CHAPTER 8. THE HEALING MINISTRY OF JESUS. These two Chapter s consist mainly of miracle narratives, the greater number being reports of healing acts performed by Jesus, nine in all, being the second part of the programme sketched in chap. Matthew 4:23-25. These wonderful works are not to be regarde... [ Continue Reading ]
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 i... [ Continue Reading ]
_The leper_ (Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16). This is the first individual act of healing reported in this Gospel, chap. Matthew 4:23-24 containing only a general notice. It is a very remarkable one. No theory of moral therapeutics will avail here to eliminate the miraculous element. Leprosy is not a di... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅρα, see to it! Look you! imperative in mood and _tone_ (_vide_ Mark's graphic account). Christ feared the man would be content with being well without being officially pronounced clean physically healed, though not socially restored. Hence μηδενὶ εἴπῃς, ἀλλʼ ὕπαγε, etc.: speak of it to nobody, but... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰσελθόντος, aorist participle with another finite verb, pointing to a completed action. He had entered Capernaum when the following event happened. Observe the genitive absolute again with a dative of the same subject, αὐτῷ, following προσῆλθεν. ἑκατόνταρχος : a Gentile (Matthew 8:10), probably an... [ Continue Reading ]
_The centurion's son or servant_ (Luke 7:1-10). Placed by both Matthew and Luke after Sermon on Mount, by the latter immediately after.... [ Continue Reading ]
Κύριε again, not necessarily expressing any advanced idea of Christ's person. παῖς may mean either son or servant. Luke has δοῦλος, and from the harmonistic point of view this settles the matter. But many, including Bleek and Weiss (Meyer), insist that παῖς here means son. βέβληται, perf. pointing t... [ Continue Reading ]
his is generally taken as an offer on Christ's part to go to the house. Fritzsche finds in it a question, arranging the words (T. R.) thus: καὶ, λέγει α. ὁ Ἰ., Ἐγὼ ἐλθὼν θεραπεύσω αὐτόν; and rendering: “And,” saith Jesus to him, “shall I go and heal him?” = is that what you wish? The following verse... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:8, ἱκανὸς : the Baptist's word, chap. Matthew 3:11, but the construction different in the two places, there with infinitive, here with ἵνα : I am not fit in order that. This is an instance illustrating the extension of the use of ἵνα in later Greek, which culminated in its superseding the... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:9, καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ : he argues from his own experience not with an air of self-importance, on the contrary making light of his position as a commander ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν, spoken in modesty. He means: I also, though a very humble person in the army, under the authority of more important officers, sti... [ Continue Reading ]
In Matthew 8:13 we are told that Jesus did not disappoint the centurion's expectation. But the interest of the cure is eclipsed for the evangelist by the interest of the Healer's admiration, certainly a remarkable instance of a noteworthy characteristic of Jesus: _His delight in signal manifestation... [ Continue Reading ]
This _logion_ is given by Luke (Luke 13:28-29) in a different connection, and it may not be in its historical place here. But its import is in thorough harmony with the preceding reflection on the spiritual state of Israel. One who said the one thing was prepared to say the other. At whatever time s... [ Continue Reading ]
ὕπαγε, etc.: compressed impassioned utterance, spoken under emotion = Go, as thou hast believed be it to thee; cure as thorough as thy faith. The καὶ before ὡς in T. R. is the addition of prosaic scribes. Men speaking under emotion discard expletives. Weizsäcker (_Untersuchungen über die Evang. Ges... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐλθὼν, coming _from_ the synagogue on a Sabbath day (Mark 1:29) with fellow-worshippers not here named. The story here loses its flesh and blood, and is cut down to the essential fact. εἰς τ. ο. Πέτρου : Peter has a house and is married, and already he receives his disciple name (_Simon_ in Mark). π... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cure of a fever: Peter's mother-in-law_ (Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39). This happened much earlier, at the beginning of the Galilean ministry, the second miracle-history in Mark and Luke. Mark at this point becomes Matthew's guide, though he does not follow implicitly. Each evangelist has characteris... [ Continue Reading ]
ἥψατο. He touched her hand; here to cure, in Mark to raise her up. ἠγέρθη, διηκόνει : she rose up at once and continued to serve at the meal; all present but Jesus only referred to here (αὐτῳ, plural in Mark, but inappropriate here). Not only the fever but the weakness it causes left her. “Ordinaril... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὀψίας γενομένης : vague indication of time on any day, but especially a Sabbath day. There were two evenings, an early and a late (Exodus 30:8). Which of them was it; before or after sunset? Mark is more exact. δαιμον. πολλούς : why a crowd just then, and why especially demoniacs brought to be heale... [ Continue Reading ]
_Events of that Sabbath evening_ (Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:40-41). A general statement, which, after Matthew 4:23 f., might have been dispensed with; but it is in the source (Mark) in the same context, and it gives our evangelist a welcome opportunity of quoting a prophetic text in reference to Christ's... [ Continue Reading ]
rophetic citation, apposite, felicitous; setting Christ's healing ministry in a true light; giving prominence not to the thaumaturgic but to the sympathetic aspect; from the Hebrew original, the Sept [53] making the text (Isaiah 53:4) refer to sin. The Hebrew refers to sicknesses and pains. It is us... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἰδὼν … περὶ αὐτόν. The evangelist makes a desire to escape from the crowd the motive of the journey. This desire is still more apparent in Mark, but the crowd and the time are different. The multitude from which Jesus escapes, in Mark's narrative, is that gathered on the shore to hear the parable-di... [ Continue Reading ]
_Excursion to the eastern shore with its incidents_ (Mark 4:35 to Mark 5:20; Luke 8:22-39). These narratives make a large leap forward in the history. As our evangelist is giving a collection of healing incidents, the introduction of Matthew 8:18-22, _disciple interviews_, and even of Matthew 8:23-2... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:19, εἶς, either “ _one_, a scribe” (Weiss and very decidedly Meyer, who says that εἶς never in N. T. = τὶς), or “a _certain_ scribe,” indefinite reference, so Fritzsche, falling back on Suicer, I., p. 1037, and more recently Bleek and others. _Vide_ Winer, § xviii. 9, who defends the use o... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:20, λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ι. Jesus distrusted the _class_, and the _man_, who might be better than the average, still he was a scribe. Christ's feeling was not an unreasoning or invincible prejudice, but a strong suspicion and aversion justified by insight and experience. Therefore He purposely pai... [ Continue Reading ]
_Another disciple_. Ἕτερος, another, not only numerically (ἄλλος), but in type. The first was enthusiastic; this one is hesitating, and needs to be urged; a better, more reliable man, though contrasting with his neighbour unfavourably. τῶν μαθητῶν : the expression seems to imply that the scribe was,... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀκολούθει μοι : the reply is a stern refusal, and the reason apparently hard and unfeeling ἄφες τοὺς νεκροὺς … νεκρούς : word for word the same in Luke (Luke 9:60), an unforgettable, mystic, hard saying. The dead must be taken in two senses = let the spiritually dead, not yet alive to the claims of... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐμβάντι αὐτῷ might be called a dative absolute; if taken as dative after ἠκολούθησαν, the αὐτῷ after this verb is superfluous. This short sentence is overcharged with pronouns (αὐτοῦ after μαθηταὶ). τὸ πλοῖον (τὸ omitted in Lk.), the ship in readiness in accordance with previous instructions (Matthe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Storm on the lake_ (Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25).... [ Continue Reading ]
προσελθόντες : one of our evangelist's favourite words. ἤγειραν : they would not have waked Him if they could have helped it. They were genuinely terrified, though experienced sailors accustomed to rough weather. Κύριε, σῶσον … ἀπολλύμεθα : laconic speech, verbs unconnected, utterance of fear-strick... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:26, δειλοί, ὀλιγόπιστοι, He chides _them_ first, then the winds, the chiding meant to calm fear. Cowards, men of little faith! harsh in tone but kindly meant; expressive really of personal fearlessness, to gain ascendency over panic-stricken spirits (_cf._ Luke). τότε ἐγερθεὶς : He had utt... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:27, f οἱ ἄνθρωποι : who? Naturally one would say the disciples with Jesus in the boat, called men to suit the tragic situation. But many think others are referred to, men unacquainted with Jesus: “quibus nondum innotuerat Christus” (Calvin); either with the disciples in the boat, and refer... [ Continue Reading ]
δύο, _two_, in Mark and Luke one. According to some, _e.g._, Holtzmann (H. C.), the two includes the case reported in Mark 1:23-27; Luke 4:31-37, omitted by Matthew. Weiss' hypothesis is that the two is an inference from the plurality of demons spoken of in his source (_vide_ Matt.-Evan., p. 239). T... [ Continue Reading ]
_The demoniacs of Gadara_ (Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39). This narrative raises puzzling questions of all sorts, among them a geographical or topological one, as to the scene of the occurrence. The variations in the readings in the three synoptical gospels reflect the perplexities of the scribes. The p... [ Continue Reading ]
ἰδοὺ ἔκραξαν : sudden, startling, unearthly cry, fitted to shock weak nerves. But not the cry of men about to make an assault. The madmen, whom all feared and shunned, were subdued by the aspect of the stranger who had arrived in the neighbourhood. To be taken as a fact, however strange and mysterio... [ Continue Reading ]
μακρὰν : the Vulgate renders _non longe_, as if οὐ had stood in the Greek before μακ. But there are no variants here. Mark and Luke have ἐκεῖ, which gives rise to an apparent discrepancy. Only apparent, many contend, because both expressions are relative and elastic: _at a distance_, yet within view... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ δαίμονες : unusual designation, commonly δαιμόνια. παρεκάλουν : the request was made by the possessed in the name of the demons. ἀπόστειλον : the reading of the T. R. (ἐπίτρεψον ἀπελθεῖν) taken from Luke expresses, in a milder form, Christ's share of responsibility in a transaction of supposed do... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑπάγετε : Christ's laconic reply, usually taken to mean: go into the swine, but not necessarily meaning more than “begone”. So Weiss, who holds that Jesus had no intention of expressing acquiescence in the demoniac's request. (_Matt. Evan._ and Weiss-Meyer, “Hinweg mit euch”.) οἱ δὲ … χοίρους : the... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sequel._ ἔφυγον : the swineherds fled. No wonder, in view of such a disaster. If the demoniacs, in the final paroxysm before return to sanity, had anything to do with bringing it about, the superstitious terror with which they were regarded would add to the panic. ἀπήγγειλαν : they reported wha... [ Continue Reading ]
πᾶσα ἡ πόλις : an exaggeration of course, _cf._ accounts in Mark and Luke. εἰς ὑπάντησιν … Ι., to a meeting with Jesus. The noun occurs again in Matthew 25:1, and John 12:13; in Matthew 25:6 ἀπάντησιν is used instead of it. εἰς ἀπαν. occurs in Sept [56] for לִקְרָאת. The two nouns are little used in... [ Continue Reading ]