Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Matthew 8:1

καταβάντος αὐτοῦ (for the reading vide above). Jesus descended from the hill towards Capernaum (Matthew 8:5), but we must beware of supposing that the immediately following events all happened there, or at any one place or time. Mark seems to connect the cure of the leper with the preaching tour in Galilee (Mark 1:40), and that of the palsied man with Christ's return therefrom (Matthew 2:1). Jesus had ascended the hill to escape the pressure of human need. He descends, in Matt.'s narrative, to encounter it again ἠκολούθησαν, large crowds gather about and follow Him. ἰδοὺ, the sign mark of the Apostolic Document according to Weiss; its lively formula for introducing a narrative. προσεκύνει, prostrated himself to the ground, in the abject manner of salutation suitable from an inferior to one deemed much superior, and also to one who had a great favour to ask. Κύριε : not implying in the leper a higher idea than that of Master or Rabbi. ἐὰν θέλῃς : the leper's doubt is not about the power, for he probably knows what marvellous things have been happening of late in and around Capernaum, but about the will, a doubt natural in one suffering from a loathsome disease. Besides, men more easily believe in miraculous power than in miraculous love. θέλῃς, present subjunctive, not aorist, which would express something that might happen at a future time (vide Winer, § xlii., 2, b). καθαρίσαι of course the man means to cleanse by healing, not merely to pronounce clean. This has an important bearing on the meaning of the word in next ver. ἥψατο, touched him, not to show that He was not under the law, and that to the pure nothing is unclean (Chrys., Hom. xxv.), but to evince His willingness and sympathy. The stretching out of the hand does not mean that, in touching, He might be as far off as possible to avoid defilement and infection (Weiss-Meyer). It was action suited to the word. θέλω, “I will,” pronounced in firm, cordial tone, carefully recorded by all the evangelists. καθαρίσθητι, naturally in the sense of the man's request. But that would imply a real miracle, therefore naturalistic interpreters, like Paulus and Keim, are forced to take the word in the sense of pronouncing clean, the mere opinion of a shrewd observer. The narrative of Matthew barely leaves room for this hypothesis. The other evangelists so express themselves as to exclude it. ἐκαθαρίσθη : forthwith the leprosy disappeared as if by magic. The man was and looked perfectly well.

Continues after advertising

BibliaPlus

Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Matthew 8:1

Old Testament

New Testament