Luke 5:18

And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) Which was taken with a palsy.—Literally paralysed, or palsy-stricken, a somewhat more technical, and therefore characteristic word than the “sick of the palsy” in the other Gospels.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:17-26 How many are there in our assemblies, where the gospel is preached, who do not sit under the word, but sit by! It is to them as a tale that is told them, not as a message that is sent to them. Observe the duties taught and recommended to us by the history of the paralytic. In applying to Christ, we must be very pressing and urgent; that is an evidence of faith, and is very pleasing to Christ, and prevailing with him. Give us, Lord, the same kind of faith with respect to thy ability and willingness to heal our souls. Give us to desire the pardon of sin more than any earthly blessing, or life itself. Enable us to believe thy power to forgive sins; then will our souls cheerfully arise and go where thou pleasest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 9:1-7.

Luke 5:17

On a certain day - The time and place are not particularly mentioned here, but from Matthew 9:1 it seems it was at Capernaum.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Lu 5:17-26. Paralytic Healed.

(See on [1574]Mt 9:1-8).

17. Pharisees and doctors … sitting by—the highest testimony yet borne to our Lord's growing influence, and the necessity increasingly felt by the ecclesiastics throughout the country of coming to some definite judgment regarding Him.

power of the Lord … present—with Jesus.

to heal them—the sick people.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 18-26. See Poole on "Matthew 9:2", and following verses to Matthew 9:8. See Poole on "Mark 2:3", and following verses to Mark 2:12. Both those evangelists record the same story with very small alterations in the phrase, nothing in the sense. Instead of the last words, We have seen strange things today, Matthew saith, they glorified God, who had given such power unto men. By which appeareth that all the effect this miracle had was,

1. Amazement. A thing was done; they understood not how it could be effected.

2. They apprehended a Divine power as to the effect.

They therefore

glorified God, who had given such power unto men. So as it is plain they only looked upon Christ as a great Prophet, to whom God had communicated such a Divine power, as of old he had communicated to Elijah, and then to Elisha. Lest any should stumble at what is said, that they uncovered the house, and let him down through the tiling, fancying the roofs of their houses built as ours, they must know, that the most of their houses were built (like some amongst us) with flat roofs, which were covered with some slates or stones, so as they might easily be uncovered; and this appeareth by the command of God, Deu 22:8, concerning making battlements on the tops of their houses, to prevent casualties. The object of the faith here mentioned, was plainly the Divine power and goodness, but not as coming from Christ originally, as eternal God, but as an instrument by which God conveyed it to men under such miserable circumstances as this poor man was.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy,.... Four men brought him, as Mark says, Mark 2:3 and which the Ethiopic version expresses here: "and they sought means to bring him in": into the house where Jesus was:

and to lay him before him; at his feet, in hope of moving his compassion, and to obtain a cure of him: of the nature of this disease, and of the sort which this man's seems to be; see Gill on Mark 2:3.

Geneva Study Bible

And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 5:18, παραλελυμένος, instead of παραλυτικος in the parallels, the former more in use among physicians, and the more classical.—ἐζήτουν. imperfect, implying difficulty in finding access, due, one might think, to the great numbers of Pharisees and lawyers present, no mention having as yet been made of any others. But the ὄχλος comes in in next verse.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. men] four bearers, Mark 2:3.

taken with a palsy] The word used by Matthew (Matthew 9:1-8) and Mark (Mark 2:1-12) is “paralytic,” but as that is not a classic word, St Luke uses “having been paralysed” (paralelumenos).

they sought means to bring him in] St Mark explains that the crowd was so great that they could not even get to the door.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 18, 19. - And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the house-top, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. So far there was nothing very unusual in the incident. These healings must have been of common occurrence with our Lord. The poor sufferer and his friends, intensely anxious for an interview with One whom they justly regarded as the great Physician, were rightly confident that they had but to see the Master, to state their case, and to receive the blessing which they sought. On this occasion it seemed impossible to get at the merciful Healer. Now or never, they thought. He might, as he had done before, withdraw himself. The chance might never recur. So they accomplished their purpose in the way narrated by the evangelist. It was evidently nothing very extraordinary - an ingenious device, nothing more; only by it the friends of the sufferer showed that they were intensely in earnest, that they were confident that the Master had both the power and the will to do what they wanted, Much has been written on the device employed on this occasion by the friends of the paralytic. Delitzsch, in his 'A Day at Capernaum,' graphically describes what must have taken place. Two bearers ascend the roof by a ladder, and by means of cords they draw up by the same way the sick man after them, assisted by two other bearers. In the middle of the terrace was a square place, open in summer to give light and air to the house, but closed with tiles during the rainy season. Having opened this passage, the bearers let down the sick man into the large inner court immediately below, where Jesus was teaching, near the cistern fixed as usual in this court. The trap-stairs, which led down from the terrace into the court, would have been too narrow for their use, and would not have taken them into the court, but into the apartments which overlooked it from all sides. Luke 5:18

Vincent's Word Studies

Taken with a palsy (παραλελυμένος)

Rev., more neatly, palsied. Whenever Luke mentions this disease, he uses the verb and not the adjective παραλυτικός paralytic (as Matthew 4:24; Matthew 8:6; Mark 2:3-10; compare Acts 8:7; Acts 9:33); his usage in this respect being in strict accord with that of medical writers.