John 11:35

Wept [ε δ α κ ρ υ σ ε ν]. A different verb from that in ver. 31. From dakru, tear, and meaning to shed tears, to weep silently. Only here in the New Testament. Klaiw, to weep audibly, is once used of our Lord in Luke 19:41. "The very Gospel in which the deity of Jesus is most clearly asserted, is also that which makes us best acquainted with the profoundly human side of His life" (Godet). How far such a conception of deity is removed from the pagan ideal, may be seen by even a superficial study of the classics. Homer's gods and goddesses weep and bellow when wounded, but are not touched with the feeling of human infirmity 37 (see on 3 16). "The gods," says Gladstone, "while they dispense afflictions upon earth, which are neither sweetened by love, nor elevated by a distinct disciplinary purpose, take care to keep themselves beyond all touch of grief or care."

"The gods ordain The lot of man to suffer, while themselves Are free from care." " Iliad, " 24, 525.

So Diana, when appealed to by the wretched Hippolytus for sympathy, replies :

"I see thy love, but must not shed a tear." Euripides, "Hippolytes," 1396.

The Roman satirist unconsciously bears witness to the profound truthfulness and beauty of this picture of the weeping Savior, in the words : "Nature confesses that she gives the tenderest of hearts to the human race by giving them tears : this is the best part of our sensations" (Juvenal, "Satire" 14 131 - 133).