Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 8:6
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
6. my servant ] or “slave;” the Greek word is a more affectionate term than the word translated servant in Mat 8:9.
the palsy ] i. e. paralysis, a disease often free from acute suffering, but when it is accompanied by contraction of the muscles, the pain, as in this case, is very grievous. St Luke does not name the nature of the disease.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Sick of the palsy – See the notes at Mat 4:24. The particular form which the palsy assumed in this case is not mentioned. It seems it was a violent attack. Perhaps it was the painful form which produced violent cramps, and which immediately endangered his life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. Lord] Rather, Sir, for so the word should always be translated when a Roman is the speaker.
Lieth at home] , lieth all along; intimating that the disease had reduced him to a state of the utmost impotence, through the grievous torments with which it was accompanied.
Sick of the palsy] Or paralytic. See Clarke on Mt 4:24. This centurion did not act as many masters do when their servants are afflicted, have them immediately removed to an infirmary, often to a work-house; or sent home to friends or relatives, who probably either care nothing for them, or are unable to afford them any of the comforts of life. In case of a contagious disorder, it may be necessary to remove an infected person to such places as are best calculated to cure the distemper, and prevent the spread of the contagion. But, in all common cases, the servant should be considered as a child, and receive the same friendly attention. If, by a hasty, unkind, and unnecessary removal, the servant die, are not the master and mistress murderers before God?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home,…. It would be a difficulty whether it was a son or a servant he was so concerned for; since , the word here used, more commonly signifies a “son” or “child”; but that Luke, supposing it to be the same case he relates, expressly calls him , “a servant”, Lu 7:2. The concern of the “centurion” for him, shows him to have been a good servant, faithful and obedient to his master; since he was so much affected with his case, and took so much care of him; and Luke says, he “was dear unto him”; in great esteem, highly valued, and much beloved: and also, that the centurion was a good master; he does not put his sick servant from him, but takes care of him at home, and seeks out for relief for him, being greatly desirous of his life. And as his keeping him at home discovered a tender regard to him; so his not bringing him forth, or ordering him to be brought out to Christ, which was sometimes done in such cases, shows his great faith in Christ, that he was as able to cure him lying at home, as if brought before him; absent, as well as present. It is in the original text, “is cast”; or, as it is rendered, Mt 8:14 “laid in the house”, as if he was dead, speechless, and without motion; and Luke says, that he was “ready to die”, being as one laid out for dead. The phrase answers to , a word often used by the Rabbins; sometimes of sick persons, as when they say i of anyone, that he is , “sick, and laid upon the bed”; and sometimes of a person really dead, and laid out: and often this phrase is to be met with, , “he that hath his dead cast”, or “laid out before him” k; concerning whom they dispute many things; as what he is free from, the reading of Shema, prayer, and the phylacteries; and where he ought to eat and drink till such time his dead is buried out of his sight. But this man’s servant was not dead, but lay as one dead;
sick of the palsy, his nerves all relaxed, and he stupid, senseless, motionless,
grievously tormented, or “punished”, or rather “afflicted”; as the Ethiopic version, and Munster’s Hebrew edition read it; for paralytic persons do not feel much pain and torment: but the meaning is, that he was in a miserable afflicted condition. The account of his disorder is given to move Christ’s compassion, and recorded to show the greatness of the miracle.
i T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 146. 2. 147. l. Cetubot, fol. 103. 2. k Misn. Beracot, c. 3. sect. 1. T. Bab. Moed. Katon, fol. 23. 2. Maimon. Hilch. Ebel, c. 4. sect. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Grievously tormented ( ). Participle present passive from root (see on Mt 4:24). The boy (), slave (, Lu 7:2), was a bedridden (, perfect passive indicative of ) paralytic.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Tormented [] . See on torments, Mt 4:24.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And saying, Lord,” (kai legon kurie) “And repeatedly explaining to him, Lord,” directly appealing to Jesus.
2) “My servant lieth at home sick of the palsy,” (ho pais mou bebletai en te oikia paralutekos) “My young son-servant has been laid aside in the house as a paralytic,” bedridden, unable to be brought to Jesus by the earnest centurion. The disease affects the nerves, muscles, and emotions of the victim. Mr 2:1-12 describes our Lord’s healing another paralytic.
3) “Grievously tormented.” (deinos basanizomenos) “Being terribly tortured,” or existing in a terrible state or condition of torture in his whole body. Luk 7:2 describes it “was sick and ready to die.”
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(6) My servant.The Greek word might mean either servant or boy. The former meaning is the more common, and is fixed as the meaning here by St. Lukes use of the word which means strictly slave. He is described as paralysed, but the words grievously tormented point to more acute suffering than is common in that form of disease, and imply either something like rheumatic fever, or tetanus, or the special kind of paralysis which benumbs the muscles only, and affects the nerves of sensation with sharp pain. A like case of paralysis with agonising pain is found in 1Ma. 9:55-56. The fact that this suffering touched his masters heart with pity was itself a sign of something exceptionally good in the centurions character. It was not thus, for the most part, that the wealthy Romans dealt with their slaves when they were sick. St. Luke does not state the nature of the disease, perhaps as not having been able to satisfy himself as to its precise nature, but simply describes the slave as ill, and at the point to die, and adds that he was dear (literally, precious) to his master. His narrative states further that the centurion sent the elders, having heard of Jesus. The report had obviously been such as to lead him to look on the Teacher as endowed with a supernatural power. It may have come from the elders of the synagogue themselves; but the facts of the case make it probable that he had heard specifically of the healing of the noblemans son at Capernaum recorded by St. John (Joh. 4:46-54). There he had found a precedent which now determined his own line of action, showing that a word from those lips might be enough to heal without touch or even presence.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 8:6. My servant ‘ . In Luke he is called : whence the writers hinted-at at the end of the last note would draw an argument in proof of the difference of these histories; for as sometimes signifies son, they would infer, that this centurion came for the cure of his son; that in Luke for the cure of his servant. This argument, however, is by no means conclusive; for it is plain, from several other passages both in sacred and prophane writers, that in the Greek, as well as puer in the Latin, is frequently used for servant.
Greviously tormented Greviously afflicted. The Greek word is not confined, especiallyin the Hellenistic idiom, to the signification oftormented, but often denotes simply (as has been observed by Grotius and Hammond) afflicted or distressed. Palsies are not attended with torment.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 8:6 . ] not son (Strauss, Neander, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bleek, Hilgenfeld, Keim), but slave (Luk 7:7 ; Mat 14:2 ); yet not: my favourite slave (Fritzsche, comp. Luk 7:2 ); but either the centurion had only the one , or else he refers to that one in particular whom he had in view . From Mat 8:9 , the former appears to be the more probable view.
] is laid down . Comp. Mat 9:2 . The perf. as denoting the existing condition. The description of the disease is not at variance with Luk 7:2 , but more exact.
.] see on Mat 4:24 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Ver. 6. Lord, my servant lieth at home, &c. ] Not thrown out of doors, not cast sick into a corner, to sink or swim, for any care his master would take of him; no, nor left to be cured at his own charges. The good centurion was not a better man than a master. So was that renowned Sir Thomas Lucy, late of Charlecott in Warwickshire, to whose singular commendation it was in mine hearing preached at his funeral, and is now since published, by my much honoured friend Mr Robert Harris, that (among many others that would dearly miss him) a houseful of servants had lost not a master, but a physician who made their sickness his, and his cost and medicine theirs.
” Cui blanda in vultu gravitas, et mite serena
Fronte supercilium, sed pectus mitius ore.
Or (as mine Alter Ego ) mine entirely beloved kinsman, Mr Thomas Dugard, expresseth it in his elegant epitaph: His servants’ sickness was his sympathy, and their recovery his cost. In quo viro ingenium pietas, artemque modestia vincit In which man, a holy nature and humility overcame skill.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
6. ] From Luke we learn that it was , . The centurion, perhaps, had but one slave, see Mat 8:9 . ‘Lucas hoc modo dubitationem prvenit, qu subire poterat lectorum animos; scimus enim non habitos fuisse servos eo in pretio, ut de ipsorum vita tum anxii essent domini, nisi qui singulari industria vel fide vel alia virtute sibi gratiam acquisierant. Significat ergo Lucas non vulgare fuisse sordidumque mancipium, sed fidelem et raris dotibus ornatum servum, qui eximia gratia apud dominum polleret: hinc tanta illius vit cura et tam studiosa commendatio.’ (Calvin in loc.)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 8:6 . again, not necessarily expressing any advanced idea of Christ’s person. may mean either son or servant. Luke has , and from the harmonistic point of view this settles the matter. But many, including Bleek and Weiss (Meyer), insist that here means son. , perf. pointing to a chronic condition; bed-ridden in the house, therefore not with the centurion. : a disease of the nerves, therefore emotional treatment might be thought of, had the son only been present. But he could not even be brought on a stretcher as in another case (Mat 9:1 ) because not only ., but , not an ordinary feature of paralysis.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
servant = young man, in legal relation (like the French garcon), Greek. pais. See App-108.
lieth = is thrown down.
sick of the palsy = paralyzed.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
6. ] From Luke we learn that it was , . The centurion, perhaps, had but one slave, see Mat 8:9. Lucas hoc modo dubitationem prvenit, qu subire poterat lectorum animos; scimus enim non habitos fuisse servos eo in pretio, ut de ipsorum vita tum anxii essent domini, nisi qui singulari industria vel fide vel alia virtute sibi gratiam acquisierant. Significat ergo Lucas non vulgare fuisse sordidumque mancipium, sed fidelem et raris dotibus ornatum servum, qui eximia gratia apud dominum polleret: hinc tanta illius vit cura et tam studiosa commendatio. (Calvin in loc.)
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 8:6. , saying) cf. ch. Mat 11:3, and Luk 14:18.-, a paralytic) Paralysis is a disease difficult to Physicians.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
my: Job 31:13, Job 31:14, Act 10:7, Col 3:11, Col 4:1, 1Ti 6:2, Phm 1:16
palsy: Mat 4:24, Mat 9:2, Mar 2:3-12, Act 8:7, Act 9:33
Reciprocal: Mat 9:29 – According Mat 10:42 – one
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:6
The word Lord in the original has several shades of meaning, one of which is “sovereign, prince, chief.” This centurion had not become a disciple of Jesus and hence he did not address him as Lord from that standpoint. But he had learned enough about his great work to believe him to be be a superior person in wisdom and power. He therefore appealed to him on behalf of his servant who was sick of the palsy which was a form of paralysis that retained a considerable amount of feeling in the parts.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
[Lieth] Laid forth. Thus, A dead man laid forth; in order to his being carried out. The power and dominion of the disease is so expressed. The weak person lieth so, that he is moved only by others; he cannot move himself, but is, as it were, next door to carrying out. So, Mat 8:14, of Peter’s mother-in-law, was laid, and sick of a fever.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 8:6. Lord. This word, used by the elders, probably means more than a title of respect and less than an acknowledgment of Messiahship.
My servant, lit. boy, as in many languages. His personal house servant (held in honor by him, Luke), as distinguished from the soldiers who served under him
Lieth at home, lit. has been thrown down, or prostrated at my house. Exceedingly appropriate in describing the effect of the disease.
Sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. Luke says: ready to die. Paralysis or palsy was a common disease in those days (comp. Mat 4:24). Alford: The disease in the text may have been an attack of tetanus, which the ancient physicians included under paralysis, and which is more common in hot countries than with us. It can hardly have been apoplexy, which usually deprives of sensation.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Matthew recorded that the centurion’s address to Jesus (lit. "lord") was polite, though he probably did not intend it as a title of deity. [Note: See my comment on "lord" at 7:21.] The Greek word that the centurion used to describe his servant, pais, usually means "servant," though it can mean "son" (cf. Joh 4:51). This servant could have been the centurion’s personal aide. Matthew did not record the cause of his paralysis. Perhaps reports of Jesus’ healing of another official’s son led this centurion to approach Jesus (John 4). Here was one Gentile asking Jesus to come and heal another Gentile. Evidently the centurion sent his request through messengers (Luk 7:3). This is one of only two miracles in which Jesus healed someone from a distance in Matthew’s Gospel (cf. Mat 15:21-28). Both involved Jesus healing Gentiles whom He initially rebuffed but later commended for their unusually great faith in Him.
It is possible to translate Jesus’ response as a question: "Shall I [emphatic] come and heal him?" This translation has the advantage of providing a reason for Jesus emphasizing "I," namely, to focus attention on Jesus’ person. Jesus would not have hesitated to go to the centurion because of ritual uncleanness, as Peter later did (Acts 10); He had already touched a leper (Mat 8:3). Jesus’ lack of concern about remaining ritually clean shows that He was replacing some laws in the Mosaic Code (cf. Deu 18:18; Mar 7:19).