John 11:31 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 11:31
The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
Judæan · noun — nominative plural masculine, a people name
then
οὖνoun
G3767
(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
were
ὤνṓn
G5607
being
with
μετ᾽met᾽
G3326
properly · preposition
her
αὐτῆςautēs
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular feminine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
house
οἰκίᾳoikia
G3614
properly · noun — dative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
comforted
παραμυθούμενοιparamuthoumenoi
G3888
to relate near · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative plural masculine
her
αὐτήν,autēn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular feminine
saw
ἰδόντεςidontes
G1492
used only in certain past tenses · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
Mary
ΜαριὰμMariam
G3137
Maria or Mariam (i.e. Mirjam) · noun — accusative singular feminine, a proper name
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
up
ἀνέστηanestē
G450
to stand up (literal or figurative · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
hastily
ταχέωςtacheōs
G5030
briefly · adverb
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
out
ἐξῆλθεν,exēlthen
G1831
to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
followed
ἠκολούθησανēkolouthēsan
G190
properly · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
her
αὐτῇ,autēa
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular feminine
saying
λέγωlégō
G3004
properly
goeth
ὑπάγειhupagei
G5217
to lead (oneself) under · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
unto
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
grave
μνημεῖονmnēmeion
G3419
a remembrance · noun — accusative singular neuter
to
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
weep
κλαύσῃklausē
G2799
to sob · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
there
ἐκεῖ.ekei
G1563
there · adverb
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 11:19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Genesis 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grav…
2 Samuel 12:16-18 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.
1 Corinthians 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 11:17-32
The matter being determined, that Christ will go to Judea, and his disciples with him, they address themselves to their journey; in this journey some circumstances happened which the other evangelists record, as the healing of the blind man at Jericho, and the conversion of Zaccheus. We must not reckon ourselves out of our way, while we are in the way of doing good; nor be so intent upon one good office as to neglect another.
At length, he comes near to Bethany, which is said to be about fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem, about two measured miles, Joh 11:18. Notice is taken of this, that this miracle was in effect wrought in Jerusalem, and so was put to her score. Christ's miracles in Galilee…
The Jews . . . followed her . . . to the grave--Thus casually were provided witnesses of the glorious miracle that followed, not prejudiced, certainly, in favor of Him who wrought it.
to weep there--according to Jewish practice, for some days after burial.
fell at his feet--more impassioned than her sister, though her words were fewer. (See on Joh 11:21).
Adam Clarke on John 11:31
She goeth unto the grave to weep there - It appears that it was the custom for the nearest relatives of the deceased to go at times, during the three days of weeping, accompanied by their friends and neighbors, to mourn near the graves of the deceased. They supposed that the spirit hovered about the place where the body was laid for three days, to see whether it might be again permitted to enter, but, when it saw the face change, it knew that all hope was now past. It was on this ground that the seven days of lamentation succeeded the three days of weeping, because all hope was now taken away. They had traditions that, in the course of three days, persons who had died were raised again to li…
The Jews then which were with her in the house,.... Who came from Jerusalem to visit this afflicted family, and continued in the house with them
and comforted her; which was the end of their coming, John 11:19. This they endeavoured to do, though they did not succeed:
when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her; they did not know what Martha whispered to her, but observed that she rose off her seat in great haste, and went out of the house at once; and therefore they went after to see where she went, and to persuade her to return;
saying, within themselves; "thinking", as all the Oriental versions seem to read,
she goeth unto the grave to weep there: the Jews…
The Church Fathers
The Jews who were there to console her in her grief, as they saw that Mary had suddenly gotten up and gone out, thinking that she went to the sepulcher to weep, followed her as if she, being overwhelmed by her sorrow, might be about to do something that was their duty to prevent. This was ordered by the providence of God, that they came there against their will and became the witnesses of the miracle to be performed.
The Jews therefore who were present, thinking she had run to the tomb to tear herself [in her grief], follow her; doing this by the will of God, in order that they might go in a body to see the marvellous deed, even without wishing to do so. For had this not taken place by the providence of God, the Evangelist would not have mentioned it; neither would he have written down the concurrent causes of each matter, had he not been everywhere very zealous for the truth. Therefore he stated the cause wherefore many ran to the tomb, and were found there, and became beholders of the marvellous deed, and reported it to others.
Mary weeps, the Jews weep, and Christ also weeps: do you think [all wept] with a similar emotion? So be it that Mary the sister wept since she was unable to hold on to her brother and was unable to prevent his death. Although she was certain about the resurrection, nevertheless, because she was without comfort at the moment, because its delay meant that his absence would be lengthy and because she was sad about his being separated from God, she could not but weep. At the same time since when death appears it is so grim, so morbid, so very cruel, it could not but unsettle and disturb any mind, no matter how full of faith.…The Jews were in tears, being both mindful of their condition and overcome by despair concerning the future life.… As often as one sees a dead person, that often does he lament that he is destined to die. So a mortal cannot but grieve concerning death. For which of these reasons was Christ weeping? And if for none of them, then why was he in tears? Certainly he is the same one who had said, "Lazarus is dead, and I rejoice." … When he loses him he sheds no tears, but when he lifts him up it is then that he weeps. He pours out mortal tears just at the time when he is pouring back in the spirit of life. Brothers, the nature of our human body has this tendency, that the force of joy and the force of sorrow both produce tears.… This is why Christ wept, not from grief in the face of death but from calling to mind that happiness when by his own voice, and solely by his voice, he would raise up all the dead to eternal life.
Dictionary and topics
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…
Mary — Hebrew Miriam. (1.) The wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus, called the “Virgin Mary,” though never so designated in Scripture (Matt. 2:11; Acts 1:14). Little is known of her personal history. Her…
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…
Burial · Places of: Visited by sorrowing friends — Places of: Visited by sorrowing friends
Condolence · .Jesus, to Mary and Martha — .Jesus, to Mary and Martha
Friendship · .Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, with Jesus — .Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, with Jesus
Miracles Of Christ, The · The dead raised to life — The dead raised to life
John 11:28-38
28. Having said these things, she went away, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is here, and calleth for thee. 29. As soon as she heard it, she immediately arose, and came to him. 30. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him. 31. Then the Jews, who were with her in the house, and comforted her, perceiving that Mary suddenly arose and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth to the tomb, to weep there. 32. Mary therefore, having come where Jesus was, and having seen him, fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died. 33. Jesus therefore, when he saw her weeping,…
Mary now joined the scene on the edge of the village, repeating her sister’s plaintive cry. She fell at Jesus’ feet, not in worship but in desperate grief.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· Of Mary and Martha
— Of Mary and Martha
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).