Matthew Chapter 9 verse 2 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - And, behold, they brought to him (προσέφερον αὐτῷ). Bengel's remark, "Offerebant - Tales oblationes factae sunt Salvatori plurimae, gratae," though very beautiful, is, from its undue insistence on the sacrificial use of προσφέρω, hardly exegesis. Matthew omits the difficulty that was experienced in bringing him to our Lord (see parallel passages), yet this alone accounts for the special commendation of their faith. A man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. Probably a mat or quilt (ver. 6). Professor Marshall, in the Expositor for March, 1891, p. 215, has a most interesting note showing that the differences between "lying on a bed" (Matthew)and "carried by four" (Mark), and even "they sought to bring him in, and to place him before him" (Luke, who has already mentioned "on a bed" ), may be explained by being different translations of an original Aramaic sentence. And Jesus seeing their faith. Including that of the paralytic, who, as we may gather from the obedience he afterwards shows, had agreed to and had encouraged the special efforts of his bearers. Said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer (Θάρσει τέκνον). Son. So Mark, but Luke has "man" (ἄνθρωπε), which, though more usual in Greek (though still Hebraic, for ἀνέρ would have been in accordance with classical usage), is much more colourless. Τέκνον, as a term of address, is elsewhere in the New Testament used only where there is relationship physical (Matthew 21:28; Luke 2:48; Luke 15:31; even Luke 16:25) or moral, especially that of pupil and teacher (Mark 10:24; cf 1 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 2:1). It therefore implies that there is both sympathy and much common ground between the speaker and him whom he addresses. It is the antithesis of Matthew 8:29 (cf. further, infra, ver. 22). Thus it here served affectionately to encourage the sufferer in soul and body, preparing him to receive the announcement following. Matthew emphasizes its purpose by prefixing θάρσει. Thy sins be; Revised Version, are; expressing clearly that the words are the statement of a fact, not merely the expression of a command. Forgiven thee; Revised Version omits "thee" (genuine in Luke), with manuscripts (ἀφίενταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι). Matthew and Mark use the present of general statement, Luke the perfect (ἀφέωνται, Doric; Winer, 14:3. a), to express a past fact of permanent significance. Observe the order of the Lord's assurance, as recorded in the true text. Courage, sympathy, forgiveness, and, only after all else, recalling individual sins. As the assurance of forgiveness is delightful to the soul, so is it often helpful to the body. Hence possibly our Lord's method in this case, for the man "inter spem metumque dubius pendebat" (Wetstein). Compare for the conjunction of the two, James 5:15, and, as a still closer parallel to our passage, Talm. Bab., 'Nedarim,' 41a. "R. Hija bar Abba said, The sick doth not recover from his sickness until all his sins be forgiven him, for it is said, 'Who pardoneth all thy iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.'" So also Qimbi (on Psalm 41:5, "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee" ): "He does not say, Heal my body," for it is his sins that are the cause of his sickness, but if God heal his soul from its sickness, viz. by making atonement for his sins, then his body is healed."

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) Behold, they brought to him.--From the other Gospels we learn:--(1) That He was teaching (Luke 5:17) in a house (apparently, from what follows, from the upper room of a house), while the people stood listening in the courtyard. (2) That the court-yard was crowded, so that even the gateway leading into the street was filled (Mark 2:2). (3) That among the hearers were Pharisees and Doctors of the Law, who had come, not only from "every village of Galilee and Judaea," but also "from Jerusalem." The last fact is important as one of the few traces in the first three Gospels of an unrecorded ministry in Jerusalem, and, as will be seen, throws light on much that follows. They had apparently come to see how the new Teacher, who had so startled them at Jerusalem, was carrying on His work in Galilee, and, as far as they could, to hinder it. (4) That "the power of the Lord was present to heal them" (Luke 5:17), i.e., that as He taught, the sick were brought to Him, and, either by word or touch, were cured.A man sick of the palsy.--St. Matthew and St. Mark use the popular term "paralytic;" St. Luke, with perhaps more technical precision, the participle of the verb, "who was paralysed." The man was borne on a couch (St. Mark uses the Greek form of the Latin grabatum, the bed or mattress of the poor) carried by four bearers (Mark 2:3). They sought to bring him through the door, but were hindered by the crowd; and then going outside the house, they got upon the roof, removed part of the roof (the light structure of Eastern houses made the work comparatively easy), let him down with ropes through the opening into the midst of the crowd, just in front of the Teacher (Mark 2:4; Luke 5:19). This persistency implied faith in His power to heal on the part both of the sick man and the bearers. . . .