Lazarus
S. S. Times
John 11:1-6
Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.…


The English reader would at first sight hardly recognize the New Testament "Lazarus" as identical with the Old Testament "Eleazar." The two words are, however, the same. In the dialect of the Jerusalem Talmud, words that begin with an aleph (in English, say, an unaspirated initial vowel, like a or e) often drop that initial. Eleazar (AL'AZR) thus becomes L'azar (L'AZR); and so the name occurs, in point of fact, more than once in the Talmud. When the word "Lazar," again, was taken into the mouth of any person speaking Greek, he naturally added to it the Greek termination os (Latin, us), and so by gradual stages the Old Testament "Eleazar" became the New Testament "Lazarus."

(S. S. Times.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

WEB: Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.




God's Love to His Own People in a Afflicting Them
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