And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
- BSB Suddenly a man in the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only child.
- NKJV Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.
- NASB And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only son,
- NLT A man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child.
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
A man cries out, begging Jesus to look at his only son. A father's desperate plea brings a hopeless case to Christ.
Overview
The man's anguish for his only child evokes deep compassion and mirrors human helplessness before suffering. His appeal to Jesus shows where desperate need rightly turns. Luke's note that the boy is an only child heightens the pathos and recalls Jesus' tender mercy toward such cases.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Zech 12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
- John 4:47When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.
- Luke 8:41–42And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:
- Luke 7:12Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
- Matt 15:22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
- Gen 44:20And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.
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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 9:38 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.