Paragraph 11:32–35

Mary met with Jesus and spoke to him about her grief, as Martha had done.

11:32a

The Greek text connects this sentence to the previous sentence with a conjunction that indicates a return to the main story. Mary got up and went to Jesus in 11:29 and here in 11:32a she arrived where Jesus was. (11:30 gave background information about Jesus and 11:31 told what the ones who comforted Mary did.) Many English translations leave this conjunction untranslated. Here is another way to translate this conjunction:

Then

Indicate a return to the main story in a way that is natural in your language.

When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him: Verse 11:32a introduces the time and place of the next event in the story. Introduce this next event in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him (New International Version)
-or-
Mary came to the place where Jesus was, and as soon as she saw him (Revised English Bible)
-or-
When Mary arrived and saw Jesus (New Living Translation (2004))

In some languages it may be natural to translate some of this information as a separate sentence. For example:

But Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him (New Century Version)

11:32b

she fell at His feet: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as she fell at His feet indicates that Mary reacted to seeing Jesus by showing him great respect. She honored him by quickly kneeling on the ground in front of him. For example:

⌊she honored Jesus by⌋ kneeling at his feet
-or-
she threw herself at his feet (New Jerusalem Bible)

11:32c

and said: The Greek more literally says “saying to him,” and continues the sentence. In some languages it may be natural to begin a new sentence here:

She said to him/Jesus

Lord: This word indicates that Mary honored Jesus. See how you translated this word in 11:3 and 11:21, and use the same expression here.

if You had been here, my brother would not have died: Mary said the same thing to Jesus that Martha had said in 11:21. Like Martha, Mary wished that Jesus had come to their house earlier. She knew that Jesus could and would have healed Lazarus. Translate this sentence the same way here and in 11:21. This sentence refers to something that could have happened but did not happen. Jesus did not come earlier, and Lazarus died.

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