John 11:39

Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Jesus	Ἰησοῦς· Iēsous	G2424	Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
said	λέγει legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
Take ye away	ἄρατε arate	G142	to lift up · verb — aorist active imperative, 2nd person plural
the stone	λίθον. lithon	G3037	a stone (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular masculine
Martha	Μάρθα· Martha	G3136	Martha · noun — nominative singular feminine, a proper name
sister	ἀδελφὴ adelphē	G79	a sister (naturally or ecclesiastically) · noun — nominative singular feminine
dead	θνήσκω thnḗskō	G2348	to die (literally or figuratively)
saith	λέγει legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
him	αὐτῷ autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
Lord	κύριε, kurie	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — vocative singular masculine, a title
time	ἤδη ēdē	G2235	even now · adverb
stinketh	ὄζει· ozei	G3605	to scent (usually an ill "odor") · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
for	γάρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
been	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
days	τεταρταῖος tetartaios	G5066	pertaining to the fourth day · adjective — nominative 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 11:17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
Psalms 49:7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
Mark 16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto…
Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to su…
Genesis 23:4 I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.
Psalms 49:9 That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
Psalms 49:14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their bea…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 11:33-44

Here we have, I. Christ's tender sympathy with his afflicted friends, and the share he took to himself in their sorrows, which appeared three ways: - 1. By the inward groans and troubles of his spirit (Joh 11:33): Jesus saw Mary weeping for the loss of a loving brother, and the Jews that came with her weeping for the loss of a good neighbour and friend; when he saw what a place of weepers, a bochim, this was, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. See here, (1.) The griefs of the sons of men represented in the tears of Mary and her friends. What an emblem was here of this world, this vale of tears! Nature itself teaches us to weep over our dear relations, when they are removed by death…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 11:39

Jesus said, Take ye away the stone--spoken to the attendants of Martha and Mary; for it was a work of no little labor [GROTIUS]. According to the Talmudists, it was forbidden to open a grave after the stone was placed upon it. Besides other dangers, they were apprehensive of legal impurity by contact with the dead. Hence they avoided coming nearer a grave than four cubits [MAIMONIDES in LAMPE]. But He who touched the leper, and the bier of the widow of Nain's son, rises here also above these Judaic memorials of evils, every one of which He had come to roll away. Observe here what our Lord did Himself, and what He made others do. As Elijah himself repaired the altar on Carmel, arranged the wo…

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Adam Clarke on John 11:39

Take ye away the stone - He desired to convince all those who were at the place, and especially those who took away the stone, that Lazarus was not only dead, but that putrescency had already taken place, that it might not be afterwards said that Lazarus had only fallen into a lethargy; but that the greatness of the miracle might be fully evinced. He stinketh - The body is in a state of putrefaction. The Greek word οζω signifies simply to smell, whether the scent be good or bad; but the circumstances of the case sufficiently show that the latter is its meaning here. Our translators might have omitted the uncouth term in the common text; but they chose literally to follow the Anglo-Saxon, and…

The Church Fathers

Although according to the gospel history, we hold that Lazarus was really raised to life, yet I do not doubt that his resurrection is an allegory as well. We do not, because we allegorize facts, however, lose our belief in them as facts.
— Augustine of Hippo, ON EIGHTY-THREE VARIED QUESTIONS 65

(tom. in Joan. xxviii.) The delay in taking away the stone was caused by the sister of the dead, who said, By this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. If she had not said this, it would not be said, Jesus said, Take away the stone. Some delay had arisen; it is best to let nothing come between the commands of Jesus and doing them.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(in Joan. Tr. xlix) And yet our Lord loved Lazarus. For had He not loved sinners, He would never have come down from heaven to save them. Well is it said of one of sinful habits, that He stinketh. He hath a bad report already, as it were the foulest odour. (lib. lxxxiii. Quæst. q. 65) Well may she say, He hath been dead four days. For the earth is the last of the elements. It signifies the pit of earthly sins, i. e. carnal lusts.
— Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

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

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…
Tombs — Of the Hebrews were generally excavated in the solid rock, or were natural caves. Mention is made of such tombs in Judg. 8:32; 2 Sam. 2:32; 2 Kings 9:28; 23:30. They were sometimes made in gardens (2…
Burial · Often took place immediately after death — Often took place immediately after death
Embalming · Not always practised by the Jews — Not always practised by the Jews
Friendship · .Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, with Jesus — .Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, with Jesus
Lazarus · .Resurrection of — .Resurrection of
Miracles Of Christ, The

John 11:39

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 11:33-44

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 11:39

Adam Clarke on John 11:39

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John 11:39

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on John 11:33-44

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 11:39

Adam Clarke on John 11:39

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on John 11:39

John Calvin on John 11:39-44

Tyndale Open Study Notes on John 11:39