Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on John 11:31
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
The Jews then which were with her in the house, etc.] Who came from Jerusalem to visit this afflicted family, and continued in the house with them and comforted her; which was the end of their coming, (<431119>John 11:19). This they endeavoured to do, though they did not succeed: when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her; they did not know what Martha whispered to her, but observed that she rose off her seat in great haste, and went out of the house at once; and therefore they went after to see where she went, and to persuade her to return; saying, within themselves; “thinking”, as all the Oriental versions seem to read, she goeth unto the grave to weep there: the Jews were wont to go to the graves on different accounts; one was to see whether the persons were dead or not: for so it is said f498, “they go to the graves and visit until three days.” It happened that they visited one, and he lived five and twenty years, and after that died: and another was on a religious account; such went to the graves of the prophets, wise men, and righteous, and prostrated themselves upon them, to pray with weeping and supplication, and seek mercy for themselves, and for their brethren, expressing their faith in the resurrection f499 . Dr. Pocock f500 has given a large form of prayer used by them at such times, from Solomon bar Nathan; and is as follows: “let it be the will of the Lord our God, our Creator, our Holy One, the Holy One of Jacob, who hath created all the children of his covenant in judgment, and causes them to die in judgment, and will raise them again to the life of the world to come, who knows the number of them all; that he would hasten to awake our master and doctor, (such an one,) that holy, (or that righteous, or that wise doctor,) whose body dwells in this sepulchre, whose bones rest in the midst of these stones; and that he would quicken him with that eternal life which no death follows; with that life which swallows up all death, and which wipes away all tears, and takes away all reproach; together with all those who are written unto life in Jerusalem; with the seven shepherds, and eight principal men, who are spoken of in (<330505>Micah 5:5), and give him a part with them that understand, and with them that justify many, who will be like the stars for ever and ever; and the whole residue of the people of the Lord, the house of Israel, who keep the covenant of our God, and do his pleasure, may the Lord our God shake all these out of their dust, and let their lot, and our lot, be in life, in everlasting life, that in it he may establish all, both great and small, according to what is written, (<197216>Psalm 72:16): “there shall be an handful of corn”, etc. and confirm the assurance he gave by Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, (<232619>Isaiah 26:19): “thy dead men shall live”, etc. and as he promised to Daniel, a man of desires, (<271213>Daniel 12:13): “but go thou thy way till the end be”, etc. and as he promised to all the congregations of Israel, by his servant Ezekiel, the son of Buzi the priest, (<263712>Ezekiel 37:12): “therefore prophesy and say to them”, etc. that the saints may rejoice with glory, and sing upon their beds, and that the righteous may rejoice, and exult before God, and be glad in his salvation, and say in that day, “behold this is our God, we have waited for him”, etc. (<232509>Isaiah 25:9); and we will bless the Lord from this time forth, and for ever, Hallelujah.” A shor…
This public page shows a contextual excerpt from the locally available source text.
How to use this source
This excerpt is attributed to its named commentary. It is included as a historical study resource and should be evaluated in light of Scripture and other relevant evidence.
