Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
9:9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
9:10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples.
9:11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
9:12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
9:13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
9:18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
9:19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.
9:20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak,
9:21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”
9:22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” and instantly the woman was made well.
9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,
9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.
9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.
9 Καὶ παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, Ματθαῖον λεγόμενον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀκολούθει μοι. Καὶ ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ.
10 Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτοῦ ἀνακειμένου ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, καὶ ἰδοὺ πολλοὶ τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐλθόντες συνανέκειντο τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ.
11 Καὶ ἰδόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εἶπον τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· διατί μετὰ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει ὁ διδάσκαλος ὑμῶν;
12 Ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς ἀκούσας εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες ἰατροῦ, ἀλλ᾿ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες.
13 Πορευθέντες δὲ μάθετε τί ἐστιν ἔλεον θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν. οὐ γὰρ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν.
18 Ταῦτα αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος αὐτοῖς ἰδοὺ ἄρχων εἷς προσελθὼν προσεκύνει αὐτῷ λέγων ὅτι ἡ θυγάτηρ μου ἄρτι ἐτελεύτησεν· ἀλλὰ ἐλθὼν ἐπίθες τὴν χεῖρά σου ἐπ᾿ αὐτὴν καὶ ζήσεται.
19 Καὶ ἐγερθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ μαθηταί αὐτοῦ.
20 Καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνή, αἱμορροοῦσα δώδεκα ἔτη, προσελθοῦσα ὄπισθεν ἥψατο τοῦ κρασπέδου τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ.
21 Ἔλεγε γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτῇ, ἐὰν μόνον ἅψωμαι τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ, σωθήσομαι.
22 Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἐπιστραφεὶς καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὴν εἶπε· θάρσει, θύγατερ· ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέ σε. καὶ ἐσώθη ἡ γυνὴ ἀπὸ τῆς ὥρας ἐκείνης.
23 Καὶ ἐλθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἄρχοντος καὶ ἰδὼν τοὺς αὐλητὰς καὶ τὸν ὄχλον θορυβούμενον, λέγει αὐτοῖς·
24 ἀναχωρεῖτε· οὐ γὰρ ἀπέθανε τὸ κοράσιον, ἀλλὰ καθεύδει. καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ.
25 Ὅτε δὲ ἐξεβλήθη ὁ ὄχλος, εἰσελθὼν ἐκράτησε τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῆς, καὶ ἠγέρθη τὸ κοράσιον.
26 Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἡ φήμη αὕτη εἰς ὅλην τὴν γῆν ἐκείνην.
Comments
A classicist will find at least one contrast and two parallels to ancient Greek literature and mentality in the two pericopes. See my comments on vv. 9, 18, and 20 below.
[9] παράγων: παράγω, ‘pass by, pass on one’s way’ (cl. Gr. prose), usually intr. (LSJ).
ἀκολούθει μοι: 2nd pers. sg. imperative, pres. tense < ἀκολουθῶ (έω), c. dat. pers., ‘follow, freq. of soldiers and slaves’ (cl. Gr.) according to LSJ. Cf. Engl. acolyte. Here the vb refers to discipleship (Ex. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 502).
A pagan parallel to this episode occurs in Diogenes Laertius (prob. early part of 3rd c. AD), in the life of Zeno, the 4th c. BC founder of Stoicism:
‘He [Zeno] went up into Athens and sat down in a bookseller’s shop, being then a man of thirty. As he went on reading the second book of Xenophon’s Memorabilia, he was so pleased that he inquired where men like Socrates were to be found. [3] Crates [the Cynic philosopher] passed by in the nick of time, so the bookseller pointed to him and said, “Follow yonder man.”’
ἀνελθὼν δ᾽ εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἤδη τριακοντούτης ἐκάθισε παρά τινα βιβλιοπώλην. ἀναγινώσκοντος δ᾽ ἐκείνου τὸ δεύτερον τῶν Ξενοφῶντος Ἀπομνημονευμάτων, ἡσθεὶς ἐπύθετο ποῦ διατρίβοιεν οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἄνδρες. 4 [3] εὐκαίρως δὲ παριόντος Κράτητος, ὁ βιβλιοπώλης δείξας αὐτόν φησι, “τούτῳ παρακολούθησον.”
Lives of philosophers 7.2.2 (Perseus text & tr.)
παρακολουθῶ (έω), a compound, is a strengthened form of ἀκολουθῶ.
[10] ἀνακειμένου: gen. abs. < ἀνάκειμαι, mid.-pass., ‘lie at table, recline’ (LSJ), a koine vb, in effect = ‘eat a meal’ (as a guest).
συνανέκειντο τῷ Ἰησοῦ: 3rd pers. pl., impf. < συνανάκειμαι, a double cmpd; c. dat. (required by the preverb συν- , which denotes ‘togetherness, fellowship’). Here the vb means ‘eat together’ (Ex. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 297).
[11] ἐσθίει: ἐσθίω, ‘I eat’ in cl. Gr. always refers to human beings. Matt. prefers the cl. Gr. vb to the later τρώγω (still used in modern Gr.). Cf. Engl. edible.
ἐσθίει explains συνανέκειντο in v. 10 immed. above.
[12] οἱ ἰσχύοντες : < ἰσχύω, ‘I am strong [cf. ἰσχυρός] in body’, i.e. ‘I am healthy’, as here.
οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες: the opposite of οἱ ἰσχύοντες, lit., ‘those who fare poorly’. κακῶς ἔχω is an idiom (already in Homer).
[18] προσεκύνει αὐτῷ : < προσκυνῶ (έω), ‘ I fall down and worship’ (cl. Gr.), see LSJ. In koine c. dat., as here.
In cl. Gr. the vb takes an acc. obj., and properly refers to an image of a god or an eastern potentate. To genuflect or perform some other form of obesisance before a mortal was odious to Athenians of the classical period. One knelt only before a god’s statue. It is interesting that the vb < προς- + κυνῶ (έω), ‘I kiss’.
St Matthew uses the vb to evoke ‘worshipful reverence’ (Ex. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 174).
ἐτελεύτησεν: τελευτῶ (άω), abs., ‘end life, die’, a cl. Gr. euphemism used of human beings (cf. τέλος, ‘fulfilment, end’).
[19] ἐγερθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς: mid. aor. participle < ἐγείρομαι, ‘Ι stand up’; in cl. Gr. the vb can mean ‘wake (up)’, mid.-pass., as in v. 25, ἠγέρθη τὸ κοράσιον.
ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ: this time it is Jesus who follows (perhaps in humility?).
[20] ἥψατο τοῦ κρασπέδου τοῦ ἱματίου: ἥψατο, 2nd pers. sg., aor., mid. voice, ἅπτομαι c. gen. obj., ‘grasp’ (in Homer, etc.); in koine, as here, ‘touch’. Cf. Engl. haptic.
This particular miracle may be the basis for ‘styptic’ cures effected in the early Christian period through amulets made of hematite. The woman with the Issue of Blood in fact treats Christ (or his garment) as an amulet. This healing ‘in the Gospel account itself comes as close to the essence of Graeco-Roman magic as any in the Bible’: see G. Vikan, ‘Magic and visual culture’, in J. C. B. Petropoulos, ed., Greek magic, ancient, medieval and modern, Abingdon, Oxford, pp.53-7.
[21] Ἔλεγε γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτῇ: Matt. becomes an omniscient narrator.
[22] ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέ σε: unintentional alliteration of σ (quite natural in Greek, ancient and modern).
ἀπὸ τῆς ὥρας ἐκείνης: lit., ‘from that time, from that hour’.
‘Instantly’ (in the translation) well encapsulates the Greek. The phrase ‘indicates the immediate occurrence of an event…Matthew emphasizes the correspondence between faith and its fulfillment’ (Ex. Dict. NT, s.v. ὥρα, p. 507).
[23] τὸν ὄχλον θορυβούμενον: θορυβοῦμαι (έομαι), ‘be thrown into disorder, become confused’ (cl. Gr., see LSJ). θόρυβος = ‘uproar, clamour’ (LSJ) such as of a group of rowdy Athenian jurors. According to Ex. Dict. NT s.v., p. 153, θορυβοῦμαι means ‘get excited’ (pretty much as in cl. Gr). More than that it implies raising a hubbub.
[24] οὐ γὰρ ἀπέθανε τὸ κοράσιον, ἀλλὰ καθεύδει. καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ: ἀπέθανε, 2nd aor., 2nd pers. sg < ἀποθνήσκω, ‘I die’, an inceptive vb (cl. Gr. prose but attested in Homer).
καθεύδει: ‘sleeps, is sleeping, is asleep’ (already in Homer); here of natural sleep.
κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ: 3rd pers. pl., impf., καταγελῶ (άω), c. gen. , ‘jeer at’ (cl. Gr., see LSJ), a strengthened form of γελῶ (cf. Engl.gelastic). Ex. Dict. NT, s.v., p. 256: ‘of scornful laughter’.
[25] ἐξεβλήθη ὁ ὄχλος: < ἐκβάλλω, ‘send away’ (prob. a koine meaning): Ex. Dict NT, s.v., p. 406.
[26] ἡ φήμη: ‘report, fame’ < φημί.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 