As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. They stood at a distance
Parallel translations
- WEB As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance.
- KJV And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
- NKJV Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
- NASB And as He entered a village, ten men with leprosy who stood at a distance met Him;
- NLT As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Entering a village, Jesus is met by ten lepers who keep their distance as the law required.
Overview
Leprosy made its victims ceremonially unclean and socially outcast, forced to stand apart. Their distance reflects their desperate, marginalized condition. The scene sets up Jesus' compassionate healing and the lesson on gratitude and faith that follows, showing His mercy to the outcast.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lev 13:45–46A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’
- Luke 5:12While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
- 2 Kgs 7:3Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate, and they said to one another, “Why just sit here until we die?
- Luke 18:13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
- 2 Chr 26:20–21When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the LORD had afflicted him.
- 2 Kgs 5:27Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.
- Num 12:14But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.”
- Num 5:2–3“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 17:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.