John 11:13 BSB — MannaFest

John 11:13

They thought that Jesus was talking about actual sleep, but He was speaking about the death of Lazarus.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Now Jesus had spoken of his death: but they thought that he spake of taking rest in sleep.

KJV

Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

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Commentary

2 voices

Cyril of Alexandria

Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book 7 (Fragments) (444)

They, not understanding the force of the words, thought that Jesus spake of taking rest in sleep, which when sick men can do, they generally experience refreshment; wherefore the disciples say: "It is not worth while to go and disturb Lazarus from his sleep, for it does not benefit a sick man to awake him out of sleep." And this they said, wishing to hinder Him from the journey by remarking that it was not meet to go into the midst of those murderers for the sake of doing something which would produce no good result.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Let us not therefore condemn all those as heretics who mistake the sense of some of Christ's sayings. It is not good to aggravate our brethren's mistakes; yet this was a gross one, for it had easily been prevented if they had remembered how frequently death is called a sleep in the Old Testament. They should have understood Christ when he spoke scripture language.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Sleep is often nature's physic, and reviving to its weak and weary powers. This is true of the sleep of death; if a good Christian so sleep, he shall do well, better than he did here. [2.] A greater concern for themselves; for hereby they insinuate that it was now needless for Christ to go to him, and expose himself and them.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

J.C. Ryle

1816–1900

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1869)

We should notice, in this passage, how mysterious are the ways in which Christ sometimes leads His people. We are told that when He talked of going back to Judea, His disciples were perplexed. It was the very place where the Jews had lately tried to stone their Master—to return there was to plunge into the midst of danger. These timid Galileans could not see the necessity or prudence of such a step. "Are You going there again?" they cried. Things such as these are often going on around us.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

18 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
εἰρήκει	eirēkei	Had spoken	G2036 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
Ἰησοῦς	Iēsous	Jesus	G2424 →
περὶ	peri	of	G4012 →
τοῦ	tou	the	G3588 →
θανάτου	thanatou	death	G2288 →
αὐτοῦ·	autou	of him;	G846 →
ἐκεῖνοι	ekeinoi	they	G1565 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
ἔδοξαν	edoxan	thought	G1380 →
ὅτι	hoti	that	G3754 →
περὶ	peri	of	G4012 →
τῆς	tēs	the	G3588 →
κοιμήσεως	koimēseōs	rest	G2838 →
τοῦ	tou	<the>	G3588 →
ὕπνου	hupnou	of sleep	G5258 →
λέγει.¶	legei	He speaks.	G3004 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 9:24
“Go away,” He told them. “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him.
leads to
- Acts 20:10
  But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, and embraced him. “Do not be alarmed!” he said. “He is still alive!”
- John 11:11–13
  After He had said this, He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.”
- John 11:4
  When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
- Isaiah 49:7
  Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes…
- 1 Kings 17:18–24
  “O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”