Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 4:23
And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
23. this proverb ] The Greek word is ‘ parabol,’ which is here used for the Hebrew mashal, and had a wider meaning than its English equivalent. Thus it is also used for a proverb ( Beispiel), 1Sa 10:12; 1Sa 24:13; Eze 12:22; or a type, Heb 9:9; Heb 11:19. See on Luk 8:5.
Physician, heal thyself ] The same taunt was addressed to our Lord on the Cross. Here it seems to have more than one application, meaning, ‘If you are the Messiah why are you so poor and humble?’ or, ‘Why do you not do something for us, here in your own home?’ (So Theophylact, Euthymius, &c.) It implies radical distrust, like Hic Rhodos, hic salta. There seems to be no exact Hebrew equivalent of the proverb, but something like it (a physician who needs healing) is found in Plut. De Discern. Adul. 32.
whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum ] St Luke has not before mentioned Capernaum, and this is one of the many indications found in his writings that silence respecting any event is no proof that he was unaware of it. Nor has any other Evangelist mentioned any previous miracle at Capernaum, unless we suppose that the healing of the courtier’s son (Joh 4:46-54) had preceded this visit to Nazareth. Jesus had, however, performed the first miracle at Cana, and may well have wrought others during the stay of “not many days” mentioned in Joh 2:12. Capernaum was so completely the head-quarters of His ministry as to be known as “His own city.” (Mat 4:12-16; Mat 11:23.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Physician, heal thyself – This proverb was probably in common use at that time. The meaning is this: Suppose that a man should attempt to heal another when he was himself diseased in the same manner; it would be natural to ask him first to cure himself, and thus to render it manifest that he was worthy of confidence. The connection of this proverb, here, is this: You profess to be the Messiah. You have performed miracles at Capernaum. You profess to be able to deliver us from our maladies, our sins, our afflictions. Show that you have the power, that you are worthy of our confidence, by working miracles here, as you profess to have done at Capernaum. It does not refer, therefore, to any purification of his own, or imply any reflection on him for setting up to teach them. It was only a demand that he would show the proper evidence by miracles why they should trust in him, and he proceeds to show them why he would not give them this evidence.
Whatsoever we have heard done – Whatsoever we have heard that thou hast done. It would seem, from this, that Christ had before this performed miracles in Capernaum, though the evangelist has not recorded them.
In Capernaum – Capernaum was on the northwest corner of the Sea of Tiberias, and was not far from Nazareth. It is not improbable that some of those who then heard him might have been present and witnessed some of his miracles at Capernaum. See the notes at Mat 4:13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. Physician, heal thyself] That is, heal the broken-hearted in thy own country, as the latter clause of the verse explains it; but they were far from being in a proper spirit to receive the salvation which he was ready to communicate; and therefore they were not healed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Christ here tells those of Nazareth what was in their hearts, viz. that they in their hearts contemned him, because of the meanness of his parentage, and challenged him to confirm his doctrine by miracles, urging that Nazareth was his own country, and physicians in the first place ought to cure themselves, and their friends, and those of their own families; they therefore challenge him to work some such miracles as he had before wrought in Capernaum, as they had heard. He gives them the reason why he did no miracles amongst them, viz. because he discerned that they contemned them, as is very usual for persons, according to that common saying:
No prophet is accepted in his own country. The reference here to some things done before this time in Capernaum, would incline us to think that after Christs temptations he first went to Cana of Galilee, where he wrought his first miracle, Joh 2:1, turning the water into wine, then to Capernaum, where he staid not many days, Joh 2:12, then to Nazareth; but hearing that John was cast into prison, he removed from Nazareth to Capernaum, out of the jurisdiction of Herod, under the milder government of Philip his brother.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. this proverblike our”Charity begins at home.”
whatsoever, c.”Strangerumors have reached our ears of Thy doings at Capernaum but if suchpower resides in Thee to cure the ills of humanity, why has none ofit yet come nearer home, and why is all this alleged power reservedfor strangers?” His choice of Capernaum as a place of residencesince entering on public life was, it seems, already well known atNazareth; and when He did come thither, to give no displays of Hispower when distant places were ringing with His fame, wounded theirpride. He had indeed “laid his hands on a few sick folk andhealed them” (Mr 6:5); butthis seems to have been done quite privately the general unbeliefprecluding anything more open.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he said unto them, ye will surely say unto me this proverb,…. Or “parable”; for any pithy sentence, or proverbial expression, was, by the Jews, called a parable:
physician heal thyself; and which was a proverb in use with the Jews; and which is sometimes expressed thus, , “go heal thyself” m; and sometimes in this form, , “physician, heal thy lameness” n: the meaning of which is, that a man ought to look at home, and take care of himself, and of those that belonged to him; and Christ was aware that his townsmen would object this to him, that if he was the person he was said to be, and could do the miracles and cures which were ascribed to him, he ought to do something of this kind at home, among them, who were his townsmen, neighbours, relations, and acquaintance; that is, heal their sick, lame, blind, leprous, deaf, and dumb: and that this is the sense of it, is manifest from what follows,
whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum: a place where Christ often was, and where he cured the centurion’s servant of the palsy, and Peter’s wife’s mother of a fever, and another man sick of a palsy, and the woman of her bloody issue, and a man that had a withered hand, and where he raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead:
do also here in thy country; or city, as the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions render it: hence it appears, that this was not the first of our Lord’s ministry; he had preached elsewhere, and wrought miracles before he came to Nazareth, and of which his townsmen had heard; and therefore were desirous that he would do the like among them, if he was able, for they seem to be very incredulous, and to question the reports of him, and his ability to perform such things; however, if he could, they thought they had as good a right to his favours and benefits, as any, this being his native place.
m Zohar in Exod. fol. 31. 2. n Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 20. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Doubtless (). Adverb. Literally, at any rate, certainly, assuredly. Cf. Acts 21:22; Acts 28:4.
This parable ( ). See discussion on Mt 13. Here the word has a special application to a crisp proverb which involves a comparison. The word physician is the point of comparison. Luke the physician alone gives this saying of Jesus. The proverb means that the physician was expected to take his own medicine and to heal himself. The word in the N.T. is confined to the Synoptic Gospels except Heb 9:9; Heb 11:19. This use for a proverb occurs also in Luke 5:36; Luke 6:39. This proverb in various forms appears not only among the Jews, but in Euripides and Aeschylus among the Greeks, and in Cicero’s Letters. Hobart quotes the same idea from Galen, and the Chinese used to demand it of their physicians. The point of the parable seems to be that the people were expecting him to make good his claim to the Messiahship by doing here in Nazareth what they had heard of his doing in Capernaum and elsewhere. “Establish your claims by direct evidence” (Easton). This same appeal (Vincent) was addressed to Christ on the Cross (Matt 27:40; Matt 27:42). There is a tone of sarcasm towards Jesus in both cases.
Heard done ( ). The use of this second aorist middle participle after is a neat Greek idiom. It is punctiliar action in indirect discourse after this verb of sensation or emotion (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 1040-42, 1122-24).
Do also here ( ). Ingressive aorist active imperative. Do it here in thy own country and town and do it now. Jesus applies the proverb to himself as an interpretation of their real attitude towards himself.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Surely [] . Lit., by all means. Rev., doubtless.
Proverb [] . Rev., parable. See on Mt 13:3. Wyc., likeness.
Physician, heal thyself. A saying which Luke alone records, and which would forcibly appeal to him as a physician. Galen speaks of a physician who should have cured himself before he attempted to attend patients. The same appeal was addressed to Christ on the cross (Mt 27:40, 42).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he said unto them,” (kai eipen pros autous) “And he said directly to them,” to those whose eyes were fixed on Him in the synagogue that sabbath day, Luk 4:16; Luk 4:20. Perceiving their thoughts he spoke, for He knows “what is in man,” Joh 2:25.
2) “Ye will surely say unto me this proverb,” (pantos ereite moi ten parabolen tauten) “You all will surely say to me this parable,” this familiar saying, or proverb from the Hebrew word “mashal.”
3) “Physician, heal thyself;” (eatre threapeuson se auton) “Physician heal yourself,” in behalf of your own needs. The saying is similar to that one, “charity begins at home,” do something for yourself, or in behalf of your countrymen, to avoid being rejected by your own people, Joh 1:11.
4) “Whatsoever ye have heard done in Capernaum,”
(hosa ekousamen genomena eis en Kapharnaoum) “What kin ‘ d of things we heard were happening in Capernaum,” that you were doing and have done in Capernaum, in recent days; though what they were is not disclosed, Joh 2:12, it does infer that Jesus had an antecedent ministry there.
5) “Do also here in thy country.” (poieson kai ode em te patridi sou) “You do also here in your native land or fatherland,” where you have been brought up, here in Nazareth, Mat 2:23; Luk 4:16. This is an evidence of the axiom or rule “for the Jews require a sign,” something exciting or emotional, 1Co 1:22. There is a note of cynical doubt and skepticism in it all.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. Physician, heal thyself From the words of Christ it may be easily inferred, that he was treated with contempt by the inhabitants of Nazareth: for he states publicly those thoughts, which he knew to exist in their minds. He afterwards imputes to them the blame of his declining to work miracles among them, and charges them with malice, in bestowing no honor on a prophet of God. The objection, which he anticipates, is this: “There is no reason to wonder, if his countrymen hold him in little estimation, since he does not dignify his own country, as he does other places, by working miracles; and, consequently, it is but a just revenge, if his own countrymen, whom he treats with less respect than all others, are found to reject him.” Such is the meaning of the common proverb, that a physician ought to begin with himself, and those immediately connected with him, before he exhibits his skill in healing others. The amount of the objection is, that Christ acts improperly, in paying no respect to his own country, while he renders other cities of Galilee illustrious by his miracles. And this was regarded by the inhabitants of Nazareth as a fair excuse for rejecting him in their turn.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) Physician, heal thyself.There is something interesting in our finding this proverb in the Gospel of the beloved physician. May we think of him as hearing the proverb casually, tracking out its application, and so coming on this history? It was, probably, so far as is known, a common Jewish proverb; but there is no trace of it in Greek writers, and it was therefore likely to attract his notice.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. Physician, heal thyself You who paint our misery as so deep, and yourself as our physician, first remedy your own case. If we are miserable Nazarenes, you are as Nazarene as we, and a mere mechanic’s son at that. And there is this difference against you, that you are under charge of an imposture from which you can redeem yourself only by miracle.
Do also here You may ground your assumed exaltation on miracles claimed by you as having been performed at Capernaum and elsewhere. Let us see the like. Perhaps miracles that would pass current at Capernaum might not stand before us sharp men of Nazareth!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he said to them, “Doubtless you will say to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself’, whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your own country.” ’
Thus Jesus chides them because of their attitude, and puts into their mouths the words that they wanted to say, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ In other words ‘get yourself sorted out’. These words probably mean that as He has not performed any miracles in Nazareth He needs to heal Himself so that He could perform in Nazareth what He had performed in Capernaum. They did not pause to consider that the reason why nothing had happened in Nazareth was because no one had brought their sick to Him (contrast the people of Capernaum in Luk 4:40). And this was because they found it difficult to believe that the local carpenter could be a healer.
Others have read ‘Physician, heal yourself’ as meaning, ‘Physician heal your own townspeople as well.’ That healing is certainly what they wanted, for they wanted Him to do in Nazareth what He had done in Capernaum. Indeed what follows suggests that there was a great deal of antagonism because He had not done so.
Some have suggested that it meant that He should remember that He came from a poor family and better Himself before He sought to lecture others. What could He know of helping the poor when He was poor Himself? But that would not connect with the next phrase.
‘Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum.’ Note the note of doubt. They had heard it, but they were not convinced that it was true. (Nazareth was a little cut off from the mainstream of life).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The rebuke of Christ:
v. 23. And He said unto them, Ye will surely say unto Me this proverb, Physician, heal Thyself; whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country.
v. 24. And He said Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
v. 25. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
v. 26. but unto none of them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
v. 27. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian. Even now prejudice and rejection were raising their heads in the minds of the people of Nazareth; they were refusing in their hearts to believe Him to be the Messiah of the prophets. And Jesus read their thoughts and intentions; He anticipated their attack. They were not satisfied with preaching, but had a proverbial saying in mind: Physician, heal thyself. They had heard that Jesus had done great miracles at Capernaum and elsewhere, and they believed that miracles of healing, like charity, should begin at home. They wanted concrete evidence of His ability, if they were to believe. They met Him from the start with skeptic, unbelieving hearts. And Jesus, reading these thoughts, solemnly declared to them, what He repeated upon various occasions, that no prophet is acceptable in his own country. His own countrymen, his own fellow-citizens, are the most critical, the most skeptical, and the first to condemn. If the people of Nazareth had met the Lord with an open mind, ready to be convinced by word and deed, as other communities had been, then Jesus would have been more than willing to convince them. But here He is forced to draw a parallel between the present situation and two incidents recorded in the Old Testament. Emphatically He declares that there were many widows in the country at the time of Elijah of old, during the great famine, and yet Elijah was sent only to the town of Sarepta, or Zarephath, to a widow that lived there, 1Ki 17:1-24. And many lepers lived in Israel at the time of Elisha, and yet only Naaman the Syrian was cleansed, 2Ki 5:1-27. Here was a lesson and a warning. The Jews of old might also have said with regard to these strangers, one a Sidonian, the other a Syrian: Why did the prophets not perform these miracles among their own country-people? Just as those prophets, with whom the Lord, in His humility, places Himself on a level, could not work among the Jews on account of the latters’ unbelief, so the people of Nazareth, that had the help at their very doors, closed and hardened their hearts against the influence of the preaching of Jesus. They would, therefore, have no one to blame but themselves if condemnation would come upon them.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luk 4:23-27. And he said unto them, &c. When our Lord came to Galilee, with a view to exercise his ministry, he did not go to Nazareth: on the contrary, he passed by it, and went straight to Cana, which lay not far from Sidon. See Joh 2:1. This exasperated the Nazarenes. Besides, he had not performed any miracle in their town; far less had he done any like that which they heard he had performed in Capernaum, where he cured the nobleman’s sonwithout stirring from Cana. It seems they thought, since their townsman could so easily give health to the sick at a distance, there ought not to have been so much as one diseased person in all Nazareth. At least our Lord’s own words suggest this conjecture: He said unto them, Ye surely say to me, (for so it should be rendered) ye apply to me this proverb,which was a common one among the easterns, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country, plainly alluding to the cure of the nobleman’s son; as if they had said, “Since thou possessest powers so great, and art able to cure sick persons at a distance, we cannot help thinking, that in thine absence thou oughtest to have recovered the sick of thy native city, rather than those of any other town; it being expected of every physician, that he will bestow his healing virtue and his art upon his own relations and friends who need it, sooner than upon strangers.” In answer to their ill-natured whispers, Jesus told them plainly, that his character would suffer nothing by their rejecting him; because it had ever been the lot of prophets to be despised in their own country, Luk 4:24 and see on Mat 13:57. And with relation to his having wrought no miracle of healing in their town, he insinuated, that the very heathens were more worthy of favours of this sort than they, to such a pitch of wickedness had they proceeded; in which respect they resembled their ancestors, whose great sins God reproved by sending his prophets to work miracles for heathens, rather than for them, in a time of generalcalamities, Luk 4:25-27. By putting them thus in mind of Elijah’s miracle in behalf of the widow of Sarepta, a heathen inhabitant of a heathen city, in a time of famine, while many of Israel were suffered to starve; and of Elijah’s miracleupon Naaman, the Syrian leper, while many lepers in Israel remained uncleansed; he shewed them both the sin and the punishment of their ancestors, and left it to themselves to make the application. St. James speaks of the same period of time, that the heavens were shut up in the days of Elijah, ch. Luk 5:17 as our Lord does, Luk 4:25 which is grounded either on our Lord’s authority here, or was a circumstance, probably, established by tradition: for in both places it is spoken of as a thing well known; nor can we doubt but the account is very exact, though the time is not determined in the Old Testament. Dr. Lightfoot and others have observed, that there is somewhat remarkable in this circumstance of time, as it agrees with the continuance of Christ’s public ministry, that as Elijah shut up heaven by his prayers, so that it rained not upon the earth for the space of three years and six months; so from the baptism to the death of Christ the heavens were opened for a like space of time, when his doctrine dropped as the rain, and his speech distilled as the dew. God sent Elijah to Sarepta, a Gentile city in the coasts of Sidon, and so made him the first prophet that was ever sent among the Gentiles; and when our Lord himself went among the Gentiles, it was into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, to shew mercy to a poor woman, as Elijah had done to a poor widow; thereby giving a tacit intimation of the mercy intended to be shewn to the Gentiles. See the note on Mat 13:58.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 4:23-24 . Whether what follows, as far as Luk 4:27 , is taken from the Logia (Ewald), or from some other written source (Kstlin), or from oral tradition (Holtzmann), cannot be determined. But the Logia offers itself most obviously as the source.
] certainly ; a certainty that this would be the case. See on 1Co 9:10 .
. . .] a figurative proverb ( , ) that occurs also among the Greeks, the Romans, and the Rabbins. See Wetstein and Lightfoot. The meaning here is: If thou desirest to be a helper of others (Luk 4:18-19 ; Luk 4:21 ), first help thyself from the malady under which thou art suffering, from the want of consideration and esteem which attaches to thee; which healing of Himself, as they think, must be effected by means of miracle as a sign of divine attestation. See what follows. Others understand it: Help thine own fellow-townsmen (Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, Calvin, Maldonatus, Grotius, Bengel, and others, also Paulus, de Wette, Schegg, Bisping). This is opposed to the meaning of the words, as and can only be one person. Moreover, the parabolic word concerning the physician is retained only in Luke, whom it might specially interest.
] (the name is to be written thus in Luke also, with Lachmann and Tischendorf) indicates the direction of , which took place at Capernaum (Bernhardy, p. 220), comp. on Luk 4:23 . The petty jealousy felt by the small towns against Capernaum is manifest here.
. ] here in thy birth-place. After the adverb of place comes the place itself, by way of a more vivid designation. Bornemann, Schol. p. 34; Fritzsche, ad Marc. p. 22.
Luk 4:24 . But the hindrance to the fulfilment of that , and also to the working here as at Capernaum, is found in the fact that no prophet, etc. According to this, it is unfounded for Baur, Evang. p. 506, to assume that the writer here understood in a wider reference, [89] so that Paul’s experience in the Acts of the Apostles of being compelled, when rejected by the Jews, to turn to the Gentiles had already had its precedent here in the history of Jesus Himself. That the whole section to wit, from , Luk 4:14 , to Luk 4:30 is an interpolation from the hand of the redactor, is asserted by Baur, Markusevang . p. 218.
] after Luk 4:23 let a significant pause be supposed.
[89] Comp. Hilgenfeld, Evang . p. 168, “the Jewish home of Christianity;” Holtzmann also, p. 214. Whether in general Luke looked on the rejection of Christ in Nazareth as a “significant prelude for the rejection of Christ by His whole people” (Weiss in the Stud. u. Krit . 1861, p. 697), cannot be decided at all, as he gives no hint on the subject.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1486
PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF
Luk 4:23. And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself.
WE are told that Solomon spake three thousand proverbs [Note: 1Ki 4:32.]. To condense the results of general observation in some brief sentence, was a mode of communication which wise and learned men of old greatly affected: and to search out what was so communicated, was a study in which the young were deeply employed [Note: Pro 1:5-6.]. By proverbs every species of instruction was imparted. By them, also, were reproof and encouragement conveyed with peculiar force and emphasis. Nor was there any one so wise, but he might be addressed in this manner without offence. Even our blessed Lord, after having represented himself as the great Healer of the world, conceived that his hearers would apply to him this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. This, doubtless, was a common proverb at that time, as it is also amongst us at the present day: and it shall be my endeavour to shew,
I.
What is its import
It may be understood,
1.
As a sarcastic reflection
[This is the precise view in which it was understood by our blessed Lord. He had wrought many miracles at Capernaum: and now at Nazareth, where he had lived from his earliest years, the people hoped to see similar exertions of his almighty power: and, because he did not see fit to gratify their unreasonable expectations, they doubted the truth of the reports which they had heard concerning him. Hence our Lord said to them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thine own country. But they had no right to dictate to him thus. The report of what he had done in Capernaum was authenticated beyond all reasonable doubt; and the people of Nazareth ought to have believed in him. But, being offended at him on account of his low parentage and connexions, they could not endure to regard him as their promised Messiah: and it was to punish this unbelief, that our Lord withheld from them any further evidence at that time. This is the account given both by St. Matthew and St Luke [Note: ver. 2224. with Mat 13:54-58.]: and this shews the precise meaning of the proverb, as applied to him by his countrymen at that time. Its meaning was, You profess yourself the Messiah; and, if you do not give us all the proofs of it which you have given to others, we will not receive you. We shall take it for granted that you are incompetent to the task; and that you decline all efforts for our conviction, because you are not able to impose on us, who know you, in the way that you have imposed on others, to whom you were not so well known. Thus was the proverb used by them as a sarcastic reflection; intimating, that he could not do in his own country what he pretended to have done at a distance from it.]
2.
As a salutary admonition
[Certainly, a person seeking to reform others should, so to speak, begin at home; and, if he do not, he will provoke others to retaliate with this advice, Physician, heal thyself. It is in this sense that the proverb is more generally used amongst ourselves. And in this sense it exactly accords with the instruction given by our Lord, in his Sermon on the Mount: Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye, and perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either, how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then thou shalt see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brothers eye [Note: Luk 6:41-42.]. In this view it is a salutary admonition, for which all must be prepared who would do good to others: and to cut off all just occasion for it must be the one labour of their lives.]
When we see our blessed Lord supposing it applied to himself, it will be desirable to ascertain,
II.
To whom it may with propriety be addressed
You will bear in mind, that our Lord was supposed to possess and exercise such powers as fully attested his divine mission. These powers the people of Nazareth, therefore, called upon him to display amongst them: and on his compliance with these terms, they suspended their acceptance of him as their promised Messiah. Had he never given sufficient proof of his divine mission, they would have been justified in demanding more convincing evidence of it. But what he had done at Capernaum was abundantly sufficient to shew that God was with him of a truth; and therefore their demand was unreasonable, and the refusal of it was a just punishment for their incredulity. But we may well apply the proverb,
1.
To the proud moralist, who pours contempt upon the Gospel
[Many, like the Pharisees of old, adhere to the law of works, and regard the Gospel as foolishness. Their principles, they judge, are quite sufficient for the effecting of every thing that is necessary for their salvation. Then, I say, Prove it to us. You profess that you have satisfied others: but, before we can acquiesce in your high pretensions, we call upon you to satisfy us. Physician, whoever thou art, heal thyself, and let us see in thee a proof of the efficacy of those principles of which thou boastest. That they will suffice to cleanse the outside of the cup and platter, we readily admit: but that they will operate effectually to the cleansing of the inside, we greatly doubt. We will admit the truth of all that was alleged by thy great prototype in the Temple: I thank thee, O God, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican: I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess [Note: Luk 18:11-12.]. But, in our view of religion, humility, and faith, and love, are very primary and essential parts: and we beg leave to ask, What evidence thou givest us of these? we see not of these any proof whatever: and, till we see them visibly wrought into the frame and constitution of thy soul, we must call in question all thy high pretensions; and must consider thy rejection of the Gospel as a proof of thine own pride, and ignorance, and unbelief ]
2.
To the censorious professor, who dishonours the Gospel
[Almost all classes of Christians are ready to censure and condemn those who differ from them: and, even in their own society, there are but too many who cast on each other unkind and censorious reflections: and, in fact, those who are the most faulty themselves are the foremost in finding fault with others. This disposition greatly prevailed amongst the Pharisaic Jews; who, boasting of their high privileges, were forward to condemn others, whilst they themselves were guilty of the very same or worse enormities than those which they censured in others. Hence St. Paul, in the true spirit of this proverb, reproved them; saying, Thou who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest, a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that sayest, a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege [Note: Rom 2:21-22.]? Now, in this, must I reply to multitudes of professing Christians: do you complain of others as carnal and worldly and covetous, and are ye yourselves faulty in these respects? Do ye complain of pride, anger, and un-charitableness in others, and yet indulge them in yourselves? Do ye censure others for bigotry and intolerance, and yet betray the same unhallowed spirit towards those who differ from you? In a word, look at home; and let your severity be directed rather against your own defects, than the defects of others; and, instead of prescribing remedies so profusely to others, apply them first for the healing of the disorders of of your own souls.]
3.
To true believers, who desire to adorn and recommend the Gospel
[Be sure that those to whom you recommend the Gospel will first mark its operation upon your minds: and, if they see that it has done little or nothing for you, they will not be disposed to expect any great benefits from it to themselves. On the contrary, if they see that it has wrought a valuable change on you, they will be ready to receive it, in order that they themselves may be made partakers of the same benefits. Hence, your first care must be to experience all its sanctifying and saving operations in your own souls; that, when you commend it to others, you may be able to say, What my eyes have seen, my ears have heard, and my hands have handled, of the word of life, that same declare I unto you [Note: 1Jn 1:1-3.]. St. Paul could appeal to his hearers, how holily, justly, and unblameably he had behaved himself among them [Note: 1Th 2:10.]: and could boldly say, Whatsoever ye have heard and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you [Note: Php 4:9.]. This rendered his word incomparably more powerful than it would have been under other circumstances; and no doubt, if you also can make a similar appeal, whether you be ministers or private Christians, it will give ten-fold effect to your instructions. To all, then, I would say, labour first to improve the Gospel for the sanctification and comfort of your own souls; and then will those who behold the brightness of your light, acknowledge that God is with you of a truth; and that the Gospel, which has wrought such things for you, is worthy of universal acceptation.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(23) And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. (24) And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. (25) But I tell you of a truth, Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; (26) But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. (27) And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian. (28) And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, (29) And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. (30) But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way, (31) And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. (32) And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
And here we find how the tone of their sentiments is changed. All they in the synagogue were now filled with wrath, and endeavoured to push him on to the brow of the hill of their city, in order to destroy him. Reader! when you have duly pondered the subject, and marked the great change, I beseech you to pause, and if it be possible, find out the cause. It was at one and the same meeting this vast alteration of conduct in the people took place. There could have been no one circumstance of a change in Christ, either in his person or behaviour. And what was it, think you, filled the minds of this people with wrath, which before had borne witness at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth? Are you able to discover the cause? surely nothing can be plainer. The simple reason was, in the former, Jesus preached his Gospel in the general features of it. In the latter, Jesus preached the same Gospel in the special and particular application of it. In the one, he held forth the glories of his person, in his offices, character, and relations. In the latter, the personal interest his people alone have in it. In a word, Christ preached in the close of what he had before delivered, that doctrine, which ever hath, and ever must, and ever will give disgust to all carnal men; and which, though Christ himself be the preacher, (as we here see fully proved,) will never cease to be odious; even the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, in opposition to the pride of the free will of man; and hence Christ shall experience what all his servants, in all ages of the Church have experienced, the most bitter resentment instantly arising against it. But, Reader! while making due observation on those striking passages, in explaining the cause of that change of behaviour towards the Lord Jesus Christ, do not fail at the same time to mark down in suitable characters, what a blessed testimony the Son of God hath here given, in proof of that fundamental, glorious, and incontrovertible doctrine of God. See Mat 11:25-26 ; Joh 17:9Joh 17:9 ; Rom 9:6 to the end.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Ver. 23. Physician, heal thyself ] That is, thy country. So that for a man to cure his country is to cure himself.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23. . . ] Not, ‘ raise thyself from thy obscure station ,’ but, exert thy powers of healing in thine own country, as presently interpreted; the Physician being represented as an inhabitant of Nazareth, and including His own citizens in it. Stier remarks, that the reproach was repeated under the Cross. Then , with a strictly individual application. On the miracles previously wrought in Capernaum, see note on Luk 4:14 . That in Joh 4:47-53 was one such.
. ] Whether we read or , the preposition is equally local in its signification, in Capernaum, not ‘ in the case of Capernaum ,’ or ‘ to Capernaum .’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 4:23 . , doubtless, of course = Hebrew mashal , including proverbs as well as what we call “parables”. A proverb in this case. , etc.: the verbal meaning is plain, the point of the parable not so plain, though what follows seems to indicate it distinctly enough = do here, among us , what you have, as we hear, done in Capernaum. This would not exactly amount to a physician healing himself. We must be content with the general idea: every sensible benefactor begins in his immediate surroundings. There is probably a touch of scepticism in the words = we will not believe the reports of your great deeds, unless you do such things here (Hahn). For similar proverbs in other tongues, vide Grotius and Wetstein. The reference to things done in Capernaum implies an antecedent ministry there.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
surely = doubtless.
proverb = parable. Figure of speech
Paroemia. App-6.
Physician, &c. Peculiar to Luke. See Col 4:14
done = being done.
Capernaum. See App-169. First occurance in Luke. Silence there is no proof of ignorance.
also here = here also.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23. . .] Not, raise thyself from thy obscure station, but, exert thy powers of healing in thine own country, as presently interpreted; the Physician being represented as an inhabitant of Nazareth, and including His own citizens in it. Stier remarks, that the reproach was repeated under the Cross. Then, with a strictly individual application. On the miracles previously wrought in Capernaum, see note on Luk 4:14. That in Joh 4:47-53 was one such.
.] Whether we read or , the preposition is equally local in its signification, in Capernaum, not in the case of Capernaum, or to Capernaum.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 4:23. , by all means) Jesus is not caught or attracted by every kind of assent to His word: but presently subjoins remarks of such a kind, as that the hearers may be tested and proved by them. So Joh 8:32, where see the note.-, ye will say) that is to say, this feeling, whereby ye say, Is not this Josephs son? will wax strong with you, when ye shall hear concerning my miracles. Comp. Mat 13:54-55.[52] This is a metonymy of the consequent [for the antecedent], i.e. your unbelief [the antecedent] which ye now betray will prevent me, so that I shall not exhibit many miracles among you, as among others: then it shall be that you will be able to say [the consequent], Physician, heal thyself.-) , a proverb.-, thyself) that is to say, what you have made good (performed) abroad, make good (perform) also at home, and in your own country.-, Capernaum) the city to which Jesus was shortly about to set out, and where He was about to perform miracles, Luk 4:31; Luk 4:33, etc. Even previously He had been there: Joh 2:12. But we do not read of His having at that time either stayed long or wrought miracles. [Nevertheless He is recorded (Joh 4:47) as having healed the son of the nobleman (courtier) who was afflicted with sickness in Capernaum: and this occurrence seems to be referred to in this passage no less than in those deeds which He afterwards wrought: namely, in the same way as already in the age of David, Psa 85:2 (Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of the people, Thou hast covered all their sins), the conclusion is drawn from the deliverance out of the Babylonish captivity to ulterior instances of grace reserved for more remote times. Moreover, when Jesus, already in this passage, predicts these things of the city of Capernaum, it is hereby intimated that the violent usage offered to our Lord by the people of Nazareth, was not the cause, and the only cause in particular, for Jesus having departed to Capernaum to take up His abode there.-Harm., p. 189.]
[52] Where they say not merely, Is not this Josephs son? but also, Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works, Is not this the carpenters son? Is not his mother? etc.?-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Physician: Luk 6:42, Rom 2:21, Rom 2:22
whatsoever: Mat 4:13, Mat 4:23, Mat 11:23, Mat 11:24, Joh 4:48
do: Joh 2:3, Joh 2:4, Joh 4:28, Joh 7:3, Joh 7:4, Rom 11:34, Rom 11:35, 2Co 5:16
thy country: Mat 13:54, Mar 6:1
Reciprocal: Pro 26:7 – so Mat 7:5 – first Mat 11:6 – whosoever Mar 6:3 – offended Luk 23:8 – and he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
Jesus was aware of the reasoning the people were doing, whether he heard them with his fleshly ears or not. He knew they would wonder why he did not perform the same amount of wonderful deeds there that he was reported to have done in other countries such as that in the vicinity of Capernaum. Physician, heal thyself was a prediction that was fulfilled at the cross (Mat 27:40), but. the other words of the verse were being fulfilled while Jesus was speaking.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 4:23. Doubtless ye will say. This reply is based upon something deeper than the question of Luk 4:22. The tone throughout is that of reproof.
This parable. A proverb, according to our use of terms, but a proverb is usually a condensed parable, see p. 117.
Physician. Luke, the physician, presents Christ as the Physician; our Lord implies that this is His office.
Heal thyself. Help thine own countrymen, who are naturally nearest to thee. Others paraphrase it: If thou wilt be a helper of others (physician), help thyself from the want of respect and esteem among us, by working miracles here as thou hast done in Capernaum. The former seems the more natural explanation. Comp, the similar reproach at the crucifixion (Himself He cannot save the one is the natural development of the other, envy ripening into malice.
Done at Capernaum. On Capernaum, see Mat 4:13. The correct reading may mean done for Capernaum. He had certainly been already active there. The inhabitants of Nazareth would naturally be jealous of the larger place, and might hope that He would make His early home the centre of miraculous displays. Local pride was involved, and the material advantage was the only motive of any wish they had for His presence among them. Evil men may boast of a distinguished Christian townsman.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 4:23-24. And he said, Ye will surely say That is, your approbation now outweighs your prejudices. But it will not be so long. You will soon ask, why my love does not begin at home? why I do not work miracles here, rather than at Capernaum? It is because of your unbelief. Nor is it any new thing for a messenger of God to be despised in his own country. So were both Elijah and Elisha, and thereby driven to work miracles among heathen, rather than in Israel. And he said, Verily, no prophet is accepted in his own country That is, in his own neighbourhood. It generally holds, that a teacher sent from God is not so acceptable to his neighbours as he is to strangers. The meanness of his family, or lowness of his circumstances, brings his office into contempt: nor can they suffer that he, who was before equal with or below themselves, should now bear a superior character.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vers. 23-27. The Colloquy.And He said to them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself; whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. 24 And He said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. The meaning surely, which often has, would be of no force here; it rather means wholly, nothing less than: The question which you have just put to me is only the first symptom of unbelief. From surprise you will pass to derision. Thus you will quickly arrive at the end of the path in which you have just taken the first step.
The term , parable, denotes any kind of figurative discourse, whether a complete narrative or a short sentence, couched in an image, like proverbs. Jesus had just attributed to Himself, applying Isaiah’s words, the office of a restorer of humanity. He had described the various ills from which His hearers were suffering, and directed their attention to Himself as the physician sent to heal them. This is what the proverb cited refers to. (Comp. , a physician, with , to heal, Luk 4:18.) Thus: You are going even to turn to ridicule what you have just heard, and to say to me, Thou who pretendest to save humanity from its misery, begin by delivering thyself from thine own. But, as thus explained, the proverb does not appear to be in connection with the following proposition. Several interpreters have proposed another explanation: Before attempting to save mankind, raise thy native town from its obscurity, and make it famous by miracles like those which thou must have wrought at Capernaum. But it is very forced to explain the word thyself in the sense of thy native town. The connection of this proverb with the following words is explained, if we see in the latter a suggestion of the means by which Jesus may yet prevent the contempt with which He is threatened in His own country: In order that we may acknowledge you to be what you claim, the Saviour of the people, do here some such miracle as it is said thou hast done at Capernaum. This speech betrays an ironical doubt respecting those marvellous things which were attributed to Him.
It appears from this passage, as well as from Mat 13:58 and Mar 6:5, that Jesus performed no miracles at Nazareth. It is even said that He could do no miracle there. It was a moral impossibility, as in other similar instances (Luk 11:16; Luk 11:29; Luk 23:35). It proceeded from the spirit in which the demand was made: it was a miracle of ostentation that was required of Him (the third temptation in the desert); and it was what He could not grant, without doing what the Father had not shown Him (Joh 5:19; Joh 5:30).
The allusion to the miracles at Capernaum creates surprise, because none of them have been recorded; and modern interpreters generally find in these words a proof of the chronological disorder which here prevails in Luke’s narrative. He must have placed this visit much too soon. This conclusion, however, is not so certain as it appears. The expression, in the power of the Spirit (Luk 4:14), contains by implication, as we have seen, an indication of miracles wrought in those early days, and amongst these we must certainly rank the miracle at the marriage feast at Cana (John 2). This miracle was followed by a residence at Capernaum (Joh 2:12), during which Jesus may have performed some miraculous works; and it was not till after that that He preached publicly at Nazareth. These early miracles have been effaced by subsequent events, as that at Cana would have been, if John had not rescued it from oblivion. If this is so, the twenty-third verse, which seems at first sight not to harmonize with the previous narrative, would just prove with what fidelity Luke has preserved the purport of the sources whence he drew his information. John in the same way makes allusion (Luk 2:12) to miracles which he has not recorded.
The preposition before the name Capernaum appears to be the true reading: done at and in favour of Capernaum.
The (Luk 4:24) indicates opposition. So far from seeking to obtain your confidence by a display of miracles, I shall rather accept, as a prophet, the fate of all the prophets. The proverbial saying here cited by Jesus is found in the scene Matthew 13 and Mark 6, and, with some slight modification, in Joh 4:44. None have more difficulty in discerning the exceptional character of an extraordinary man than those who have long lived with him on terms of familiarity.
The (Luk 4:25) is again of an adversative force: If by your unbelief you prevent my being your physician, there are others whom you will not prevent me from healing. The expression verily announces something important; and it is evident that the application of the saying, Luk 4:24, in the mind of Jesus, has a much wider reference than the instance before Him; Nazareth becomes, in His view, a type of unbelieving Israel. This is proved by the two following examples, which refer to the relations of Israel with the heathen.
He speaks of a famine of three years and a half. From the expressions of the O. T., during these years (1Ki 17:1), and the third year (Luk 18:1), we can only in strictness infer a drought of two years and a half. But as this same figure, three years and a half, is found in Jam 5:17, it was probably a tradition of the Jewish schools. The reasoning would be this: The famine must have lasted for a certain time after the drought. There would be a desire also to make out the number which, ever since the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, had become the emblem of times of national calamity. The expression, all the land, denotes the land of Israel, with the known countries bordering upon it. The Alex. reading , the territory of Sidon, may be a correction derived from the LXX. The reading , the city of Sidon itself, makes the capital the centre on which the surrounding cities depend.
The somewhat incorrect use of , except, is explained by the application of this restriction not to the special notion of Israelitish widowhood, but to the idea of widowhood in general; the same remark applies to Luk 4:27, Mat 12:4, Gal 1:19, and other passages.
The second example (Luk 4:27) is taken from 2Ki 5:14. The passage 2Ki 7:3 and some others prove how very prevalent leprosy was in Israel at this time. The prophecy contained in these examples is being fulfilled to this hour: Israel is deprived of the works of grace and marvels of healing which the Messiah works among the Gentiles.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Evidently Jesus had been ministering in Capernaum before this incident (cf. Luk 4:14-15). The accounts of Jesus in Nazareth in Mat 13:53-58 and Mar 6:1-6 also follow instances of His doing miracles in Capernaum (Mat 4:13; Mar 1:21-28). This has encouraged some interpreters to regard this passage in Luke as parallel to the others in Matthew and Mark, but this is probably incorrect. Jesus’ decision to refrain from doing miracles in Nazareth apparently led some of the Nazarenes to question His ability to do them at all. This cast further doubt on His messiahship in their minds. They thought that if He was the Messiah He should bring blessing to Nazareth and do signs there too.