Section 4:38–44

Jesus helped many people

Jesus continued healing people, casting out demons, and preaching the good news about the kingdom of God. The people of Capernaum tried to stop him from leaving (4:42), but Jesus continued going from place to place, helping many people.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Jesus Heals Many People
-or-
Jesus Cures Simon’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others (God’s Word)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 8:14–17 and Mark 1:29–34.

Paragraph 4:38–39

After Jesus commanded the demon to come out of the man, he left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house. There he healed Simon’s mother-in-law who was sick with a high fever. The events in this paragraph occurred after the events in the previous section. For that reason, many English translations translate the conjunction at the start of 4:38 with a time word. In some languages, it may also be natural to begin this paragraph with a time word or phrase. For example:

Then (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
After that

4:38a

After Jesus had left the synagogue: The synagogue refers here to the building in Capernaum where Jews gathered to pray, read Scripture, teach their beliefs, and worship God. This is the synagogue where Jesus had caused the demon to come out of the man (4:33a).

For more information, see the note on “synagogues” at 4:15a and synagogue in the Glossary.

the home of Simon: The phrase the home of Simon means “the house where Simon’s family lived.” Simon was married, and he probably owned this house himself. It appears that his mother-in-law lived in his home.

Simon: This is the first time that Simon is mentioned in the book of Luke. Jesus later gave him an additional name, “Peter” (5:8, 6:14). But at this time, people just referred to him as Simon. You may wish to include a footnote here, saying something like:

He was also called Peter.
-or-
Jesus later gives Simon another name, Peter.

4:38b

whose mother-in-law: Another way to say whose mother-in-law is “the mother of Simon’s wife.”

In some cultures, it would be unusual for Simon’s mother-in-law to be living (or staying) in the same house as Simon. If your readers might think that Jesus had gone to a different house to see her, you may need to say explicitly that she was in Simon’s house. For example:

⌊There he found⌋ Simon’s mother-in-law, sick with a high fever.
-or-
Simon’s mother-in-law ⌊was in his house⌋. ⌊She⌋ was suffering from a high fever.

was suffering from a high fever: The phrase suffering from a high fever means that Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever. Her body was very hot from this sickness. For example:

was sick with a high fever (Good News Translation)

4:38c

So they appealed to Jesus on her behalf: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they appealed to Jesus on her behalf is literally “they asked him about her” (as in the New Revised Standard Version). The New International Version and several other English versions have made it explicit that they asked Jesus to help her. They wanted Jesus to heal her. Another way to translate this is:

they asked Jesus to heal her

they: The Greek text does not say to whom the pronoun they refers. It probably refers to the people in the house. Another way to translate this is:

the people there

Another way to translate this is to use a passive verb. For example:

Jesus was asked to help her

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