Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Martha - went and met him - Some suppose she was the eldest of the two sisters - she seems to have had the management of the house. See Luke 10:40.
Mary sat still in the house - It is likely that by this circumstance the evangelist intended to convey the idea of her sorrow and distress; because anciently afflicted persons were accustomed to put themselves in this posture, as expressive of their distress; their grief having rendered them as it were immovable. See Ezra 9:3, Ezra 9:4; Nehemiah 1:4; Psalms 137:1; Isaiah 47:1; Luke 1:79; and Matthew 27:61.