Luke 7:2

And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) A certain centurion’s servant.—See Notes on Matthew 8:5-13.

Was dear unto him.—Literally, was precious, the dearness of value, but not necessarily of affection. St. Luke is here, contrary to what we might have expected, less precise than St. Matthew, who states that the slave was “sick of the palsy.” Had the physician been unable to satisfy himself from what he heard as to the nature of the disease? The details that follow show that he had made inquiries, and was able to supply some details which St. Matthew had not given.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:1-10 Servants should study to endear themselves to their masters. Masters ought to take particular care of their servants when they are sick. We may still, by faithful and fervent prayer, apply to Christ, and ought to do so when sickness is in our families. The building places for religious worship is a good work, and an instance of love to God and his people. Our Lord Jesus was pleased with the centurion's faith; and he never fails to answer the expectations of that faith which honours his power and love. The cure soon wrought and perfect.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Who was dear unto him - That is, he was valuable, trusty, and honored.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 7

Lu 7:1-10. Centurion's Servant Healed.

(See on [1591]Mt 8:5-13.)

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 7:1"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And a certain centurion's servant,.... The same that Matthew makes mention of, Matthew 8:5; see Gill on Matthew 8:5. See Gill on Matthew 8:6.

who was dear unto him; to the centurion, being an honest, upright, faithful, and obliging servant; as Tabi was to Rabban Gamaliel, of whom his master said (l),

"Tabi my servant, is not as other servants, , "he is upright".''

was sick: of a palsy; see Matthew 8:6,

and ready to die; in all appearance his case was desperate, and there was no help for him by any human means, which makes the following cure, the more remarkable.

(l) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 16. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 7:2. ὂς ἧν αὐτῷ ἔντιμος, who was dear to him; though a slave, indicating that he was a humane master. Lk. has also in view, according to his wont, to enhance the value of the benefit conferred: the life of a valued servant saved.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. a certain centurion’s servant] Literally, “slave” The word used by St Matthew (pais) might mean son, but is clearly also used for servant (like the Latin puer). A centurion is a captain; under him is a sergeant (dekadarch), and above him a colonel (chiliarch), and general (hegemon). Jos. B. J. v. 12, § 2. All the centurions in the N.T. are favourably mentioned (Luke 23:47; Acts 27:43).

dear] Rather, precious. The love of the captain for his servant was a good example for the Jews themselves, who in the Talmud forbade mourning for slaves.

sick] St Matthew says, “stricken with paralysis, and in terrible pain” (Luke 8:6). St Luke, as a physician, may have omitted this specification because the description applies rather to tetanus than to the strict use of “paralysis.”

ready to die] Rather, was on the point of death.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 7:2. Ἔντιμος, dear) even on account of his obedience [as well as for other reasons]: Luke 7:8.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - And a certain centurion's servant; literally, slave. The difference is important, as we shall see in the picture presented to us of the centurion's character. A centurion was an officer in the Roman army: the grade answers to the modern European captain - German, hauptmann; the command included a hundred soldiers. Scholars are not agreed respecting the special service of this particular officer. Some consider he was a Greek or Syrian holding a commission under the prince of the country, the tetrach Herod Antipas; others, that he was in the service of the empire, with a small detachment of the garrison of Caesarea, doing duty at the important lake-city, probably in connection with the revenue. It is clear that Roman garrisons at this period were dotted about the various centres of population in these semi-dependent states. At Jerusalem we know a considerable Roman force was stationed, professedly to keep order in the turbulent capital, but really, no doubt, to overawe the national party. Was sick, and ready to die. St. Matthew calls the disease paralysis, and adds that the sufferer was in extreme pain. The disorder was probably some dangerous form of rheumatic fever, which not unfrequently attacks the region of the heart, and is accompanied with severe pain, and proves in many instances fatal. The ordinary, paralysis would scarcely be accompanied with the acute pain mentioned by St. Matthew. Luke 7:2

Vincent's Word Studies

Centurion (ἑκατοντάρχου)

From ἕκατον, a hundred, and ἄρχω, to command. Commander of a hundred men. Mark uses κεντυρίων, a Graecized form of the Latin word centurio. A centuria was originally a division consisting of a hundred things of a kind; and thence came to mean any division, whether consisting of a hundred or not. In military language it meant a division of troops, a company, not necessarily of a hundred, the captain of which was called centurio. The numbers of a century varied from about fifty to a hundred. The Roman legion consisted of ten cohorts or σπεῖραι, bands, as" the Italian band," of which Cornelius was a centurion (Acts 10:1). The commanders of these cohorts were called chiliarchs, or chief captains (John 18:12, Rev.). Each cohort contained six centuries, or companies, of which the commanders were called centurions. The duty of the centurion was chiefly confined to the regulation of his own corps, and the care of the watch. The badge of his office was the vitis, or vine-stock. He wore a short tunic, and was also known by letters on the crest of his helmet. Dean Howson ("Companions of St. Paul") remarks on the favorable impression left upon the mind by the officers of the Roman army mentioned in the New Testament, and cites, besides the centurion in this passage, the one at the cross, and Julius, who escorted Paul to Rome. See Acts 10:1.

Servant (δοῦλος)

A bond-servant. Matthew has παῖς, a servant, which occurs also at Luke 7:7.

Dear (ἔντιμος)

Lit. held in honor or value. It does not necessarily imply an affectionate relation between the master and the servant, though such may well have existed. It may mean only that he was a valuable servant. See on 1 Peter 2:4. In this case Luke omits the mention of the disease, which is given by Matthew.

Beseeching (ἐρωτῶν)

Too strong. Better asking, as Rev. The word to beseech (παρακαλέω) occurs in the next verse. See on Matthew 15:23.

Heal (διασώσῃ)

Better as Rev., save. See on Luke 6:19.