The Meaning of Matthew 8:13 Explained

Matthew 8:13

KJV: And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

YLT: And Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go, and as thou didst believe let it be to thee;' and his young man was healed in that hour.

Darby: And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, and as thou hast believed, be it to thee. And his servant was healed in that hour.

ASV: And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; as thou hast believed,'so be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed in that hour.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  Jesus  said  unto the centurion,  Go thy way;  and  as  thou hast believed,  [so] be it done  unto thee.  And  his  servant  was healed  in  the selfsame  hour. 

What does Matthew 8:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Other similar words of Jesus help us understand what He meant when He said that He would do for the centurion "as" (Gr. hos) he had believed (cf. Matthew 15:28). Jesus did not grant his request because the centurion had faith or in proportion to his faith. He did so in harmony with what the centurion expected. Jesus did for him what he expected Jesus would do for him.
"It is . . . interesting to observe that the Gentile follows the Jew in the sequence of healing events. This is in accord with Matthew"s plan of presenting Jesus first as Son of David and then as Son of Abraham." [1]
This healing marked Jesus as the Messiah who was under God"s authority.
The healing of Peter"s mother-in-law8:14-15 (cf. Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39)
Peter and his family were evidently living in Capernaum when Jesus performed this miracle ( Matthew 4:13). People considered fever a disease in Jesus" day rather than a symptom of a disease (cf. John 4:52; Acts 28:8).
"The Talmud gives this disease precisely the same name (Eshatha Tsemirta), "burning fever," and prescribes for it a magical remedy, of which the principal part is to tie a knife wholly of iron by a braid of hair to a thornbush, and to repeat on successive days Exod. iii2 , 3 , then Matthew 8:4, and finally Matthew 8:5, after which the bush is to be cut down, while a certain magical formula is pronounced. (Tractate Shabbath 37 a)" [2]
Jesus healed Peter"s mother-in-law with a touch. His touch did not defile the healer, but it healed the defiled (cf. Matthew 8:3). Matthew consistently stressed Jesus" authority in this brief pericope. He probably mentioned the fact that when Jesus healed the woman she immediately began to serve Him to illustrate the instantaneous effectiveness of Jesus power (cf. Matthew 8:26). Usually a fever leaves the body weak, but Jesus overcame that here. [3]
"Some see great significance in Matthew"s deliberate rearrangement of these miracles. Since Matthew did not follow the chronological order, it seems he intended to illustrate the plan of his Gospel. Accordingly, the first miracle shows Christ ministering to the Jews. His mighty works bore testimony to His person, but His testimony was rejected. Consequently, He turns to the Gentiles, who manifest great faith in Him. Later, He returns to the Jews, represented by the mother-in-law of the apostle to the Jews. He heals her and all who come to Him. This third picture is that of the millennium, when the King restores Israel and blesses all the nations." [4]
This miracle shows Jesus" power to heal people fully, instantaneously, and completely. It also previews His compassion since the object of His grace was a woman. The Pharisees considered lepers, Gentiles, and women as outcasts, but Jesus showed mercy to them all. By healing a leper who was a social outcast, a Gentile, and finally a woman, Jesus was extending His grace to people the Jews either excluded or ignored as unimportant. Jewish narrowness did not bind Jesus any more than disease and uncleanness contaminated Him. [5]
"He began with the unfit persons for whom there was no provision in the economy of the nation." [6]

Context Summary

Matthew 8:11-17 - The Great Physician
A feast was the Hebrew conception of heaven. The Jews thought they were secure of it, because of their descent from Abraham. Grace is not hereditary; to receive it, every man has to exercise a personal faith in Christ. Let us see to it that our religion is absolutely true, lest it land us in hopeless disappointment.
Notice that faith is the measure of divine performance-as"¦ so"¦. Our Lord can deliver from the fever-heat of passion and make the soul calm, quiet and pure. It was a wonderful thing that the patient could at once arise and minister in Peter's humble home to their great Guest, but it is even more wonderful when a helpless spirit suddenly emerges from the dominion of passion into strength and beauty.
The key to all true service is furnished in Matthew 8:17. We must take to ourselves the infirmities, sorrows and sins of those whom we would really help. This is the law of Christ, Galatians 6:1-4. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 8

1  Jesus cleanses the leper;
5  heals the centurion's servant,
14  Peter's mother in law,
16  and many others;
18  shows the cost of following him;
23  stills the storm on the sea;
28  drives the demons out of two men possessed;
31  and tells them to go into the pigs

Greek Commentary for Matthew 8:13

Was healed [ἰάθη]
Note that the stronger word of the centurion (Matthew 8:8) is used here. Where Christ tends, he heals. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 8:13

Luke 7:2 Centurion‘s servant [εκατονταρχου τινος δουλος]
Slave of a certain centurion (Latin word centurio, commander of a century or hundred). Mark 15:39, Mark 15:44 has the Latin word in Greek letters, χεντυριο — kenturiōn The centurion commanded a company which varied from fifty to a hundred. Each cohort had six centuries. Each legion had ten cohorts or bands (Acts 10:1). The centurions mentioned in the N.T. all seem to be fine men as Polybius states that the best men in the army had this position. See also Luke 23:47. The Greek has two forms of the word, both from κεντυριων — hekaton hundred, and εκατον — archō to rule, and they appear to be used interchangeably. So we have αρχω — hekatontarchos here, the form is -εκατονταρχος — archos and αρχος — hekatontarchēs the form is -εκατονταρχης — archēs in Luke 7:6. The manuscripts differ about it in almost every instance. The -αρχης — archos form is accepted by Westcott and Hort only in the nominative save the genitive singular here in Luke 7:2 and the accusative singular in Acts 22:25. See like variation between them in Matthew 8:5, Matthew 8:8 (-αρχος — archos) and Matthew 8:13 So also -αρχηι — archon (Acts 22:25) and -αρχον — archēs (Acts 22:26). [source]
Acts 3:13 His servant Jesus [τον παιδα Ιησουν]
This phrase occurs in Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 52:13 about the Messiah except the name “Jesus” which Peter adds, the first part of the quotation is from Exodus 3:6; Exodus 35:30. The lxx translated the Hebrew παις — ebhedh by παις τεου — pais the servant of Jehovah being a Messianic designation. But the phrase “servant of God” Paul terms himself Παις — doulos theou (Titus 1:1). υιος — Pais is just child (boy or girl), and it was also used of a slave (Matthew 8:6, Matthew 8:8, Matthew 8:13). But it is not here παις — huios (son) that Peter uses, but ον υμεις μεν παρεδωκατε — pais Luke quotes Peter as using it again in this Messianic sense in Acts 3:26; Acts 4:27, Acts 4:30. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 8:13 mean?

And said - Jesus to the centurion Go as you have believed be it to you was healed the servant of him in the hour that
Καὶ εἶπεν Ἰησοῦς τῷ ἑκατοντάρχῃ Ὕπαγε ὡς ἐπίστευσας γενηθήτω σοι ἰάθη παῖς [αὐτοῦ] ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐκείνῃ

εἶπεν  said 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: λέγω  
Sense: to speak, say.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Ἰησοῦς  Jesus 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰησοῦς  
Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor.
τῷ  to  the 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἑκατοντάρχῃ  centurion 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: ἑκατοντάρχης 
Sense: an officer in the Roman army.
Ὕπαγε  Go 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ὑπάγω  
Sense: to lead under, bring under.
ἐπίστευσας  you  have  believed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: πιστεύω  
Sense: to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in.
γενηθήτω  be  it 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γίνομαι  
Sense: to become, i.
σοι  to  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
ἰάθη  was  healed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἰάομαι  
Sense: to cure, heal.
παῖς  servant 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: παῖς  
Sense: a child, boy or girl.
[αὐτοῦ]  of  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ὥρᾳ  hour 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ὥρα  
Sense: a certain definite time or season fixed by natural law and returning with the revolving year.
ἐκείνῃ  that 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ἐκεῖνος  
Sense: he, she it, etc.