John 11:37
Context11:37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see! 1 Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus 2 from dying?”
John 12:6
Context12:6 (Now Judas 3 said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box, 4 he used to steal what was put into it.) 5
1 tn Grk “who opened the eyes of the blind man” (“opening the eyes” is an idiom referring to restoration of sight).
2 tn Grk “this one”; the second half of 11:37 reads Grk “Could not this one who opened the eyes of the blind have done something to keep this one from dying?” In the Greek text the repetition of “this one” in 11:37b referring to two different persons (first Jesus, second Lazarus) could confuse a modern reader. Thus the first reference, to Jesus, has been translated as “he” to refer back to the beginning of v. 37, where the reference to “the man who caused the blind man to see” is clearly a reference to Jesus. The second reference, to Lazarus, has been specified (“Lazarus”) in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Grk “a thief, and having the money box.” Dividing the single Greek sentence improves the English style.
5 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. This is one of the indications in the gospels that Judas was of bad character before the betrayal of Jesus. John states that he was a thief and had responsibility for the finances of the group. More than being simply a derogatory note about Judas’ character, the inclusion of the note at this particular point in the narrative may be intended to link the frustrated greed of Judas here with his subsequent decision to betray Jesus for money. The parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark seem to indicate that after this incident Judas went away immediately and made his deal with the Jewish authorities to deliver up Jesus. Losing out on one source of sordid gain, he immediately went out and set up another.