Text -- Luke 5:12 (NET)

Healing a Leper

5:12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came to him who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 5:12

¹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Or “cities.”

⁴ tn Grk “towns, behold, a man covered with leprosy.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou, “behold”) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

⁵ tn Grk “full of leprosy” (an idiom for a severe condition).

⁶ sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what is called leprosy today. A leper was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46).

⁷ tn Grk “And seeing.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here. The participle ἰδών (idwn) has been taken temporally.

⁸ tn Grk “he fell on his face”; an idiom for bowing down with one’s face to the ground.

⁹ tn Grk “and begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

¹⁰ tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.