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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - John 11:35 - 11:35
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Wept (ἐδάκρυσεν)
A different verb from that in Joh 11:31. From δάκρυ, tear, and meaning to shed tears, to weep silently. Only here in the New Testament. Κλαίω, to weep audibly, is once used of our Lord in Luk 19:41. “The very Gospel in which the deity of Jesus is most clearly asserted, is also that which makes us best acquainted with the profoundly human side of His life” (Godet). How far such a conception of deity is removed from the pagan ideal, may be seen by even a superficial study of the classics. Homer's gods and goddesses weep and bellow when wounded, but are not touched with the feeling of human infirmity (see on Joh 3:16). “The gods,” says Gladstone, “while they dispense afflictions upon earth, which are neither sweetened by love, nor elevated by a distinct disciplinary purpose, take care to keep themselves beyond all touch of grief or care.”
“The gods ordain
The lot of man to suffer, while themselves
Are free from care.”
“Iliad,” xxiv., 525.
So Diana, when appealed to by the wretched Hippolytus for sympathy, replies:
“I see thy love, but must not shed a tear.”
Euripides, “Hippolytes,” 1396.
The Roman satirist unconsciously bears witness to the profound truthfulness and beauty of this picture of the weeping Savior, in the words: “Nature confesses that she gives the tenderest of hearts to the human race by giving them tears: this is the best part of our sensations” (Juvenal, “Satire” xv., 131-133).