Matthew 9:8 is the eighth verse in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.

Matthew 9:8
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Christ Healing the Paralytic", etched by Claude Vignon (1593–1670)
BookGospel of Matthew
Christian Bible partNew Testament

Content

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In the original Greek according to Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority, this verse is:

ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ὄχλοι ἐθαύμασαν, καὶ ἐδόξασαν τὸν θεὸν τὸν δόντα ἐξουσίαν τοιαύτην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις

According to Westcott-Hort, the Greek text of this verse is:

Ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ὄχλοι ἐφοβήθησαν καὶ ἐδόξασαν τὸν θεὸν τὸν δόντα ἐξουσίαν τοιαύτην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

The Holman Christian Standard Bible translates the passage as:

When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and gave glory to God who had given such authority to men.

For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 9:8.

Analysis

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This verse records the reaction of the people who witnessed the miraculous healing of a paralytic man by Jesus, who before the healing declared the forgiveness of the man's sins,[1] that they glorified God, who had given such divine "power" or "authority" to men.[2][3] Dale Allison notes that a text in 4QPrNab, a document among the Dead Sea Scrolls, shows that some Jews think of one person who forgives another's sins with healing as the result.[1]

The Greek text according to Westcott and Hort has ἐφοβήθησαν ("they were afraid"; cf. Mark 5:15 for a similar reaction of fear at miraculous events), a rather solely physical effect than the word ἐθαύμασαν ("they marvelled") of the Textus Receptus,[4] which is more in agreement with words used in the parallel verses, Mark 2:12 ἐξίστασθαι πάντας ("they all were amazed") and Luke 5:26 ἔκστασις ἔλαβεν ἅπαντας ("they all were filled with fear").[3] Moreover, Mark 2:12 records the words the people said, "We never saw it after this fashion", whereas Luke 5:26 has "We saw strange things today".[3] The variants of words here and in the parallel verses are likely attributed to various translations of the Aramaic or Hebrew traditions.[4]

The event described here took place in Capernaum, where Jesus resided at the time (cf. Matthew 4:13).[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Allison 2007, p. 858.
  2. ^ Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Bible - Matthew 9. James Murphy (ed). London: Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.
  3. ^ a b c Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.) (1905). Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers. Matthew 9. London : Cassell and Company, Limited, [1905-1906] Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Matthew 9". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.

Sources

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  • Allison, Dale C. Jr. (2007). "57. Matthew". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 844–886. ISBN 978-0-19-927718-6. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  • Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-528881-0.
Preceded by
Matthew 9:7
Gospel of Matthew
Chapter 9
Succeeded by
Matthew 9:9