Bible Strands
Matthew 9:12
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the Pharisees immediately after they question why He dines with tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:11).
The words — ἀκούσας (akousas) translates as "having heard," and χρείαν (chreian) means "need," structuring His reply as a direct answer to their accusation.
The thread — Luke 5:31 records the identical proverb, Revelation 3:17 contrasts it with self-deceived claims of needing nothing, and Jeremiah 33:6 points to God as the ultimate source of healing.
Why it lands — The text states that spiritual sickness, not health, requires medical attention, demanding that readers acknowledge their own need rather than claim self-sufficiency.
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
But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Cross-references
- Luke 5:31 Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- Revelation 3:17 You 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.
- Jeremiah 33:6 Nevertheless, 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 2:17 On 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 9:11 But 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.
- Psalms 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
- Hosea 14:4 I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
- Jeremiah 30:17 But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Psalms 6:2 Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.