John 11:17

17 On arrival, Yeshua found that El`azar had already been in the tomb for four days.

John 11:17 Meaning and Commentary

John 11:17

Then when Jesus came
The Alexandrian copy, and all the Oriental versions add, "to Bethany"; though it seems by what follows, that he was not come to the town itself, but near it; and it looks as if it was not far from Lazarus's grave; and it was usual to bury without the city; and here he had intelligence of his, Lazarus's, death, and how long he had been dead:

for he found he had lain in the grave four days already;
it is very likely that he died the same day that Mary and Martha sent to Christ to acquaint him with his sickness, and the same day he was buried; for the Jews used to bury the same day a person died, and so they do now: and after Christ had this account, he stayed two days where he was, and on the third day, he proposed to his disciples to go into Judea; and very probably on that, or on the next day, which was the fourth, they set out and came to Bethany; (See Gill on John 11:39).

John 11:17 In-Context

15 And for your sakes, I am glad that I wasn't there, so that you may come to trust. But let's go to him."

16 Then T'oma (the name means "twin") said to his fellow talmidim, "Yes, we should go, so that we can die with him!"

17 On arrival, Yeshua found that El`azar had already been in the tomb for four days.

18 Now Beit-Anyah was about two miles from Yerushalayim,

19 and many of the Judeans had come to Marta and Miryam in order to comfort them at the loss of their brother.