Charles Ellicott Commentary John 11:17

"So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already." — John 11:17 (ASV)

Then when Jesus came—that is, to the neighborhood of Bethany. He did not immediately enter the village itself (John 11:20; John 11:30).

He found that he had lain in the grave four days already.—The Jewish custom was to bury on the day of death. (Compare to Acts 5:6-10.) The whole tone of the narrative places the time of death at the point indicated by the summons to go into Judea, in John 11:7 (see Note there).

Counting the parts of the days on which they set out and on which they arrived as included in the four days, in accordance with the Jewish method, we have two whole days and parts of two other days spent on the journey.

There is no indication that they stopped on the way; instead, everything suggests that they went as quickly as possible.

The common view, which assumes the place where John was baptizing to have been on the southern Jordan, cannot be reconciled with this long journey. This view typically assumes that Lazarus died on the day the message reached the Lord, that after his death our Lord remained two days where He was, and that the fourth day was spent on the journey to Bethany.

It is believed, however, that the meaning of the narrative is brought out more fully by the interpretation followed above. This interpretation suggests that the four days for the journey is perfectly natural, based on the adopted supposition that the journey was from Tellanihje, which was north of the Sea of Galilee.