Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
MAR'THA, the feminine form of an Aramaic word signifying "lord," "master," was the sister of Lazarus and Mary, and seems to have been the eldest of the family, as she is always mentioned before Mary and generally represented as the mistress of the house. She was more active in practical life than the younger sister, but lacked her concentration on the one thing needful; but she was, nevertheless, sincere, devoted, and beloved by Christ, John 11:5, and her energy, somewhat encumbered by the distractions of actual life, became at last concentrated in her faith in the Saviour.