Luke 5:26

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

Amazement took hold on all, and they glorified God. They were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today."

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 hapax legomenon — only here in the Greek New Testament
1 first appearance in the Greek New Testament

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παράδοξα

parádoxos

G3861

“strange”

Adjective, Accusative, Plural, Neuter

Appears 1× in the Greek New Testament
First appears here

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G3844 and G1391 (in the sense of seeming)

TDNT: 06:15,2

1. unexpected, uncommon, incredible, wonderful

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 →

16: words
14: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

1 hapax legomenon — a word that appears only here in the entire Greek New Testament:

παράδοξα strange G3861

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Greek New Testament here:

παράδοξα strange G3861

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ἔκστασις displacement G1611 occurs in 7 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

καὶ and G2532 ×3

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 5:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 9:8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Matthew 12:23 All the multitudes were amazed, and said, "Can this be the son of David?"
Jeremiah 33:9 [This city] shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.
Mark 2:12 He arose, and immediately took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
Luke 7:16 Fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited his people!"
Acts 4:21 When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done.
Hosea 3:5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.
Matthew 28:8 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.

Luke 5:8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord."
Luke 8:37 All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. He entered into the boat, and returned.
Acts 5:11–13 Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things.
Galatians 1:24 And they glorified God in me.

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

Commentary

Notes on Luke 5:26 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 →

Commentary source

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 5:26. Παράδοξα, things unexpected [strange, unlooked-for]) viz. miracles performed, sins remitted.—σήμερον) on this remarkable day.

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 5:26 . ἔκστασις might be taken out of Mk.’s ἐξίστασθαι . παράδοξα . Each evangelist expresses the comments of the people in different terms. All three may be right, and not one of them may give the ipsissima verba . Lk.’s version is: We have seen unexpected things to-day. Here only in N. T.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 26. Strange things] παραδοξα, paradoxes. A paradox is something that appears false and absurd, but is not really so: or, something contrary to the commonly received opinion. We have seen wonders wrought which seem impossible; and we should conclude them to be tricks and illusions, were it not for the indisputable evidence we have of their reality.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) They glorified God.—Noticeable as common to all the three reports. The precise expression, “We have seen strange things to-day” (literally, things beyond expectation), is peculiar to St. Luke.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

26. were filled with fear] See on Luk_5:8.

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 they were all amazed, and they glorified God,.... Not the Pharisees, and doctors of the law, but the common people:

and were filled with fear; of the Divine Being, whose presence and power they were sensible must be in this case:

saying, we have seen strange things today; paradoxes, things wonderful, unthought of, unexpected, and incredible by carnal reason, and what were never seen, nor known before; as that a man, who was so enfeebled by the palsy, that he was obliged to be carried on a bed by four men, yet, on a sudden, by a word speaking, rose up, and carried his bed, on his back, home.

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

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

Ver. 26. Strange things] Gr. παραδοξα, paradoxes, things that we never thought to have seen; and above belief, had we not seen them.

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.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

At the sight of the exertion of divine power, the Jews would rather fear than believe; for had they believed they would never have feared, but rather loved; for perfect love excludes fear. (St. Ambrose)

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).

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

§ 31. CALL OF MATTHEW, Mat_9:9. Mar_2:13-14.

See notes of parallel section in Matthew.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

We have seen strange things to-day. The strange things (paradoxa) alluded especially to the miracle which, as it were, solemnly authenticated the sublime claim to forgiveness of sins on the part of Jesus.

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

We have seen strange things today - Sins forgiven, miracles wrought.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

26. ἐπλήσθησαν φόβου. See on Luk 5:8.

παράδοξα. ‘Startling things,’ ‘things contrary to expectation.’ It expresses the οὐδέποτε οὔτως εἴδομεν of Mar 2:12 and the ἐθαύμασαν of Mat 9:8. It occurs nowhere else in the N.T.

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.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

26.] παράδοξα = θαυμαστά, ἀπροσδόκητα, Compare the close of the accounts in Matt. and Mark.

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

International Critical Commentary

26. ἔκστασις ἔλαβεν ἅπαντας Mk. has πάντας Mt. nothing. Lk. is fond of the stronger form. He alone records all three emotions—amazement, fear, and gratitude to God. The last is in all three. For ἔκστασις comp. Mar 5:42, Mar 5:16:8; Act 3:10; Gen 27:33; 1Sa 14:15; 2Ch 14:14. Mt., whose narrative is much the most brief, adds after ἐδόξασαν τὸν Θεόν, τὸν δόντα ἐξουσίαν τοιαύτην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις which seems to refer to the preceding ἐξουσίαν ἔχει. He who is the Son of Man, the ideal representative of the race, had vindicated His claim to possess authority to forgive sins.

Εἴδαμεν παράδοξα σήμερον. The adj. occurs here only in N.T. In LXX it is not rare (Judith 13:13; Wisd. 5:2; Ecclus. 43:25; 2 Mac. 9:24; 4 Mal 2:13).It is used of the miracles of Jesus in the famous passage, of very doubtful origin, in Josephus: σοφὸς ἀνὴρ, εἴ γε ἄνδρα αὐτὸν λέγειν χρή. ἦν γὰρ παραδόξων ἔργων ποιητής (Ant. xviii 3. 3).Whereas ἔνδοξα (13:17) has reference to the δόξα or glory of the agent, παράδοξα refers to the δόξα or opinion of the spectators; but δόξα in the sense of “opinion” or “belief” is not found in N.T. For the mixed form of aor. εἴδαμεν see small print on 1:59, and comp. 1Sa 10:14 and 2Sa 10:14.

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

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

They were all amazed [εκστασις ελαβεν απαντας] . Lit., amazement took hold on all, as Rev. On ekstasiv, amazement, see on Mr 5:42.

Strange things [παραδοξα] . From para, contrary to, and doxa, opinion. Something contrary to received opinion, and hence strange.

Compare the English paradox. Only here in New Testament.

27, 28. Compare Mt 9:9; Mr 2:13, 14.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword 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 16 words (14 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is parádoxos (“strange”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word parádoxos carries the sense “strange.” How does it shape the verse?
This verse holds 1 word here found nowhere else in the Greek New Testament. What might the rare word draw attention to?
The word “strange” first appears here in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
Mark 5:42 shares the word «displacement» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“and” occurs 3× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Bengel's Gnomon and Expositor's Greek Testament read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in the Greek New Testament.
1 word makes its first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
These translations choose different wording for 9 words in this verse.
“and” occurs 3× in this single verse.
14 distinct Greek lemmas span 16 words in this verse.