John 11:31

Joh 11:31. Ἵνα κλαύσῃ, that she may weep) It was a well-known custom, that the friends of the dead should give themselves up to mourning during the time that intervened whilst the funeral preparations were being made, and indulge in paying the pious [affectionate] tribute of their tears.

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

Joh 11:31 . But she was not allowed to go alone: οἱ οὖν … ἐκεῖ . The Jews who were with her in the house comforting her interpreted her sudden movement as one of those urgent demands of grief which already, no doubt, they had seen her yield to, and in sincere sympathy (Joh 11:33 ) followed her.

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

The Jews . . . followed her . . . to the grave--Thus casually were provided witnesses of the glorious miracle that followed, not prejudiced, certainly, in favor of Him who wrought it.

to weep there--according to Jewish practice, for some days after burial.

fell at his feet--more impassioned than her sister, though her words were fewer. (See on Joh 11:21).

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 31. She goeth unto the grave to weep there.] It appears that it was the custom for the nearest relatives of the deceased to go at times, during the three days of weeping, accompanied by their friends and neighbours, to mourn near the graves of the deceased. They supposed that the spirit hovered about the place where the body was laid for three days, to see whether it might be again permitted to enter, but, when it saw the face change, it knew that all hope was now past. It was on this ground that the seven days of lamentation succeeded the three days of weeping, because all hope was now taken away. They had traditions that, in the course of three days, persons who had died were raised again to life. See Lightfoot.

Mr. Ward says: "I once saw some Mussulman women, near Calcutta, lying on the new-made grave of a relation, weeping bitterly. In this manner the Mussulman females weep and strew flowers over the graves of relations, at the expiration of four days, and forty days, after the interment."

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

31. Then the Jews who were with her. Though Martha was permitted by Christ to return home for the purpose of withdrawing her sister from the numerous assembly, yet Christ had another design in view, which was, that the Jews might be witnesses of the miracle. True, they have no thought of it, but it was no new thing that men should be led, as it were in darkness, and by the secret providence of God, where they did not intend to go. They think that Mary is going to the tomb, according to the custom of those who seek excitements of their grief. For it is a very prevalent disease, that husbands deprived of their wives, parents deprived of their children, and, on the other hand, wives deprived of their husbands, and children deprived of their parents or other relatives and friends, are eager to increase their grief by every possible method. It is also customary to resort to various contrivances for this purpose. The affections of men are already sufficiently disordered; but it is still worse, that they inflame them by new excitements, that they may rush against God with greater ardor and violence. It was their duty to dissuade Mary from going, that the sight of the tomb might not give fresh occasion for her grief; yet they do not venture to apply so harsh a remedy, but even themselves contribute to the excess of her grief, by accompanying her to the tomb. Thus it frequently happens, that they who treat too gently the excesses of their friends do them little good by their consolations.

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.

(31) And comforted her.—Better, were comforting her—i.e., were engaged in the prescribed ceremonial of those who were called comforters.

Saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.—The better reading is, thinking, She goeth . . . The practice was and is common among the Orientals, as well as among other nations.

Their following her, defeats the object Martha had in view in calling her secretly. We may say, also, that it defeated our Lord’s object in remaining outside the village; but this is not inconsistent with His knowing that it would be so.

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

31. followed her, saying] For ‘saying’ read with the best authorities, thinking. Their following interferes with the privacy at which Martha had aimed.

to weep there] The word rendered ‘weep’ here and in Joh_11:33, as distinct from the one used in Joh_11:35, indicates a loud expression of grief; wailing and crying, not merely shedding of tears.

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.

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was,.... Where Martha met him, and where she left him. Travellers tell us, that close by a well, about a stone's cast out of the town of Bethany, is showed the place where Martha met our Lord when he came to raise Lazarus, and where Mary, being called also, met him; but this is not to be depended on, nor is it of any moment to know it. It is blessed meeting Christ any where; and where he is preached, and his ordinances administered, let it be in what place it will, there may the presence of Christ be expected; and it is an encouragement to go there where others have met with him: Martha had been here before, and had had some conversation with Christ to her great satisfaction, and she goes and calls her sister, that she might enjoy the same: so souls that have met with Jesus under such a ministry, in such a place, invite others to go thither also; and often it is that this is a means, in providence, of finding Christ, and enjoying communion with him.

And saw him, she fell down at his feet; in great respect to him, and reverence of him, worshipping him as her Lord and God.

Saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died; which were the same words Martha uttered upon her first meeting Jesus, Joh 11:21; and it is very likely that they had often expressed themselves in such language one to another, saying to each other, if our Lord Jesus had been but here, our dear brother Lazarus would not have died.

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

31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

Ver. 31. She goeth unto the grave] That, Niobe-like, she might weep herself into a tombstone. Ex eorum more qui luctus sui irritamenta quaerunt. Of the character of them who seek comfort from their sorrow. Calvin. Such a heathenish custom it seems they had among them, and many other funeral rites, forbidden by the law. But what should dropsy men do eating salted meats?

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.

Saying, She goeth unto the grave - Syriac, “They thought that she went to weep.” They had not heard Martha call her. The first days of mourning among the Jews were observed with great solemnity and many ceremonies of grief.

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

It was customary to visit, occasionally, the sepulchres, there to weep over the deceased. (Bible de Vence)

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).

The Jews therefore who were with her in the house, and were comforting her. If the "Jews" (see note, ver. 19) were comforting Mary, and (ver. 37) recognized his love in its Divine depths, and if (see ver. 45) (polloi ) "many believed on him," and only (tinev) some of them (ver. 46) made the stupendous miracle a new occasion for expressing their inveterate malignity, there is no reason to import the element of hostility into the word idontev . When they observed Mary, that she suddenly rose and (silently) went out (of the house), followed her, supposing that she goeth to the grave to wail there. This custom was followed widely in the East, and is still observed in Roman Catholic communities. The word klaiw is to be carefully distinguished from dakruw of ver. 35; it denotes the loud expressive wailing and manifestation of grief of which so many instances occur, (Mat_2:18 Mar_5:38 Luk_7:13 Act_9:39) while the latter word means the shedding of tears. Wailing" is often the regulated expression of professional grief; "weeping" the irresistible burst of personal sorrow. The first may be violent and obtrusive, the other silent and pathetic.

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

31. She goeth to the grave to weep there. The message to Mary was secret. When she suddenly arose and left hurriedly, the only explanation that suggested itself to the Jews was that she had gone to weep at the tomb, a custom of Jewish women.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

31. κλαύσῃ. Stronger than δακρύειν (Joh 11:35): it means to wall and cry aloud, not merely shed tears (Joh 20:11; Joh 20:13; Mat 2:18; Mat 26:75. It is used of Mary Magdalene (Joh 20:11; Joh 20:13), Rachel (Mat 2:18), S. Peter (Mar 14:72), the widow at Nain (Luk 7:13).

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.

31.] ἵνα κλ. ἐκεῖ—as is the custom even now in the East [see an affecting account in Lamartine’s, Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. English Translation, vol. ii. pp. 76-78].

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

31. The friends who had come out from Jerusalem to mourn with the sisters (see v. 19), when they saw Mary rise up (see on v. 20) and leave the house suddenly without giving any explanation, supposed that she had gone to wail at the tomb, a common habit of mourners.

κλαίειν does not indicate silent weeping (cf. v. 35), but the unrestrained wailing of Orientals. It is used elsewhere, as here, of wailing for the dead; cf. Mar 5:38 (of the wailing for Jairus’ daughter), Luk 7:13 (for the widow of Nain’s son), Act 9:39 (for Dorcas), Mat 2:18 (Rachel wailing for her children). See on 16:20.

It is noteworthy, in view of the identity of Mary the sister of Martha with Mary Magdalene,1 that Mary Magdalene is represented (20:11, 13, 15) as wailing (κλαίουσα) at the tomb of Jesus.

δόξαντες. So אBC*DLW; the rec., with AC2ΓΔΘ, has λέγοντες.

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

Saying [λεγοντες] . The best texts read doxantev, supposing. So Rev. She goeth [υπαγει] . Withdraweth from our company. See on Joh 6:21; Joh 8:21.

To weep [ινα κλαυση] . Rev., in margin, wail. The word means loud weeping. See Mt 2:18; Mr 5:38; and on Luk 6:21; Luk 7:32.

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

Vv. 31, 32. “The Jews therefore who were with her in the house and were comforting her, when they saw that she rose up suddenly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32.When therefore Mary had come to the place where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died.”

One and the same thought had filled the soul of the two sisters and perhaps that of the dying man in his last hours: If Jesus were here! But on this common foundation of grief and regret some significant differences between the two sisters appear. We have remarked the masculine character of Martha’s faith. Mary, on the contrary, seemed to be altogether overwhelmed by her grief: hers was a nature wholly feminine. And, like persons of vivid impressions, she makes no energetic effort to overcome the dejection which got the mastery of her. She lets herself fall at Jesus’ feet, which Martha had not done; it is, moreover, the place which she loves (Luk 10:39; Joh 12:3). She does not add to the expression of her grief, as does her sister, a word of faith and hope. There are, finally, in the exclamation which is common to her and Martha, two shades of differences which are not accidental. Instead of ἐτεθνήκει, he is dead (the actual state), which the Byzantine authorities place in the mouth of Martha, Joh 11:21, she says: ἀπέθανε : he has done the act of dying; it is as if she were still at the cruel moment in which the separation was accomplished. This shade of difference in the received reading (Joh 11:27) speaks in favor of its authenticity. Then the pronoun μου, of me, is placed in the mouth of Mary before ὁ ἀδελφός, the brother, and even, according to the Alexandrian reading, before ἀπέθανε : a part ofherself, as it were, is gone. Thus, in Martha, a nature practical and full of elasticity, capable of energetically reacting against a depressing feeling; in Mary, a sensibility given up, without the least trace of reaction, to the feeling which absorbs her. What truth in every feature of this picture!

Jesus knows the human heart too well to attempt to apply to Mary the method which He has just employed with Martha. With a grief like hers, there is no need of teaching and speaking; there is need of sympathizing and acting.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.