Matthew 8:5

5 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said,

Matthew 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 8:5

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum
Was returned from his journey through Galilee, to the place where he before dwelt, and is called his own city, ( Matthew 9:1 )

there came unto him a centurion,
a Roman officer, (ham rv) , "a commander of an hundred men", as the Hebrew Gospel by Munster reads it: though the number of men under a "centurion" was more, according to some accounts.

``A band (it is said F7) made two centuries, each of which consisted of an hundred and twenty eight soldiers; for a doubled century made a band, whose governor was called an ordinary "centurion".''

Such an one was Cornelius, a centurion of a band, ( Acts 10:1 ) . The other person that was healed was a Jew. The next instance of Christ's power and goodness is the servant of a Gentile; he came to do good both to Jews and Gentiles;

beseeching him,
not in person, but by his messengers; see ( Luke 7:3 ) and the Jews F8 say, (wtwmk Mda lv wxwlvv) , "that a man's messenger is as himself".


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 13.
F8 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 34. 2.

Matthew 8:5 In-Context

3 Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone.
4 Jesus said, "Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."
5 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said,
6 "Master, my servant is sick. He can't walk. He's in terrible pain."
7 Jesus said, "I'll come and heal him."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.