John 11:16

16 Then Thomas (the one who is called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, "Let us go also, so that we may die with him."

John 11:16 Meaning and Commentary

John 11:16

Then said Thomas, who is called Didymous
The former was his Hebrew name, and the latter his Greek name, and both signify a twin; and perhaps he may be so called because he was one:

the same said unto his fellow disciples;
the other eleven; though the Ethiopic version reads, "to the next of the disciples"; as if he addressed himself only to one of them, to him that was nearest to him:

let us also go, that we may die with him;
either with Lazarus, as some think, or rather with Christ; for he, and the rest of the disciples, imagined that Christ, by returning to Judea, would be in great danger of losing his life; yea, by this expression they seem to be positive in it, that it was a matter out of question with them, that he would die, should be venture there again: and therefore Thomas stirs up his fellow disciples to go along with him, and die altogether; signifying, that they should have but little comfort when he was taken from them: but both Thomas, and the rest, were differently minded, when Christ was apprehended, for they all forsook him and fled, and provided for their own safety, and left him to die alone, ( Matthew 26:56 ) .

John 11:16 In-Context

14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus has died,

15 and I am glad {for your sake} that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

16 Then Thomas (the one who is called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, "Let us go also, so that we may die with him."

17 So [when he] arrived, Jesus found he had already [been] four days in the tomb.

18 (Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia.

Footnotes

• [a]. "Didymus" means "the twin" in Greek