Luke 5:12-15

Healing a Leper

5:12 While ¹  Jesus ²  was in one of the towns, ³  a man came ⁴  to him who was covered with ⁵  leprosy. ⁶  When ⁷  he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground ⁸  and begged him, ⁹  “Lord, if ¹⁰  you are willing, you can make me clean.” 5:13 So ¹¹  he stretched out his hand and touched ¹²  him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 5:14 Then ¹³  he ordered the man ¹⁴  to tell no one, ¹⁵  but commanded him, ¹⁶  “Go ¹⁷  and show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering ¹⁸  for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ¹⁹  as a testimony to them.” ²⁰  5:15 But the news about him spread even more, ²¹  and large crowds were gathering together to hear him ²²  and to be healed of their illnesses.

Luke 17:12-19

17:12 As ²³  he was entering ²⁴  a village, ten men with leprosy ²⁵  met him. They ²⁶  stood at a distance, 17:13 raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy ²⁷  on us.” 17:14 When ²⁸  he saw them he said, “Go ²⁹  and show yourselves to the priests.” ³⁰  And ³¹  as they went along, they were cleansed. 17:15 Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising ³²  God with a loud voice. 17:16 He ³³  fell with his face to the ground ³⁴  at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. ³⁵  (Now ³⁶  he was a Samaritan.) ³⁷  17:17 Then ³⁸  Jesus said, ³⁹  “Were ⁴⁰  not ten cleansed? Where are the other ⁴¹  nine? 17:18 Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ⁴²  17:19 Then ⁴³  he said to the man, ⁴⁴  “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.” ⁴⁵ 

[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.

[5:12]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ³ tn Or “cities.”

[5:12]  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).

[5:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “full of leprosy” (an idiom for a severe condition).

[5:12]  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).

[5:12]  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.

[5:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “he fell on his face”; an idiom for bowing down with one’s face to the ground.

[5:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “and begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.

[5:13]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the response of Jesus to the man’s request.

[5:13]  ¹² sn Touched. This touch would have rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean (Lev 14:46; also Mishnah, m. Nega’im 3.1; 11.1; 12.1; 13.6-12).

[5:14]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:14]  ¹⁵ sn The silence ordered by Jesus was probably meant to last only until the cleansing took place with the priests and sought to prevent Jesus’ healings from becoming the central focus of the people’s reaction to him. See also 4:35, 41; 8:56 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence with reference to miracles.

[5:14]  ¹⁶ tn The words “commanded him” are not in the Greek text but have been supplied for clarity. This verse moves from indirect to direct discourse. This abrupt change is very awkward, so the words have been supplied to smooth out the transition.

[5:14]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Going, show.” The participle ἀπελθών (apelqwn) has been translated as an attendant circumstance participle. Here the syntax also changes somewhat abruptly from indirect discourse to direct discourse.

[5:14]  ¹⁸ tn The words “the offering” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:14]  ¹⁹ sn On the phrase as Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.

[5:14]  ²⁰ tn Or “as an indictment against them”; or “as proof to the people.” This phrase could be taken as referring to a positive witness to the priests, a negative testimony against them, or as a testimony to the community that the man had indeed been cured. In any case, the testimony shows that Jesus is healing and ministering to those in need.

[5:15]  ²¹ sn That is, in spite of Jesus’ instructions to the man to tell no one about the healing (v. 14).

[5:15]  ²² tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[17:12]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:12]  ²⁴ tn The participle εἰσερχομένου (eisercomenou) is taken temporally.

[17:12]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:14]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ sn These are the instructions of what to do with a healing (Lev 13:19; 14:1-11; Luke 5:14).

[17:14]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Grk “glorifying God.”

[17:16]  ³³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ³⁴ tn Grk “he fell on his face” (an idiom for complete prostration).

[17:16]  ³⁵ sn And thanked him. This action recognized God’s healing work through Jesus.

[17:16]  ³⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a parenthetical comment.

[17:16]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:17]  ³⁹ tn Grk “Jesus answering said”; this is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:17]  ⁴⁰ tn The Greek construction used here (οὐχί, ouci) expects a positive reply.

[17:17]  ⁴¹ tn The word “other” is implied in the context.

[17:18]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “to him”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:19]  ⁴⁵ 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.