Matthew 8:5

“And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, etc.] Was returned from his journey through Galilee, to the place where he before dwelt, and is called his own city, (<400901>Matthew 9:1) there came unto him a centurion, a Roman officer, ham rç, “a commander of an hundred men”, as the Hebrew Gospel by Munster reads it: though the number of men under a “centurion” was more, according to some accounts. “A band (it is said f493) made two centuries, each of which consisted of an hundred and twenty eight soldiers; for a doubled century made a band, whose governor was called an ordinary “centurion”.” Such an one was Cornelius, a centurion of a band, (<441001>Acts 10:1). The other person that was healed…”

“Capernaum - See the notes at Matthew 4:13. There came unto him a centurion - A centurion was the commander of 100 men in the Roman armies. Judea was a Roman province, and garrisons were kept there to preserve the people in subjection. This man was probably by birth a pagan. See Matthew 8:10. return to 'Top of Page'”

“There came to him a centurion - A captain of a hundred Roman soldiers. Probably he came a little way toward him, and then went back. He thought himself not worthy to come in person, and therefore spoke the words that follow by his messengers. As it is not unusual in all languages, so in the Hebrew it is peculiarly frequent, to ascribe to a person himself the thing which is done, and the words which are spoken by his order. And accordingly St. Matthew relates as said by the centurion himself, what others said by order from him. An instance of the same kind we have in the case of Zebedee's children. From St. Matthew, Mat 20:20, we learn it was their mother that spoke those words, which, Mar…”

“8:5-13 Jesus once again ministered to the marginalized or ostracized. The centurion was a Gentile soldier, and ministry to him would have evoked strong resentment from both the nationalistic and the separatist wings of Jewish society. 8:5 Capernaum is located on the Sea of Galilee, about two and a half miles west of the Jordan River outlet. In Jesus’ day, it was a prosperous fishing village. Standing at a crucial junction on the Great Trunk Road linking Mesopotamia and Egypt, it was an international village, and much of Jesus’ Galilean ministry was based there (e.g., 4:13; 8:14-17). • a Roman officer (Greek a centurion): A centurion, one of sixty commanders in a legion, commanded 100 Roman…”

“entered: Mat 4:13, Mat 9:1, Mat 11:23; Mar 2:1; Luk 7:1 a centurion: This was a Roman military title; and therefore this officer may be concluded to have been a Gentile. (See fuller particulars under Mar 15:39.) Mat 27:54; Mar 15:39; Luk 7:2-10; Acts 10:1-33, Act 22:25, Act 23:17, Act 23:23, Act 27:13, Act 27:31, Act 27:43 Matthew 8:6”