Section 17:11–19

Jesus healed ten lepers

In this section Jesus and his disciples were continuing to travel to Jerusalem. As they approached a village on the way, ten men with leprosy or another serious skin disease begged Jesus to help them. People with this disease were outcasts and were not allowed to live in a village with healthy people. They were also considered to be ritually unclean or impure. They were not allowed to worship God with healthy people.

Jesus healed all ten men, and they became ritually pure. However, only one of them thanked Jesus for healing him. This man was a Samaritan, and Jews usually despised Samaritans. However, Jesus often showed that he did not despise them. In the parable that Jesus told in 10:25–37, he used a Samaritan as the example of a person who loved his neighbor.

Notice the contrast in the way “thanks” is used here and in 17:10. In 17:10, Jesus implied that servants of God often feel that they deserve special thanks or reward for simply doing their duty. In this section, when Jesus did something that deserved much thanks and praise, only one of ten people thanked him.

Some other ideas for this section heading are:

Jesus heals ten lepers
-or-
Jesus cleanses ten men

The book of Luke is the only gospel that tells about this event.

Paragraph 17:11–19

17:11a

In Greek this part of the verse begins with a phrase that is literally “and it happened.” In this context, the phrase introduces a new event. In some languages no introductory word or phrase is needed. Another way to introduce the event in English is:

One day/time

While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem is literally “while ⌊he⌋ was going to Jerusalem.” It may be helpful to supply the name Jesus here for clarity, as the Berean Standard Bible does. Some other ways to translate this are:

As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
as Jesus traveled/walked toward Jerusalem

Jesus was still traveling with his disciples. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

As Jesus continued to travel ⌊with his disciples⌋ toward Jerusalem, they…

17:11b

He was passing between Samaria and Galilee: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He was passing between Samaria and Galilee is literally “he was going through the middle of Samaria and Galilee.” This means that Jesus traveled in the general area where the land of Samaria met the land of Galilee.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

…he was going through the area between Samaria and Galilee. (New Century Version)
-or-
Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. (New Revised Standard Version)

Samaria and Galilee: Samaria and Galilee were districts in Israel. In some languages it may be helpful to make this information explicit. For example:

⌊the district of⌋ Samaria and ⌊the district of⌋ Galilee

General Comment on 17:11a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of 11a and 11b. For example:

11bJesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee 11aon his way to Jerusalem. (God’s Word)
-or-

11bOne day Jesus ⌊and his disciples⌋ were going between the regions of Samaria and Galilee 11aon their way to Jerusalem.

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