Luke 18:38

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

He cried out, "Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!"

World English Bible · Public Domain

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ἐβόησεν

boáō

G994

“to cry out”

Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular

Appears 12× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 3:3

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: apparently a prol. form of a primary word

TDNT: 11:25,1

1. to raise a cry, of joy pain etc. 2. to cry, speak with a high, strong voice 3. to cry to one for help, to implore his aid

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 ἐβόησεν to cry out G994 — appearing just 12 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ἐβόησεν to cry out G994 occurs in 12 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 18:38 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 9:27 As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, "Have mercy on us, son of David!"
Luke 18:39 Those who led the way rebuked him, that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "You son of David, have mercy on me!"
Matthew 15:22 Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely demonized!"
Isaiah 9:6–7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Matthew 21:9 The multitudes who went before him, and who followed kept shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
Romans 1:3 concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Matthew 12:23 All the multitudes were amazed, and said, "Can this be the son of David?"

Matthew 22:42–45 saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "Of David."
Revelation 22:16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star."
Psalms 62:12 Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, For you reward every man according to his work.
Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit.
Matthew 21:15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the son of David!" they were indignant,

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

Commentary

Notes on Luke 18:38 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 →

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

18:38 Son of David is a title for the Messiah, a descendant of David who would reign on David’s throne forever (see 1:32-33; 2 Sam 7:11-16; Isa 9:6-7; 11:1-5; Jer 23:5-6; 33:15-16; Ezek 37:24-25).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 18:38. Υἱὲ Δαυὶδ, Son of David) The faith of the blind man is not offended, because the Saviour was called “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Luk 18:38 . ἐβόησεν : aorist, he cried out once.

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

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

BLIND MAN HEALED. (Luk 18:35-43)

son of David, &c.--(See on Mat 12:23).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

38. Jesus, thou Son of David] The use of this Messianic title implies a strong faith in Bartimaeus.

have mercy on me] “The Kyrie Eleison of the soul which precedes its Hosanna.” Van Oosterzee.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And Jesus stood,.... He stood still; he made a full stop, and went no further, when, it is very likely, he was just over against him:

and commanded him to be brought unto him; either by the disciples, or by some of the multitude:

and when he was come near he asked him; the following question.

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

Jesus, thou Son of David. This form of address distinctly shows that the idea that the Rabbi of Nazareth, the great Wonder-worker, the wise kind Teacher, was in some way or other the long looked-for Deliverer, was now taking possession of the people"s mind. "Son of David" was distinctly a Messianic salutation.

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

So

This word marks an event that happened because of something else that happened first. In this case, the crowd had told the blind man that Jesus was walking by.

cried out

"called out" or "shouted"

Son of David

Jesus was a descendant of David, Israel's most important king.

have mercy on me

"show me pity" or "show me compassion"

The ones who were walking ahead

"The people who were walking at the front of the crowd"

to be quiet

"to be silent" or "not to shout"

cried out all the more

This could mean that he cried out louder or that he cried out more persistently.

translationWords

son

David

mercy

rebuke

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

38. υἱὲ Δαυείδ. The use of this Messianic title implies a strong faith in Bartimaeus.

ἐλέησόν με. “The Kyrie Eleison of the soul which precedes its Hosanna.” Van Oosterzee.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

38. ἐβόησεν. Comp. 9:38, 17:13.

υἱὲ Δαυείς. This shows that he recognizes Jesus as the Messiah (Mat 9:27, Mat 9:12:23, Mat 9:15:22, Mat 9:21:9, Mat 9:15). It is not this which the multitude resent, but the interruption: comp. 5:15. They regard him as an ordinary beggar, asking for money. And Jesus was perhaps teaching as He went. Mk. tells us how the attitude of the people changed towards him, when they saw that Jesus had decided to listen to him. See Gould on Mar 10:47.

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 boáō (“to cry out”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word boáō carries the sense “to cry out.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Matthew 3:3, which shares the word «to cry out», read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Compare how Tyndale Open Study Notes and Bengel's Gnomon read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 3 words in this verse.
8 distinct Greek lemmas span 8 words in this verse.