Luke 5:23

23 τί ἐστιν εὐκοπώτερον, εἰπεῖν · Ἀφέωνταί σοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου, ἢ εἰπεῖν · Ἔγειρε καὶ περιπάτει;

Luke 5:23 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 5:23

Whether is it easier to say
Mark adds, "to the sick of the palsy"; to whom Christ had said that his sins were forgiven him, which had given offence to the Scribes and Pharisees, imagining that he had assumed too much to himself: wherefore he proposes the following case to them, which they thought was most easy for man, or more proper and peculiar to God to say,

thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, rise up and walk?
Neither of them could be said by a mere man, with effect, so as that sins would be really remitted on so saying; or that a man sick of a palsy, by such a word speaking, would be able to stand upon his feet and walk; but both of them were equally easy to him, that is truly God; and he that could say the one effectually, could also say the other: or in other words, he that could cure a man of a palsy with a word speaking, ought not to be charged with blasphemy, for taking upon him to forgive sin: our Lord meant, by putting this question, and acting upon it, to prove himself to be God, and to remove the imputation of blasphemy from him; (See Gill on Matthew 9:5). (See Gill on Mark 2:9).

Luke 5:23 In-Context

21 καὶ ἤρξαντο διαλογίζεσθαι οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι λέγοντες · Τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὃς λαλεῖ βλασφημίας; τίς δύναται ἁμαρτίας ἀφεῖναι ⸃ εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ θεός;
22 ἐπιγνοὺς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς · Τί διαλογίζεσθε ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν;
23 τί ἐστιν εὐκοπώτερον, εἰπεῖν · Ἀφέωνταί σοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου, ἢ εἰπεῖν · Ἔγειρε καὶ περιπάτει;
24 ἵνα δὲ εἰδῆτε ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ⸃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας — εἶπεν τῷ παραλελυμένῳ · Σοὶ λέγω, ἔγειρε καὶ ἄρας τὸ κλινίδιόν σου πορεύου εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου.
25 καὶ παραχρῆμα ἀναστὰς ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν, ἄρας ἐφ’ ὃ κατέκειτο, ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ δοξάζων τὸν θεόν.
Copyright © 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software.