Bible Strands
John 11:39
“Take away the stone,” Jesus said. “Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus commands the mourners to remove a stone from Lazarus’s tomb, and Martha objects by noting the four-day delay. This exchange occurs at the cave entrance immediately after Jesus arrives and sees the stone laid across it.
The words — ἄρατε (arate) means “do take away,” and λίθον (lithon) means “stone.” Jesus issues this direct imperative before Martha voices her objection.
The thread — The four-day burial aligns with John 11:17, and the stone-covered entrance parallels the tomb described in Mark 16:3. This physical barrier highlights the human inability to reverse death, contrasting with the divine power described in Psalms 49:7.
Why it lands — The text records Jesus demanding action before revealing power, and Martha stating a physical fact before receiving a promise. A reader must confront the tension between human limitation and divine timing without smoothing over the objection.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Cross-references
- John 11:17 When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already spent four days in the tomb.
- Psalms 49:7 No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
- Mark 16:3 They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”
- Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
- Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
- Genesis 23:4 “I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”
- Psalms 49:9 that he should live on forever and not see decay.
- Psalms 49:14 Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
- Acts 2:27 because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Acts 13:36 For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.