And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
Parallel translations
- WEB As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance.
- BSB As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. They stood at a distance
- 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 13:45–46And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
- Luke 5:12And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
- 2 Kgs 7:3And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
- Luke 18:13And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
- 2 Chr 26:20–21And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.
- 2 Kgs 5:27The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.
- Num 12:14And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.
- Num 5:2–3Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
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.