7:4
In this verse, the Jewish elders pleaded with Jesus to go and heal the officer’s slave. The officer was not a Jew. Jewish religious leaders and teachers would not normally enter the house of a person who was not a Jew. They believed that doing that would make them ritually unclean. So the elders expected that Jesus would not want to go to the officer’s house. This also explains the reason for the officer’s message in 7:6e, “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.”
7:4a
They came to Jesus and pleaded with Him earnestly: There is implied information here. When the Jewish elders came to Jesus, they told Jesus the officer’s request. Then they pleaded with Jesus to do what the officer requested. In some languages you may need to make this explicit. For example:
When they came to Jesus, they ⌊gave him the officer’s message. Then they⌋ pleaded earnestly with him
pleaded with Him earnestly: The phrase pleaded…earnestly means “begged eagerly.” The elders urged or strongly encouraged Jesus to help the officer.
The phrase pleaded…earnestly introduces the words in 7:4b. However, these words are not in the form of a request or a plea for help. They are a statement that the centurion deserved help. So it may be natural to add another verb of speech. For example:
begged him earnestly to help ⌊and said⌋
7:4b
This man is worthy to have You grant this: The phrase This man refers to the officer, not to his slave. The Jewish leaders were saying that the officer deserved to have Jesus help him. You could translate this as:
This centurion is worthy of your help.
-or-
This ⌊officer/captain⌋ is a good man and it is right/fitting that you should do what he asks.
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