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But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.
Matthew 9:31 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But they went out and spread abroad his fame in all that land.
  • KJV But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.
  • BSB But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout the land.
  • NASB But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that land.
  • NLT But instead, they went out and spread his fame all over the region.

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

Despite the warning, the healed men spread word of Jesus everywhere. Their zeal, though disobedient, testifies to the wonder of what he did.

Overview

Overflowing with joy, the men cannot keep silent and proclaim Jesus throughout the region. While their disobedience is noted, their irrepressible witness reflects the impact of his grace. The episode shows both the difficulty of containing the news of Christ and the importance of obeying his word.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Mark 7:36He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it.
  • Matt 9:26The report of this went out into all that land.
  • Mark 1:44–45and said to him, “See you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 9:31YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 9:31 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.