Matthew 26:6

Jesus’ Anointing

26:6 Now while Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,

Matthew 8:2

8:2 And a leper approached, and bowed low before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Matthew 10:8

10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

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

tn Grk “a leper approaching, bowed low before him, saying.”

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

tc The majority of Byzantine minuscules, along with a few other witnesses (C3 K L Γ Θ 700* al), lack νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε (nekrou" ejgeirete, “raise the dead”), most likely because of oversight due to a string of similar endings (-ετε in the second person imperatives, occurring five times in v. 8). The longer version of this verse is found in several diverse and ancient witnesses such as א B C* (D) N 0281vid Ë1,13 33 565 al lat; P W Δ 348 have a word-order variation, but nevertheless include νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε. Although some Byzantine-text proponents charge the Alexandrian witnesses with theologically-motivated alterations toward heterodoxy, it is interesting to find a variant such as this in which the charge could be reversed (do the Byzantine scribes have something against the miracle of resurrection?). In reality, such charges of wholesale theologically-motivated changes toward heterodoxy are immediately suspect due to lack of evidence of intentional changes (here the change is evidently due to accidental omission).