What Does John 11:29 Mean?
As soon as she heard this, she stood up quickly and came to him.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.THE KEY
The verb for Mary’s rising is the same verb John uses for Lazarus being raised from death.
THE MEANING
The call reaches you through a message: you are wanted near. Hearing becomes movement; the distance starts closing before the moment is fully explained. Mary rises quickly and comes to him, and the verse keeps the response immediate.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that a summons is only information: here, being called is already moving her toward the caller.
THE ROOT
ἠγέρθη
ēgerthē
GROWS FROM
ἐγείρω
egeirō
to wake, rouse, or raise
“stood up” in this verse is ēgerthē. English “arose” sounds like plain movement, while the Greek verb also means to wake or raise. The same verb names Jesus raising Lazarus, so Mary’s quick rising carries the story’s resurrection word.
ALSO GROWS
awake: The disciples wake Jesus from sleep; the Greek verb is ἐγείρω (egeirō).
The same seed covers waking from sleep and Mary’s rising, giving her movement the wider sense of being roused.
raised: Lazarus is the one Jesus “raised from the dead,” using ἐγείρω (egeirō).
This shared verb lets Mary’s bodily movement echo the raising at the center of the story.
THE PATTERN
A spoken summons can turn stillness into movement.
And as he lay down and slept under a juniper tree, look, a messenger touched him, and said to him, "Rise and eat."And he came and touched the bier, and those carrying him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Wake.But Peter cast them all outside, and set his knees down, and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, stand up. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.THE THREAD
Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had died, whom he raised from the dead.John uses the same verb here translated “arose” for Lazarus, rendered “raised” in this verse. Mary rises in response to the call, and the word describing her movement also names Lazarus’s return from death.
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