Matthew 4:24

Text

The original Koine Greek, according to Westcott and Hort, reads:

και απηλθεν η ακοη αυτου εις ολην την συριαν και προσηνεγκαν αυτω παντας τους κακως εχοντας ποικιλαις νοσοις και βασανοις συνεχομενους δαιμονιζομενους και σεληνιαζομενους και παραλυτικους και εθεραπευσεν αυτους

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

And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 4:24

Syria

The Roman province of Syria covered a huge area. American Theologian Albert Barnes interprets "Syria" as "the general name for the country lying between the Euphrates on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west; and between Mount Taurus on the north, and Arabia on the south. English biblical scholar R. T. France suggests that the author of Matthew's gospel was likely to have been using the Old Testament meaning, which limited it to the area immediately to the north and northeast of Israel. Eduard Schweizer notes that one late manuscript has synoria, region, in place of Syria, a meaning that would also make the passage more credible. Syria is often considered to be the location where the author of Matthew wrote his gospel.

Mark's Gospel does not mention Syria in the parallel text: His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee; similarly in Luke's Gospel, News of Him went out through all the surrounding region.

Healing the sick

The previous verse mentions Jesus' healing power and this one goes into more detail. It lists a number of general conditions common in that period. Torment refers to severe pain; possession is seen either as possession by the Devil, or as a metaphor for mental illness; epileptics refers to any suffering seizures; and paralytics to those who are paralyzed. David Hill notes that the general understanding of disease among the Jewish community at the time was that it was in atonement for sin. Thus Jesus' healing power is a subset of his ability to grant forgiveness of sins, as mentioned in Matthew 1:21.