John 11:18

Joh_11:18. This observation explains the fact mentioned in the following verse, that so many of the Ἰουδαῖοι (from the neighbouring capital) were present.

ἦν] The use of the praet. does not of itself necessarily imply that Bethany had ceased to exist at the time when the writer wrote, but might be explained (as it usually is) from the general connection with the past events narrated (see on Act_17:21; Krüger on Xen. Anab. i. 4. 9; Breitenbach, ad Xen. Hier. 9. 4). At the same time, as John is the only one of the evangelists who uses the praet. thus (see besides Joh_18:1, Joh_19:41), and as he further wrote a considerable time after the destruction of Jerusalem, it is more natural to suppose that Jerusalem and the surrounding neighbourhood was presented before his mind as lying waste, and Bethany also as no longer existing.

ἀπὸ σταδίων δεκαπ.] fifteen stadia off, i.e. about three-eighths of a geographical mile. On this mode of describing the distance (Rev_14:20) see Buttm. Neut. Gr. p. 133 [E. T. p. 153]. Compare also Joh_12:1, and on Act_10:30. A stadium = 589⅓ feet Rhenish (606¾ feet English) measure.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bethany was nigh Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs--rather less than two miles; mentioned to explain the visits of sympathy noticed in the following words, which the proximity of the two places facilitated.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. Fifteen furlongs] About two miles: for the Jewish miles contained about seven furlongs and a half. So Lightfoot, and the margin.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem. The Evangelist diligently follows out all that contributes to the certainty of the narrative. He relates how near Jerusalem was to the village of Bethany, that no one may be astonished that, for the purpose of comforting the sisters, many friends came from Jerusalem, whom God intended to be witnesses of the miracle. For, though the desire of performing an office of kindness was their inducement to go, yet they were assembled there, by a secret decree of God, for another purpose, that the resurrection of Lazarus might not remain unknown, or that the witnesses might not be only those who belonged to the family. Now it is a convincing proof of the base ingratitude of the nation, that this striking demonstration of Divine power at a well-known place, amidst a vast crowd of men, and near the gates of the city, and which might almost be said to be erected on a stage, instantly vanishes from the eyes of men. We should rather say that the Jews, by maliciously shutting their eyes, intentionally do not see what is before their eyes. Nor is it a new or uncommon occurrence, that men who, with excessive eagerness, continually gape for miracles, are altogether dull and stupid in the consideration of them.

About fifteen furlongs This distance between the two places was somewhat less than two thousand paces, or, two miles; for the Stadium, or furlong, contains six hundred feet; that is, one hundred and twenty-five paces.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem.—This way of speaking of places in the past tense is not found in the other Gospels. (Comp., in this Gospel, Joh_18:1; Joh_19:41; and, on the other hand, Note on Joh_5:2.) The explanation may be that from St. John’s point of view, writing after the destruction of Jerusalem, the buildings and gardens could no longer be described as still existing.

About fifteen furlongs off.—The Greek stadium which is here rendered “furlong” was 606¾ English feet. The distance was, then, as the margin gives it, not much short of two English miles. This is mentioned to account for the fact stated in the following verse, that many of the Jews came to comfort Martha and Mary.

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

18. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem] The ‘was’ need not imply that when S. John wrote Bethany had been destroyed, but this is the more probable meaning; especially as no other Evangelist speaks of places in the past tense, and S. John does not always do so. The inference is that he wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem; and that what was destroyed in the siege he speaks of in the past tense; e.g. Bethany (here), the garden of Gethsemane (Joh_18:1), Joseph’s garden (Joh_19:41) what was not destroyed, in the present tense; e.g. Bethesda (Joh_11:2, where see note).

about fifteen furlongs] Literally, about fifteen stades. A Greek stade Isaiah 18 yards less than an English furlong; but the translation is sufficiently accurate, like ‘firkin’ (Joh_2:6). This distance, therefore, was under two miles, and is mentioned to account for the many Jews who came to condole with the sisters.

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.

Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem,.... Which was a reason why them were so many of the Jews come there to condole the two sisters upon the death of their brother; and by this means the following miracle became more known there: it was

about fifteen furlongs off; that is, about two miles, for seven furlongs and a half made a Jewish mile, as appears from one of their canons (c), which runs thus:

"they do not spread nets for doves, except it be distant from an habitable place, , "thirty furlongs";''

which the commentators say (d) are "four miles": and still more expressly it is said (e), that

"between Jerusalem and Zuck, (the place where the scape goat was had,) there were ten tents, and ninety furlongs, "seven and a half to every mile".''

Hence a furlong was called one seventh and a half of a mile (f), which was 266 cubits, and two thirds of one.

(c) Misn. Bava Kama, c. 7. sect. 7. (d) Maimon. Jarchi, & Bartenora in ib. (e) Misn. Yoma, c. 6. sect. 4. (f) T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 33. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Rotzeach, c. 13. sect. 6.

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

18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:

Ver. 18. About fifteen furlongs] Not fully two miles: a short walk, and hence so great a resort to the place; not without a special providence of God, who ordereth all to his own glory. The Jews came only to comfort the sisters, and to condole with them (it is a mercy in misery to find such friends, qui maeroris et funeris pondera luctuosa participabunt, as Cyprian hath it, that will set to their shoulders, and bear a part), but God had a further end in that meeting, ne obscura esset Lazari resurrectio, that there might be many witnesses of Lazarus’ resurrection; who might also thereby be made partakers of the first resurrection, Rev 20:6.

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.

Nigh unto Jerusalem - This is added to show that it was easy for many of the Jews to come to the place. The news that Jesus was there, and the account of the miracle, would also be easily carried to the Sanhedrin.

Fifteen furlongs - Nearly two miles. It was directly east from Jerusalem. Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, vol. ii. p. 599) says of Bethany: “It took half an hour to walk over Olivet to Bethany this morning, and the distance from the city, therefore, must be about two miles. This agrees with what John says: ‘Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.’ The village is small, and appears never to have been large, but it is pleasantly situated near the southeastern base of the mount, and has many fine trees about and above it. We, of course, looked at the remains of those old edifices which may have been built in the age of Constantine, and repaired or changed to a convent in the time of the Crusades. By the dim light of a taper we also descended very cautiously, by 25 slippery steps, to the reputed sepulchre of Lazarus, or El Azariyeh, as both tomb and village are now called. But I have no description of it to give, and no questions about it to ask. It is a wretched cavern, every way unsatisfactory, and almost disgusting.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

About fifteen furlongs. About two Italian miles. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

That, as we count, wants of two miles half a quarter.

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

18. Fifteen furlongs—Near two miles.

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

Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem. This geographical observation is introduced to explain the following verse. Meyer and Alford think that the use of the past tense, hn , may be perfectly justified in making reference to past events; yet, since John is the only New Testament writer who uses it, the usage may have been adopted by him because, at the time when he wrote his Gospel, Bethany had been for the time destroyed with Jerusalem itself. The construction is peculiar: wv apo (compare a similar use of pro , Joh_12:1 Joh_21:8 Rev_14:20; see Winer, p. 697, Eng. trans.). Many think that it is to be understoodabout fifteen stadia from it a kind of trajection of the preposition; but Winer thinks that it points to the spot where the fifteen stadia might be supposed to terminate, i.e. "lying off at the end of the fifteen stadia," and so giving an adverbial force to the preposition: and he adds a long list of similar constructions in later Greek writers. The stadium was 606.75 feet less than the eighth of an English mile; the distance was therefore between a mile and a half and a mile and three quarters. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary. "The Jews" is a phrase generally, not uniformly, used by John to denote those permanently hostile to our Lord, and often of the upper and ruling classes. These, therefore, had one more trial of faith, one further opportunity of recognizing his glory. Many of them came to Martha and Mary. They came to comfort them, according to ordinary usage among the Jews after bereavement. This ceremony often lasted seven days. Concerning (their) brother. We cling to earthly love. The gush of strong affection that mourners lavish on the dead deepens their love to one another, and the praises of the departed often gild and almost pierce the veil itself. The fact that many Jews should have taken the trouble to journey nearly two miles to comfort the bereaved sisters shows that the family at Bethany was one of some wealth, position, and importance. (cf. Mat_26:6-13) If so, it is exceedingly unlikely that the narrative stands in any relation to the parable of the rich man and the beggar.

Martha"s and Mary"s comforters.

I A MISSION THAT COULD NOT BE ESCAPED. The mourners must not be left unvisited, however awkward and vain the condolences may be. Such visits may indeed be looked upon as often having somewhat of evil in them; but the evil is not a necessity, whereas the good is always a probability. And in certain circumstances, where everything is favorable, where Christian character belongs alike to the departed, the mourners, and the comforters, such a mission may have in it the highest good. Sympathy, though it be no more than silent companionship, is the demand of humanity.

II A MISSION SUCH AS HAD BEEN PERFORMED INNUMERABLE TIMES. That very day, all over Israel, people would be setting out on similar errands. Condolence would be reduced to a system. The very words would get stereotyped.

III A MISSION SUCH AS IN MANY INSTANCES WOULD ONLY INTENSIFY THE LOSS. When people are mourning for their dead, nothing the unaided intellect of men is able to devise can lighten the blow or heal the wound. Too often there is an incongruity between the words that must be spoken and the real feelings. We cannot sorrow for the bereaved as they sorrow themselves. If we could watch the vast majority of people so as to observe from what occupations they go to condole, and to what occupations they return, how we should be impressed with the inconsistencies of human life! A man may go visiting the widow and the fatherless in the afternoon, but that will not keep him from the convivial circle in the evening. To go from the house of mourning to the house of feasting is all in the business of the day. The visitor heaves a sigh or" relief when he has got the necessary formality over. And this is plainly what must be, according to the limits of nature. To feel the pain of bereavement as the bereaved feel it would make life intolerable.

IV A MISSION WHICH JESUS OFTEN UNDERTAKES IN HIS OWN WAY. Jesus has done for few, very few, what he did for Martha and Mary. But, after all, we must not exaggerate the act whereby he comforted them. The resurrection of Lazarus was not as the resurrection of Jesus. Lazarus twice knew the pains of death. It was the mortal body into which he came back. But to all mourners Jesus would come with the plain, unvarnished truth. He would not say, Comfort! comfort!" when there is no comfort. He would have his people understand that the only guarantee of abiding relations is that there should be a spiritual element in them. Mere natural relations soon break up when there is nothing better in them. Jesus virtually tells all so to live that, when they are gone, survivors may not be driven to delicate hypocrisies concerning them, as it were whitening their sepulchers to please the bereaved. Y.

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

18. ἦν δὲ ἡ Β. Ἦν. need not imply that when S. John wrote Bethany had been destroyed, but this is the more probable meaning; especially as no other Evangelist speaks of places in the past tense, and S. John does not always do so. The inference is that he wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem; and that what was destroyed in the siege he speaks of in the past tense; e.g. Bethany (here), the Garden of Gethsemane (Joh 18:1), Joseph’s garden (Joh 19:41), what was not destroyed, in the present tense; e.g. Bethesda (Joh 11:2, where see note).

ὡς ἀπὸ σταδ. δεκαπ. A Greek stade is 18 yards less than an English furlong; but the translation is sufficiently accurate, like ‘firkin’ (Joh 2:6). This distance, therefore, was under two miles, and is mentioned to account for the many Jews who came to condole with the sisters; and also to point out the dangerous proximity into which Jesus now entered. For the ἀπό comp. Joh 21:8; Rev 14:20: in all three cases the preposition seems to have got out of place. We should have expected ὡς σταδίους δ. ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων, as in Luk 24:13. Comp. πρὸ ἔξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα (Joh 12:1); and ante diem tertium Kal. Mart. for tertio die ante Kal. Mart. Or possibly the distance is looked at in the reverse way: Winer, p. 697.

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.

18.] The geographical notice is given, to account for the occurrence detailed in the next verse. A stadium = ⅛ of a Roman mile.

Meyer remarks, that ἦν does not necessarily imply that the places no longer existed when the Apostle wrote, but may arise from the word occurring in context with a history which is past. So Xen. Anab. i. 4. 9, αἱ δὲ κῶμαι ἐν αἷς ἐσκήνουν Παρυσάτιδος ἦσαν. But seeing that John alone uses this form of designation (cf. ch. 18:1; 19:41), and that he probably wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem, it is more natural (as Meyer himself confesses) to explain the past tense by his regarding Jerusalem and its neighbourhood as laid waste at the time when he published his Gospel.

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

18. Moffatt places vv. 18, 19, between v. 30 and v. 31, where they would fit very well. But there is no insuperable difficulty in their traditional position, and I do not venture to alter it.

ἦν δὲ Βηθανία κτλ. Jn. alone of the evangelists uses ἦν in this way (cf. 18:1, 19:41, and perhaps 6:10); Meyer suggested that it is employed by him thus instead of the present ἐστί because he is writing after the devastation of Jerusalem and its suburbs. But if (as we hold) his narrative reproduces the reminiscences of the aged apostle John, looking back on many years, ἦν is more natural than ἐστί, without assuming any allusion to the fall of Jerusalem. See on 5:2.

The rec. inserts ἡ before Βηθανία, with אcACDLWΘ; but א*B om. ἡ, as in v. 1.

For the form τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων, see on 1:19.

ὡς ἀπὸ σταδίων δεκαπέντε, “about fifteen furlongs.” Bethany is a little less than 2 miles from the city. The constr. of ἀπό with the genitive to indicate distance is not necessarily a Latinism, as, e.g., a millibus passuum duobus (Cæsar, Bell. Gall. ii. 7). It occurs again at 21:8; cf. Rev 14:20, and see Hermas, Vis. iv. 1, οὕτω γὰρ ἦν ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ ὡς ἀπὸ σταδίου.

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

Fifteen furlongs. About two miles.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.