Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 11:57
Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should show [it,] that they might take him.
57. Now both the chief priests, &c.] Omit ‘both.’ The word is wanting in authority, and even if it were genuine it would not mean ‘both’ but ‘moreover.’ The verse explains why the people doubted His coming to the feast. Note that once more the Sadducaean hierarchy takes the lead. Comp. Joh 11:47, Joh 12:10, Joh 18:3; Joh 18:35, Joh 19:6; Joh 19:15; Joh 19:21. In the history of the Passion the Pharisees are mentioned only once (Mat 27:62), and then, as here, after the chief priests.
a commandment ] The better reading is, commands, which has been made singular because only one command is mentioned. Comp. our phrase ‘to give orders.’
that ] Literally, in order that (see on Joh 11:50).
“We are not told how long our Lord stayed at Ephraim. If we are to put faith in the tradition in the Talmud, and in the inferences which Dr Caspari draws from it, an actual verdict of death was passed at the recent meeting of the Sanhedrin, and was only waiting for its execution until an opportunity offered, and the legal period for the production of witnesses in the defence had expired. This would make the interval between the retreat to Ephraim and the Passover coincide more or less nearly with the forty days allowed. The data, however, are not such as we can build on confidently.” S. p. 191. So that once more we have an interval of uncertain amount. See the introductory note to chapter 6 and the note on Joh 6:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 57. Had given a commandment] Had given order; , positive order, or injunction, and perhaps with a grievous penalty, that no one should keep the place of his residence a secret. This was their hour, and the power of darkness; and now they are fully determined to take away his life. The order here spoken of was given in consequence of the determination of the council, mentioned Joh 11:48-53.
CHRIST’S sympathy and tenderness, one of the principal subjects in this chapter, have already been particularly noted on Joh 11:33. His eternal power and Godhead are sufficiently manifested in the resurrection of Lazarus. The whole chapter abounds with great and important truths, delivered in language the most impressive and edifying. In the whole of our Lord’s conduct in the affair of Lazarus and his sisters, we find majesty, humanity, friendship, and sublime devotion, blended in the most intimate manner, and illustrating each other by their respective splendour and excellence. In every act, in every word, we see GOD manifested in the FLESH: – Man in all the amiableness and charities of his nature; GOD in the plenitude of his power and goodness. How sublime is the lesson of instruction conveyed by the words, Jesus wept! The heart that feels them not must be in the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity, and consequently lost to every generous feeling.
On the quotation from Virgil, on the 50th verse, a learned friend has sent me the following lines.
My dear Sir, – I have observed that in one part of your Commentary you quote these words of Virgil, Unum pro multis dabitur caput; and you are of opinion that Virgil here recognizes the doctrine of atonement. There is a passage in Lucan where this doctrine is exhibited more clearly and fully. It is in the second book, v. 306. Cato, in a speech to Brutus, declares his intention of fighting under the standard of Pompey, and then expresses the following sentiment:-
O utinam, coelique Deis Erebique liberet,
Hoc caput in cunctas damnatum exponere poenas!
Devotum hostiles Decium pressere catervae:
Me geminae figant acies, me barbara telis
Rheni turba petat: cunctis ego pervius hastis
Excipiam medius totius vulnera belli.
Hic redimat sanguis populos: hac caede luatur,
Quidquid Romani meruerunt pendere mores.
O, were the gods contented with my fall,
If Cato’s life could answer for you all,
Like the devoted Decius would I go,
To force from either side the mortal blow,
And for my country’s sake wish to be thought her foe.
To me, ye Romans, all your rage confine,
To me, ye nations from the barbarous Rhine,
Let all the wounds this war shall make be mine.
Open my vital streams, and let them run;
O, let the purple sacrifice atone,
For all the ills offending Rome hath done!
ROWE.
A little after, v. 377, Lucan portrays the character of Cato with a very masterly hand; but he applies expressions to a mortal which are applicable to Christ alone.
Uni quippe vacat, studiisque odiisque carenti,
Humanum lugere genus.
The golden mean unchanging to pursue;
Constant to keep the purposed end in view;
Religiously to follow nature’s laws;
And die with pleasure in his country’s cause,
To think he was not for himself design’d,
But born to be of use to all mankind.
ROWE.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For their great court had issued out orders for the discovery and apprehending of our Saviour, if they could any way learn where he was. This was in pursuance of that wicked counsel of which we read before, Joh 11:53; there they decreed; now they cannot rest until they bring their bloody devices to pass, for which we shall soon find God giving them an opportunity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
57. chief priests and the Phariseeshad given a commandment that if any knew where he were, he shouldshow it, that they might take himThis is mentioned to accountfor the conjectures whether He would come, in spite of thisdetermination to seize Him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees,…. Who were of the sanhedrim:
had given a commandment; or published an edict, a decree of the senate:
that if any man knew where he were, he should show [it], that they might take him; and this made it a doubtful point with some, whether he would come to the feast or not; and was the reason why others sought for him, and inquired after him, that they might discover him to the chief priests and Pharisees, and have the promised reward.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The chief priests and the Pharisees ( ). The Sanhedrin.
Had given commandment ( ). Past perfect active of .
That he should shew it ( ). Sub-final with first aorist active subjunctive of , old verb to disclose, to report formally (Ac 23:30).
If any man knew ( ). Third-class condition with and second aorist active subjunctive of .
Where he was ( ). Indirect question with interrogative adverb and present indicative retained like and after the secondary tense .
That they might take him ( ). Purpose clause with instead of and first aorist active subjunctive of so often used before (7:44, etc.).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1 ) “Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees,” (de hoi archiereis kai hoi Pharisaioi) “However the administrative priests and the Pharisees,” who had led the collusion, plotting entrapment for an occasion to seize and put Jesus to death, Joh 11:47.
2) “Had given a commandment,” (dedokeisan entolas) “Had already given commands,” or directions, perhaps to punish anyone who would give housing or shelter to Him during the Passover, without informing them where He was, Joh 11:53.
3) “That, if any man knew where he were,” (hina ean tis gno pou estin) “In order that if anyone knew where he was,” knew of His presence at all, where He was or might reside. They plotted in secrecy, but were determined to humiliate Him publicly; and Judas Iscariot knew how to aid them in their liquidation collusion, Mar 14:43; Luk 22:47.
4) “He should shew it,” (menuse) “He should inform,” or make it known to them, disclose it to them, pass the word to them. They dared not seize Jesus in a public place, surrounded by devout people who had been saved, many of whom also had a testimony of healing from Him.
5) “That they might take him.” (hopos piasosin auton) “So that they might arrest him,” detain Him, so that believers from Galilee, Perea, and Judea might not see Him or gather to praise Him, as the Savior, to embarrassment of these chief priests, Pharisees, the council, and Caiaphas, the High Priest. And they did “take Him,” seize Him, by night-time, by bribery, paid to Judas Iscariot, Mat 26:14-16; Joh 18:2-3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(57) Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees.If the word rendered both is regarded as part of the text, it would connect this verse with the fact that the people sought for JesusThey on the one hand sought and asked questions about Him; but besides this, the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment . . . But the great majority of the best MSS. omit the word, and we must therefore read, Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment . . . The words are an explanation of their questionWill He come in the face of this commandment? Their resolve to take Him has been arrived at as the result of their counsel (Joh. 11:53).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
57. Commandment take him They do not lay a price upon his head, but they enjoin all good citizens to be informers against him. Where he is they know not; but he was lately heard of at Bethany, and must still be lurking somewhere near the capital. Alas for them! This hunted refugee will yet enter the capital in triumph; will face them down in the temple; and even in yielding to be their victim, will give them abundant evidence of being their Lord.
‘Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment that if any man knew where he was he should show it, so that they might take him.’
Meanwhile the plotters had issued an edict that anyone who knew where Jesus was should reveal it so that He could be arrested. They knew that the earlier they could do this the better before the whole area swarmed with Galileans who might side with Jesus. In the end they were thwarted by Jesus’ delay and the result was that they finally had to resort to the desperate measures that followed.
Joh 11:57 . With the explanatory ( is spurious) the particular circumstance is now added, on account of which men so greatly doubted of His coming.
] comes first with emphasis. Already had the directions of the rulers in question been given.
object , and therewith contents of the , the issuing of which we are to think of as the fruit of the sitting, Joh 11:47 ff., and of the further deliberations, Joh 11:53 .
REFLECTIONS
What a blessed thing it is, when at any time, upon the sickness of our friends or ourselves, we are enabled to tell Jesus, as those sorrowful sisters did: Lord! behold he whom thou lovest is sick! Oh! the privilege of knowing the Lord, and knowing that we are beloved by him! Reader! do you know the sweetness of thus daily, yea, sometimes hourly, going to the court of this gracious heavenly King, and receiving a look, a love-token, from Jesus himself, amidst the crowds which attend his Levee? And my soul observe: Reader do you also observe, how graciously the Lord proposed to visit the sorrowful family of Lazarus, under their bereaving providence. And although two days elapsed before he went, yet this delay was all in greater mercy, as the sequel of the history proved. Learn then from hence, how to interpret silence in the Lord. It is for the greater glory of the Lord, and the greater good of his people.
Reader! look, and look again, to the Lord, as he approached the grave of him whom he loved. Oh! that I had the power of persuasion, methinks I would call all whom Jesus loves, and who love Jesus, to take their stand there, and by faith, and behold the Son of God in our nature, shedding tears and groaning in spirit, over the sad consequence of sin, in our death. And didst thou, dearest Lord, mingle thy tears with ours, at such a sight. Didst thou indeed give such a proof, that because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, thou thyself hast taken part of the same? Oh! for grace to have it always in remembrance. Jesus wept. Jesus knows, and hath felt, what human sorrows are. Never, never my soul be thou afraid to go to him, in all thy afflictions, He that wept at the grave of Lazarus, and took part in the weepings of the sorrowful sisters, will take part in thine. He knoweth thy frame, and remembereth that thou art dust.
Hail! thou that livest and wast dead; and behold thou art alive forevermore. Still by the ear of faith, I hear thy soul-reviving, body-quickening words: I am the resurrection and the life! Lord Jesus! give me that sweet earnest and pledge of the first resurrection in grace, here below; and sure I am that in thee, and from thee, I shall have part in the resurrection to glory hereafter. And dearest Lord! while my soul rejoiceth in hope of the glory of God; in the awful character of this High Priest Caiaphas, and in all the awful characters beside in every generation, which like those who went their way to the Pharisees, unconvinced at the resurrection of Lazarus; most fully deciding that grace alone makes all the difference; teach me to whom to look, and to whom to ascribe the source of all my mercies. Though one arose from the dead, such will not believe. And wherein Lord do I differ from them, but what grace hath made? Oh! prepare me, by living wholly upon thee, deriving all from thee, and ascribing all to thee; for the great and awful day of my God, when the dead shall hear thy voice, and come forth; some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt. In that all-decisive hour, be thou to me the resurrection and the life, and my portion forever.
57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it , that they might take him.
Ver. 57. Had given a commandment ] So dillgent were they, and earnest to execute that cruel decree of the council. This is check to our indolence in the best things. What a shame is it, that they should outwork the children of light in a thorough despatch of their deeds of darkness, and be at more pains to go to hell than we will be to go to heaven.
57. ] The import of this verse depends on the insertion or omission of the before . Without it, it is merely an explanation of the people’s question: For the chief priests &c.: with it, it would mean, ‘And besides, the chief priests’ &c.; i.e. ‘not only did the people question, but’ &c. The former is in my view most probable; for the command, having been given, would satisfactorily account for the questioning, and not be stated merely as co-ordinate with it.
Joh 11:57 . There was room for difference of opinion, for , “the Sanhedrim had issued instructions that if any knew where He was he should intimate this that they might arrest Him”.
any man = any one. Greek. Us. App-123.
knew = got to know. Greek ginosko. App-133.
shew = disclose. Gr menuo. Only used here, Luk 20:37. Act 23:30, and 1Co 10:28.
take = arrest. Greek. piazo. Occurs twelve times, nine times in this sense. The three exceptions are Joh 21:3, Joh 21:10. Act 8:7.
57.] The import of this verse depends on the insertion or omission of the before . Without it, it is merely an explanation of the peoples question: For the chief priests &c.: with it, it would mean, And besides, the chief priests &c.; i.e. not only did the people question, but &c. The former is in my view most probable; for the command, having been given, would satisfactorily account for the questioning, and not be stated merely as co-ordinate with it.
Joh 11:57. , but [now]) They had not been content with that which is mentioned, Joh 11:53 [i.e. with merely taking counsel to put Him to death].
Joh 11:57
Joh 11:57
Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment, that, if any man knew where he was, he should show it, that they might take him.-The chief priests and Pharisees expected him to be present and had come to the fixed determination to kill him at this feast, so had given the direction that they might be aided in their work. Other scriptures say that they required his presence to be made known to them when in a retired and quiet place that they might take him without exciting the multitude. [Bear in mind that it was the Sanhedrin that published the edict commanding any man who knew of his whereabouts to reveal it in order that he might be arrested.]
[Note here-1: How baneful and destructive evil counsel is, especially out of the mouths of leading men, and how soon embraced and followed. Caiaphas no sooner propounds the putting of Christ to death, but from that day forward they lie in wait to take him. The high priests had satisfied their consciences, and now they made all possible speed to put their malicious designs and purposes in execution. Note 2: The prudential care and means which Jesus used for his own preservation, to avoid their fury he withdraws himself privately. Observe 3: When the time was come that he was to expose himself; when the time of the Passover drew near, in which he, being the true Paschal lamb, was to be slain, to put an end to that type; he withdraws no more, but surrenders himself to the rage and fury of his enemies and dies a shameful death for sinners, as the next chapter more at large informs us.]
[Observe from these latter verses that the spirit of prophecy did fall sometimes upon very bad men and that God has been pleased to reveal some part of his mind to the worst of men. Thus Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar had in their dreams a revelation from God-what things he intended to do. It is consistent with the holiness of God sometimes to make use of the tongues of the worst of men to publish and declare his will. Caiaphas, though a vile and wicked man, was, it is thought by many, influenced by God to prophesy and speak as an oracle. God may, when he pleases, employ wicked men this way without any prejudice to his holiness.]
Questions on John Chapter Eleven
E.M. Zerr
1. Where did Lazarus live?
2. Name his sisters.
3. What was the matter with him?
4. Ten what was said of Mary.
5. Where was Jesus now?
6. State the message he received.
7. How did he comment on the subject?
8. What were Jesus’ sentiments toward the family?
9. How long did he delay his journey?
10. State his proposal to the disciples.
11. Why did they disapprove of it?
12. How did Jesus reason in reply?
13. What did he then announce to them?
14. State their reply.
15. On what idea was it based?
16. Of what did Jesus say he was glad?
17. Did Thomas’ father have another child?
18. Why did Thomas expect to “die with him”?
19. Where was Bethany?
20. For what did many of the Jews come?
21. What did Martha do?
22. Repeat her first statement to Jesus.
23. Was she past hope now?
24. What was Jesus’ first promise to her?
25. State her response to this.
26. What constitutes the resurrection?
27. Tell what is required to share in it.
28. What will it bring to those sharing it?
29. State the profession of faith Martha made.
30. After this what move did she make?
31. Where did they meet?
32. What comment did Jews make on Mary’s departure?
33. Repeat her remark to Jesus.
34. What did Jesus behold her doing?
35. Whom else did he behold thus?
36. This caused him to do what?
37. What did he ask them?
38. Repeat the 35th verse.
39. And the remark of the Jews.
40. What miracle did they recall?
41. How did they reason from that?
42. What did Jesus do in himself?
43. Describe the burial place.
44. Repeat Jesus’ orders.
45. How long had Lazarus been dead ?
46. This caused what objection?
47. Of what was Martha reminded?
48. Who removed the stone?
49. To whom did Jesus first speak?
50. For whose sake did he do this?
51. To whom did he next speak?
52. In what condition did he come forth?
53. Who removed the bandages?
54. How did this affect the Jews?
55. To whom was this reported?
56. What gathering was then called?
57. State the purpose.
58. What did they fear from the Romans?
59. Tell who intervened.
60. State his prediction.
61. Why was he able to make this prediction?
62. What gathering together did he predict?
63. Tell what was determined from that time.
64. How did this affect the travels of Jesus?
65. What feast was about due?
66. For what purpose did many go up to Jerusalem?
67. What discussion was had among them?
68. State the orders that had been given.
had: Joh 5:16-18, Joh 8:59, Joh 9:22, Joh 10:39, Psa 109:4
Reciprocal: Psa 88:8 – put Psa 94:20 – frameth Jer 36:26 – to take Dan 3:10 – hast made Mat 12:14 – went Mat 21:15 – when Mat 26:3 – assembled Mar 10:2 – the Pharisees Luk 22:2 – General Joh 7:30 – they Joh 9:13 – General Joh 12:10 – General Joh 15:20 – word Act 26:12 – with
7
This was like an official advertisement for the whereabouts of some wanted criminal. The Jews did not realize that whenever his “time had come,” Jesus would be at hand and not make any effort to escape from them. The truth of this statement is clearly shown in chapter 18:4-11. Jesus fully intended to let his presence be known as soon as it was the proper time. In the meantime he associated with his disciples and personal friends, making his last visit in the town of Bethany near Jerusalem, as the next chapter shows.
Joh 11:57. Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandments, that if any man knew where he were, he should shew it that they might seize him. As the last verse has described the eager interest of the friends of Jesus, this verse presents a picture of His enemies. In pursuance of the resolve related above (Joh 11:53) commandments had been issuedthe plural seems to point to orders sent to all parts of the landthat all the faithful should aid the rulers in apprehending Jesus. These latter verses show us the friends and the foes of Jesus alike occupying the field in preparation for the end.
There was a warrant out for Jesus’ arrest. The reader can hardly miss the point that Israel’s leaders had deliberately rejected their Messiah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)