Matthew 9:6-8

9:6 But so that you may know ¹  that the Son of Man ²  has authority on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic ³  – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ⁴  9:7 And he stood up and went home. ⁵  9:8 When ⁶  the crowd saw this, they were afraid ⁷  and honored God who had given such authority to men. ⁸ 

[9:6]  ¹ sn Now Jesus put the two actions together. The walking of the man would be proof (so that you may know) that his sins were forgiven and that God had worked through Jesus (i.e., the Son of Man).

[9:6]  ² sn The term Son of Man, which is a title in Greek, comes from a pictorial description in Dan 7:13 of one “like a son of man” (i.e., a human being). It is Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself. Jesus did not reveal the background of the term here, which mixes human and divine imagery as the man in Daniel rides a cloud, something only God does. He just used it. It also could be an idiom in Aramaic meaning either “some person” or “me.” So there is a little ambiguity in its use here, since its origin is not clear at this point. However, the action makes it clear that Jesus used it to refer to himself here.

[9:6]  ³ sn Jesus did not finish his sentence with words but with action, that is, healing the paralytic with an accompanying pronouncement to him directly.

[9:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “to your house.”

[9:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “to his house.”

[9:8]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:8]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses (C L Θ 0233 ˹³ Ï) have ἐθαύμασαν (eqaumasan; “marveled, were amazed”) instead of ἐφοβήθησαν (efobhqhsan) here, effectively turning the fearful reaction into one of veneration. But the harder reading is well supported by א B D W 0281 ˹ 33 892 1424 al lat co and thus is surely authentic.

[9:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “people.” The plural of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") usually indicates people in general, but the singular is used in the expression “Son of Man.” There is thus an ironic allusion to Jesus’ statement in v. 6: His self-designation as “Son of Man” is meant to be unique, but the crowd regards it simply as meaning “human, person.” To maintain this connection for the English reader the plural ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated here as “men” rather than as the more generic “people.”