Section 1:40–45

Jesus healed a man with a skin disease called “leprosy”

In this section, Jesus healed a man who had a skin disease that is sometimes called “leprosy.” The Jewish law declared that such a person was ritually unclean and therefore was an outcast. He could not go to the temple to worship God until he was cured. If he was cured, he had to make certain sacrifices to God before people would consider him “clean” again. The law did not allow anyone even to touch such a person. But Jesus touched the man and healed him.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible section headings:

The healing of an outcast
-or-
Jesus healed a man with a dreaded skin disease

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 8:1–4 and Luke 5:12–16.

Paragraph 1:40–45

1:40a

Then a leper came to Jesus: This sentence begins a new story and introduces a new person. Consider how you would introduce this story and person in a natural way in your language.

Here are some other ways to do this in English:

There was a certain man who came to Jesus. He had leprosy…
-or-
One day a man came to Jesus. This man was sick with leprosy…

leper: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as leper refers to a person who has a disease called “leprosy.” The word “leprosy” refers to several different skin diseases. Scholars disagree as to whether these diseases included modern-day leprosy (Hansen’s disease). They agree that in New Testament times the Greek word referred to dreaded skin diseases. People believed that these diseases were spread by contact with someone who had the disease. A person who had one of these diseases was also considered ritually unclean. Some ways to translate this word are:

• Use a general phrase that describes the nature or significance of the disease. For example:

a man suffering from a dreaded skin disease (Good News Bible)
-or-
a man with a serious skin disease (God’s Word)
-or-
a man with a contagious skin disease

• Use a term that refers specifically to leprosy. For example:

a man with leprosy
-or-
a man with something like leprosy

A term that refers specifically to leprosy may be appropriate in areas where readers are already familiar with the term “leprosy.” If you decide to use a word meaning “leprosy,” it is recommended that you add a footnote to give more information. For example:

The disease that is mentioned here refers to various contagious and dreaded skin diseases. A person who had one of these diseases was considered ritually unclean. According to the Jewish law, he was not allowed to associate with other people or to worship in the Temple.

Jesus: Here the Greek text is literally the pronoun “him” (as in the Revised Standard Version). The pronoun “him” refers to Jesus. Since this is the beginning of a new section, it may be natural in your language to use the name Jesus here, as the Berean Standard Bible does.

1:40b

begging on his knees: The phrase on his knees indicates that the man knelt on the ground. He knelt like this to show that he was coming to Jesus in a very humble way. He showed great respect to Jesus as he requested his help.

In some cultures, kneeling may not show humility. It may even have a different meaning. If that is true in your language, here are some other ways to translate this:

• Translate the action and explain the meaning. For example:

getting on his knees to show humility and begging Jesus
-or-
kneeling to show respect as he urgently asked Jesus to help him

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

humbly begging Jesus to help him

• Use an idiom that shows humility in your language.

1:40c

If You are willing, You can make me clean: This statement indicates that the man with leprosy believed that Jesus had the power to heal him. But he did not know whether Jesus was willing to do it. This statement was a polite way for the man to ask Jesus to heal him.

In some languages it may be necessary to make that request explicit. For example:

I know that if you want to, you can make me clean. So please, I beg you, to heal me.
-or-
If you are willing, you can make me clean, so will you please heal me?

Notice that the second example expresses the man’s request as a question. This makes it more polite in some languages. Consider how the man would express his request politely in your language.

make me clean: The phrase make me clean in this context means “make me ritually clean by healing me.” It does not refer to cleansing from physical dirt.

According to Jewish law, people with the skin disease called “leprosy” were ritually unclean or impure. They were not allowed to participate in public religious ceremonies or to worship God in the temple. They had to live away from other people who did not have this disease. When they were healed, they became ritually clean, and then they were allowed to enter the temple again and participate in community activities.

Here are several ways to translate the phrase make me clean:

• Translate both the idea of healing and the idea of causing the man to become ritually clean. Translate the ideas in a natural order in your language. For example:

you can heal me and make me ritually clean
-or-
you can heal me so that I will be ritually pure

• Translate only the idea of healing here. For example:

you have the power to make me well

• Translate only the idea of causing the man to be ritually clean. For example:

you can make me ritually clean so I can worship God and be around people again

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