Luke 17:11-19

The Grateful Leper

17:11 Now on ¹  the way to Jerusalem, ²  Jesus ³  was passing along ⁴  between Samaria and Galilee. 17:12 As ⁵  he was entering ⁶  a village, ten men with leprosy ⁷  met him. They ⁸  stood at a distance, 17:13 raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy ⁹  on us.” 17:14 When ¹⁰  he saw them he said, “Go ¹¹  and show yourselves to the priests.” ¹²  And ¹³  as they went along, they were cleansed. 17:15 Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising ¹⁴  God with a loud voice. 17:16 He ¹⁵  fell with his face to the ground ¹⁶  at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. ¹⁷  (Now ¹⁸  he was a Samaritan.) ¹⁹  17:17 Then ²⁰  Jesus said, ²¹  “Were ²²  not ten cleansed? Where are the other ²³  nine? 17:18 Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ²⁴  17:19 Then ²⁵  he said to the man, ²⁶  “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.” ²⁷ 

[17:11]  ¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” 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.

[17:11]  ² sn This is another travel note about Jesus going to Jerusalem in Luke 9:51-19:48, the so-called “Jerusalem journey” section of Luke’s Gospel. It is not a straight line journey, because to travel along the Galilean and Samaritan border is to go east or west, not south to Jerusalem.

[17:11]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ⁴ tn Or “was traveling about.”

[17:12]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:12]  ⁶ tn The participle εἰσερχομένου (eisercomenou) is taken temporally.

[17:12]  ⁷ sn The ten men with leprosy would have been unable to approach Jesus (Lev 13:45-46; Num 5:2-3). The ancient term for leprosy covered 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).

[17:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “leprosy, who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun was replaced with a personal pronoun and a new sentence started at this point in the translation.

[17:13]  ⁹ sn “Have mercy on us” is a request to heal them (Luke 18:38-39; 16:24; Matt 9:27; 15:22; 17:15; 20:31-32; Mark 10:47-49).

[17:14]  ¹⁰ tn Καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:14]  ¹¹ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") is a good example of an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance. As such, it picks up the force of an imperative from the verb to which it is related (ExSyn 640-45).

[17:14]  ¹² sn These are the instructions of what to do with a healing (Lev 13:19; 14:1-11; Luke 5:14).

[17:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “And it happened that as.” 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.

[17:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “glorifying God.”

[17:16]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he fell on his face” (an idiom for complete prostration).

[17:16]  ¹⁷ sn And thanked him. This action recognized God’s healing work through Jesus.

[17:16]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a parenthetical comment.

[17:16]  ¹⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The comment that the man was a Samaritan means that to most Jews of Jesus’ day he would have been despised as a half-breed and a heretic. The note adds a touch of irony to the account (v. 18).

[17:17]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “Jesus answering said”; this is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:17]  ²² tn The Greek construction used here (οὐχί, ouci) expects a positive reply.

[17:17]  ²³ tn The word “other” is implied in the context.

[17:18]  ²⁴ sn Jesus’ point in calling the man a foreigner is that none of the other nine, who were presumably Israelites, responded with gratitude. Only the “outsiders” were listening and responding.

[17:19]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “to him”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:19]  ²⁷ tn Or “has delivered you”; Grk “has saved you.” The remark about faith suggests the benefit of trusting in Jesus’ ability to deliver. Apparently the Samaritan benefited from the healing in a way the other nine did not.