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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Luke 7:3 - 7:3
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Sent unto him elders of the Jews (apesteilen pros auton presbouterous tōn Ioudaiōn). Mat 8:5 says “the centurion came unto him.” For discussion of this famous case of apparent discrepancy see note on Mat 8:7. One possible solution is that Luke tells the story as it happened with the details, whereas Matthew simply presents a summary statement without the details. What one does through another he does himself.
Asking him (erōtōn auton). Present active participle, masculine singular nominative, of the verb erōtaō common for asking a question as in the old Greek (Luk 22:68). But more frequently in the N.T. the verb has the idea of making a request as here. This is not a Hebraism or an Aramaism, but is a common meaning of the verb in the papyri (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 168). It is to be noted here that Luke represents the centurion himself as “asking” through the elders of the Jews (leading citizens). In Mat 8:6 the verb is parakalōn (beseeching).
That he would come and save (hopōs elthōn diasōsēi). Hina is the more common final or sub-final (as here) conjunction, but hopōs still occurs. Diasōsēi is effective aorist active subjunctive, to bring safe through as in a storm (Act 28:1, Act 28:4). Common word.