thomas, more forward than the rest, says, Let us also go that we may die with him. What an appearance of firmness! He speaks as if he could really do what he said; unmindful, like Peter, of his frailty.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

"Let us go, that we also may die with Him." Some say that he desired himself to die; but it is not so; the expression is rather one of cowardice. Yet he was not rebuked, for Christ as yet supported his weakness, but afterwards he became stronger than all, and invincible. For the wonderful thing is this; that we see one who was so weak before the Crucifixion, become after the Crucifixion, and after having believed in the Resurrection, more zealous than any. So great was the power of Christ. The very man who dared not go in company with Christ to Bethany, the same while not seeing Christ ran well nigh through the inhabited world, and dwelt in the midst of nations that were full of murder, and desirous to kill him.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of John 62

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Didymus — (Gr. twin = Heb. Thomas, q.v.), John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2.
Ephraim in the wilderness — (John 11: 54), a town to which our Lord retired with his disciples after he had raised Lazarus, and when the priests were conspiring against him. It lay in the wild, uncultivated hill-country to the…
John, Gospel of — The genuineness of this Gospel, i.e., the fact that the apostle John was its author, is beyond all reasonable doubt. In recent times, from about 1820, many attempts have been made to impugn its…
Lazarus — An abbreviation of Eleazar, whom God helps. (1.) The brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. He was raised from the dead after he had lain four days in the tomb (John 11:1-44). This miracle so excited…
Martha — Bitterness, the sister of Lazarus and Mary, and probably the eldest of the family, who all resided at Bethany (Luke 10:38, 40, 41; John 11:1-39). From the residence being called “her house,” some…
Mourn — Frequent references are found in Scripture to, (1.) Mourning for the dead. Abraham mourned for Sarah (Gen. 23:2); Jacob for Joseph (37:34, 35); the Egyptians for Jacob (50:3-10); Israel for Aaron…
Thomas — Twin, one of the twelve (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18, etc.). He was also called Didymus (John 11:16; 20:24), which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name. All we know regarding him is recorded in the…
Didymus (Twin) · Surname of Thomas — Surname of Thomas
Friendship · .Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, with Jesus — .Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, with Jesus
Love · .Thomas — .Thomas
Love To Christ · Exemplified: Thomas — Exemplified: Thomas

John 11:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 11:1-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 11:16

Adam Clarke on John 11:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 11:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 11:1-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 11:16

Adam Clarke on John 11:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on John 11:16

John Calvin on John 11:11-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 11:16