Greek Study Luke 17:11-19

Greek Study Luke 17:11-19 

Because the first time apparently didn’t take (6/29/16)

v11 και εγενετο "now" - marking a new literary unit.

εν τω πορευεσθαι (πορευομαι) pres. inf. "on [his] way [to Jerusalem]" - Luke underlines the journey theme, of messiah moving inexorably toward Jerusalem and his enthronement. 

δια μεσον + gen. "along the border" – literally  "through the middle".  

v12 εισερχομενου (εισερχομαι) pres. part. gen. "as [he] was entering" - genitive absolute participle forms a temporal clause.

πηντησαν (απανταω) aor. "met" - they "approached "

πορρωθεν adv. "at a distance" - the lepers follow the custom of the time and keep distance, or did they approach as indicated prior?  

v13 λεγοντες (λεγω) pres. part. "called out [in a loud voice]" adverbial, expressing the manner of the lifting up of their voices, "they raised their voices, shouting, ...."

Ιησου επιστατα "Jesus, master" - A title normally used by disciples.

ελεησον (ελεεω) aor. imp. "have pity on [us]" - aorist expressing urgency. Probably a request to show compassion. A person begging for alms would say the same.

v14 ιδων (ειδον) aor. part. "when he saw them" - The Greek implies Jesus had not noticed them until they shouted out; which explains the prior verse.

πορευθεντες (πορευομαι) aor. pas. part. "go" – actually having gone/going  participle expressing action accompanying the main verb show, so here used as an imperative; "go and show ..." Jesus asks them to go and show themselves to the priests before they are healed. Normally a person's skin disease would have improved before going to the priests so the question is begged, is Jesus prompting a leap of faith? At any rate, they all head off.

τοις ιερευσιν (υς εως) dat. "priests" – some scholars suggest the plural of priests implies that the lepers were a mixed group of Jews and Samaritans and each would need to go to their own priest. Or because there were ten?

εν τω υπαγειν (υπαγω) pres. inf. "as they went" - a temporal clause expressing contemporaneous time; so "as they were on their way".

εκαθαρισθησαν (καθαριζω) aor. pas. "they were cleansed" - Note the parallel with the healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5:10ff). If this is the case, then perhaps Luke did see a mixed group of Jews and Samaritans.

v15 ιδων (ειδον) aor. par. "having seen” - the sense of having seen is that he was now healed, not that he has gained any spiritual insight.

υπεστρεψεν (υποστρεφω) aor. "came back" – the point is that he could have continued on his way and praised God at the temple, but the story serves to make the point that the faith that saves is faith in Jesus, not a process.

μετα + gen. "with [a loud voice]" – again with the loud voice, a reflection back upon the proclamation of the Angels and Shepherds in Luke 2?

v16 επι .... παρα + acc. "[he threw himself] at [Jesus' feet]" – a prostrate position who stretches out with their face on the ground, the proper position to take when confronted by a theophany.

ευχαριστων (ευχαριστω) pres. part. "and thanked" - some argue that gratitude is a necessary accompaniment to saving faith except for the fact that this view is contrary to scripture!

αυτος ην Σαμαριτης "he was a Samaritan" – Luke seems to love Samaritan stories (one might ask why, was there a Samaritan community, did he self-identify as a Samaritan being a Gentile and all, inquiring minds want to know!) The story certainly doesn't set up a Jew/Samaritan dichotomy; i.e. they are ALL healed of leprosy. However, Jesus' confrontation with the law-righteousness Pharisees in chapter 16 does set up chapter 17 and its declaration of the one law that gives life, faith. Religious Israel fails to obey this law; a Samaritan does. So this story prefigures the movement of the gospel from Jew to Samaritan, to God-fearer and finally, to Gentiles.

v17 αποκριθεις (αποκρινομαι) aor. pas. part. "having answered [Jesus said]” - redundant, perhaps for emphasis.

ουχι "[were] not [all ten cleansed]?" που "where" – another emphatic, "the 9, where are they?"

v18 ουχ ευρεθησαν (ευρισκω) aor. pas. "was no one found" - they were not found, Luke has returned to the lost/found theme of chapter 15!

υποστρεψαντες (υποστρεφω) aor. part. "to return" δουναι (διδωμι) aor. inf. "in order to give [praise]" - τω θεω (ος) dat. "to God".

ει μη "except" ο αλλογενης "[this] foreigner" (literally this “this other one”) – a Hapax, except that the leper who returned to Jesus is not quite a foreigner, but rather a half-cast Jew. This word was used in Greek on the “keep out” warning sign on the temple mount, where it was clearly directed at Gentiles. The point here may be that this man, normally bared from the religious life of Israel, has a better understanding of how a person gets right with God than all those so called righteous Pharisees who attend temple worship!

v19 αναστας (ανιστημι) aor. part. "rise and [go]" – and here we have the word used by the early church for “resurrection” as opposed to all the other times Jesus uses the phrase “rise and go (εγερθε)

σου πιστισ gen. "your faith" – a possessive identifies the key ingredient of the story, i.e. a saving faith, faith in the terms of reliance upon Jesus. It is used here as it is elsewhere Scripture to refer to a reliance on Jesus' word/promises.

σεσωκεν (σωζω) perf. "has made [you] well" – literally has saved you.  The perfect tense indicates a past act with ongoing consequences.