Matthew 8:9

Mat 8:9. Καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ, for I also) Reason might object, “The slave and the soldier hear the command without difficulty; not so the disease.” The wisdom of faith, however, shining forth beautifully from the military abruptness with which it was expressed, does away with this objection, and regards rather those considerations which confirm, than those which might destroy (frangant) hope; those, namely, which arise from the supreme dominion and jurisdiction of Christ,[360] who issued His injunctions to the sea, and the winds, and diseases; see Mat 8:26; Luk 4:39. HE commands: the thing is done. The centurion can command soldier and slave, but not disease; the Lord, however, can order the disease, and that more easily, humanly speaking, than the will of man, who is frequently rebellious.—ἄνθρωπός εἰμι ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν, I am a man under authority) He does not say, I am a military officer, but since he is obliged to mention that others are subject to him, he says with great delicacy,[361] I myself am subject. There is also a concealed antithesis,[362] sc. Jesus is supreme Lord, souverain.—ὑπὸ—ὑπʼ, under—under) Such persons are at present called subalterns.

[360] Tittmann, Syn. ii., distinguishes the words thus: θεραπεύω ἰάομαι differunt ut nostra: (Germ.) helfen et heilen. θεραπέυεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀσθενειῶν, ἰᾶσθαι τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας, i.e. θεραπευομαι refers to the infirmities cured, ἰᾶσθαι to the persons cured. Θεραπεύω seems to me to mean, to treat a case, to tend, to minister to: ἰᾶσθαι, to heal.—ED.

[361] Πσοθεραπεία, anticipatory precaution; lest his mention of soldiers being under him should offend against humility, he puts first the mention of his being himself under the authority of others. See Append. on the figure.—ED.

[362] See Explanation of Technical terms in Appendix.—(I. B.)

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

Mat_8:9. Καὶ … ἐξουσίαν] ἀπὸ τοῦ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ὑποδείγματος κατασκευάζει, ὅτι καὶ λόγῳ μόνῳ δύναται, Euth. Zigabenus. Ἄνθρ. ὑπὸ ἐξ. go together (in answer to Fritzsche). The connecting of this substantive with ἔχων, etc., serves to indicate at once his own obedience and that which he exacts and receives from others. It is quite gratuitous to suppose that the centurion regards the disease as caused by demons that are compelled to yield to the behests of Jesus (Fritzsche, Ewald); and it is equally so to impute to him the belief that the duty of carrying out those behests is entrusted to angels (Erasmus, Wetstein, Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius). From the context it simply appears that he looked upon diseases as subject to Christs authority, and therefore ready to disappear whenever He ordered them to do so (Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, Bengel, de Wette). It is thus that he commands the fever in Luk_4:39, and it ceases. Observe with Bengel the sapientia fidelis ex ruditate militari pulchre elucens. His inference is a case of reasoning a minori ad majus.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 8:9 , καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ : he argues from his own experience not with an air of self-importance, on the contrary making light of his position as a commander ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν , spoken in modesty. He means: I also, though a very humble person in the army, under the authority of more important officers, still have a command over a body of men who do implicitly as I bid them. Fritzsche rightly suggests that ἄνθρωπος ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν does not express a single idea = “a man under authority”. He represents himself as a man with authority, though in a modest way. A comma might with advantage be placed after εἰμι . The centurion thinks Jesus can order about disease as he orders his soldiers say to fever, palsy, leprosy, go , and it will go . His soldiers go , his slaves do (Carr, C. G. T.).

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

Verse 9. For I am a man under authority] That is, under the authority of others. This verse has given considerable embarrassment to commentators and critics. I believe the paraphrase given above to be the true meaning of the evangelist. To make this matter more plain, let it be observed, that the Roman foot was divided into three grand parts, Hastati, Principes, and Triarii. Each of these grand divisions was composed of thirty manipuli or companies; and every manipulus made two centuries or companies of one hundred men. Every manipulus had two centurions; but these were very far from being equal in rank and honour, though possessing the very same office. The Triarii and Principes were esteemed the most honourable, and had their centurions elected first; and these first elected centurions took precedency of the centurions of the Hastati, who were elected last. The centurion in the text was probably one of this last order; he was under the authority of either the Principes or Triarii, and had none under him but the hundred men whom he commanded, and who appear to have been in a state of the most loving subjection to him. The argument of the centurion seems to run thus. If I, who am a person subject to the control of others, yet have some so completely subject to myself, that I can say to one, Come, and he cometh, to another, Go, and he goeth, and to my slave (τω δουλω μου) Do this, and he doeth it; how much more then canst thou accomplish whatsoever thou willest, being under no control, and having all things under thy command: He makes a proper use of his authority, who, by it, raises his mind to the contemplation of the sovereign power of God, taking occasion from it to humble himself before Him who has all power in heaven and earth, and to expect all good from him.

There are two beautiful passages in Arrian that tend much to illustrate this speech of the centurion.

Καταταγεις Αγαμεμνων, λεγει μοι, πορευου προς τον Αχιλλεα, και αποσπασον την Βρισηιδα, πορευομαι. Ερχου, ερχομαι.

"He who personates Agamemnon says to me, Go to Achilles, and bring hither Briseis: I go. He says, Come hither: I come." Dissert. l. i. c. 25. p. 97.

Οταν ο Θεος ειπῃ τοις φυτοις ανθειν, ανθει. Οταν ειπῃ βλαϚανειν, βλαϚανει. Οταν εκφερειν τον καρπον, εκφερει. Οταν πεπαινειν, πεπαινει. Οταν παλιν αποβαλλειν, και φυλλορροειν, και αυτα εις αυτα συνειλουμενα εφ' ησυχιας μενειν, και αναπαυεσθαι, μενει και αναπαυεται.

"When God commands the plants to blossom, they bear blossoms. When he commands them to bear seed, they bear seed. When he commands them to bring forth fruit, they put forth their fruits. When he commands them to ripen, they grow ripe. When he commands them to fade, and shed their leaves, and remain inactive, involved in themselves, they thus remain, and are inactive." Cap. 14. p. 62. See Raphelius.

This mode of speech fully marks supreme and uncontrolled power, and that power put forth by a sovereign will to effect any purpose of justice or mercy. And God said, let there be light, and there was light, is a similar expression.

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

(9) For I am a man under authority.—He gives, not without a certain naïveté, the process of reasoning by which he had been led to this conviction. His own experience had taught that in every well organised system a delegated authority could, in its turn, be delegated to others. The personal presence of the centurion was not wanted where he could send his soldier or his slave to act on his orders. Might he not reason on this analogy, and infer from it that in God’s kingdom also One whom He endued with power would have His ministers at hand, the unknown forces (personal or otherwise, he did not care to ask) that govern life and death, to execute His will?

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

9. my servant] Rather, slave. Observe the centurion’s orders, his soldiers come and go, i. e. march when he bids them. His slave he orders to do this, i. e. perform any servile work.

Mark this as the first contact of Jesus with slavery. With such relations between master and slave as these slavery would soon pass away.

It was no express enactment of Christ, but the Spirit of Christ, which this centurion had caught, that abolished slavery.

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.

When Jesus heard it, he marvelled,.... Which must be understood of him as man; for as God, nothing could present itself unto him at unawares, unthought of, and not known before; and so could not raise admiration in him, and which cannot properly fall on a divine person: or he behaved, both by words and gesture, as persons do when they are astonished at anything; and this he might do, to raise the attention and wonder of those that were with him:

and said to them that followed. This agrees perfectly with the account that Luke gives, that Christ was set out, with the messengers the centurion sent unto him, in order to come to his house, and heal his servant, and these that followed him were his disciples, and so some copies read, and others that were following him thither to see the miracle.

Verily, I say unto you; a strong asseveration, and which Christ used, when he was about to deliver anything of considerable importance, and required attention:

I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel: that is, among the people of Israel: so the Arabic version reads it, "in any of Israel"; and the Persic, "among the children of Israel"; and is to be understood, not of the patriarchs and prophets, and other eminent believers, which were in Israel formerly; but of the men of the then present generation, his mother and his apostles being excepted: though it may be questioned, whether the apostles themselves as yet, had expressed such a strong faith in him, as this man: or it may have a particular respect to them in Israel, who had applied to him for healing, and had been healed by him; that he had not met with and observed any such expression of faith, in his divine power from them, as this centurion had delivered. And it was the more remarkable, that it came from a Gentile, and from a soldier too: but as great as it was, he did not exceed it; he did not ascribe more to Christ than was proper, and which, by the way, is a clear proof of our Lord's divinity: for had he not been truly God, he would have rebuked, and not have commended this man's faith in him: who ascribed that power to him, which is peculiar to God: he is so far from finding fault with him, for thinking or speaking so highly of him, that he praises him for it, and prefers his faith in him, to any instance of it he had met with among the Israelites; who yet had far greater advantages of knowing him, and believing in him. There is a phrase in the Talmud (m) somewhat like this, only used of a person of a different character; where a certain Jew, observing another called by some of his neighbours Rabbi, thus expressed himself;

"If this be a Rabbi, , "let there not be many such as he in Israel".''

And it is said (n) of Nadab and Abihu,

"that two such were not found , "as they in Israel".''

(m) T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 20. 2. Derech Eretz. fol. 18. 1 (n) Zohar in Lev. fol. 24. 1. & 25. 4.

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

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

Ver. 9. For I am a man] But thou, Lord, art more than a man; for the centurion here makes comparison with our Saviour, both in respect to his person and to his power, as to the less with the greater. For his person, he saith not, Nam et ego sum homo, ut tu, " For I also am a man such as thou art" (as the Vulgate here corruptly renders it); but, "I am a man," a mere man; thou art God also, very God. And for his power, though subject to another, have soldiers at my beck and check, how much more hast thou, who art over all, an absolute power over sickness and death! The palsy, or, as some say, the epilepsy, was anciently called Morbus sacer, or the holy disease; for the priests, to enrich themselves, persuaded the superstitious people that this disease, as being sudden, hidden, and for the most part incurable, was an immediate hand of God, and could be cured by none but priests. The medicines they gave were much like that of the French mountebank, {a} who was wont to give in writing to his patients, for curing all diseases, these following verses:

" Si vis curari de morbo nescio quali,

Accipias herbam, sed qualem nescio, nec quam:

Ponas nescio quo, curabere nescio quando."

They are thus Englished by one:

Your pain, I know not what, do not fore slow,

To cure with herbs, which whence I do not know.

Place them (well pounc’t) I know not where, and then

You shall be perfect whole, I know not, when.

And I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, &c.] King Ferdinand’s ambassadors, being conducted into the camp of the Turks, wondered at the perpetual and dumb silence of so great a multitude; the soldiers being so ready and attentive, that they were no otherwise commanded than by the beckoning of the hand or nod of their commanders. Tamerlane, that warlike Scythian, had his men at such great command that no danger was to them more dreadful than his displeasure.

And to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it] Such a servant is every saint to his God; at least in his desire and endeavour. Such a centurion also is he over his own heart, which he hath at his right hand, as Solomon saith; that is, ready pressed to obey God in all parts and points of duty. There were seven sorts of Pharisees; and one was Pharisaeus, Quid debeo facere, et faciam illud: so they would needs be called. But the true Christian only is such a one in good earnest as the Pharisee pretends to be.

{a} An itinerant quack who from an elevated platform appealed to his audience by means of stories, tricks, magic acts, and the like, in which he was often assisted by a professional clown or fool. ŒD

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.

I am a man ... - He had full confidence in the ability of Jesus to heal his servant, and requested him simply to give the command. This request he presented in a manner appropriate to a soldier. I am a man, says he, under authority. That is, I am subject to the commands of others, and know how to obey. I have also under me soldiers who are accustomed to obedience. I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes. I am “prepared,” therefore, to believe that your commands will be obeyed. As these obey me, so do diseases, storms, and seas obey you. If men obey me, who am an “inferior” officer, subject to another, how much more shall diseases obey you - the original source of power having control over all things! He asked, therefore, simply that Christ would give commandment, and he felt assured he would be obeyed.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. I… under authority… Go, and he goeth — The centurion here utters to the Lord a beautiful parable. As I am a captain on earth, thou art captain of the armies of heaven. As I send men and they obey, so canst thou send death or life, disease or restoration, and they shall obey thy order.

As the preceding miracle was performed with a touch, so this was done through distance of space.

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

For I am (for I also am, Revised Version) a man under authority, having soldiers under me (under myself soldiers, Revised Version): and I say to this man (this one, Revised Version), Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. The centurion says that he knows the power of a command when given by one in authority, through the obedience that he himself shows and through that which he himself receives. Observe, he naturally orders his soldiers movement, and his slave work. Further, may not "and to my slave" represent the climax of his faith? He felt that the powers of nature (at least those concerned in this illness) were not only subordinate to Jesus, but were completely under his power. At his command they would act and the man be healed.

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

For I am a man under authority - I am only an inferior officer: and what I command, is done even in my absence: how much more what thou commandest, who art Lord of all!

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

An argument from his own experience:

v. 9. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

No self-important boasting here, but a modesty which makes his argument all the stronger, since it gives to Christ the honor which fitly belongs to Him. The centurion, for his own person, held a subordinate position, he was bound by his oath to the government and by all that this implied. And yet he had enough authority, in his official position, to give commands to his men, and in his station as head of the household, to demand work from his slave. "The argument of the centurion seems to run thus: if I, who am a person subject to the control of others, yet have some so completely subject to myself, that I can say to one, Come, and he cometh; to another, Go, and he goeth; and to my slave, Do this, and he doeth it, how much more, then, canst Thou accomplish whatsoever Thou willest, being subject to no one, and having all things under Thy command. " Always there is the reference to the almighty power of Christ’s word.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. The meaning is: “If I, in my subordinate station, am obeyed, how much more thou, who art over all, and whom disease serve as their master.” As he could say, “Go,” to a soldier and was at once obeyed, so Jesus could say, “Go,” to the disease, and it would obey him.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

9. καὶ γάρ, ‘for indeed.’ καὶ connects the reason why Christ should not enter more closely with the facts of the centurion’s position.

ὑπὸ ἐξουσίαν, ‘under authority,’ e.g. that of the χιλίαρχος or tribunus militum: cp. Act 21:32, ὅς (χιλίαρχος) παραλαβὼν στρατιώτας καὶ ἑκατοντάρχας.

τούτῳ [στρατιώτῃ] … τῷ δούλῳ μου. Observe a distinction in the centurion’s orders, his soldiers come and go, i.e. march when he bids them. His slave he orders to do this, i.e. perform any servile work. In the household of the centurion Cornelius we find as here οἰκέται and στρατιῶται (Act 10:7).

Mark this as the first contact of Jesus with slavery. With such relations between master and slave as these slavery would soon pass away.

It was no express enactment of Christ, but the Spirit of Christ, which this centurion had caught, that abolished slavery.

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.

9.] The meaning is, ‘I know how to obey, being myself under authority: and in turn know how others obey, having soldiers under me:’ inferring, ‘if then I, in my subordinate station of command, am obeyed, how much more Thou, who art over all, and whom diseases serve as their Master!’ That this is the right interpretation, is shewn by our Lord’s special commendation of his faith, ver. 10, ‘volens ostendere Dominum quoque non per adventum tantum corporis, sed per angelorum ministeria posse implere quod vellet.’ Jerome in loc. ‘Potuisset Ratio excipere: “Servus et miles imperium libere audiunt: morbus non item.” Sed hanc exceptionem concoquit sapientia fidelis, et ruditate militari pulchre elucens.’ Bengel ad loc.

10,

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

9. For I, too, am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.] The officer, impressed with the spiritual power of Christ, believes that He must have spiritual agencies at His command, who could carry out His command that the patient should be healed.

(X)

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

Also [και] . Omitted in A. V., but very important. "I also am a man under authority," as well as thou. (Tynd., I also myself). The centurion compares the Lord 's position with his own. Christ had authority over disease. The centurion also was in authority over soldiers. As the centurion had only to say to a soldier "Go!" and he went, so Christ had only to say to disease "Go!" and it would obey him.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.