Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 11:34
And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
34. Where have ye laid him? ] This question is against the supposition, based on Joh 11:31, that the place where Jesus halted outside the village was close to the grave.
They say unto him ] ‘They’ are the two sisters: on both sides “grief speaks in the fewest possible words.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Where have ye laid him? – Jesus spoke as a man. In all this transaction he manifested the deep sympathies of a man; and though he who could raise the dead man up could also know where he was, yet he chose to lead them to the grave by inducing them to point the way, and hence, he asked this question.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Weeping is not of itself a sinful, but a natural passion, which (as was said before) doth very well agree with Christ, having voluntarily taken upon him our nature, and natural infirmities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. Where have ye laid him? . . .Lord, come and seePerhaps it was to retain composure enough toask this question, and on receiving the answer to proceed with themto the spot, that He checked Himself.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And said, where have ye laid him?…. This he might say as man, though he, as the omniscient God, knew where he was laid; and that it might appear there was no juggle and contrivance between him, and the relations of the deceased; and to raise some expectation of what he intended to do; and to draw the Jews thither, that they might be witnesses of the miracle he was about to work.
They say unto him; That is, Martha and Mary,
Lord, come and see; it being but a little way off.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Where have ye laid him? ( ;). Perfect active indicative of . A simple question for information. The only other like it in John is in 6:6 where it is expressly stated that Jesus knew what he was going to do. So it was here, only he politely asked for direction to the tomb of Lazarus. The people invite him to come and see, the very language used by Philip to Nathanael (1:46). It was a natural and polite reply as they would show Jesus the way, but they had no idea of his purpose.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And said, Where have ye laid him?” (kai eipen pou tetheikate auton) “And he said, where have you all put him?” Not because He did not know, but for their testimony and invitation for Him to follow them to the tomb.
2) “They said unto him, Lord,” (legousin auto kurie) “They responded to him, Lord;- Martha and Mary jointly, followed by the wailing Jewish women witnesses, respectfully addressed Him as Lord, Master of life and death, Joh 14:6; Rev 1:18.
3) “Come and see.” (erchou kai ede) “Come of your own accord and see for yourself,” certainly not expecting the miracle that they were about to see. All that man could do would end with coming to see, but not so with the Lord. For He was the giver of life, and the restorer to life, Joh 10:18; Not only was He to come forth from death later but He was also to demonstrate for the third time by a miraculous example that He could raise from the dead, as He had previously raised both the widow’s son of Nam and Jarius’ daughter: 1 ) Luk 7:11-17; Luk 7:2) Luk 8:49-56; Luk 8:3) Joh 11:43-46.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(34) Where have ye laid him?The question is directed, of course, to the sisters. This is further shown by the answer, Lord, come and see. Both question and answer are expressed in the shortest form. Grief speaks in the fewest possible words.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘They say to him, “Come and see”. Jesus wept. The Judaisers therefore said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the one who was blind have caused that this man also should not die?” ’
At their offer to show Him the tomb He wept. The word for ‘weep’ is a rare one differentiating Him from those who officially weep at a funeral. The weight of the world’s need was heavy on Him, and His tears were real. He wept because others wept, and He felt for them. This moved some to say, ‘see how he loved him’, and others to say ‘could not he who opened the eyes of the blind have prevented this man from dying?’ Even at a funeral there was controversy among these men, for they were controversialists. And it is made clear to us that they include those who have previously been listening to Him and disputing with Him. Yet both were right, and both were wrong.
Was there also some grief in His heart that He was bringing Lazarus back into this grief-torn world? We do not know. But no one recognised the real root of His distress, whatever it was, for they could not even begin to conceive what Jesus was about to do. They could only relate His tears to Lazarus’ death.
The mention of the opening of the eyes of the blind demonstrates how great an impression that miracle had made. It was the outstanding miracle that those in Jerusalem would think of (not those in far off Galilee, a sign that we have a record of the genuine conversation). And we discover here that it had made some think that He did indeed have extraordinary powers which had to be accounted for.
But Jesus’ weeping may have had even deeper significance, especially when linked with the groaning in Himself. In Heb 5:7 we read that ‘in the days of His flesh, having offered up strong prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears (this noun derived from the same stem as the verb here in Joh 11:35), to Him who was able to save him from death, was saved for His godly fear’. Hebrews primarily, of course, refers to Gethsemane. But this was a Gethsemane before Gethsemane and it may thus be that His weeping was linked to the cry going up to His Father from His heart as He prayed for the defeat of death in the raising of Lazarus, and thought ahead to His own coming death and the battle that had to be fought.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 11:34. Where have ye laid him? Our Lord proposed this question, in order to deliver the minds of Martha and her sister from the suspence with which they were now tortured; and he proposed it before the multitude, to convince them that there was no fraud in the intended miracle. We cannot suppose that our Lord, who knew without any information that Lazarus was dead, was ignorant of the place of his sepulchre: but when we admit the two reasons offered above, we must own that the question was kind.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Ver. 34. Where have ye laid him? ] He could tell well enough; but yet would be told by them. So, he knows our wants before we open them, and sometimes is pleased to prevent us with a supply; but usually he will hear from us. Come he will to our relief and help, but he will have his people’s prayers lead him. “I came for thy words,” saith the angel, Dan 10:12 ; Dan 9:21 . While he was speaking in prayer, Gabriel came with “weariness of flight,” and touched him “about the evening oblation,” which was the hour of prayer.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joh 11:34 . His intense feeling prompts Him to end the scene, and He asks, ; He asks because He did not know. They reply, but probably with no expectation of what was to happen, . As He went , “He shed tears”. To assert that such tears could only be theatrical because He knew that shortly Lazarus would live, is to show profound ignorance of human nature. And it also shows ignorance of the true sympathy requisite for miracle. “It is not with a heart of stone that the dead are raised.”
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Joh 11:34
Joh 11:34
and said, Where have ye laid him? They say unto him, Lord, come and see.-He asked that he might go to the grave and call him forth. They showed him the grave, that he might see the place where one he loved was laid that he might look upon it with affection. But his purpose was fixed before he left beyond the Jordan.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Joh 1:39, Joh 20:2, Mat 28:6, Mar 15:47, Mar 16:6
Reciprocal: Jdg 10:16 – his soul
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Jesus never had to ask a question for information, but he wished to show a sympathetic interest in the case, and asked where they had laid him. Have you ever visited a home where death has entered? You asked to see the form of their dear dead and were told to “come this way.” The look of utter dejection on the faces of the relatives as they said this, then started toward the silent chamber where lay the loved one, could not be described in words.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 11:34-35. And he said, where have ye laid him? They say unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. The question is addressed to the sisters, and the Jews give place to them in thought, for it is in sympathy with the bitter anguish of those whom He loves (well though He knows that He is about to assuage their grief) that the tears of Jesus are shed. The word differs from that used in Joh 11:31; Joh 11:33, where the meaning is not calm weeping, but lamentation and wailing.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Jesus wept (Gr. dakryo, lit. shed tears; cf. Isa 53:3). His weeping doubtless expressed outwardly the sorrow that contemplation of sin and its consequences produced in His heart. Jesus’ tears are proof of His compassion for fallen humanity (cf. Luk 19:41). He could not have been weeping over the loss of His friend Lazarus since He was about to restore him to life. Likewise it is unlikely that He was just weeping compassionately with Martha and Mary since He was about to turn their grief into rejoicing. Nevertheless empathy undoubtedly played some part in Jesus’ weeping.
Martha had just testified to Jesus’ deity (Joh 11:27), and now Jesus’ tears witnessed to His humanity.