Bible Strands
Matthew 8:5
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came and pleaded with Him,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus has just commanded a healed leper to present himself to the priest, and upon arriving in Capernaum, a Roman centurion approaches Him directly to make a request. The centurion initiates the conversation while Jesus is still in the city, before the servant's condition is revealed.
The words — προσῆλθεν (prosēlthen) literally means "came up to" or "approached," indicating the centurion's deliberate movement toward Jesus. Εἰσελθόντος (Eiselthontos) is a genitive absolute that anchors the timeline to Jesus' prior entry into Capernaum.
The thread — The centurion motif recurs in Luke 7:1 when Jesus returns to Capernaum, and appears again in Matthew 27:54 and Acts 27:43 where other centurions witness divine acts or intervene in legal proceedings. Each reference tracks a Roman officer's direct encounter with God's authority.
Why it lands — The text records a foreign military officer initiating contact with Jesus without mediation, requiring the reader to observe how divine authority meets earthly power. The passage demands attention to the precise moment of approach and the unadorned fact of the petition before any theological explanation follows.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
Cross-references
- Luke 7:1 When Jesus had concluded His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.
- Matthew 27:54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
- Acts 27:43 But the centurion, wanting to spare Paul’s life, thwarted their plan. He commanded those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.
- Acts 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was called the Italian Regiment.
- Acts 27:31 But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.”
- Matthew 4:13 Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
- Mark 15:39 When the centurion standing there in front of Jesus saw how He had breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
- Acts 23:17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.”
- Matthew 9:1 Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town.
- Mark 2:1 A few days later Jesus went back to Capernaum. And when the people heard that He was home,