Matthew 8

קרא את הפרק הזה בכוונה

Matthew 8 follows the Sermon on the Mount with a chapter of action, as if to show that the one who taught with authority also acts with it. Jesus touches and cleanses a leper, heals a Roman centurion's servant from a distance and marvels at the man's faith, cures Peter's mother-in-law, and heals crowds in fulfillment of Isaiah's "He took on our infirmities." He tells two would-be followers what discipleship costs, sleeps through a storm and then silences it, and frees two demon-possessed men in Gentile country, after which the whole town asks him to leave.

פתח פירוש פרק

Matthew 8 begins the moment the Sermon on the Mount ends. Jesus comes down the mountain and the crowds follow, and the first person to reach him is a leper, a man the law required to keep his distance. Jesus reaches out and touches him. The second is a Roman centurion, an officer of the occupying army, who asks for his servant and then declines Jesus's offer to come, because he understands authority: say the word, and it will be done. Jesus marvels, and says that many will come from east and west to sit with Abraham while the expected guests are left outside. Peter's mother-in-law is healed with a touch; an evening of healings follows, and Matthew hears in it Isaiah's servant who took on our infirmities. Then the chapter turns to cost. A scribe volunteers and is told the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head; a disciple asks to bury his father first and is told to let the dead bury their dead. A storm rises on the sea while Jesus sleeps; the disciples wake him, he rebukes the wind and the water, and they ask the question the whole Gospel exists to answer: what kind of man is this? The chapter ends on the far shore, where two men are delivered from a legion of demons, a herd of pigs drowns, and the whole town comes out to ask Jesus to leave.

קטעי מפתח

Matthew 8:1-4 Matthew 8:5-13 Matthew 8:18-22 Matthew 8:23-27 Isaiah 53:4

Historical and literary context

The chapter opens as Jesus comes down the mountain, and Matthew arranges ten miracles across chapters 8 and 9 to present Jesus as the Messiah in deed as the sermon presented him in word. Lepers were excluded from the community under the law; a centurion was a Gentile officer of the occupying army; the region of the Gadarenes, on the east side of the sea, was Gentile territory where pigs were kept. Each encounter crosses a boundary of purity, nation, or power. The quotation of Isaiah 53:4 in verse 17 ties the healings to the suffering servant.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 4 are the leper, touched and cleansed and sent to the priest. Verses 5 to 13 are the centurion, whose understanding of authority astonishes Jesus and prompts the saying about many coming from east and west. Verses 14 to 17 are Peter's mother-in-law and the evening of healings, with Isaiah quoted. Verses 18 to 22 are two would-be disciples: foxes have dens, let the dead bury their dead. Verses 23 to 27 are the storm on the sea, the sleeping Jesus, the disciples' cry, and the calm. Verses 28 to 34 are the two demon-possessed men, the pigs, and the town that begs Jesus to go.

Why this chapter matters

Matthew 8 shows the range of Jesus's authority: over disease, over distance, over demons, over the sea itself. The centurion's words, "just say the word," have entered Christian liturgy, prayed before communion in many traditions. The question the disciples ask in the boat, "What kind of man is this?", is the question the whole Gospel is answering. The chapter is also honest about the cost and the rejection that come with Jesus: the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, following him outranks even burying a father, and a town that has just seen two men freed asks him to leave because of the pigs.

Interpretive tension to watch

"Let the dead bury their own dead" is among the hardest sayings of Jesus, apparently overriding one of the most sacred duties of the ancient world. Was the man's father already dead, or was he asking to wait until an aged parent died? Either way, Jesus places the call to follow above every competing claim, and the saying resists softening. The pigs, too, trouble readers: two men are freed and a herd is lost, and the town prefers its pigs. The chapter lets the reader feel that choice.

שאלות לפרק הזה

Jesus touches the leper before speaking. What does the touch communicate that the word alone would not?
The centurion understands Jesus's authority from his own experience of command. What in your experience helps you understand how Jesus works?
The town asked Jesus to leave after he freed two men. What might make a community prefer its pigs to its neighbors' healing?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

הוספה להערות

1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 5 ¶ And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 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]. 10 When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. 14 ¶ And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. 15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. 16 ¶ When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with [his] word, and healed all that were sick: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare [our] sicknesses. 18 ¶ Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. 19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air [have] nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay [his] head. 21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. 23 ¶ And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. 24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And his disciples came to [him], and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! 28 ¶ And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. 34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought [him] that he would depart out of their coasts.

הפוך קריאה ללימוד ממשי

הירשמו כדי לשמור פסוקים, לרשום הערות וללמוד עם כלי AI.

הרשמה התחברות

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קרא את הפרק הבא Matthew 9 in King James Version.

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