John 11:10

Joh 11:10. Ἐν αὐτῷ, in him) in him who walks by night.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 11:10 . On the other hand, ἐὰν δέ τις … ἐν αὐτῷ , if a man prolongs his day beyond God’s appointment, he stumbles about in darkness, having lost his sole guide, the will of God. His prolonged life is no longer a day but mere night.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(10) But if a man walk in the night . . .—He passes in this verse from the material to the spiritual truth. This first clause still holds of the natural night, and the danger to men who walk in it, but it holds, too, of the darkness in which men walk who do not see, as He is seeing, the light of heaven falling upon the moral path. In the second clause the moral truth is expressed with a prominence which excludes the other.

Because there is no light in him.—The light is now not that “of this world,” but that which is within man.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. he stumbleth] Christ’s night came when His hour came (Joh_17:1). Then the powers of darkness prevailed (Luk_22:53) and His enemies became a stumblingblock in His path, bringing His work to a close (Joh_19:30). The word for ‘stumble’ means literally to ‘knock the foot against’ something.

there is no light in him] Rather, the light is not in him. This shews that the meaning has slid from the literal to the figurative. ‘The light’ in Joh_11:9 is the physical light in the heavens; here it is the spiritual light in the heart.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But if a man walk in the night,.... After the sun is set, and there is no light in the air and heavens to direct him:

he stumbleth; at everything that lies in the way,

because there is no light in him; there being none from above communicated to him. So our Lord suggests, that when the time of his death was come, he should then fall a prey into the hands of his enemies, but till then he should walk safe and secure; nor had he anything to fear from them, and therefore could go into Judea again, with intrepidity and unconcern.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

Ver. 10. But if any man walk in the night] As good Josiah did, in that rash expedition against PharaohNecho; either hoping to ingratiate with the Assyrian, or fearing to have an overly strong neighbour of the Egyptian: he went up to battle, not so much as asking leave of the Lord, though he had Jeremiah at hand, and Zephaniah, and a whole college of seers besides. The best are sometimes miscarried by their passions to their cost.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there is a night also, wherein if men walk they will be very prone to stumble, because they are in darkness, and have no light to guide their feet. So there is a set time for all the issues of men; a time for their peace and liberty, and a time for their troubles and sufferings. God rules and governs the world. While men are in their callings and places, faithfully discharging their trust, and finishing the work which God hath given them to do, and their time is not come for their glorifying of God by suffering, they shall not stumble, nor be given up to the rage of their eagerest enemies; they are in their callings and places, and God will be light unto them: but when their working time is over, and the time of their night is come, then they will stumble; because then God withdraweth his light from them; they are not then under such a special protection of God, who hath done his work by and with them. This is as much as he had said before, Joh 8:20, No man laid hands on him, for his hour was not yet come; the twelve hours of his day were not all spent. This duty digested, is of infinite use to quiet the spirits of God’s people in the worst of times; every man hath his twelve hours, his day and set time, to honour God upon the stage of the world: he shall not stumble, he shall not miscarry, while those hours are spent; he shall not die, he shall not be disabled for duty, so long as God hath aught for him to do. But every man hath his night too, when he must not expect to converse in the world without stumbling.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. In the night—Opposed to this day of mission and duty there is a night-side of darkness and wandering. It is the hemisphere outside man’s true life.

No light in him—A man’s divinely-assigned path is a divinely-illumined path. The light is a blended light, combining rays of reason, conscience, Scripture, providence, and the blessed Spirit. And it is not only a light around a man, but a light in him. The dark wanderer, with no light in him, stumbleth.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. He shuts himself off from the light of God-given opportunity, and carries no lamp in his soul. There is no necessity to suppose, in Joh_9:4, that the day was drawing to a close, or that in this place a natural day was dawning; but there is some probability from this phraseology that John adopted the Babylonian rather than the Roman method of computing the hours of the day. This has decided bearing on several important questions. (notes, Joh_1:39 Joh_4:6, 52 19:14) The "twelve hours" shows, at all events, that the Jews at this time generally reckoned from sunrise to sunset. It must be remembered that the day differed considerably in length at different parts of the year, from fourteen hours to nine; but perhaps the emphatic use of the expression derives special interest from the fact that the equinox was approaching.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But if a man walk in the night - If he have not light from God; if his providence does no longer protect him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus continues speaking to his disciples.

if he walks at night

Here "night" is a metaphor that refers to one's walking without God's light. (See: Metaphor)

the light is not in him

Possible meanings are 1) "he cannot see" or "he does not have God's light."

Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep

Here "fallen asleep" is an idiom that means Lazarus has died. If you have a way of saying this in your language, you may use it here. (See: Idiom)

but I am going so that I may wake him out of sleep

The words "wake him out of sleep" form an idiom. Jesus is revealing his plan to bring Lazurus back to life. If you have an idiom for this in your language, you may use it here. (See: Idiom)

translationWords

walk

stumble

light

Lazarus

asleep

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

10. ἐν τῇ νυκτί. Christ’s night came when His hour came (Joh 17:1). Then the powers of darkness prevailed (Luk 22:53) and His enemies became a stumbling-block in His path, bringing His work to a close (Joh 19:30).

τ. φῶς οὐκ ἔστιν. The light is not in him. This shews that the meaning has slid from the literal to the figurative. Τὸ φῶς in Joh 11:9 is the physical light in the heavens; here it is the spiritual light in the heart. Comp. 1Jn 2:10-11.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] Our Lord’s answer is first general, vv. 9, 10,—then particular, ver. 11.

οὐχὶ δώδ.] See on ch. 9:4, where the same thought is expressed. But here it is carried further,—‘I have a fixed time during which to work, appointed me by my Father; during that time I fear no danger, I walk in His light, even as the traveller in the light of this world by day: and (by inference) ye too are safe, walking in this light, which light to you is Myself,—walking with Me:—whosoever walks without this light,—without Me,—without the light of the divine purpose illumining the path of duty, stumbles,—because he has no light in him.’ In him, for ‘the light of the body is the eye,’ and the light must be in us in order to guide us. Shut it out by blinding the eyes, and we are in darkness. So too of spiritual light.

The twelve-hour division of the day was common among the Jews by this time, being probably borrowed from Babylon (οἱ Ἕλληνες τὰ δυώδεκα μέρεα τῆς ἡμέρας παρὰ Βαβυλωνίων ἔμαθον, Herod. ii. 109). As the day in Palestine varied in length from 14h. 12m. in summer to 9h. 48m. in winter, these hours must also have varied considerably in length at the different seasons (see Winer, Realwört. art. ‘Tag’). I may remark that this verse refutes the fancy of Townson and others, also upheld by Bp. Wordsworth (who passes this verse without remark), that St. John adopts the so-called Asiatic method of reckoning time: see on ch. 1:40; 4:6 .

Notice δώδεκα emphatically prefixed, implying (as Bengel,—“jam multa erat hora, sed tamen adhuc erat dies”) that though the conflict was far spent, there were yet more hours of daylight, and it could not yet be said ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα, ch. 17:1. Cf. ch. 7:30; 8:20; 12:27: and consult Meyer’s able and exhaustive note.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. ἐὰν δέ τις περιπατῇ ἐν τῇ νυκτί κτλ. In this second clause it is the mystical and not the literal sense which is most clearly expressed. For we should expect v. 10 to run, “If any one walk in the night, he stumbles because he has no light,” or, as it is expressed at 12:35 (a parallel passage), “He that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth” (cf. 1Jn 2:11). But instead we have ὅτι τὸ φῶς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ (not ἐν αὐτῇ, which D reads in an attempt to simplify the passage). This departs from the literal application of the illustration of a guiding light, and directs the thought of the reader to the idea of spiritual enlightenment. Cf. 8:12 and Mat 6:23. With the picture of one stumbling in the darkness, cf. Jer 13:16.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.