I have always been struck by the intense emotion in John 11:33: 'He groaned in the Spirit and was troubled.' I found the interpretation that this was a reaction to the unbelief of those around him unsatisfactory. Further reading and research (with Claude's help) The Greek verb used here is 'ἐμβριμάομαι' (embrimaomai), which appears five times in the New Testament. See next post. In classical Greek, this word does not primarily mean a mournful groan. It literally describes the snorting of a horse and carries strong connotations of indignation, anger or stern agitation. In his landmark essay 'The Emotional Life of Our Lord' (1912, Princeton Theological Review), B.B. Warfield argued extensively that the word conveys wrathful indignation — not at the mourners, but at death as the great enemy of mankind and the consequence of sin. According to Warfield, the scene depicts Christ as a warrior facing his adversary. This interpretation is supported by the context: Jesus is standing at a tomb, about to confront and reverse death. The emotional register is not that of passive grief, but of active, holy anger at what death does to human beings. Warfield observed that the Gospels consistently depict Jesus as being genuinely and deeply emotional — never stoic or detached — and that these emotions almost always precede action rather than being a substitute for it. The feeling drives the deed. What is distinctive about John 11 is the combination of embrimaomai ('the forceful, almost angry agitation') with edakrysen ('Jesus wept' — the shortest verse in the Bible), which occur within a few verses of each other. This pairing of fierce inner agitation and outward tears is unique and suggests that something of enormous significance is being brought to the tomb. I had never realised the preliminary state in that way before. (Warfield's text is available in various formats via the web.)
