John 11 33

John 11:33 kjv

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.

John 11:33 nkjv

Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

John 11:33 niv

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

John 11:33 esv

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

John 11:33 nlt

When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.

John 11 verses

John 11 33 Meaning

John 11:33 describes Jesus' intense emotional state upon witnessing Mary and the Jews weeping for Lazarus. He was not merely saddened, but experienced profound inward agitation, often interpreted as a combination of deep sorrow, empathy, and righteous indignation against the devastating power of sin and death, which caused such grief. This verse reveals His true humanity and divine opposition to the enemy.

John 11 33 Context

John 11 details Lazarus' illness, death, and resurrection. Jesus deliberately delays His arrival in Bethany (Jn 11:1-6), knowing He will raise Lazarus to demonstrate God's glory. Upon arriving, Jesus first speaks with Martha, who expresses faith in a future resurrection but sorrow in the present (Jn 11:21-27). Then Mary arrives, and her deeply emotional lament, echoing Martha's ("Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died"), along with the wailing of the gathered mourners, creates the scene of intense grief that directly precedes Jesus' reaction in verse 33. The historical-cultural context includes Jewish mourning customs, which were often public and involved loud wailing and lamentation, sometimes with professional mourners. These expressions, though sincere, often revealed a profound despair and a lack of immediate hope in the face of death, despite existing beliefs in resurrection. This environment of public grief, tinged with a questioning of Jesus' absence, deeply impacts Him.

John 11 33 Word analysis

• When Jesus saw her weeping (Ἰησοῦς οὖν ὡς εἶδεν κλαίουσαν αὐτήν)

  • Jesus saw: Not just a casual glance, but an observant perception of Mary's profound sorrow.
  • her weeping (κλαίουσαν αὐτήν): The Greek word klaiō indicates a loud, demonstrative, and often public expression of grief, not just quiet tears. It suggests deep anguish.

• and the Jews who had come with her also weeping (τοὺς συνελθόντας αὐτῇ Ἰουδαίους κλαίοντας)

  • the Jews who had come with her: Indicates a multitude of mourners. The collective, echoing sorrow amplified the scene's emotional weight.
  • also weeping (κλαίοντας): Reiterates the intense, communal lament, confirming a widespread and deeply felt despair over Lazarus' death.

• he was deeply moved in his spirit (ἐνεβριμήσατο τῷ πνεύματι)

  • deeply moved (ἐνεβριμήσατο): The Greek verb embrimaomai is strong and complex. It literally means "to snort like a horse," or "to express indignation," "to rebuke strongly," or "to show anger." It conveys a powerful, almost violent, internal agitation. It's not mere sadness but a visceral reaction of indignation, often understood as Jesus' righteous anger against the tyranny of sin, death, and Satan's power which had brought such devastation. It’s an active internal protest.
  • in his spirit (τῷ πνεύματι): This signifies a deep, internal response, originating from the core of His being—His divine and human spirit. It's not superficial emotion but a profound, fundamental disturbance.

• and greatly troubled (ἐτάραξεν ἑαυτόν)

  • greatly troubled (ἐτάραξεν ἑαυτόν): The verb tarassō means "to stir up," "agitate," or "disturb." Crucially, heauton ("himself") is reflexive, indicating that Jesus actively troubled Himself. It suggests a deliberate, self-imposed agitation. While it implies deep distress and inner turmoil, it also reveals His agency and willingness to fully experience and embrace the pain, rather than being passively overwhelmed by it. He permitted Himself to be disturbed to fully identify with humanity's suffering.

John 11 33 Bonus section

• The profound paradox in John 11:33 is that Jesus, knowing He is about to raise Lazarus, nonetheless enters into such deep grief. This underscores His complete solidarity with human suffering and ensures His compassion is seen as utterly genuine, not performative. He identifies with our pain, even when He has the immediate power to eradicate it.
• The terms embrimaomai and etaraxen heauton show a unique combination of anger and self-imposed distress not typically used for simple sorrow. Scholars often interpret embrimaomai in a theological context as Christ's confrontation with the forces of evil (sin, death, Satan) that inflict such suffering. Some ancient Jewish exorcism texts use forms of embrimaomai for rebuking evil spirits, further suggesting a confrontation with the spiritual enemy.
• This intense, complex emotional display in John 11:33 foreshadows the deeper anguish Jesus will experience in Gethsemane, where His soul is "troubled to the point of death" (Mt 26:38). It reveals a pattern of internal agony preceding momentous redemptive acts.

John 11 33 Commentary

John 11:33 provides a profound glimpse into the person of Jesus Christ, revealing both His perfect humanity and His divine nature. His response to Mary's weeping and the collective lament of the Jews transcends mere sympathy; it is a complex emotional tempest. The term embrimaomai signifies not just sorrow but righteous indignation. Jesus' anger is directed not at the mourners, but at death itself – the ultimate consequence of sin and the last enemy of God. This divine fury against death and its author is stirred by the immediate manifestation of human suffering and despair. Furthermore, Jesus' self-troubling (etaraxen heauton) underscores His sovereign control even in intense emotion. He actively enters into the human experience of anguish, purposefully allowing His spirit to be agitated, demonstrating an unprecedented level of empathy and identification with the very creatures He is about to rescue. This moment encapsulates His divine compassion battling with the crushing reality of a fallen world, right before He brings victory.