Yohanes 11:9-11

11:9 Jesus replied, ¹  “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, ²  because he sees the light of this world. ³  11:10 But if anyone walks around at night, ⁴  he stumbles, ⁵  because the light is not in him.”

11:11 After he said this, he added, ⁶  “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. ⁷  But I am going there to awaken him.”

Yohanes 11:14

11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

[11:9]  ¹ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[11:9]  ² tn Or “he does not trip.”

[11:9]  ³ sn What is the light of this world? On one level, of course, it refers to the sun, but the reader of John’s Gospel would recall 8:12 and understand Jesus’ symbolic reference to himself as the light of the world. There is only a limited time left (Are there not twelve hours in a day?) until the Light will be withdrawn (until Jesus returns to the Father) and the one who walks around in the dark will trip and fall (compare the departure of Judas by night in 13:30).

[11:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “in the night.”

[11:10]  ⁵ tn Or “he trips.”

[11:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “He said these things, and after this he said to them.”

[11:11]  ⁷ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for death when speaking of believers. This metaphorical usage by its very nature emphasizes the hope of resurrection: Believers will one day “wake up” out of death. Here the term refers to death, but “asleep” was used in the translation to emphasize the metaphorical, rhetorical usage of the term, especially in light of the disciples’ confusion over what Jesus actually meant (see v. 13).