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Joh_11:21-22. Εἰ ἦς ὧδε ] Not a reproach, but a lament: if Thou wert here, and stayedst not in the distant Peraea.
καὶ νῦν ] Without ἀλλά (see the critical note) the expression simply connects past and present: and now, when he is dead. She then gives expression indirectly (“ob voti magnitudinem,” Grotius) to her confidence, which had quickly arisen in consequence of the arrival of Jesus, that by His prayer He would be able to raise the dead one to life. Having the confidence, she expresses the wish. We can understand from Joh_11:4 why, now that the healing could no longer be effected, she should think of a resurrection; for with her faith in Jesus, and her knowledge of His wonderful works, she must have felt sure that the declaration of Joh_11:4 would be fulfilled in some way or other. The less, therefore, may we adopt Calvin’s judgment: “magis affectui suo indulget, quam se contineat sub fidei regula.”
The position of the words αἰτήσῃ τὸν θεὸν , δώσει ὁ θεός is emphatic; their emphatic character is further heightened by the repetition of ὁ θεὸς (comp. Xen. Mem. i. 3. 2 : εὔχετο δὲ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς … ὡς τοὺς θεοὺς κάλλιστα εἰδότας ). This word αἰτεῖσθαι , to beg for oneself, is not elsewhere used of Jesus praying to God (but ἐρωτᾶν , παρακαλεῖν , προσεύχεσθαι , δεῖσθαι ); it corresponds to the intensity of Martha’s emotion, which would lead her to choose the more concrete, more human expression (comp. Mat_7:9; Joh_15:16, al.). Thus naively, as to form, does she speak in the excitement of her feeling; for the idea of the superhuman relation of Jesus to God had not as yet presented itself in any way to her mind. But as to substance she was right; see Joh_11:41-42.