John 11:39

τετελευτηκότος for τεθνηκότος with all the best MSS.

39. ἄρατε τ. λίθον. Comp. τ. λίθον ἠ ρμένον. (John 20:1) not ἀποκεκυλισμένον (Luke 24:2 : comp. Mark 16:4; Matthew 28:2). The command would cause great surprise and excitement.

ἡ�. τετελ. Not inserted gratuitously. It was because she was his sister that she could not bear to see him or allow him to be seen disfigured by corruption. The remark comes much more naturally from the practical Martha than from the reserved and retiring Mary. There is nothing to indicate that she was mistaken; though some would have it that the miracle had begun from Lazarus’ death, and that the corpse had been preserved from decomposition.

τεταρταῖος. Literally, of the fourth day; quadriduanus. Westcott quotes a striking Jewish tradition: “The very height of mourning is not till the third day. For three days the spirit wanders about the sepulchre, expecting if it may return into the body. But when it sees that the aspect of the face is changed, then it hovers no more, but leaves the body to itself.” And “after three days the countenance is changed.”