For an Informed Love of God
Bill Mounce
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Monday, November 11, 2024
How can Lazarus Rise Again? (John 11:23–24)
Bill Mounce
The “etymological error” is defining a word by it morphemes, its little parts. There are times when context supports that a word still carries the meaning of its parts. εἰσέρχομαι (εἰς + πορεύομαι) means “to go into.” ἐξέρχομαι (ἐξ + ἔρχομαι) means “to go out.” But we can’t assume this is always the case. Context must support the etymological meaning. This is a common rule in exegesis, which is why the standard translation of our passage mystifies me.
Jesus says to Martha, “‘Your brother will rise (ἀναστήσεται) from the dead.’ Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise (ἀναστήσεται) in the resurrection on the last day’” (NASB). The verb is question is ἀνίστημι.
All major translations say “rise again.” There is no πάλιν (“again”), and I can’t find an explanation in the commentaries. So why “rise again”? Lazarus had not already risen from the dead, making this the “again.” Since we know the end of the story, Lazarus’ resurrection at judgment would be the “again.”
BDAG defines ἀνίστημι as “raise, erect, raise up”; “to raise up by bringing back to life, raise, raise up.” There is no idea of “again” in any of its other definitions. Interestingly, it explains the word’s etymology as being the alpha privative joined to ἵστημι (with an epenthetic ν making the word pronounceable).
I was wondering if people think the etymology of ἀνίστημι is ἀνά + ἵστημι, although BDAG includes no meaning of “again” with ἀνά. In John 3:3, Jesus talks about being born “again” (ἄνωθεν), but I don’t know the etymology of the adverb ἄνωθεν and doubt it is formed with ἀνά.
Perhaps the NET has it right. “Your brother will come back to life again.” The “again” is not a second resurrection but rather a coming back to life. He was alive once, and now he will live again. However, the standard translation is confusing.
