“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.”
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha — John introduces a new sign, the raising of Lazarus, by establishing the sick man's identity, location, and social connections. Bethany is a village near Jerusalem (2 miles away, according to verse 18), and the family is already known to readers (Luke 10:38-42 context, though John will introduce them). The naming of Lazarus (Lazaros, from Hebrew Eleazar, 'God helps') is significant; this will be the seventh and climactic sign in John's Gospel.
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