Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 11:8
[His] disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
8. Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee ] Better, Rabbi (see on Joh 4:31) just now the Jews were seeking to stone Thee (Joh 10:31) and art Thou going thither again? ‘Again’ is emphatic.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Of late – About four months before, Joh 10:31.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. The Jews of late sought to stone thee] It was but a few weeks before that they were going to stone him in the temple, on the day of the feast of the dedication, Joh 10:31.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See Poole on “Joh 10:31“. There were not three months elapsed since the Jews had so sought to have stoned him, and there was no reason for him to think that their fury was in any whit abated. We read in the other evangelists of other words they used (Peter especially, Mat 16:22), to dissuade our Saviour from this journey to Jerusalem. They were afraid for their Master, and they were afraid also for themselves.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. Hisdisciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought,&c.literally, “were (just) now seeking” “tostone thee” (Joh 10:31).
goest thou thither again?tocertain death, as Joh 11:16shows they thought.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[His] disciples said unto him, master,…. Addressing him very reverently, and with great concern for his safety, as well as their own:
the Jews of late, or but now,
sought to stone thee; as they had attempted to do twice in a very little time; see Joh 8:59;
and goest thou thither again? where there are so many enemies; and so much danger, and but little hope of doing much good; whereas here he was among his friends, and in safety, and very useful.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Were but now seeking to stone thee ( ). Conative imperfect of with reference to the event narrated in 10:39 in these very words.
Goest thou thither again? ( ;). Present active intransitive use of the compound , to withdraw (6:21; 8:21) from this safe retreat (Vincent). It seemed suicidal madness to go back now.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Of late sought [ ] . Rev., much better, giving the true force of nun, now, and of the imperfect : were but now seeking.
Goest [] . Dost thou withdraw from this safe retreat? See on Joh 6:21; Joh 8:21.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “His disciples say unto him, Master,” (legousin auto hoi mathetai hrabbi) “The disciples say (said) directly to him, Rabbi,” or respectful teacher, concerned about His safety and not fully comprehending His mission.
2) “The Jews of late sought to stone thee; (nun ezetoun se lithasai hoi loudaioi) “Now the Jews were and are seeking to stone you;- They still have it in their hearts to do the very thing they were intent on when we left there only a few weeks ago, Joh 10:31; Joh 10:39; as they had previously done also, as recounted Joh 8:59 and as prophesied, Psa 2:2.
3) “And goest thou thither again?” (kai palin hupageis ekei) “And are you going out there again?” So soon? They were fearful, both for His life and their own, Joh 11:16. But Jesus did not count His life dear, selfishly, for Himself alone. As the good shepherd He was willing to give, to lay down His life in behalf of His sheep, Joh 10:11; Joh 10:18.
How different this attitude was from that of His own fraternal brothers, Joh 7:3-5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. Rabbi, the Jews but lately sought to stone thee. When the disciples dissuade him from going, they do so, not so much perhaps on his account as on their own, for each of them is alarmed about himself, as the danger was common to all. Avoiding the cross, and being ashamed to own it, they allege — what is more plausible — that they are anxious about their Master. The same thing happens every day with many. For they who, through a dread of the cross, shrink from the performance of their duty, eagerly seek excuses to conceal their indolence, that they may not be thought to rob God of the obedience due to him, when they have no good cause to do so.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee.Better, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone Thee. (Comp. Notes on Joh. 1:39; Joh. 10:31.) They think of the danger to Him, and are not without thought of the danger to themselves (Joh. 11:16). It shows that the hatred of the Jews had now made it unsafe for our Lord and His disciples to be within their reach. The impression we derive from this verse is that the retirement into Gaulonitis had been of no long duration, when the message from Bethany came to interrupt it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Jews stone thee At both his last two visits to Jerusalem; namely, at the Feast of Tabernacles (Joh 8:59) and at the Feast of Dedication, (Joh 10:31.) Whether he should tempt a third assault was a matter of reasonable query. (See note on Joh 11:16.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 11:8 . The question breathes solicitude for the safety and life of the beloved Master.
] just now , refers to the recent events which, though past, seemed still to form part of the present, Joh 10:31 . Hence the use of the imperfect; see Khner, II. p. 385.
] emphatically at the beginning.
] Present, as in Joh 10:32 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
Ver. 8. And goest thou thither again? ] Yea, with the hazard of his life, to the help of his friend. The ancients painted friendship, a fair young man bareheaded, in a poor garment, at the bottom whereof was written, Death and Life, in the upper part, Summer and Winter; his bosom was open, so that his heart might be seen, whereupon was written, Longe, prope, a friend at hand and afar off. (Wilkins’ Com. in Muter. orat. 1. de laud. lit.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. ] = but now. , were seeking: , art thou going?
Joh 11:8 . The announcement of His intention is received with astonishment: . “Rabbi, the men of Judaea were but now seeking to stone Thee, and goest Thou thither again?” “They think of the danger to Him, and are not without thought of the danger to themselves (Joh 11:16 ).” Watkins. The shows that they had not been long in Peraea. To this remonstrance Jesus replies, as in Joh 9:4 , that while His day, appointed to Him by the Father, continued, He must work, and nothing could hinder Him.
Master = Rabbi. App-98.
of late sought = just now were seeking. Compare Joh 8:5 Joh 8:9.
8.] = -but now. , were seeking: , art thou going?
Joh 11:8. ) They now seek; for they lately were seeking.-, to stone) Ch. Joh 10:31, [when He had said] I and My Father are one.
Joh 11:8
Joh 11:8
The disciples say unto him, Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?-When he speaks of returning to Judea, they do not seem to think of Lazarus, but of the danger to Jesus since the Jews sought to stone him at the feast of dedication, the time of his last visit. (Joh 10:31). [They did not want him to return to the locality of his enemies for fear they would stone him.]
the Jews: Joh 10:31, Joh 10:39, Psa 11:1-3, Mat 16:21-23, Act 21:12, Act 21:13
and goest: Act 20:24
Reciprocal: Psa 11:3 – what Mar 10:32 – they were amazed Luk 12:49 – and Luk 13:32 – I cast Joh 8:59 – took Joh 11:5 – loved Joh 11:16 – Let Joh 11:56 – General Act 23:11 – must
8
This intended stoning of Jesus is recorded in chapter 8:59 and 10:31. Having escaped the wrath of the Jews, the disciples wondered why Jesus would expose himself again and thus give them another opportunity to carry out their evil intentions.
Joh 11:8. The disciples say unto him, Rabbi, but now the Jews were seeking to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? The words but now (only just now) seem to show that the sojourn in Perea (chap. Joh 10:40) was short. The disciples see clearly that to go to Bethany is as perilous as to return to Jerusalem, where He has but now escaped from the rage of the Jews (chap. Joh 10:31).
Vv. 8-10. The disciples say to him; Master, the Jews were but now seeking to stone thee, and dost thou return thither? 9. Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walk during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; 10 but if any one walk in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.
At the word Judea, as Jesus expected, the disciples uttered a protest. He took advantage of their objection to give them an excellent teaching with respect to their future ministry. The answer of Jesus (Joh 11:9-10) has naturally a double meaning. The first meaning is clear: He who accomplishes the journey to which he is called during the twelve hours of the day, does not stumble; the light of the sun enlightens him and makes him discern the obstacles in his path; while he who wishes to continue his journey even after the night has come, is in danger of perishing. In the application, some give to the idea of day a purely moral sense. According to Chrysostom, de Wette, Bruckner the day designates a virtuous life, a life passed in communion with God, and the sense is: On the line of duty marked out, one has no serious danger to fear; but as soon as one turns aside from it, he exposes himself to the danger of perishing.
The sense is good; but the figure of the twelve hours is not explained. This last expression leads naturally to the temporal application of the idea of day. Bengel, Meyer, Hengstenberg, Weiss andReuss have felt this. They understand by the twelve hours of day the divinely measured time of the earthly life: The time which was granted me has not yet elapsed; so long as it continues, no one can injure me; but when it shall have elapsed, I shall fall into the hands of my enemies. So already Apollinaris, The Lord declares that before the time of His Passion, the Jews could do nothing to Him: the day is the time until the Passion; the night, the time after the Passion. This sense seems to me incompatible with Joh 11:10, in which the term , to stumble, cannot designate a purely passive state, like that of Jesus falling into the hands of the Jews, and in which the expression:There is no light in him, cannot apply to Jesus. Meyer answers: This is a point which pertains to the figure and which has no significance. But Joh 11:10, which forms half of the picture, cannot be treated in this way.
I think (partly) with Tholuck, Lange and Luthardt, that the day here designates at once the time of life and the task assigned for this time; it is the day of the workman’s labor, as in Joh 9:4. Only here the figure is borrowed from the situation in which Jesus finds Himself with His disciples. It is the morning; the sun rises; they have before them a good day’s journey, twelve hours of daylight. During all this time, they will journey without danger. Before it is night, they will have reached the end of the journey, Bethany. In the moral sense this means: I can go without fear to Judea, whither duty calls me. The twelve hours which are granted me for the accomplishment of my task will remain intact. The sun of the divine will, in assigning me my task, enlightens my path; I shall not stumble. The danger of stumbling and falling would begin for me only at the moment when, fleeing in a cowardly way from a foreseen danger, I should wish arbitrarily to prolong the time of my life, and to add a thirteenth hour of walking to the twelve which legitimately belong to me. From that moment I could only stumble, sin, perish. For the hour of life which God had not given me, would be an hour without duty or mission; the sun of the divine will would no more enlighten my course. In other terms: The Jews cannot take away from me one moment of the time which is accorded me, so long as I am in the accomplishment of my task; a real danger will assail me only if, as you would have me do, I seek arbitrarily to prolong my career, by refusing to go whither duty calls me. This word applies to the believer who, in the time of persecution, would prolong his life by denying his faith, to the physician who would flee from the approach of a contagious malady, etc.
The man, after being placed in such a situation, can only sin and perish. Meyer objects to this sense, that the disciples asked Jesus only not to shorten His life, and did not ask Him to prolong it. But this amounts to precisely the same thing. To desert duty for fear of shortening one’s life, is not this to strive to prolong it beyond due measure? The expression: the light is not in him, signifies that the divine will, no longer presiding over that life, cannot serve to direct it; such a man lives only on a venture, because he ought not to live any longer. The parallel 1Jn 2:10-11, confirms this meaning. The analogy of the expressions and ideas between the two passages is remarkable. John there applies to the believer who loves or does not love his brother what Jesus here says of the man who is obedient or not obedient to the will of God. This saying is, both in matter and form, the counterpart of that in which Jesus gave the reason, Joh 9:4, of the act of healing the man who was born blind. Only, according to the fine remark of Lange, there it was evening; He saw the sun descending to the horizon: I must not lose a moment of the time which remains for me to enlighten the world. Here it is morning: The time which is assigned me is sufficient for accomplishing my whole task; I must not through cowardice seek to add an hour to the day of work which is divinely assured to me. In these two words: to lose nothing, to add nothing, is certainly summed up the duty of man in relation to the time of his earthly work.
Verse 8
Sought to stone thee; as described John 10:31,39.
11:8 {3} [His] disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
(3) This alone is the sure and right way to life, to follow God boldly without fear, who calls us and shines before us in the darkness of this world.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes