Luke 5:20

Luk 5:20. They were all amazed — Greek, εκστασις ελαβεν απαντας, astonishment seized all, that is, the Pharisees and doctors of the law, as well as the people: and they glorified God — Matthew says, who had given such power unto men; power not only to heal diseases, but to forgive sins. For they could not but acknowledge the authority of Christ’s declaration, Thy sins be forgiven thee, when their eyes showed them the efficacy of his command, Arise and walk. And were filled with fear —

With a reverential kind of fear and dread, in consequence of this marvellous proof of the divine presence among them; saying, We have seen strange things to-day — Sins forgiven, miracles wrought. Greek, παραδοξα, paradoxes, or, incredible things, as Dr. Campbell renders it; things which we should think impossible to be performed, and should conclude to be tricks and illusions, had we not indisputable proofs of their reality. Indeed, “whether we examine the nature of this miracle, as being a perfect and instantaneous cure of an obstinate, universal palsy, under which a person advanced in years had laboured, it seems, for a long time, a perfect cure produced by the pronouncing of a single sentence; or whether we consider the number and quality of the witnesses present, Pharisees and doctors of the law from every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem, together with a vast concourse of people; or whether we attend to the effect which the miracle had upon the witnesses; — namely, the Pharisees and doctors of the law, not able to find fault with it in any respect, though they had come with a design to confute our Lord’s pretensions as a miracle-worker, were astonished, and openly confessed that it was a strange thing which they had seen; the multitude glorified God who had given such power unto men; the person upon whom the miracle was wrought employed his tongue, the use of which he had just recovered, in celebrating the praises of God: in short, view it in whatever light we please, we find it a most illustrious miracle, highly worthy of our attention and admiration.” — Macknight. Still, however, it does not appear that these Pharisees and doctors of the law, though struck with amazement at this miracle, were convinced thereby of the divine mission of Jesus, or induced to lay aside their enmity against him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 5:20 . ἄνθρωπε , man , instead of Mk.’s more kindly τέκνον and Mt.’s still more sympathetic θάρσει τέκνον ; because (suggests J. Weiss) it was not deemed fitting that such a sinner should be addressed as son or child! This from Lk., the evangelist of grace! The substitution, from whatever reason proceeding, is certainly not an improvement. Possibly Lk. had a version of the story before him which used that word. Doubtless Jesus employed the kindlier expression.

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

20. Man] St Mark has “Son,” and St Matthew “Cheer up, son,” which were probably the exact words used by Christ.

are forgiven thee] Rather, have been forgiven thee, i. e. now and henceforth. In this instance our Lord’s power of reading the heart must have shewn Him that there was a connexion between past sin and present affliction. The Jews held it as an universal rule that suffering was always the immediate consequence of sin. The Book of Job had been directed against that hard, crude, Pharisaic generalisation. Since that time it had been modified by the view that a man might suffer, not for his own sins, but for those of his parents (Joh_9:3). These views were all the more dangerous because they were the distortion of half-truths. Our Lord, while he always left the individual conscience to read the connexion between its own sins and its sorrows (Joh_5:14), distinctly repudiated the universal inference (Luk_13:5; Joh_9:3).

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.

And when he saw their faith,.... That is, Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions express it; when he saw the faith both of the paralytic man, and of the men that brought him, which was shown in the pains they took, and trouble they were at, in getting him to him;

he said unto him. The Vulgate Latin only reads, "he said"; but the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, still more fully express the sense, rendering it, "he said to the paralytic man"; and the Ethiopic version, "he said to the infirm man"; as follows:

man, thy sins are forgiven thee. The other evangelists say, he said "son"; perhaps he used both words: however, all agree that he pronounced the forgiveness of sins, which were the cause of his disease; and which being removed, the effect must cease; so that he had healing both for soul and body; See Gill on Mat 9:2.

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

20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Ver. 20. Thy sins are forgiven thee] Let our sicknesses mind us of our sins, that we soon seek pardon.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Great is the Lord, who pardons men on account of the merits of others. If you are diffident of the pardon of your grievous sins, have recourse to the Church. She will pray for you; and the Almighty, at her intercession, will grant you that pardon he might have denied to your prayers. (St. Ambrose, lib. v. in Luc.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. For a moment the great Physician gave place to the Heart-reader; and the Lord spoke those strange, grand words to give comfort and peace to the suffering, silent, sick man. Jesus read what was in the heart of the poor paralytic; his sins distressed him more than his malady; very possibly the sad infirmity had been brought about by his old dissolute life. The soul, then, must be healed first. It was for this, we believe, that the story of the man with the palsy was told and retold by the first Christian preachers, and so found a place in the three Gospel narratives this lofty claim of the Master to forgive sins; a claim so grandly supported by a miraculous act done in the open daylight in the presence of the people.

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

sins

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seeing their faith, Jesus said

It is understood that they believe Jesus can heal the paralyzed man. This can be stated. AT: "When Jesus perceived that they believed that he could heal the man, he said to him" (See: Ellipsis)

Man

This is a general word that people used when speaking to a man whose name they did not know. It was not rude, but it also did not show special respect. Some languages might use a word like "friend" or "sir."

your sins are forgiven you

This can be stated in active form. AT: "you are forgiven" or "I forgive your sins" (See: Active or Passive)

question this

"discuss this" or "reason about this." What they questioned can be stated. AT: "discuss whether or not Jesus had authority to forgive sins" (See: Ellipsis)

Who is this who speaks blasphemies?

This question shows how shocked and angry they were at what Jesus said. This can be written as a statement. AT: "This man is blaspheming God!" or "He blasphemes God by saying that!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

Who can forgive sins but God alone?

The implied information is that if a person claims to forgive sins he says he is God. This can be written as a clear statement. AT: "No one can forgive sins but God alone!" or "God is the only one who can forgive sins!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

faith

sin

forgive

scribe

Pharisee

blasphemy

God

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

20. ἄνθρωπε. St Mark has “Son,” and St Matthew “Cheer up, son,” which were probably the exact words used by Christ.

ἀφέωνταί σοι. ‘Have been forgiven thee,’ i.e. now and henceforth. The form ἀφέωνται found in the four Evangelists (Mat 9:2; Mar 2:5; 1Jn 2:12) is according to Suidas a Doric form for the 3rd pers. plur. ἀφεῖνται of the perf. pass. ἀφεῖμαι after the analogy of the perf. ἀφέωκα. The Etym. Magnus calls it an Attic form. Hellenistic Greek has forms which have come to it from various dialects (see Winer, p. 96). In this instance our Lord’s power of reading the heart must have shewn Him that there was a connexion between past sin and present affliction. The Jews held it as an universal rule that suffering was always the immediate consequence of sin. The Book of Job had been directed against that hard, crude, Pharisaic generalisation. Since that time it had been modified by the view that a man might suffer, not for his own sins, but for those of his parents (Joh 9:3). These views were all the more dangerous because they were the distortion of half-truths. Our Lord, while He always left the individual conscience to read the connexion between its own sins and its sorrows (Joh 5:14), distinctly repudiated the universal inference (Luk 13:5; Joh 9:3).

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.

20.] On ἡ πίστις αὐτ. see note on Matt. ver. 2; also on ἀφέωνται.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. ἰδὼν τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν. The faith of the man and of those who brought him. All three accounts have the words; but Mt. omits the persevering energy which proved how strong their faith was. We reed not assume the the paralytic himself did not share his friends! confidence.

For a fall discussion of the Meaning of “Faith” in the New Testament and in some Jewish Writings see detached note on Rom 1:17. Here it will suffice to point out its four main uses for (1) belief in God; (2) belief in His promises; (3) belief in Christ; (4) belief in some particular utterance or claim of God or of Christ. Of these four the last is the commonest use in the Synoptic Gospels, where it generally means belief in the power of Christ, or of God in Christ, to work miracles. The efficacy of Christ’s power is commonly dependent upon the faith of those who are to be benefited by its exercise, as here. Comp. 7:50, 8:48, 17:19, 18:42. By an easy transition this faith in the power of God or of Christ to work miracles becomes used of the conviction that the believer himself has received power to work miracles. Comp. 17:6. In 18:8 the faith to be found on earth means faith in the Son of Man.

Ἄνθρωπε, ἀφέωνταί σοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου. Mk. has τέκνον, and Mt has θάρσει τέκνον. It is not likely that Lk., the writer of the Gospel of grace for all, has deliberately changed the more tender address, because it seemed to be unsuitable to one who must, as he thinks, have been a grievous sinner. Comp. 12:14 and 22:58. And we affirm more than we know, if we say that this absolution was necessary for the man’s cure, because otherwise he would not have believed that Jesus could heal him, and his faith was essential to the cure. He probably believed, and perhaps knew, that his malady was the direct consequence of his own sin (13:2; Joh 5:14, Joh 5:9:2; 1Co 11:30). But it does not follow from this that faith on his part was thus far absent.

Suidas seems to be right in regarding ἀφέωνται as a Doric form of the perf. indic. for ἀφεῖνται. But it was admitted rather freely, even by Attic writers. Comp. ἀνέωται (Hdt. ii. 165, I; but the reading is not certain) and εἴωθα from ἔθω (4:16). Win. 14:3. a, p. 96; Veitch, s.v. In Mt. and Mk. the true reading here is ἀφίενται: but ἀφέωνται occurs again 7:47, 48; 1Jn 2:12, and propably Joh 20:23. Some have regarded it as a subjunctive: remissa sunto. Fritzsche (on Mat 9:2) pertinently asks, Quo usu aut more subjunctivum in talibus locis absolute positum defendas?

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

Vers. 20 and 21. The Offence.

The expression their faith, in Luke, applies evidently to the perseverance of the sick man and his bearers, notwithstanding the obstacles they encountered; it is the same in Mark. In Matthew, who has not mentioned these obstacles, but who nevertheless employs the same terms, and seeing their faith, this expression can only refer to the simple fact of the paralytic’s coming. The identical form of expression indicates a common source; but at the same time, the different sense put upon the common words by their entirely different reference to what precedes proves that this source was not written. The oral tradition had evidently so stereotyped this form of expression, that it is found in the narrative of Matthew, though separated from the circumstances to which it is applied in the two others. — Jesus could not repel such an act of faith. Seeing the persevering confidence of the sick man, recognising in him one of those whom His Father draws to Him (Joh 6:44), He receives him with open arms, by telling him that he is forgiven.

The three salutations differ in our Syn.: Man (Luke); My son (Mark); Take courage, my son (Matthew). Which of the evangelists was it that changed in this arbitrary and aimless manner the words of Jesus as recorded in his predecessor? ᾿Αφέωνται is an Attic form, either for the present ἀφίενται, or rather for the perf. ἀφεῖνται. It is not impossible that, by speaking in this way, Jesus intended to throw down the gauntlet to His inquisitors. They took it up. The scribes are put before the Pharisees; they were the experts. A blasphemy! How welcome to them! Nothing could have sounded more agreeably in their ears. We will not say, in regard to this accusation, with many orthodox interpreters, that, as God, Jesus had a right to pardon; for this would be to go directly contrary to the employment of the title Son of man, in virtue of which Jesus attributes to Himself, in Luk 5:24, this power. But may not God delegate His gracious authority to a man who deserves His confidence and who becomes, for the great work of salvation, His ambassador on earth? This is the position which Jesus takes. The only question is, whether this pretension is well founded; and it is the demonstration of this moral fact, already contained in His previous miracles, that He proceeds to give in a striking form to His adversaries.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.