And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Seeing their faith, he said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
- BSB When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
- NKJV When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
- NASB And seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”
- NLT Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
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
Seeing their faith, Jesus first forgives the man's sins. He addresses the deepest human need before the physical one.
Overview
Jesus responds to the faith of the man and his friends not by healing first but by pronouncing forgiveness, revealing that sin is humanity's root problem. His authority to forgive, which belongs to God alone, is implicitly claimed. This sets up the controversy and points to Christ as the one who deals decisively with sin, which he will accomplish at the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Acts 14:9The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
- Matt 9:2And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
- Mark 2:5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
- Luke 7:48And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
- Jas 2:18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
- John 2:25And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
- Col 3:13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
- Gen 22:12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
- 2 Cor 2:10To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;
- Acts 11:23Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.
- Ps 90:7–8For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
- John 5:14Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
- Isa 38:17Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
- Ps 107:17–18Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
- Jas 5:14–15Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 5:20 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.