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John 11:14

Lazarus is dead.

Jesus is headed back to Judea to see the "sleeping" Lazarus, and his followers miss his point, thinking he is getting better.

Spoken to:
Apostles
KJV issues:
4
KJV

John 11:14 Lazarus is dead.

NIV

John 11:14  Lazarus is dead.

What His Listeners Heard

Lazarus passed away.

Greek

Greek Word Order

 

Λάζαρος ἀπέθανεν
Lazarus  passed away.

Lazarus did pass too far away.

Lost in Translation

This whole scene reads as comical because Jesus has to explain how he used "sleep" as a metaphor for death to the Apostles. The verb translated inaccurately as "is dead" here is relatively rare. It is closer to our idea of "passed away". Its tense is an action that starts or ends at a particular point in time. The aorist is usually translated as the past tense in English. Jesus uses exactly the same verb in the same tense to describe Jarius's daughter, but to make the opposite statement. He says she has not died (Mark 5:39). Lazarus was clearly more dead than she was, but, as they say in the Princess Bride, he was just mostly dead.

 

 

 

Vocabulary (Greek word by word)

Λάζαρος  [7 verses](Hebrew Name) "Lazarus" is from "Lazaros," which is a Greek form of the Hebrew name Eleazar, which means "He who God helps".

ἀπέθανεν [14 verses] (3rd sg aor ind act) "Is dead" is from apothnesko, which means "to die", "to pass away" and "to die off". The prefix means "away". The root means "to die".

KJV — word by word

Lazarus  -- "Lazarus" is  a Greek form of the Hebrew name Eleazar, which means "He who God helps". 

is -- (WT, CW) This helping verb indicates the present tense of the active verb. This verb is in the tense that indicates something happening at a specific point of time, usually translated as the past. The is no verb "to be" here.

dead. -   - (CW, WF) "Dead" is a Greek verb that means "to die" and "to die off". Since the root word also means "to die", and the prefix means "away", the sense is to "pass away" or to "die off". This is not the simple verb, "to die". Nor is it an adjective.

NIV — word by word

Lazarus  -- "Lazarus" is  a Greek form of the Hebrew name Eleazar, which means "He who God helps". 

is -- (WT, CW) This helping verb indicates the present tense of the active verb. This verb is in the tense that indicates something happening at a specific point of time, usually translated as the past. The is no verb "to be" here.

dead. -   - (CW, WF) "Dead" is a Greek verb that means "to die" and "to die off". Since the root word also means "to die" and the prefix means "away". the sense is to "pass away" or to "die off". This is not the simple verb, "to die". Nor is it an adjective.

Related Verses

John 11:11 Our friend Lazarus sleepeth;

Mark 5:39 Why make ye this ado, and weep?