What Does John 11:2 Mean in the King James?

(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

John 11:2 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

John introduces Lazarus through a Greek word for being without strength, while Mary is remembered through the touch she gave.

THE MEANING

This line holds Lazarus’s illness beside Mary’s embodied act of care: she anoints the Lord and wipes his feet with her hair. It speaks now to the reader by letting vulnerability remain bodily and care remain visible in the same moment.

THE ROOT

ἠσθένει

ēsthenei

GROWS FROM

σθεν-

sthen-

Strength, vigor. The privative prefix ⁨ἀ-⁩ (a-, “without”) combines with ⁨σθεν-⁩ (sthen-, “strength”) in this word family.

The Greek word for Lazarus’s sickness belongs to a family built around strength, giving the verse’s plain illness language an added layer: his body is weakened. The English word “sick” does not carry that shared root into view.

ALSO GROWS

sthenos: Strength, vigor

σθένος

This supplies the strength at the center of the word family used to describe Lazarus’s weakened condition.

astheneia: Weakness, illness, infirmity

ἀσθένεια

This noun names weakness and illness through the same ⁨σθεν-⁩ (sthen-, strength) family.

asthenēs: Weak, feeble, ill

ἀσθενής

This adjective shows that the verb used of Lazarus belongs to a wider family describing weakness.

THE PATTERN

Scripture repeatedly lets a person’s actions become part of how that person is recognized and remembered.

And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.

Ruth 2:11 · KJVBoaz recognizes Ruth by recounting what she has done and the care she has shown.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

Acts 9:36 · KJVTabitha is introduced through the good works and generosity that mark her life.

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Mark 14:9 · KJVThe woman’s act is carried forward as the way she will be remembered.

THE THREAD

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 · KJV

John uses ⁨ἠσθένει⁩ (ēsthenei, “was weak or ill”) for Lazarus, while Paul uses ⁨ἀσθένεια⁩ (astheneia, “weakness or infirmity”) from the same ⁨σθεν-⁩ (sthen-, “strength”) family. The shared word family lets Lazarus’s illness and Paul’s naming of weakness echo through the underlying language of strength.

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