[B-Greek] EMBRIBAOMAI (Lyle Story)

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Fri Mar 28 01:53:47 EST 2003


[Carl:]
> I have read Iver's response in addition to these two responses and will
> only add that I haven't been swayed from the view I expressed in
> my earlier
> message--that Jesus is moved by the death of Lazarus rather than by the
> reaction of others as a want of faith in his ability to deal with the
> situation or by his failure to arrive earlier. Once we're satisfied that
> Jesus COULD be grieved at Lazarus' death (vs 35 EDAKRUSEN--but
> perhaps some want to read that as something other than grief), I see no
reason why we
> cannot understand the two uses of EMBRIMAOMAI also as expressions of grief
> rather than indignation, particularly as one (vs. 33) has also ETARAXEN
> hEAUTON. This is evidently a matter upon which there are and will be
> different opinions.

Yes, I agree with the last statement. It is also possible that Jesus had
several, mixed emotions. For instance, I think it is quite possible that
Jesus was frustrated over the power of Satan to inflict illnesses and cause
grief to people. But I do not think this is the main idea, or the dominant
feeling of Jesus.

I find it hard to see how Jesus could have been grieved by Lazarus' death,
because this does not fit the context of the story. Let me try to recap
briefly the background, because it is easy to forget the context when we
look at a particular word taken out of context:
v. 3 Message from Martha and Mary to Jesus: Come quickly. Lazarus is very
ill
v. 4 Jesus responds: "This illness will not (ultimately) result in (or end
with) death, but is for the sake of (hUPER) the glory of God, and the Son of
God will be glorified. (Which must refer to the miracle of resurrection and
the many people who came to believe as a result of that resurrection. This
would not have happened if Jesus had not delayed and if Lazarus had not
died.) It seems clear that Jesus knew that Lazarus would die and be
resurrected.
v. 6 Jesus stayed two days more. Why? John does not tell us that Jesus was
busy doing anything and did not have time to go right away. According to the
story, it can only be a deliberate delay, a delay that cannot be understood
by normal, human reasoning.
(Then comes a passage where Jesus teaches his disciples that if they are led
by human thinking they will go stray. They must be led by the Jesus and the
will of God - and after Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. The disciples are
urged to follow and believe in "the light of the world" which is Jesus
himself as he brings light from God.)
v. 14-15: Jesus says: I'll go and resurrect Lazarus (who is now dead. How
did Jesus know that except by revelation?) I am GLAD I was not there (to
heal the sickness) SO THAT you may BELIEVE.
v. 21: Martha says: Why didn't you come right away? You could have healed
this illness if only you had arrived in time! (She had witnessed and
believed that Jesus could heal the sick.) In v. 32 Mary expresses the same
frustration and slight rebuke.
v. 22: Martha continued: But even now that he is dead, I believe you can
still do something.
Mary did not say anything like this, so it seems that in this case, Martha
had greater faith than Mary. The following verses have a dialogue between
Jesus and Martha which ends in a confession of belief from Martha that Jesus
was the Messiah, the Son of God. So, Martha's faith was so great that she
did not really need to see her brother being raised to come to that stage of
belief. She is unique in this respect in the story.
v. 32 Mary expresses her dissatisfaction with Jesus and her limited belief
which only reached to healing from illnesses.
v. 35 Jesus cried. Why did he cry? It cannot be grief, because Jesus already
knew that Lazarus' death was part of God's plan, that Lazarus would soon be
alive and that all of this would result in God and His Son being glorified.
Why would Jesus be grieved because God would be glorified? It is consistent
in the NT that there is ONE thing above everything else that frustrated
Jesus: the lack of faith in his closest friends and followers. Jesus is
crying out of frustration. He is sad that his closest friends, and Mary
especially, did not believe that he had power to conquer death.
v. 36 The bystanders misunderstand his feelings, thinking in human ways.
They think he cried out of grief, which is a very natural way of thinking.
v. 37 Some rebuke Jesus just as Martha and Mary had done, because they
believed he had power to heal the sick, but not power to raise the dead.
This is now *the third time* this disbelief has been voiced!
v. 38 After this third confession of unbelief, Jesus again expresses his
frustration (I think frustration catches his feelings better than anger or
indignation.)
v. 39 Jesus order them to open the grave and Martha protests. Although she
believed in Jesus as the Messiah, she had not yet understood that Jesus had
power over death.
v. 40 Jesus mildly rebukes Martha, because he had already told her that he
has power over death. She believed this for the future, but not for the
present.
v. 42 Jesus publicly announces the purpose of all this: that they may
believe that he was sent from God, i.e. the Messiah, the Son of God.
v. 45 As a result many believed that he was the Messiah.
>
> Forwarded for: "Lyle Story" <lylesto at regent.edu>
> Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 14:27:33 -0500
>
> In Jn. 11:33, 38, a repetition is found of the same Greek verb
> EMBRIMAOMAI,
> translated as "deeply moved" (RSV). The first occurrence of the term is in
> response to the complaint of the two sisters, while the second use of the
> verb is in response to the criticism of the Jews who questioned his care
> for his friend (v. 37). The verb ejmbrimavomai, is used of horses which
> "snort" and also means "scold, censure." In Mk. 14:5, it is used of
> bystanders who witnessed a woman's outpouring of expensive ointment on
> Jesus, "they were censuring her." In Mk. 1:43, the participle of the same
> verb is used to describe Jesus' command to the cleansed leper, "sternly
> charging him." In Matt. 9:30, the verb is used as a stern warning to the
> two blind men whom Jesus healed. It is helpful to note that in each case,
> the three synoptic passages contain an object--the woman, the leper, and
> the two blind men. Consequently, the object of the verb in John 11:33, 38
> is Jesus himself. Thus, the second part of v. 33 can be literally
> rendered,
> "he censured his spirit and troubled himself." In both 11:33, 38, the
> question at issue is Jesus' attitude toward himself, or in himself. The
> response of Jesus can be interpreted as, "Why did I not come sooner and
> save my friends their grief and the grief of their friends as well? I have
> only myself to blame that I did not come sooner." The thought may well be
> conveyed through our expression, "If only I had. . ."

This is a novel interpretation which as far as I can see has not been
followed by any translation, and it does not fit the context.
EMBRIMAOMAI is construed with a dative when it is directed towards a person,
and in Mk 1:43, Mt 9:30 it is a person who has been healed who is sternly
told to keep quite. It is interesting that they DO NOT obey the order. I am
sure Jesus knew that. The disobedience that these people exhibit is related
to the disbelief we witness in John 11, because disbelief and disobedience
are sisters.
In John 11:38 there is no dative object, but EN hEAUTWi which must mean that
it was an inner feeling of frustration which was not expressed or directed
to anybody.
John 11:33 has TWi PNEUMATI after the verb, but because of the parallelism
with 11:38 it must be understood in a similar way. It was an inner
frustration.

Iver Larsen



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