Matthew 8:1-5

Cleansing a Leper

8:1 After he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. 8:2 And a leper ¹  approached, and bowed low before him, saying, ²  “Lord, if ³  you are willing, you can make me clean.” 8:3 He stretched out his hand and touched ⁴  him saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 8:4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not speak to anyone, ⁵  but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering ⁶  that Moses commanded, ⁷  as a testimony to them.” ⁸ 

Healing the Centurion’s Servant

8:5 When he entered Capernaum, ⁹  a centurion ¹⁰  came to him asking for help: ¹¹ 

[8:2]  ¹ 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).

[8:2]  ² tn Grk “a leper approaching, bowed low before him, saying.”

[8:2]  ³ tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.

[8:3]  ⁴ 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).

[8:4]  ⁵ sn The command for silence 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 9:30, 12:16, 16:20, and 17:9 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence concerning him and his ministry.

[8:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “gift.”

[8:4]  ⁷ sn On the phrase bring the offering that Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.

[8:4]  ⁸ tn Or “as an indictment against them.” The pronoun αὐτοῖς (autoi") may be a dative of disadvantage.

[8:5]  ⁹ sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[8:5]  ¹⁰ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like the apostle Paul did.

[8:5]  ¹¹ sn While in Matthew’s account the centurion came to him asking for help, Luke’s account (7:1-10) mentions that the centurion sent some Jewish elders as emissaries on his behalf.