On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
Parallel translations
- WEB When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do.
- KJV But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
- ESV But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
- NKJV When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
- NASB But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
- NLT When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Jesus replies that the sick, not the healthy, need a physician. He came for those who recognize their need, not the self-sufficient.
Overview
Using a simple proverb, Jesus likens himself to a doctor who goes to those who are ill. Sinners aware of their spiritual sickness are the very ones he came to heal. The saying gently exposes the Pharisees' false sense of health, for all are sick and need the Great Physician.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Luke 5:31Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- Rev 3:17–18You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
- Jer 33:6Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- Mark 2:17On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Luke 9:11But the crowds found out and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and He healed those who needed healing.
- Jer 17:14Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
- Ps 147:3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Hos 14:4I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
- Jer 30:17But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Ps 6:2Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
- Luke 8:43including a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no one was able to heal her.
- Ps 41:4I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You.”
- Luke 18:11–13The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- Rom 7:9–24Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 9:12 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.