Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 11:13
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
13. Howbeit Jesus spake ] Or, Now Jesus had spoken.
had spoken ] spake.
taking of rest in sleep ] The word here translated ‘taking of rest’ corresponds to ‘sleepeth’ or ‘is gone to rest’ in Joh 11:11, and ‘to sleep’ in Joh 11:12. The word translated ‘awake him out of sleep’ in Joh 11:11 is a compound of the word here rendered, ‘sleep.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But that the disciples should not understand our Saviour not speaking of ordinary sleep, but of death, is wonderful, considering that there is nothing more ordinary in holy writ than to read of death expressed under this notion; but possibly by our Saviours making such haste to him, they conceived that he was not dead, but only in an ordinary sleep, upon the abatement of his disease.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11-16. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth;but I go that I may wake him out of sleepIllustrious title!”Our friend Lazarus.” To Abraham only is itaccorded in the Old Testament, and not till after his death,(2Ch 20:7; Isa 41:8),to which our attention is called in the New Testament (Jas2:23). When Jesus came in the flesh, His forerunner applied thisname, in a certain sense, to himself (Joh3:29); and into the same fellowship the Lord’s chosen disciplesare declared to have come (Joh15:13-15). “The phrase here employed, “our friendLazarus,” means more than “he whom Thou lovest”in Joh 11:3, for it impliesthat Christ’s affection was reciprocated by Lazarus”[LAMPE]. Our Lord had beentold only that Lazarus was “sick.” But the change which histwo days’ delay had produced is here tenderly alluded to. Doubtless,His spirit was all the while with His dying, and now dead “friend.”The symbol of “sleep” for death is common to alllanguages, and familiar to us in the Old Testament. In the NewTestament, however, a higher meaning is put into it, in relation tobelievers in Jesus (see on 1Th 4:14),a sense hinted at, and clearly, in Ps17:15 [LUTHARDT]; andthe “awaking out of sleep” acquires a corresponding sensefar transcending bare resuscitation.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death,…. Under the figurative phrase of sleeping:
but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep; in a literal and natural sense.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Had spoken (). Past perfect of (). The disciples had misunderstood Christ’s metaphor for death.
That he spake ( ). Present active indicative retained in indirect discourse after the secondary tense ().
Of taking rest in sleep ( ). Only use of (from ) in the N.T., but it also was used of death (Sirach 46:19). H (in sleep) is objective genitive of (sleep, Mt 1:24).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Taking rest [] . Akin to the verb in ver. 11 Wyc., the sleeping of sleep. Tyndale’s Version of the New Testament, the natural sleep.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “Howbeit Jesus spake of his death:- (eirekei de ho lesous peri tou thanatou autou) “However, Jesus had spoken concerning his (Lazarus’) death,” Joh 11:14; Joh 11:21; Joh 11:32; Joh 11:37.
2) “But they thought,” (ekeinoi de edoksan) “But those disciples thought,” perhaps because of His statement of Joh 11:4, “This sickness is not unto death.”
3) “That he had spoken of taking a rest in sleep.” (hoti peri tes koimeseos tou hupnou legei) “That he spoke concerning the sleep of a slumber (kind),” but this term (koimeseos) with two exceptions in the New Testament, is always used with reference to the sleep of death, while the term (Gk. hupnos) translated “sleep” never refers to death, Joh 11:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(13) They thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.These words forbid the thought that they really understood that Lazarus was dead, but did not wish to seem to know it. Three of them, indeed, had heard our Lord apply the word sleep to death before (Mat. 9:24), but this instance of misunderstanding on their part takes its place with others of a like kind, as showing that the surface meaning of words was that which naturally suggested itself to them. (Comp. Mat. 16:6-12, and Luk. 22:38) It is not likely that all the three were present during this interview. If it took place at Tellanihje, then the nearness of Bethsaida and the other towns of Galilee may have led some of the Twelve to visit their old homes. (Comp. Joh. 1:28; Joh. 1:48 et seq.) We can hardly imagine that Peter was present without taking a prominent part in the conversation, or that Thomas would have been in his presence the representative speaker (Joh. 11:16). His absence may be taken as one of the reasons why the account of the miracle which follows is absent from St. Marks Gospel, which is, like St. Johns, the Gospel of an eye-witness. (Comp. Introduction to St. Mark, p. 189, and Excursus E: The Omission of the Raising of Lazarus, in the Synoptic Gospels.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Ver. 13. Jesus spake of his death ] Which profane writers also do call a sleep, but only because the functions of the faculties are extinct by death; therefore they call it an iron sleep, an eternal sleep, &c. Christians call death a sleep, because it is to them a sweet rest in their beds, warmed and perfumed for them by Christ’s body laid in the grave; with whom also they look to rise to life eternal. Ut somnus morris, sic lectus imago sepulchri. “Thy dead men shall live, with my dead body shall they arise,” Isa 26:19 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
of = concerning. Greek. peri. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Reciprocal: Joh 11:11 – sleepeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
The literal fact about Lazarus was that he was dead. The figurative appearance was that of sleep, and that is what the disciples had in mind.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 11:13. Howbeit Jesus had spoken of his death: but they thought that he spake of taking of rest in sleep. The figure can hardly have been here used by Jesus for the first time. The misconception of His meaning would seem to have arisen from His words in Joh 11:4, and from His delay in setting out for Bethany.