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Two Blind Men Healed

29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed them. 30 Two[a] blind men were sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted,[b] “Have mercy[c] on us, Lord, Son of David!”[d] 31 The[e] crowd scolded[f] them to get them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Lord, have mercy on us,[g] Son of David!” 32 Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 20:30 tn Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
  2. Matthew 20:30 tn Grk “shouted, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
  3. Matthew 20:30 sn Have mercy on us is a request for healing. It is not owed to the men. They simply ask for God’s kind grace.
  4. Matthew 20:30 sn There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).
  5. Matthew 20:31 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
  6. Matthew 20:31 tn Or “rebuked.” The crowd’s view was that surely Jesus would not be bothered with someone as unimportant as a blind beggar.
  7. Matthew 20:31 tc ‡ The majority of mss (C N W Γ Δ ƒ1 33 565 1241 1424 M and several versional witnesses) read κύριε (kurie, “Lord”) after ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς (eleēson hēmas, “have mercy on us”). But since this is the order of words in v. 30 (though that wording is also disputed), and since the κύριε-first reading enjoys widespread and early support (א B D L Z Θ 085 0281 ƒ13 892 lat syp samss bo; SBL), the latter was considered to be the earliest reading. However, the decision was by no means easy. NA28 has κύριε after ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς here; a majority of that committee felt that since the placement of κύριε in last place was the nonliturgical order it “would have been likely to be altered in transcription to the more familiar sequence” (TCGNT 44).

Sight for Those Who Are Blind

29 (A)As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. 30 And two people who were blind, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, (B)have mercy on us, (C)Son of David!” 31 But the crowd sternly warned them to be quiet; yet they cried out all the more, “Lord, (D)Son of David, have mercy on us!” 32 And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 33 They *said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

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