THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN - Chapter 11 - Verse 33

Verse 33. He groaned in the spirit. The word rendered groaned, here, commonly denotes to be angry or indignant, or to reprove severely, denoting violent agitation of mind. Here it also evidently denotes violent agitation—not from anger, but from grief. He saw the sorrow of others, and he was also moved with sympathy and love. The word groan usually, with us, denotes an expression of internal sorrow by a peculiar sound. The word here, however, does not mean that utterance was given to the internal emotion, but that it was deep and agitating, though internal.

In the spirit. In the mind. See Ac 19:21: "Paul purposed in the spirit "—that is, in his mind, Mt 5:3.

Was troubled. Was affected with grief. Perhaps this expression denotes that his countenance was troubled, or gave indications of sorrow (Grotius).

{2} "was troubled" or, "he troubled himself"