Now when Jesus was at Bethany may be inadequate as a transitional for languages which expect a marker indicating movement from one place to another. Accordingly, one may translate “In the meanwhile Jesus had gone to Bethany, and….” The village of Bethany was previously mentioned in 21.17; it lies east of the Mount of Olives, on the other side of the mountain from Jerusalem.

This is the only mention in Matthew’s Gospel of Simon the leper. Good News Translation translates the leper as “who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease” (see comment at 8.2). We assume Simon had been cured by this time or he would not have been able to stay at home and entertain guests. Therefore many translators have “a man named Simon who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .