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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 11:12 - 11:12
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12. εἶπον οὖν αὐ. οἱ μ. The disciples therefore said to Him;—catching at any chance of escape from the dreaded journey. They accept it as quite natural that Jesus should know that Lazarus sleeps, and perhaps they think that He has caused the sleep. This slight touch is strong proof of their belief in His power.
εἰ κεκ., σωθήσεται. If he is fallen asleep, he shall be saved. The word σωθήσεται is perhaps purposely chosen as being capable of a spiritual meaning. The whole narrative is symbolical of spiritual death and resurrection; and S. John perhaps intimates that the disciples, like Caiaphas (Joh 11:50), spoke more truth than they themselves knew. Of course they mean, ‘He will recover.’ Comp. Ajax, 263.
ἀλλ' εἰ πέπαυται, κάρτ' ἄν εὐτυχεῖν δοκῶ.
Their first thought probably was that Jesus meant to go and cure Lazarus; and now they think that he will recover without His going, and that therefore He need not go. The A.V. reads like an expostulation against waking Lazarus, as if it meant ‘a sick man should not be disturbed’: but they are too full of anxiety about πορεύομαι to notice ἵνα ἐξυπνίσω αὐτόν. It is the going, not the wakening, that perturbs them. For other instances in which the disciples grossly misunderstand Christ, see Joh 4:33, Joh 14:5; Joh 14:8; Joh 14:22; Mat 16:7; and comp. Joh 3:4; Joh 3:9, Joh 4:11; Joh 4:15, Joh 6:34; Joh 6:52, Joh 7:35, Joh 8:22; Joh 8:33; Joh 8:52. This candour in declaring their own failings adds to our confidence in the veracity of the Evangelists. It is urged that the misunderstanding here is too gross to be probable: but they had not unnaturally understood Christ Himself to have declared that Lazarus would not die (Joh 11:4); this being so, they could not easily suppose that by sleep He meant death. Moreover, when men’s minds are on the stretch the strangest misapprehensions become possible.