Jesus said this and then added is literally “he said these things, and after this he says to them.”

Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up may have more than one meaning, as Jesus’ words often do in the Gospel of John. Both in Greek and in Hebrew “to fall asleep” may be used as a euphemism for “to die,” but the disciples fail to see this second meaning. The verb wake him up (exhupnizō) is the normal verb for “to wake someone from sleep”; it is not one of the two verbs (egeirō and anistēmi) used in the New Testament of raising people from death. Though the readers of the Gospel will understand from the following verse what Jesus means, the disciples do not at this time comprehend the true significance of Jesus’ words. Because of the response of the disciples, it is necessary to translate has fallen asleep and wake him up in their first and primary meanings. If one goes beyond the primary meanings, the response of the disciples becomes almost meaningless.

It is thought by some that by the time John’s Gospel was written the word friend had become a technical term for “Christian believer” (see Luke 12.4; Acts 27.3; 3 John 15; and John 15.13-15). However, it should not be so rendered in translation.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .