John 11:55

John 11:55 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the Jews’ passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.
• New International Version (NIV)When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.

Context of John 11:55

53So from that day on they plotted to kill Him. 54As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples. Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many people went up from the country to Jerusalem to purify themselves before the Passover. 56They kept looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple courts, “What do you think? Will He come to the feast at all?” 57But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where He was must report it, so that they could arrest Him.

John 11:55 word by word

Ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς τὸ πάσχα τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ ἀνέβησαν πολλοὶ εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ἐκ τῆς χώρας πρὸ τοῦ πάσχα ἵνα ἁγνίσωσιν ἑαυτούς.Read the interlinear

• Nowδέde · thenG1161
• theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• JewishἸουδαῖοςIoudaios · JewG2453
• Passoverπάσχαpascha · Passover lambG3957
• wasεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• nearἐγγύςeggus · nearG1451
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• went upἀναβαίνωanabainō · to ascendG305
• fromἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• countryχώραchōra · countryG5561
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• JerusalemἹεροσόλυμαHierosoluma · JerusalemG2414
• toἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• purifyἁγνίζωhagnizō · to purifyG48
• themselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• beforeπρόpro · beforeG4253

Cross-references for John 11:55

• John 2:13When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
• John 5:1Some time later there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
• John 6:4Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near.
• Exodus 12:11This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.
• John 7:8Go up to the feast on your own. I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet come.”
• John 12:1Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
• Ezra 3:1By the seventh month, the Israelites had settled in their towns, and the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.
• Nehemiah 8:1At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.
• John 2:6Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons.
• Genesis 35:2So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
• Exodus 19:10Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
• Numbers 9:6But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day
• 1 Samuel 16:5“In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
• 2 Chronicles 30:17Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD.
• Job 1:5And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
• Psalms 26:6I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

Commentaries on John 11:55

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 55The Jews' passover was nigh at hand - It is not necessary to suppose that this verse has any particular connection with the preceding. Most chronologists agree that our Lord spent at least two months in Ephraim. This was the last passover which our Lord attended; and it was at this one that he suffered death for the salvation of a lost world. As the passover was nigh, many of the inhabitants of Ephraim and its neighborhood went up to Jerusalem, some time…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 55Jews‘ passover - See the notes at Leviticus 22:1-6. For want of this, great inconvenience was sometimes experienced. See 2 Chronicles 30:17-18. Different periods were necessary in order to be cleansed from ceremonial pollution. For example, one who had been polluted by the touch of a dead body, of a sepulchre, or by the bones of the dead, was sprinkled on the third and seventh days, by a clean person, with hyssop dipped in water mixed in the ashes of the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 54-57Verses 54-57 Before our gospel passover we must renew our repentance. Thus by a voluntary purification, and by religious exercises, many, more devout than their neighbours, spent some time before the passover at Jerusalem. When we expect to meet God, we must solemnly prepare. No devices of man can alter the purposes of God: and while hypocrites amuse themselves with forms and disputes, and worldly men pursue their own plans, Jesus still orders all things…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 55-57As crowds arrived in Jerusalem on pilgrimage for Passover (see 2:13), the city was buzzing with talk about Jesus and his miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. People wondered if Jesus would be obedient to the law and come to the city to celebrate or play it safe in the countryside. The priests and Pharisees knew that Jesus was faithful to the law and would attend the festival, so they tried to make the city a trap for him.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55-5755-57. passover ... at hand ... many went ... up ... before the passover, to purify themselves--from any legal uncleanness which would have disqualified them from keeping the feast. This is mentioned to introduce the graphic statement which follows.Read the comment

Topics related to John 11:55

• Purification

In the dictionaries

• Jerusalem
• Awake
• Mourn
• Bethany
• Chronology of the New Testament
• Jesus Christ
• John, Gospel of
• Lazarus
• Olives, Mount of
• Passover

Commentaries on John 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings