The Greek Text of John 11: 32-46

Greek Study John 11:32-46

v32 ουν "-" - therefore. Inferential, or better transitional and so left untranslated, as NIV.

ως "when" - Introducing a temporal clause.

οπου "where" - Locative use of the conjunction.

ιδουσα (οϑραω) aor. part. "and saw" - seeing. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verbηλθεν, "came ... and saw."

λεγουσα (λεγω) pres. part. "and said" - saying [to him]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "fell", "fell at his feet and said", or adverbial, modal, "fell at his feet saying."

v33 ενεβριμησατο (εμβριμαομαι) aor. mid. "he was deeply moved" - with indignation. This word is often used to express deep feelings of anger, although translators usually soften it to "groan", "sigh", sometimes joining the word with "troubled" to produce "terribly upset" or "profoundly moved".

τω πνευματι (α ατος) dat. "in spirit" - the seat of our emotions, so for us, "heart" would be the word;" his heart was εταραξεν (ταρασσω) aor. "troubled" - disturbed so literally "he troubled himself"; "he shook/shuddered" as if in rage or apoplexy.

  
v34 τεθεικατε (τιθημι) perf. "have you laid" – i.e. buried him.

v35 εδακρυσεν (δακρυω) "wept" - a hapax legomenon; i.e. a one off use,  Mary "wails" as a mourner would, but Jesus is “weeps” i.e. sheds a tear.

v36 ιδε "behold/pay attention” begins an imperatival clause. Throughotu this entire sdtory Jesus comes across as a bit bossy.

v37 ο ανοιξας (ανοιγω) aor. part. "he who opened" - participle serves as a substantive, introducing a construction standing in apposition to ουτος, "this/this man" some suggest this is a sincere comment made by those who have interpreted Jesus' tears as a sign of frustration. 

ποιησαι (ποιεω) aor. inf. "have kept" – literally “to do”- infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "was [not] able"...to do (something).

v38 εμβριμωμενος εν εϑαυτω/ "deeply moved" angry within himself. Note how "in himself" replaces "in the spirit" of v33.

σπηλαιον (ον) "a cave" - den, hideout; the common shape of a grave at this time was a vertical shaft, it is unclear whether John intends this word to describe such a hole or an actual “cave”.  In Bethany the “tomb of Lazarus” is a combination of both, a near vertical shaft with step declined steps leading to a “cave” at the bottom, akin to a well.

λιθος (ος) "stone" - to keep animals away from the corpse, so likely a cave (or a gloss).

  
v39 αρατε (αιρω) aor. imp. "take away [the stone]" –aorist implies immediacy, do it now.

του τετελευτηκοτος (τελευταω) gen. perf. part. "[the sister] of the dead man" genitive is relational.

τεταρταιος adj. "four days" – underlying the Jewish folk belief that after 3 days the spirit and the body separate (he’s not only merely dead, but really most sincerely dead!”.

οζει (οζω) "there is a bad odor" - Jews did not mummify the dead (lucky thing for Lazarus) The usual anointing of a body does not cover the smell of decomposition. This observation underlines the fact that Lazarus was dead indeed.

v40 ουκ"[did I] not" - negation expects an answer in the positive, begins a rhetorical question.

του θεου (ος) gen. "[the glory] of God" - genitive classified as ablative, expressing source, "the glory radiating from God".  John does not repeat the previous promise made to those who believe, v25-26, but restates the gist of it. "You will see how powerful God is". The power to overcomes death, even if for a season, rests solely with God.

v41 ηρεν τους οφθαλμους ανω "[Jesus] looked up" - lifted the eyes up; a common attitude in prayer, 17:1.

ευχαριστω (ευχαριστω) pres. "I thank" - continuous action of thanking, central to prayer- the request itself is not recorded.

ηκουσας (ακουω) aor. "you have heard" - aorist indicates we may be dealing with a particular prayer, past or present, that was unrecorded. The prayer would be for the raising of Lazarus. It is also possible we are dealing with a proleptic aorist where the prayer is future, but the outcome is preset5n and assured. Is the prayer, "Lazarus, come out"? Such language is typical of Jesus healings, so, Jesus gives thanks prior to his act so that "they may believe that you sent me."

v42 ηδειν (οιδα) pluperf. "knew" - Jesus was aware God would act on his call for Lazarus to rise.

δια + acc. "[I said this] for the benefit of [the crowd / people]" - causal.

ινα + subj. "that [they may believe]" - a final (purpose) clause. Jesus gave thanks for the miracle before it is performed "so that " the people might "believe". Again note, the content of belief is defined.

οτι "that [you sent me]" - a dependent statement of perception expressing the content of the belief.

v43 ειπων (λεγω) aor. part. "when he had said [this]" - The participle is adverbial, best taken as temporal, as NIV.

εκραυγασεν (κραυγαζω) "called" - shouted, cried out loudly, serving to express a forceful command by Jesus.

φωνη (η) dat. "in a [loud] voice" - dative of manner. 

δευρο εξω "come out" - a literal translation of this interjection and adverb works quite well, "Here! Outside! Now!"

  
v44 ο τεθνηκως (θνησκω) perf. part. "the dead man" - the perfect tense serving to underline a past circumstance with ongoing consequences, Lazarus died, is dead but now walks!  (How about “The Walking Dead” for a sermon title? No?  Chicken!)

δεδεμενος (δεω) perf. part. "wrapped" - having been bound. The participle forms a construction that stands in apposition to "the one having died"; “the one having had bound feet…came out." "Bound" reflects the common meaning of the verb, but the so called "with strips of linen" is actually κειριαις, "with sheets". It is obvious we carry the image of Boris Karloff doing his thing in the Mummy but this is not the image John gives, "covered" or "draped over" might work better, as in the “Shroud of Turin”. There is also reference to the typical cloth covering the face; περιεδεδετο, meaning "wrapped around" the head, these details point to Jewish funerary customs unique to Jerusalem and the surrounding area from the 1^st century BC through the first century AD, not before and not after! We know of these customs through archeology, Qumran and Rabbinic sources.

v45 οι ελθοντες (ερχομαι) aor. part. "who had come" participle servers to form a substantival participial construction standing in apposition to "Jews", "many of the Jews, those who had come to Mary, when they…” 

θεασαμενοι (θεαομαι) aor. part. "[and] had seen" – beheld, were gobsmacked.

α προ. neut. pl. "the thing which” idiom, “observed what Jesus did" not quite as dramatic.

πιστισ εισ ”believed in him” – so the content of faith is Jesus, not his miracle

  
v46 δε "but" - probably adversative, - there is always a “but” in faith. 

εξ (εκ) + gen. "[some] of [them]" meaning, "some of the people". Maybe other Jews, not those were with Martha and Mary, but more likely the "many" who were not there but only heard about it second hand and went to the Pharisees/Jewish authorities to report the incident."