Section 11:17–27

Jesus is the resurrection and the life

In this section, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus and his sisters lived. His sister Martha came out to greet Jesus, and told him that if he had been there, Lazarus would still be alive. Jesus told her that Lazarus would rise again, but Martha thought that he was talking about the last day. Jesus then told her that he was the resurrection and the life, and that those who believed in him would never die. Martha then said that she believed that he was the Messiah, the Son of God.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would live again
-or-
Those who believe in Jesus will never die

Paragraph 11:17–19

This paragraph tells of Jesus’ arrival near Bethany and the situation that he saw there.

11:17

When Jesus arrived: This clause indicates that Jesus reached the edge or border of Bethany, Lazarus’ village.

He found that Lazarus had already spent four days in the tomb: They buried Lazarus four days earlier. His body had already started to decay. There was no doubt that he was dead. Perhaps Jesus delayed coming so that people would know that Lazarus was really dead. Rabbis taught that a person’s soul stayed near the body for three days after death. After that, they had no hope that the person would return to life. Here are other ways to translate this expression:

he found that Lazarus had been buried four days before (Good News Translation)
-or-
he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days (New Living Translation (2004))

He found that: This phrase means “he learned that.” It indicates that someone told Jesus how long Lazarus had been dead. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

he was told that (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Jesus learned that
-or-
Jesus heard the news that

Lazarus had already spent four days in the tomb: In Jewish culture, people buried a person the same day that they died. So Lazarus had been dead for four days. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb (New Century Version)

the tomb: People placed Lazarus’ body in a cave and placed a stone in front of the opening. John will make this clear in verse 38 so you do not need to explain it here. However, you will need to translate tomb with a word or phrase that could refer to a cave. For example:

burial place

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