Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 5:17

εἰς τὸ ἰᾶσθαι αὐτόν. אABL, Ti[107] W.H[108] αὐτοὺς ACD. See note.

[107] Ti. Tischendorf.
[108] W.H. Westcott and Hort.

17. ἐν μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν. ‘On one of those days.’ The vagueness of the phrase shews that no stress is here laid on chronological order. In Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12 the scene is a house in Capernaum, and the time (apparently) after the healing of the Gadarene demoniac on the eastern side of the Lake, and on the day of Matthew’s feast.

καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν διδάσκων. Lit. ‘It came to pass … and He was teaching and there were.’ St Luke is fond of this paratactic arrangement of sentences by means of and. He uses καὶ most frequently in his Gospel, and τε in the Acts. Comp. Luke 7:37. Jesus was not teaching in a synagogue, but probably in Peter’s house. Notice the “He” which is so frequent in St Luke, and marks the later epoch when the title “the Christ” had passed into a name, and when “He” could have but one meaning. See on Luke 4:15.

Φαρισαῖοι καὶ νομοδιδάσκαλοι. The word νομοδιδάσκαλος means the same as νομικὸς in Luke 7:30 &c. See Excursus on the Jewish Sects.

καὶ Ἰουδαίας καὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ. These had probably come out of simple curiosity to hear and see the great Prophet of Nazareth. They were not the spies malignantly sent at the later and sadder epoch of His ministry (Matthew 15:1; Mark 3:2; Mark 7:1) to dog His footsteps, and lie in wait to catch any word on which they could build an accusation.

κυρίου, ‘of Jehovah.’ If Christ were meant the article would be used.

ἦν. The word is here emphatic—‘was present,’ praesto erat. It is probably due to an Aramaic original. It is remarkable that in Mark 2:1-11 the same story is told in widely different phraseology.

εἰς τὸ ἰᾶσθαι αὐτόν. This is the reading of אBL. If the reading be correct the verse means “the Power of the Lord (i.e. of the Almighty Jehovah) was with Him to heal.” If αὐτοὺς be read it refers to the sick among the multitude.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 5:17

Old Testament

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