Albert Barnes Commentary John 11:20

"Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house." — John 11:20 (ASV)

Then Martha. To Martha was entrusted the management of the affairs of the family (Luke 10:40). It is probable that she first heard of his coming, and, without waiting to inform her sister, went immediately out to meet him. See John 11:28.

Sat still in the house. The word still is not in the original. It means that she remained sitting in the house.

The common posture of grief among the Jews was that of sitting (Job 2:8; Ezekiel 8:14). Often this grief was so excessive as to fix the person in astonishment and render him immovable, or prevent his being affected by any external objects. It is possible that the evangelist meant to intimate this of Mary's grief (Nehemiah 1:4; Isaiah 47:1).