Luke 18:37

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Ναζωραῖος

Nazōraîos

G3480

“Nazarene”

Noun, Nominative, Singular, Masculine

Appears 13× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 2:23

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G3478

TDNT: 18:34,6

Nazarite = "one separated" 1. an inhabitant of Nazareth 2. a title given to Jesus in the NT 3. a name given to Christians by the Jews, Ac. 24:5

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8: words
8: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is Ναζωραῖος Nazarene G3480 — appearing just 13 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

Ναζωραῖος Nazarene G3480 occurs in 13 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 18:37 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 2:23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
John 19:19 Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
Mark 2:1–3 When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was in the house.
Luke 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
John 12:35–36 Jesus therefore said to them, "Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn't overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn't know where he is going.
Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as you yourselves know,
Acts 4:10 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole.

2 Corinthians 6:2 for he says, "At an acceptable time I listened to you, In a day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 18:37 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Luk 18:37 . Ναζωραῖος : the usual form in Lk., an exception in Luk 4:34 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And they that went before,.... In the company that preceded Christ; for he, as yet, was not come right over against the blind man:

rebuked him that he should hold his peace; being not well pleased that he should call him the son of David, which was acknowledging him to be the Messiah; or that he might not be troublesome to Christ, and retard his journey:

but he cried so much the more, thou son of David, have mercy on me; he neither dropped the character of Christ, nor his request to him; but called out more loudly, and with greater vehemence, earnestness, and importunity: so persons sensible of their need of Christ, and of his worth, excellency, and ability, are not to be discouraged from an application to him, by whatsoever they meet with from men, or devils.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Pulpit Commentary

And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. The Lord"s name was by this time a household word in Palestine, and among the sick and afflicted a most precious and welcome sound.

Present but passing opportunity.

Pathetic stories are told of those who, in circumstances of the greatest danger or distress, have suddenly found themselves almost within reach of blessed deliverance, but who just failed to realize their hope. It is the captive knight past whose dungeon a friendly host is filing, and the sound of the clarion drowns his pleading cries; or it is the shipwrecked sailor on the lonely island whose laboriously constructed signal the ship that is homeward bound does not descry, and who sees his one chance of rescue vanishing away. Those who have never known a supreme misfortune, together with a possibility, which was only a possibility, of deliverance, cannot realize the thrilling and all but intolerable suspense of such moments of present but passing opportunity as Bartimaeus now knew. He was blind, helpless, shut out from all the sights and nearly all the enjoyments of human life; his lot was of the darkest and the saddest; and there was passing by One who could turn darkness into day, dreariness and gloom into blessedness and beauty, if only he could win his ear and make his plea. This glorious Healer was within a few paces of him, would soon be actually in front of him, would all too soon be gone beyond his call. "Jesus of Nazareth was passing by!" We see here

I THE SORENESS OF OUR SPIRITUAL NEED. We are blind, helpless, suffering the worst privations, under the dominion of sin. We recognize rot our Father, our brethren, our true selves, our true opportunities, our chief perils, our real interests; and our blindness is not only immeasurably reducing the value of our present life, but is leading us to that which is darker still and sadder far.

II THE NEAR PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST. A Divine Deliverer is at hand. Quite near to us, within reach of our voice, within touch of our hand, is One who can open our eyes and make us see clearly all that we need to know. At our very door is One who is not only ready at our entreaty, but even prepared already and eager to supply all our need. Here is One who offers to:

1. Enlighten our mind.

2. Restore the relationship to God our Father we have lost by our sin.

3. Constitute himself our almighty and unchanging Friend and Guide through all our life.

4. Conduct us and receive us to a heavenly home.

III THE PASSING OF PRESENT OPPORTUNITY. This priceless chance is ours to-day; but how long will it remain within our reach? Jesus of Nazareth is near, but he is passing.

1. We know nothing of Christian privilege beyond the grave, and our life is hastening on; it may close at any hour, and it is hurrying away on the swift wings of duty and of pleasure.

2. The favoured period of youth is still more transient. Christ is very near us in the golden days of youth, when the spiritual nature is so open and so responsive; but how fast these days are fleeing! how soon will they be gone!

3. The hour of special grace and of rare privilege is but an hour that time when Heaven puts forth its most constraining influences, and we see and feel that the gates into the kingdom of God are opened wide for our entrance, We cannot afford to delay when Jesus of Nazareth is near us. When eternal life is within our grasp, we must compel every other interest to take the second place; and this, not only because it is of such transcendent value, but because we may never have so golden an opportunity again. There is "a tide" in the history of every man which leads on to something more than "fortune;" it leads unto life the life that is Divine and everlasting. On no account whatever must that be "omitted." Foolish beyond all reckoning, as well as guilty before God, is the soul that lets Jesus of Nazareth pass by without seeking his feet and finding his favour. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

37. For ἀπήγγειλαν see on 8:20; for Ναζωωραῖος see on 4:34 (Mk. here has Ναζαρηνός, and Mt. omits the epithet); and for παρέρχεται see on 11:42.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 8 words (8 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Nazōraîos (“Nazarene”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “Nazarene” (Nazōraîos) shape what this verse is saying?
Matthew 2:23 shares the word «Nazarene» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
Reading how Expositor's Greek Testament and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 6 words in this verse.
8 distinct Greek lemmas span 8 words in this verse.