Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
Parallel Translations
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Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
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and many of the Iewes were come to Martha and Mary to comforte them over their brother.
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And many of ye Iewes were come to Martha and Marie to comfort them for their brother.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to John 11:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 2:11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.
- John 11:31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.
- 2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
- Job 42:11 Then came there to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that Yahweh had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.
- Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
- Genesis 37:35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him.
- 2 Samuel 10:2 David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
- Jeremiah 16:5-7 For Yahweh says, “Don’t enter into the house of mourning. Don’t go to lament. Don’t bemoan them, for I have taken away my peace from this people,” says Yahweh, “even loving kindness and tender mercies. Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried. Men won’t lament for them, cut themselves, or make themselves bald for them. Men won’t break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead. Men won’t give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
- Lamentations 1:2 She weeps bitterly in the night. Her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies.
- Lamentations 1:9 Her filthiness was in her skirts. She didn’t remember her latter end. Therefore she has come down astoundingly. She has no comforter. “See, Yahweh, my affliction; for the enemy has magnified himself.”
- Lamentations 1:16 “For these things I weep. My eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me. My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.”
- Lamentations 1:21 “They have heard that I sigh. There is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. You will bring the day that you have proclaimed, and they will be like me.
- Lamentations 2:13 What shall I testify to you? What shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your breach is as big as the sea. Who can heal you?
- 1 Chronicles 7:21-22 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take away their livestock. Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him.
- Ecclesiastes 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for that is the end of all men, and the living should take this to heart.
- Isaiah 51:19 These two things have happened to you— who will grieve with you?— desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword. How can I comfort you?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 19. To comfort them concerning their brother. This was,…
19. To comfort them concerning their brother. This was, no doubt, the object which they had in view, but God had another object to accomplish, as we have stated. It is evident from what is here mentioned, that the house of Lazarus and his sisters was greatly respected and honored. Again, as it is natural that the death of friends should occasion grief and mourning to men, this duty, which the Evangelist mentions, ought not to be blamed, unless on this ground, that sinful excess, which prevails in this and in other departments of life, corrupts what is not in itself sinful.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain God who is the maker of nature, doth not…
God who is the maker of nature, doth not condemn natural affections, but showeth that they ought to be examined by the rule of faith.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 19 And many of the Jews came to Martha…
19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Ver. 19. To comfort them] A pious office, and yet never thought of by the superstitious Papists, amidst all those vain fopperies they prescribe to be done about the dead. Only, what the ancients used for the comfort of the living is perverted by them to the pretended service and help of the dead.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Not to pray with them for the soul of…
Not to pray with them for the soul of their brother departed. That departed souls are in a capacity to be advantaged by the prayers of their friends, or any such thing, are corruptions of latter times; but they had a civil usage of mourning for their friends, the time for which was anciently thirty days. They mourned for Jacob forty days, Gen 50:3; for Aaron thirty days, Num 20:29; so for Moses, Deu 34:8. It is probable the days were fewer for persons of an inferior quality, but they had some days for all; during which days their neighbours and friends came to visit them, and relieve them in their sorrow, with such arguments as they had.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And many of the Jews came to Martha and…
And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary,.... Or "to those that were about Martha and Mary"; in order to have access to them, they came to them, and to the rest of the family; though the phrase may design them only, as the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions read: these Jews, as appears from the context, Joh 11:18, came from Jerusalem, and might be some of the principal inhabitants; and it may be concluded, that these persons, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, were people of note and figure; and indeed all the accounts of them here, and elsewhere, show the same; see Luk 10:38. The end of their coming to them was
to comfort them concerning their brother; by reason of his death, as was usual with the Jews to do, after the dead was buried; for they did not allow of it before: hence that saying (g) of R. Simeon ben Eleazar,
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"do not comfort him (thy friend) in the time his dead lies before him.''
The first office of this kind was done when they returned from the grave; for it is said (h), when they return
"from the grave they make rows round about the mourner, "to comfort him", and they make him to sit, and they stand, and there never were less than ten in a row.''
It was an ancient custom for the mourners to stand in their place in a row, and all the people passed by, and every man as he came to the mourner comforted him, and passed on (i). But besides these consolations, there were others administered at their own houses, which were usually done the first week, for it is said (k),
"the mourner the first week does not go out of the door of his house; the second he goes out, but does not sit, or continue in his place; the third he continues in his place, but does not speak; the fourth, lo, he is as every other man. R. Judah says, there is no need to say, the first week he does not go out of the door of his house, for behold, all come to his house, "to comfort him".''
And is was on the third day more particularly on which these consolatory visits were paid (l):
"on the first day he (the mourner) did not wear his phylacteries; on the second, he put them on; on the third day, others come to comfort him.''
This rule the Jews here seem to have observed, since Lazarus had been dead four days; and they were come from Jerusalem hither to comfort his sisters on account of his death. The whole of this ceremony is thus related by Maimonides (m),
"how do they comfort mourners? after they have buried the dead, the mourners gather together, and stand on the side of the grave; and all that accompany the dead stand round about them, one row within another: and there is no row less than ten; and the mourners are not of the number; the mourners stand on the left hand of the comforters; and all the comforters go to the mourners, one by one, and say to them, , "may ye be comforted from heaven": after that the mourner goes to his house, and every day of the seven days of mourning, men come to comfort him; whether new faces come, or do not, the mourner sits down at the head, (or in the chief place,) and no comforters may sit but upon the floor, as it is said, Job 2:13, "and they sat with him on the ground": nor may they say any thing until the mourner has opened his mouth first, as it is said, Job 2:13, "and none spake a word unto him": and it is written afterwards, Job 3:1, "so opened Job his mouth", &c. and Eliphaz answered, Job 4:1, and when he nods with his head, the comforters may not sit with him any longer, that they may not trouble him more than is necessary. If a man dies, and there are no mourners to be comforted, ten worthy men go and sit in his place all the seven days of mourning; and the rest of the people gather to them; and if there are not ten fixed every day, ten of the rest of the people gather together, and sit in his place:''
for this business of comforting mourners was reckoned an act of great piety and mercy (n); and these Jews here might come, not so much out of respect to the dead, or to his sisters, as because it was thought to be a meritorious act.
(g) Pirke Abot, c. 4. sect. 18. (h) Gloss in Cetubot, fol. 8. 2. & in Beracot, fol. 16. 2. (i) Gloss in T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 19. 1. (k) T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 23. 1. (l) Massech. Semachot, c. 6. fol. 14. 3. (m) Hilch. Ebel, c. 13. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4. (n) Maimon. in Misn. Peah, c. 1. sect. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. Many of the Jews came] Bethany being…
Verse 19. Many of the Jews came] Bethany being so nigh to Jerusalem, many of the relatives and friends of the family came, according to the Jewish custom, to mourn with the afflicted sisters. Mourning, among the Jews, lasted about thirty days: the three first days were termed days of weeping: then followed seven of lamentation. During the three days, the mourner did no servile work; and, if any one saluted him, he did not return the salutation. During the seven days, he did no servile work, except in private-lay with his bed on the floor - did not put on his sandals-did not wash nor anoint himself - had his head covered-and neither read in the law, the Mishnah, nor the Talmud. All the thirty days he continued unshaven, wore no white or new clothes, and did not sew up the rents which he had made in his garments. See Lightfoot, and See Clarke on Joh 11:31.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Many of the Jews - Probably their distant relatives…
Many of the Jews - Probably their distant relatives or their friends.
To comfort - These visits of consolation were commonly extended to seven clays (Grotius; Lightfoot).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary…
many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them--Thus were provided, in a most natural way, so many witnesses of the glorious miracle that was to follow, as to put the fact beyond possible question.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 19. Jews came to comfort—The nearness to Jerusalem is…
19. Jews came to comfort—The nearness to Jerusalem is mentioned to explain why so many Jews were present. Great is oriental mourning. Weeping and howling for three days, visits of condolence for seven, and thirty days before the last offices are complete. The number here present suggests that the family of Bethany was honourable. Thereby the miracle was plentifully witnessed and published. Few of these comforters sympathized with the Christian hopes of these sisters. But the true Comforter was on his way. Jesus visits his “faithful among the faithless.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. many of the Jews came to Martha and…
19. many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary] Better, many from among the Jews had come, &c. The received text with some good authorities has ‘had come to Martha and Mary and their friends,’ but this is not the best-attested reading. ‘The Jews’ here, as usual, means Christ’s opponents; they would come mostly, if not entirely, from Jerusalem.
to comfort them] It was part of the Jewish ceremonial of mourning that many (ten at least) should come and condole. Gen_27:35; comp. 2Sa_12:17; Job_2:11. It is said that the usual period of mourning was thirty days; three of weeping, seven of lamentation, twenty of sorrow. But the instances in Scripture vary: Jacob, seventy days with an additional seven (Gen_50:3; Gen_50:10); Aaron and Moses, thirty days (Num_20:29; Deu_34:8); Saul and Judith, seven days (1Sa_28:13; Jdg_16:24; comp. Sir_22:12; 2Es_5:20). Josephus tells us that Archelaus mourned for his father seven days, and the Jews for himself, thirty days (B. J. ii. i. 1; iii. ix. 5). The Mishna prescribes seven days for near relations.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) And many of the Jews came to Martha…
(19) And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary.—Better, and many of the Jews had come . . .—They had come before our Lord’s arrival. The word “Jews” is to be understood in St. John’s general sense (comp. Note on Joh_1:19) of those opposed to our Lord, who had lately sought to stone Him (Joh_10:31), and afterwards to take Him by force (Joh_10:39). The family at Bethany was one of position and substance (comp. Notes on Mat_26:6-13; Mar_14:3-9), and they would naturally have had many friends among the higher rank of the Jews. Another reading, which has considerable authority, is “had come to the women with Martha and Mary,” or “to Martha and Mary and their friends.”
To comfort them concerning their brother.—The days of mourning were usually thirty, which were divided into (1) three days of weeping; (2) seven days of lamentation; (3) twenty days of sorrow. This fourth day after the death was the first of the seven days of lamentation. Lightfoot has collected, in a long note on this text, quotations from the Rabbis illustrating the mourning customs, and giving examples of the words used.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 19. Many of the Jews came to Martha and…
19. Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary. Jews from Jerusalem, of which Bethany was a suburb. As “Jews” in John's usage means the ruling classes, the fact that they came shows that the family of Lazarus was influential. These came to “comfort;” that is, to sit with and talk to the mourners. The mourning was kept up thirty days.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:19 Life in New Testament times was lived publicly.…
11:19 Life in New Testament times was lived publicly. Lazarus’s large extended family, as well as the villagers, had arrived for a seven-day mourning period. To console the sisters in their loss, there was great wailing and crying (see 11:33 and corresponding study note).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.