Section 8:5–13

Jesus healed a Roman army officer’s servant

This section tells the story of a Roman officer who had greater faith than many Jews. This Gentile officer believed that Jesus had the power to heal his servant, even from a distance. Matthew used this story to show Jesus’ power. He also used this story to show that believing Gentiles would also be in the kingdom of God.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The faith of a centurion
-or-
A believing ⌊Roman⌋ army officer
-or-
A ⌊Roman⌋ officer shows he believes strongly ⌊in Jesus’ power⌋

There is a parallel passage for this section in Luke 7:1–10.

Paragraph 8:5–9

8:5a

When Jesus had entered: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus is literally “he.” The pronoun “he” refers to Jesus. Since this is the beginning of a new section, you may want to make this explicit, as the Berean Standard Bible does.

Capernaum: The word Capernaum refers to a town near the Lake of Galilee. In some languages, it may be good to make it explicit that Capernaum was a town. For example:

the town of Capernaum (Contemporary English Version)

8:5b

centurion: A centurion was a Roman army officer. He was the leader of about one hundred soldiers. The word centurion literally means “leader of one hundred.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

• Translate the literal meaning of the Greek word. For example:

officer/leader of one hundred soldiers

• Use a word for such an officer in the army in your country. For example:

captain

• Use a general word or phrase for an officer or commander. For example:

soldier leader
-or-
great/big soldier
-or-
soldier who commands others

You may also need to supply the information that this was a Roman officer. This is implied by the word centurion, which was used only by the Roman army. He was not a Jew leading Jewish soldiers. For example:

a Roman captain
-or-
a leader of Roman soldiers

came:

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

came to him (New International Version)
-or-
met him (Good News Translation)
-or-
approached him

pleaded with Him: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pleaded with Him also means “begging him.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

pleaded (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
beg him for help (God’s Word)

-or-

strongly asked him to help him

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