Charles Ellicott Commentary John 11:33

"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews [also] weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled," — John 11:33 (ASV)

He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.—The word rendered “groaned” occurs, in addition to this verse and John 11:38, three other times in the New Testament: in Matthew 9:30 (and Jesus sternly charged them); Mark 1:43 (and He sternly charged him); and Mark 14:5 (and they murmured against her). Compare the notes on these passages.

The original meaning of the word is “to snort, as of horses.” Passing to the moral sense, it expresses disturbance of the mind—vehement agitation. This may express itself in sharp admonition, in words of anger against a person, or in a physical shudder, corresponding to the intensity of the emotion. In each of the passages in the earlier Gospels, the word is accompanied by an object upon which the feeling is directed. In the present context, it does not go beyond the subject of the feeling. Here it is in the spirit ; and in John 11:38 it is in Himself. Both mean the same thing and point to the inner moral depth of His righteous indignation; the object of it, however, is not expressed.

For the rendering and was troubled, the margin gives, as the exact force of the Greek, and He troubled Himself; and this is to be preferred. These words do not express the inner emotion, for that has been expressed in the strong words that have gone before. They point rather to the physical movement that accompanied the emotion and made known to others the indignation that was excited in His own spirit. The force of the whole sentence would require, in English, some such rendering as “He was indignant in the spirit, and caused Himself to shudder.”

Very different views have been put forth as to the cause of this intensity of emotion in our Lord. The cause supplied by the text is that He saw Mary lying at His feet weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her.

Real sorrow, which calls forth all His sympathy, is accompanied by the mockery of sorrow, which can shed tears for the brother, whom they afterwards seek to kill (John 12:10)!

These Jews are those who had sought to stone their Teacher and had resolved to cut off from all religious and social intercourse everyone who acknowledged Him as the Messiah! With hearts full of hatred, they can profess to be comforters and can mingle their tears with hers.

The severest words that fell from the lips of Christ were those which denounced the hypocrisy of priests, Pharisees, and scribes. It is this hypocrisy which now stirs in His spirit an anger so intense that it causes nerve and muscle and limb to tremble beneath its force.