Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 4:24
And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
24. throughout all Syria ] The fame passes to the north and east, rather than to the south. Galilee is connected by trade and affinity with Damascus rather than with Jerusalem.
torments ] The original Greek word signifies a “touch-stone,” then “torture,” the touch-stone of justice; then a disease that racks and agonizes the limbs like the torture which many a poor Galilean had experienced in the courts of law.
possessed with devils ] The possession of the human soul by spiritual powers or beings is distinguished from ordinary diseases here, and also by St Luke, who, as a physician, is exact in his description of the various forms of disease. The distinguishing feature of such demoniacal possession may be described as the phenomenon of double consciousness. The occult spiritual power becomes, as it were, a second self, ruling and checking the better self. The Greek word in the text, lit. subject to a dmon or dmonion, has no precise English equivalent. The word “devil” should be confined to the translation of , see note, ch. Mat 4:1. It is most unhappily used as a rendering of in 1Co 10:20-21. In classical Greek the word is used of the divine voice which warned Socrates, and of the divine power or force which Demosthenes sometimes fancied to be hurrying on the Hellenic race in a fatal course.
those which were lunatick ] Lit. affected by the moon; the changes of the moon being thought to influence mad persons. The passage is important as distinguishing dmoniacal possession from lunacy.
The only special instance of curing a lunatic is recorded in ch. Mat 17:14-21 and in the parallel passages. The origin of mental disease may often be traced to licentious living. Observe the frequent instances of unclean spirits met with in these districts.
The Christian Church has followed her divine Founder’s example in this tendance of bodily ailment. The founding of hospitals and the care of the sick are distinguishing features of Christianity and among the most blessed fruits of it. A deeper respect for life and a deeper sense of purity have followed as necessary consequences.
It is contended by some that the “several house” of 2Ch 26:21 was a hospital. Possibly this was so, but the spirit of Judaism in this respect was not the spirit of Christianity. It may readily be acknowledged, however, that the Jews of the present day are the foremost in works of charity and tender regard for the sick.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And his fame went throughout all Syria – It is not easy to fix the exact bounds of Syria in the time of our Saviour. It was, perhaps, the general name for the country lying between the Euphrates on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west; and between Mount Taurus on the north, and Arabia on the south. Through all this region his celebrity was spread by his power of working miracles; and, as might be expected, the sick from every quarter were brought to him, in the hope that he would give relief.
Those possessed with devils – Much difficulty exists, and much has been written respecting those in the New Testament said to be possessed with the devil. It has been maintained by many that the sacred writers only meant by this expression to denote those who were melancholy or epileptic, or afflicted with some other grievous disease. This opinion has been supported by arguments too long to be repeated here. On the other hand, it has been supposed that the persons so described were under the influence of evil spirits, who had complete possession of the faculties, and who produced many symptoms of disease not unlike melancholy, madness, and epilepsy. That such was the fact will appear from the following considerations:
- Christ and the apostles spoke to them and of them as such; they addressed them, and managed them, precisely as if they were so possessed, leaving their hearers to infer beyond a doubt that such was their real opinion.
- Those who were thus possessed spake, conversed, asked questions, gave answers, and expressed their knowledge of Christ, and their fear of him things that certainly could not be said of diseases, Mat 8:28; Luk 8:27.
- The devils, or evil spirits, are represented as going out of the persons possessed, and entering the bodies of others, Mat 8:32.
- Jesus spake to them, and asked their name, and they answered him. He threatened them, commanded them to be silent, to depart, and not to return, Mar 1:25; Mar 5:8; Mar 9:25.
- Those possessed are said to know Christ; to be acquainted with the Son of God, Luk 4:34; Mar 1:24. This could not be said of diseases.
- The early fathers of the Church interpreted these passages in the same way. They derived their opinions probably from the apostles themselves, and their opinions are a fair interpretation of the apostles sentiments.
- If it is denied that Christ believed in such possessions, it does not appear why any other clearly-expressed sentiment of his may not in the same way be disputed. There is, perhaps, no subject on which he expressed himself more clearly, or acted more uniformly, or which he left more clearly impressed on the minds of his disciples.
Nor is there any absurdity in the opinion that those persons were really under the influence of devils. For:
- It is no more absurd to suppose that an angel, or many angels, should have fallen and become wicked than that so many people should.
- It is no more absurd that Satan should have possession of the human faculties, or inflict diseases, than that people should do it a thing which is done every day. What is more common than for a wicked man to corrupt the morals of others, or, by inducing them to become intemperate, to produce a state of body and mind quite as bad as to be possessed with the devil?
- We still see a multitude of cases that no man can prove not to be produced by the presence of an evil spirit. Who would attempt to say that some evil being may not have much to do in the case of madmen?
- It afforded an opportunity for Christ to show his power over the enemies of himself and of man, and thus to evince himself qualified to meet every enemy of the race, and triumphantly to redeem his people. He came to destroy the power of Satan, Act 26:18; Rom 16:20-21.
Those which were lunatic – This name is given to the disease from the Latin name of the moon (Luna). It has the same origin in Greek. It was given because it was formerly imagined that the patient was affected by the increase or the decrease of the moon. The name is still retained, although it is certain that the moon has no effect on the disease. The disease is mentioned only in this place, and in Mat 17:15. It was probably the falling-sickness or epilepsy, the same as the disease mentioned Mar 9:18-20; Luk 9:39-40.
And those that had the palsy – Many infirmities were included under the general name of palsy in the New Testament.
- The paralytic shock, affecting the whole body.
- The hemiplegy, affecting only one side of the body; the most frequent form of the disease.
- The paraplegy, affecting all the system below the neck.
- The catalepsy. This is caused by a contraction of the muscles in the whole or a part of the body, and is very dangerous. The effects are very violent and fatal. For instance, if, when a person is struck, he happens to have his hand extended, he is unable to draw it back; if not extended, he is unable to stretch it out. It gradually becomes diminished in size, and dried up in appearance. Hence, it was called the withered hand, Mat 12:10-13.
- The cramp. This, in Eastern countries, is a fearful malady, and by no means unfrequent. It originates from chills in the night. The limbs, when seized by it, remain unmovable, and the person afflicted with it resembles one undergoing a torture. This was probably the disease of the servant of the centurion, Mat 8:6; Luk 7:2. Death follows from this disease in a few days.
And he healed them – This was done evidently by miraculous power. A miracle is an effect produced by divine power above, or opposed to, what are regular effects of the laws of nature. It is not a violation of the laws of nature, but is a suspension of their usual operation, for some important purpose. For instance, the regular effect of death is that the body returns to corruption. The ordinary laws of chemistry had been suspended by the operation of life – a power superior to those laws, and producing new combinations of matter in the animal or vegetable organization. When life is extinct those laws act in their proper power, and the body is decomposed; that is, the materials of which it is composed, under chemical laws, return to their natural forms of gases and earths. When one who claims to be from God suspends that regular effect, and gives life to a dead body for some important purpose, it is a miracle. Such an effect is clearly the result of divine power. No other being but God can do it. When, therefore, Christ and the apostles exercised this power, it was clear evidence that God approved of their doctrines; that he had commissioned them; and that they were authorized to declare his will. He would not give this attestation to a false doctrine. Most or all of these diseases were incurable. When Christ cured them by a word, it was the clearest of all proofs that he was sent from heaven. This is one of the strong arguments for Christianity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 24. Sick people] , , those who felt ill – were afflicted with any species of malady.
And torments] , from , to examine by torture, such as cholics, gouts, and rheumatisms, which racked every joint.
Possessed with devils] Daemoniacs. Persons possessed by evil spirits. This is certainly the plain obvious meaning of daemoniac in the Gospels.
Many eminent men think that the sacred writers accommodated themselves to the unfounded prejudices of the common people, in attributing certain diseases to the influence of evil spirits, which were merely the effects of natural causes: but that this explanation can never comport with the accounts given of these persons shall be proved as the places occur.
Our common version, which renders the word, those possessed by devils, is not strictly correct; as the word devil, , is not found in the plural in any part of the Sacred Writings, when speaking of evil spirits: for though there are multitudes of daemons, Mr 5:9, yet it appears there is but one DEVIL, who seems to be supreme, or head, over all the rest. signifies an accuser or slanderer, 1Ti 3:11; 2Ti 3:3; Tit 2:3. Perhaps Satan was called so,
1st. because he accused or slandered God in paradise, as averse from the increase of man’s knowledge and happiness, Ge 3:5; Joh 8:44; and
2dly. because he is the accuser of men, Re 12:9-10. See also Clarke on “Job 1:2“.
The word comes from , through, and , to cast, or shoot, because of the influence of his evil suggestions; compared, Eph 6:16, to fiery darts; and thus it is nearly of the same meaning with , he who pierces through. See on Mt 4:3.
Lunatic] Persons afflicted with epileptic or other disorders, which are always known to have a singular increase at the change and full of the moon. This undoubtedly proceeds from the superadded attractive influence of the sun and moon upon the earth’s atmosphere, as, in the periods mentioned above, these two luminaries are both in conjunction; and their united attractive power being exerted on the earth at the same time, not only causes the flux and reflux of the ocean, but occasions a variety of important changes in the bodies of infirm persons, of animals in general, but more particularly in those who are more sensible of these variations. And is this any wonder, when it is well known, that a very slight alteration in the atmosphere causes the most uncomfortable sensations to a number of invalids! But sometimes even these diseases were caused by demons. See on Mt 8:16; Mt 8:34, and Mt 17:15.
Palsy] Palsy is defined, a sudden loss of tone and vital power in a certain part of the human body. This may affect a limb, the whole side, the tongue, or the whole body. This disorder is in general incurable, except by the miraculous power of God, unless in its slighter stages.
He healed them.] Either with a word or a touch; and thus proved that all nature was under his control.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Syria is said to be bounded on the north by Cilicia, by Egypt on the south, on the west with the sea, and on the east with Euphrates, and to comprehend within it all Judea, Bethany, Galilee, Decapolis, Samaria, Idumea, Palestina, Syrophoenicia, Syria of Damascus, and Syria of Antioch. Christs fame spread very far doubtless, because of the good he did, and the miracles he wrought, and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases: all here again can signify no more than very many that were indisposed and ill affected as to their bodily health, those that were sick of, or detained in their beds or houses by, divers diseases. Though Christ showed his power in curing some diseases which physicians judge incurable, yet he showed his kindness also in relieving others not so fatally sick.
And torments; such as were troubled with great pains, as if they were upon racks, or in the hands of tormentors, that set themselves to torture them.
And those which were possessed with devils: of these sorts of persons we shall read often in the gospel: this is the first time we meet with the term. It is observed that in the Old Testament we read little of any such persons; (we read only of Sauls being vexed with an evil spirit); we read much of them in the New Testament, and in ecclesiastical history for some years after Christ: they called them energumeni. Some think God, in those first times of the gospel, permitted the devil to this degree, that the power of our Saviour might be the more seen in casting them out, and in giving authority to his disciples to cast them out, which was a great demonstration of his Divinity. Others think that God did it for a demonstration of the error of the Sadducees, who held there were no spirits. The gospel seemeth to hint two sorts of these persons: some upon whom the devil had power no further than to rack and torture them, Mar 5:3-5; Luk 9:39; others in whom he dwelled bodily, and divined and prophesied in them, Act 16:16.
And those which were lunatic; affected with such diseases as use to increase in some times of the moon, or at such times to seize persons: of this nature we know divers, more particularly the falling sickness and dropsy.
And those that had the palsy, a disease caused by the resolution of the nerves. Those diseases are mentioned which men account hardest to be cured, if capable of cure by men: Christ, to show his Divine power, healed them. Christ did not only cure these bodily distempers, but he also preached the gospel of the kingdom to heal their soul distempers. We read of many who came to him for bodily cure, but of none that said to him: What shall we do to be saved? How sensible are men and women of their bodily pains and diseases, more than of their souls wants!
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. And his fame went throughout allSyriareaching first to the part of it adjacent to Galilee,called Syro-Phoelignicia (Mr 7:26),and thence extending far and wide.
and they brought unto him allsick peopleall that were ailing or unwell. Those
that were takenforthis is a distinct class, not an explanation of the “unwell”class, as our translators understood it.
with divers diseases andtormentsthat is, acute disorders.
and those which werepossessed with devilsthat were demonized or possessed withdemons.
and those which werelunaticmoon-struck.
and those that had thepalsyparalytics, a word not naturalized when our version wasmade.
and he healed themThesehealings were at once His credentials and illustrations of “theglad tidings” which He proclaimed. After reading this account ofour Lord’s first preaching tour, can we wonder at what follows?
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And his fame went throughout all Syria,…. For his ministry and miracles, especially the latter; wherefore
they brought to him, that is, out of Syria, the sick. Syria was in some respects reckoned as the land of Israel, though in others not.
“The m Rabbins teach, that in three respects Syria was like to the land of Israel, and in three to the countries with out the land: the dust defiled, as without the land; he that sold his servant to (one in) Syria, was as if he sold him to one without the land; and he that brought a bill of divorce from Syria, as if he brought it from without the land: and in three things it was like to the land of Israel; it was bound to tithes, and to the observance of the seventh year; and he that would go into it, might go into it with purity and he that purchased a field in Syria, was as if he had purchased one in the suburbs of Jerusalem.”
All sick people, that were taken with divers diseases and torments. This expresses in general, the grievous and tormenting diseases with which the persons were afflicted, who were brought to Christ for healing: some particular ones follow;
and those which were possessed with devils; in body as well as in mind; of which there were many instances, permitted by God on purpose, that Christ might have an opportunity of showing his power over those evil spirits.
And those which were lunatic; either melancholy persons, or mad and distracted men; that retired from the conversation of men, into fields or desert places: or such, whose disorders were influenced by the change of the moon; such as those who are troubled with the falling sickness; so the Greeks n call such persons –
the word here used by the Evangelist.
And those that had the palsy. These were each of them such disorders, as were incurable by the art of medicine; or for which rarely, and with great difficulty, any manner of relief could be obtained; and
he healed them; without any means, by a word speaking; which showed him more than a man, and truly and properly God.
m T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 8. 1. 2. vid. Maimon. Hileb. Tumath Meth. c. 11. sect. 6. n Vid. Fabricii Bibl. Graec. vol. 2. l. 3. c. 26. p. 656-658.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The report of him went forth into all Syria ( ). Rumour () carries things almost like the wireless or radio. The Gentiles all over Syria to the north heard of what was going on in Galilee. The result was inevitable. Jesus had a moving hospital of patients from all over Galilee and Syria. “ Those that were sick ” ( ), literally “those who had it bad,” cases that the doctors could not cure. “
Holden with divers diseases and torments ” ( ). “Held together” or “compressed” is the idea of the participle. The same word is used by Jesus in Lu 12:50 and by Paul in Php 1:23 and of the crowd pressing on Jesus (Lu 8:45). They brought these difficult and chronic cases (present tense of the participle here) to Jesus. Instead of “divers” say “various” () like fever, leprosy, blindness. The adjective means literally many colored or variegated like flowers, paintings, jaundice, etc. Some had “torments” (). The word originally (oriental origin) meant a touchstone, “Lydian stone” used for testing gold because pure gold rubbed on it left a peculiar mark. Then it was used for examination by torture. Sickness was often regarded as “torture.” These diseases are further described “in a descending scale of violence” (McNeile) as “demoniacs, lunatics, and paralytics” as Moffatt puts it, “demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics” as Weymouth has it, ( ), people possessed by demons, lunatics or “moon-struck” because the epileptic seizures supposedly followed the phases of the moon (Bruce) as shown also in Mt 17:15, paralytics (our very word). Our word “lunatic” is from the Latin luna (moon) and carries the same picture as the Greek from (moon). These diseases are called “torments.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And his fame went throughout all Syria:” (kai epelthen he akon autou eis ten Surian) “And the report of him (his miraculous works) went into all parts of Syria,” reaching from the Great Sea on the north and west, to the Euphrates to the east, to Arabia to the south, Isa 52:13; Mr 1:28; Luk 4:14. It reached first into Syrophoenicia and spread from there, Mr 7:26.
2) “And they brought unto him,” (kai prosenegkan auto) “And they brought or assisted to him,” to reach Him for mercy and help, as also related, Mr 1:32,33; Luk 4:40.
3) “All sick people that were taken with divers diseases,” (pantas tous kakos echontas poikilais nosois) “All those who were ill having or possessing various physical diseases.”
4) “And torments, and those which were possessed with devils,” (kai basanois sunechomenous daimonizomenous) “And those being tortured, mentally and emotionally suffering from being demon possessed,” He healed all who were demonized.
5) “And those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy;” (kai selenlazomenous kai paralutikous) “And those who were lunatics and paralyzed.”
6) “And he healed them.” (kai etheraplusen autous) “And he (Jesus) healed them,” without default or failure or turning anyone away, so that honest men could find, “no fault in him at all,” Luk 23:4; Luk 23:14; Joh 18:38; Joh 19:4; Joh 19:6.
These healings were expressions of His care for the afflicted and demonstrations of His Divinity, His supernatural power and being, Joh 3:2; Mr 2:5-11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(24) Throughout all Syria.The word is probably used popularly, rather than with the definite significance of the Roman province with which St. Luke uses it in Luk. 2:2. Our Lords ministry, with the one exception of the journey to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon (Mat. 15:21), was confined to what is commonly known as Palestine. Traces of the wider fame are, however, found in the mention of hearers from Iduma, and Tyre, and Sidon among the crowds that followed Him (Mar. 3:8); in the faith of the Syro-Phnician woman in His power to heal (Mar. 7:26); perhaps in the existence of disciples at Damascus so soon after the Ascension (Act. 9:2); perhaps, also, in St. Peters appeal to the friends of Cornelius at Csarea, as knowing already the broad facts of our Lords ministry and miraculous working (Act. 10:37).
Possessed with devils. . . . lunatick.The phenomena of what is called possession, and the theories to which the phenomena have been referred, will best be discussed in dealing with the great representative instance of the Gadarene demoniacs (Mat. 8:28). Here it will be enough to notice (1) that the word rendered devil is not the same as that used for the Tempter in 4:1, but demon in the sense of an evil spirit, (2) that the possessed with demons are at once grouped with the lunaticks, both exhibiting forms of mental disease, and distinguished from them. The latter term implies in the Greek, as in the Latin and our own, moonstruck madnessthe belief that the moon exercised a disturbing influence on the brain (a coup de lune being dreaded by Eastern travellers almost as much as a coup de soleil), and that the intensity of the disturbance varied, when the disease had once set in, with the moons changes.
Those that had the palsy.Here the word (literally, the paralytics) points, not to a view of the cause of the disease, but to its conspicuous phenomenathe want of muscular power to control motion, and the consequent looseness, in popular phraseology, of limbs or head.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. All Syria The extent of the country of Syria cannot be defined with much exactness. The name was, perhaps, derived from Syr or Tyre, so that Syria is equivalent to Tyria. In its widest limits it seems to have comprehended all the country lying between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. The rumour of our Lord’s miracles was no doubt circulated with more or less clearness over all that land. The territory from which there came followers and bearers of invalids was of a much narrower extent, as defined in the following verse.
Diseases and torments Diseases are those illnesses by which the body is enfeebled and the life consumed. Torments are those inflictions producing bodily torture and agony. Possessed with devils That evil spirits are permitted, in some ages of gross wickedness, to possess men, has been the doctrine of the Church in all ages, until the cavils of some modern thinkers, more skeptical than wise, brought it in question. The word here rendered devils is more properly demons. Strictly speaking, there is but one devil, diabolus. He is called Satan, and is the prince of evil spirits or demons. Possession implies that the demon occupied the body of a man, like a second more powerful soul, controlled his mental faculties, spoke through his organs, and mastered his limbs. These phenomena might be combined with natural disease. A person enfeebled by malady might be the more easily overcome by the demon, and physical or mental derangements might invite his entrance. Especially maladies and corruption produced by vices and depravity might fit a man for demoniac possession; the demon might operate through his diseases, maliciously aggravate their symptoms, and increase their violence. But the possession and the disease were two distinct things. This appears from the preceding verse. Diseases, torments, lunacy, and palsy are all mentioned as separate afflictions, differing in nature from demoniac possession. Lunatic This word is derived from luna, the moon. It signifies insane persons, whose case is supposed to be aggravated by the influence of the moon. The name remains as a simple term for insane persons after the belief in the influence of the moon has ceased. Its use does not imply at the present day, nor any more in the evangelist, any belief that the moon produces insanity. The most skeptical physician of the present day would not hesitate to use the word, apart from all reference to its etymology.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the report about him went forth into all Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick, gripped with many various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied, and he healed them.’
In the chiasmus this parallels the shining forth of the great light. The mention of Syria might be seen as suggesting that the news of Him spread among the Jews throughout the whole Roman province of Syria, which included all Palestine apart from Galilee, or alternately it may indicate that it went beyond the borders of Galilee into the district of Syria to the north and north west. The former seems more likely in view of the fact that it stands by itself, and presumably therefore covers most of the areas in Mat 4:25. And the crowds responded to Him in faith and trust, bringing their sick and afflicted, and He healed them there. Light had come out of darkness. The Messianic age, when all would be put right, was beginning. The sick were being cured. Diseases and afflictions were being removed. Those possessed by demons were being liberated. The mentally ill and paralysed were being restored. All were being made whole. All these afflictions were seen as being the result of sin, and here was the One Who had come to bear their sins (Mat 8:17; Mat 1:21). Thus this now suggested that the One Who would finally deal with sin was here. For that was why His name was Jesus. It was because He would save His people from their sins.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The result was natural:
v. 24. And His fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them. Throughout the Syrian country, most likely along the road frequented by caravans, the accounts of the Lord’s miraculous powers were spread. And so all those that were tormented or afflicted with any kind of ailment were brought to Christ by their relatives or friends. There is a formal catalog of diseases. There were minor painful disorders that required the touch of His healing hand. There were demoniacs, such as were subject to disease through the influence of unclean spirits; there were lunatics, or epileptics, upon whom changes in the sidereal bodies, especially the phases of the moon, had an ill effect; there were paralytics, those that were palsied as the result of nervous disorders and atmospheric changes. And of them all the evangelist has the same to say, telling it in just three words: “He healed them. ” The power of the sickness had to yield before the omnipotence of the divine Healer.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 4:24. Torments, &c. Pains; demoniacs, lunatics, and paralytics.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 4:24 . ] His reputation spread from Galilee into the whole province.
] all the sufferers that there were. The following . belongs not to (Syriac, Euth. Zigabenus), but to .
. ] Sicknesses and torments .
The first is general, the last special.
. . . .] makes prominent three special kinds of what had previously been described in a general manner, so that the first is to be rendered: especially also, particularly also .
] according to the popular view, shared by the evangelist: possessed by demons (Mat 9:34 , Mat 12:26 ), whose bodies had become the seat and organ of demoniacal working; is not a diminutive form, little devil (Ewald, Keim), but the neuter of as substantive. See Stallbaum, ad Plat. Ap. Socr . p. 27 f. They were real sick persons with diseases of a peculiar character (mania, epilepsy, delirium, hypochondria, paralytic condition, temporary dumbness), whose sufferings, being apparently inexplicable from physical causes, were believed to have their foundation not in an abnormal organization, or in natural disturbances of the physical condition, but in diabolical possession that is, in the actual indwelling of demoniac personalities, very many of which might even be counted in one sick person (Mar 5:9 ; Mar 16:9 ). [394] This belief, which is conceivable from the decay of the old theocratic consciousness and of its moral strength, which referred all misfortune to God’s sending, is, however, a belief which rendered healing possible only through the acceptance of the existing view leaving the idea itself untouched, but made it all the more certain for the Messiah, who has power over the kingdom of devils, and who now, in the pure manifestation of Jesus, accompanied with miraculous working, stood victoriously opposed to all diabolic power. Comp. Ewald, Jahrb . VII. p. 54 ff., also Bleek, Neander, p. 237 ff. If we assume, however, that Jesus Himself shared the opinion of His age and nation regarding the reality of demoniacal possession of the sick (Strauss, Keim, Weiss), we find ourselves in the dilemma of either being obliged again to set up the old doctrine upon the authority of Jesus, or of attributing to the latter an erroneous belief not by any means remote from the religious sphere, and only of a physiological kind, but of an essentially religious character, and which would be irreconcilable with the pure height of the Lord’s divine knowledge.
. . .] Epileptics , whose sufferings, it was observed, increased as the month advanced (Wetstein), and sufferers from nervous diseases (Richter, de paralysi , 1775). Epilepsy also might be of such a kind as to be regarded as demoniacal sickness (Mat 17:15 ); here, however, is meant the form of sickness which is regarded as natural.
[394] After the old view of actual bodily possession of the sick had, after Balth. Becker ( bezauberte Welt , iv. 5 ff.), Mead ( medica sacra , ix.), Wetstein, been, especially by Semler ( Comment. de daemoniacis , 1760, u. umstndliche Untersuch. d. dmonischen Leute , 1762), successfully refuted, and had disappeared altogether (see also Timmermaim, de daemoniac. evangelior . 1786; Winzer, de daemonologia N. T. , 1812, 1821), although attempts at its defence were not wanting (Storr, Opusc . I. p. 53 ff.; Eschenmayer, Mysticism , 1823; Jahn, Nachtrge zu s. theol. Werken , 1821), the old view was again brought forward, partly before (v. Meyer, Bibeldut . p. 40 ff.; Olshausen on Mat 8:28 , and others), partly after, the assaults of Strauss (Krabbe, Hoffmann, Ebrard, Arnoldi, Hofmann, Steinmeyer), and supported with more or less acuteness, and with turns of a partly obscure and evasive character, especially by means of comparisons with magnetism. Delitzsch, bibl. Psychol . p. 293 ff.; Ebrard in Herzog’s Encykl . III. p. 240 ff. Not so, however, Lange, 11. 1, p. 285 ff., who, regarding the condition as a natural one, refers it to a nervous disease, having an elective affinity with demoniacal influences, which the patient as well as the people represented to himself as possession. By this the old view is not retained even in appearance. Against its tenability, however, irrespective of all objections of a physiological and medical kind, the following are decisive proofs: (1) The non-occurrence of demons in the O. T.; (2) the undisputed healing of the same by exorcists (Mat 12:27 ; Mar 9:38 ; Josephus, Antt . viii. 2. 5; Justin, c. Tryph. 85 ; Lucian. Philopseud. 16); as well as (3) the non-occurrence of reliable instances in modern times (? Justinus Kerner, Gesch. Besessener neuerer Zeit. , Carlsruhe 1834), although the same sicknesses , which were deemed to be demoniacal, are common; and (4) the complete silence of John , which (comp. especially Luk 9:49 ) is the more eloquent the more essentially he also regards miraculous healing as belonging to the work of the Messiah, and the conquest of the devil as the Messiah’s task. In John, moreover, diabolical possession is found mentioned (Mat 13:27 ), but not as the effect of physical sickness, but of spiritual domination and obduracy, the so-called obsessio spiritualis . Comp. Joh 7:28 ; Joh 8:48 ; Joh 10:20 . Definite references to the expulsion of demons from the sick are wanting also in Paul’s Epistles, although they might be included with others in 1Co 12:9 . Observe, moreover, (5) the demoniacs were not at all filled with godless dispositions and anti-Christian wickedness, which, nevertheless, was necessarily to be expected as the result of the real indwelling of devils .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
Ver. 24. And his fame went through all Syria ] Fame followeth desert, as a sweet scent the rose. This gave occasion to the poets to feign that Achilles’ tomb was ever garnished with green amaranth. “A good name is better than great riches,” saith Solomon, Pro 22:1 . And if I can keep my credit, I am rich enough, saith the heathen. ( Ego si bonam famam servasso, sat dives ero. Plaut.) Blessing and good report are expressed by one and the same word in the Old Testament, to show what a blessing of God it is. And it could not but be a great comfort to David, that whatsoever he did pleased the people, 2Sa 3:36 . Cicero saith that perfect glory consisteth in these three things: if the multitude love a man, if they will trust him, and if they hold him worthy of admiration, praise, and honour. (Offic. ii. 5.) Now none of these were wanting to our Saviour, as appeareth in his holy history, and as others have fully set forth. “Do worthily in Ephratah, and so be famous in Bethlehem,” Rth 4:11 .
And they brought unto him all sick people ] All that were in ill case and taking: for, Si vales, bene est, If you are well I am well, saith one; and, Vita non est vivere, sed valere, Life is not to live, but influence, saith another. The Latins call a sick man aeger, which some derive of , , the voice of complaint and grief. And the Stoics when they affirmed that to live agreeable to nature is to live virtuously and valiantly, although the body be never so out of order, they perceived when their own turn came to be sick, saith Jerome, se magnificentius locutos esse quam verius, that they had spoken more trimly than truly.
That were taken with divers diseases and torments ] That were besieged and hemmed in on every side, as by an enemy straitened and perplexed ( ), so that they knew not whither to look, only their eyes were toward Christ.
Diseases and torments ] As of those that are put upon the rack. Pharaoh was so when God extorted from him that confession, “I have sinned;” which (being gotten off) he soon bit in again. The word here used in the original ( ), properly signifieth the test or touchstone, wherewith gold is tried; and, by a borrowed kind of speech, is applied to all kind of examination, and (peculiarly) to inquisition by torture, to any pain or painful diseases, as of the palsy, lunacy, &c., in this text, and Mat 8:6 . As also to the torments of hell,Luk 16:23Luk 16:23 , whereof sicknesses are but a beginning, a foretaste, a very typical hell to those that have not the fruits of their sickness. ( Morbos virtutum officinas vocat. Ambrosius.) And this “is all the fruits, even the taking away of their sin,” Isa 27:9 . I blush not to confess, saith a great divine of Scotland, that I have gained more sound knowledge of God and of myself in this sickness than ever I had before. ( Non erubesco profiteri, &c. Rolloc. apud. Melch. Adam.) Happy sickness, that draws the sick matter out of the soul. Physicians hold that in every two years there is such store of ill humours and excrements engendered in the body, that a vessel of one hundred ounces will scarcely contain them. Certain it is, there is a world of wickedness and superfluity of naughtiness (that bed of spiritual diseases) daily gathered and gotten together in the sin-sick soul: which therefore we must labour to purge out by the practice of mortification, lest God purge and whiten us to our sorrow by some sharp sickness, Dan 11:35 ; Dan 12:10 he did Gehazi, whose white forehead had made him a white soul: his disease cured him, as some are of the opinion,2Ki 5:272Ki 5:27 .
Possessed with devils ] Such as whose minds and senses the devil perverted.
Those that were lunatic ] Or such as had the falling sickness, as appeareth by those symptoms of this disease set down by St Matthew. Mat 17:15 (Scultet. Exerc. Evang. ii. 12.) This is otherwise called Morbus Sacer Sacred disease. For the priests of old (that they might thereby enrich themselves) feigned that the gods tormented men with this, among other sudden and fearful diseases. (Becman, Orig. Ling. Latinae.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
24. ] Answering to , Mar 1:28 . On , see Lexx. Our word ‘ trial ’ has undergone a change of meaning very similar. On the see note on ch. Mat 8:28 . The were probably epileptics: see an instance in ch. Mat 17:14 and [31] .
[31] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 4:24-25
24The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. 25Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.
Mat 4:24 “The news about Him spread throughout all Syria” Syria was a Roman province which included northern Palestine. However, in this context it may refer to the whole area, which showed the wide-spread popularity of this healer from Nazareth.
“all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics” In the Gospels, distinctions are made between physical sickness and demon possession. Although demonic forces might cause physical symptoms, the cure for each is different. Jesus healed all those who were brought to Him (see Special Topic at Mat 19:2). We know from other accounts that healing was sometimes based on the faith of the individual, or the faith of the sick individual’s friends; and sometimes it came without much faith at all. Physical healing did not always mean or imply spiritual salvation (cf. John 9).
“demons” See Special Topic at Mat 10:1.
“epileptics” See note at Mat 17:15.
Mat 4:25 “Large crowds followed Him” Mat 4:25 is a graphic description of the extent of Jesus’ popularity (cf. Mar 3:7-8; Luk 6:17). This popularity caused the Jewish leaders to be jealous and the crowds to misunderstand His mission.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
fame = hearing. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of the Adjunct), App-6, for what was heard.
throughout = unto. Greek. eis.
diseases. Greek. nosos, translated sickness in Mat 4:23.
devils = demons. Compare Mat 12:26, Mat 12:27. Mar 3:22, Mar 3:26.
were lunatick. Greek. seleniazomai. Occurs only here, and Mat 17:15. From selene = the moon.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
24. ] Answering to , Mar 1:28. On , see Lexx. Our word trial has undergone a change of meaning very similar. On the see note on ch. Mat 8:28. The were probably epileptics: see an instance in ch. Mat 17:14 and [31].
[31] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 4:24. , went out thence) sc. afar.-, fame) The LXX. frequently render [162] by .-, Syria) The province of which Palestine was considered a part.- , they brought unto Him) Even the Syrians did so.- , those who were ill)[163] The miracles of Jesus Christ were performed for the good[164] of men.-See Joh 6:2; Mat 11:5; Act 10:38.-, possessed with devils) The sick and the possessed are frequently mentioned together.-See Act 5:16.
[162] and prop. that which heard: hence (1) a message, tidings, whether joyful or sorrowful, especially a message sent from God: hence (2), i.q. instruction, teaching doctrine; (3), rumour.-GESENIUS.-(I. B.)
[163] Male habentes.-(I. B.)
[164] Salutem, health or salvation-i.e, they were [with rare exceptions] miracles of mercy, the effect of which was to improve the condition of those on whom they were performed.-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
possessed
(Greek – ,” demonized; (See Scofield “Mat 7:22”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
his fame: Mat 9:26, Mat 9:31, Mat 14:1, Jos 6:27, 1Ki 4:31, 1Ki 10:1, 1Ch 14:17, Mar 1:28, Luk 4:14, Luk 5:15
Syria: 2Sa 8:6, Luk 2:2, Act 15:23, Act 15:41
all sick: Mat 4:23, Mat 8:14, Mat 8:15, Mat 9:35, Exo 15:26
possessed: Mat 9:32, Mat 12:22, Mat 15:22, Mat 17:18, Mar 5:2-18, Luk 4:33-35, Luk 8:27-37, Act 10:38
lunatic: Mat 17:15
those that: Mat 8:6, Mat 8:13, Mat 9:2-8
Reciprocal: 2Ch 26:8 – his name 2Ch 26:15 – spread far Est 9:4 – his fame Psa 6:2 – heal Mat 8:16 – they brought Mat 12:15 – great Mat 14:35 – General Mat 15:30 – great Mar 6:55 – General Luk 4:40 – and he Luk 7:17 – General Joh 4:45 – the Galilaeans Joh 6:2 – General Act 1:1 – of Act 5:16 – bringing Act 21:3 – Syria Act 28:9 – others
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:24
Syria embraced most of the country including Palestine and the region north and northeast of it. Such beneficial work as Jesus was doing would naturally be reported so that would cause him to become famous. The personal interest that people would have in such subjects as sickness and other afflictions would bring them forth to have Jesus relieve them. Possessed with devils will be explained in another place.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 4:24. The report. Fame has changed its meaning.
Syria, the name of the largest Roman province north and east of Palestine, sometimes including it. Probably used here in its widest extent.
They brought to him all that were sick. Those who had heard of Him and believed in his power to heal were numerous enough to justify this expression.
Holden, i.e., under the continued power of the maladies.
Torments, painful bodily afflictions, such as the three specified in the next clause (and is to be omitted).
Possessed with demons, lit, demonized. All the Gospel statements in regard to this affliction imply that in those days evil spirits actually invaded the bodies of men, producing fearful effects. Every such possession was a sign of Satans hostility, as every dispossession was a triumph over him. We cannot explain how such possession took place. This passage distinguishes demoniacal possession from every kind of sickness.
Lunatics, or epileptics. The latter sense is probable, since the word has this meaning in chap. Mat 17:15 (the only other place where the term occurs). The Greet word had originally the same reference to the influence of the moon which is found in lunatic.
And paralytics. The original word corresponds exactly. Those afflicted with morbid relaxation of the nerves, as in paralysis and apoplexy.
He healed them. Whatever the form, He did not fail to cure.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. That although our Savior’s doctrine needed no confirmation beyond his own authority, yet he was graciously pleased to exert the power of his godhead in working miracles for the establishment of our faith.
Observe, 2. That the miracles which Christ wrought were not judicial, but beneficial to mankind, Moses’ miracles were as great judgments as wonders; but Christ’s miracles were salubrious and healing, full of goodness and compassion, and very advantageous to the world: he dispossesed devils, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.
O blessed Savior! thy life in all instances was a life of universal serviceableness and beneficialness to all mankind.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 4:24. His fame went through all Syria Of which the country of the Jews and Samaritans was but a small part. Pliny tells us, that Syria contained several provinces, Comagene to the north, Phnicia to the west, Closyria to the south, Palmyrene, and the province of Seleucia, in the middle part. If, by all Syria, the evangelist means all these different provinces of Syria, our Lords fame must at this time have been exceedingly great. Nor is there any thing incredible in the evangelists affirmation, taken in the largest sense. For considering the number and greatness of the miracles which he performed, it would not have been beyond belief, had the historian told us that the fame of them reached as far as the communication of the Jews with the rest of the world extended. And they brought unto him those that were possessed with devils, and those lunatic, and those that had the palsy These are justly reckoned cases of as great misery, and of as little hope, as any to be found among men. The evangelist, therefore, properly instanced these. And he healed them, and thereby wonderfully displayed both his power and his love.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 24
Possessed with devils. Many have supposed that those possessed with devils were persons afflicted with insanity, epilepsy, and other natural diseases, which were attributed in those days to the agency of evil spirits. It is to be observed, however, that demoniacs are here spoken of as a distinct class from lunatics.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
4:24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and {n} torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were {o} lunatick, and those that had the {p} palsy; and he healed them.
(n) The word signifies properly the stone with which gold is tried: and by a borrowed kind of speech, is applied to all kinds of examinations by torture, when as by rough dealing and torments, we draw out the truths from men who otherwise would not confess: in this place it is taken for those diseases, which put sick men to great woe.
(o) Who at every full moon or the change of the moon, are troubled and diseased.
(p) Weak and feeble men, who have the parts of their body loosed and so weakened, that they are neither able to gather them up together, nor do with them as they wish.