Charles Ellicott Commentary John 11:39

"Jesus saith, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time the body decayeth; for he hath been [dead] four days." — John 11:39 (ASV)

Martha, the sister of him who was dead.—This fact of close relationship is mentioned again to account for her remark. We know from the whole narrative that she was his sister; but this verse means to say, not simply that Martha spoke, but that it was the sister in Martha—the one whose brother was dead—who spoke. She thinks that the form of him she loved has now undergone corruption; she cannot bear for her own eyes or the eyes of others to see it.

For he hath been dead four days.—The word “dead” is not expressed in the Greek, which says literally, for he has been of the fourth day; and the thought is rather of the tomb than of death—“for he has been in the tomb four days.” (Compare John 11:17.) The body had been embalmed (John 11:44); but the custom of the Jews was to embalm only with spices and to wrap in linen cloths (John 19:40–42), and there is no evidence that they at any time followed the Egyptian method of embalming. The only instance of Jewish embalming mentioned in the Old Testament is that of Asa (2 Chronicles 16:14).

The fact that the body had been in the tomb four days is given by the sister as a proof that decomposition must have taken place, and expositors have generally assumed that this was so. This is, however, not stated in the text, and the assumption is opposed by the fact that there was an interval during which the tomb was open, and Jesus prayed to the Father (John 11:41–42).