5:12 While 1 Jesus 2 was in one of the towns, 3 a man came 4 to him who was covered with 5 leprosy. 6 When 7 he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground 8 and begged him, 9 “Lord, if 10 you are willing, you can make me clean.”
1 tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Or “cities.”
4 tn Grk “towns, behold, a man covered with leprosy.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou, “behold”) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
5 tn Grk “full of leprosy” (an idiom for a severe condition).
6 sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what is called leprosy today. A leper was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46).
7 tn Grk “And seeing.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here. The participle ἰδών (idwn) has been taken temporally.
8 tn Grk “he fell on his face”; an idiom for bowing down with one’s face to the ground.
9 tn Grk “and begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
10 tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.
11 sn The term parable in a Semitic context can cover anything from a long story to a brief wisdom saying. Here it is the latter.
12 tn Grk “puts”; but since the means of attachment would normally be sewing, the translation “sews” has been used.
13 tn Grk “he tears.” The point is that the new garment will be ruined to repair an older, less valuable one.
14 sn The piece from the new will not match the old. The imagery in this saying looks at the fact that what Jesus brings is so new that it cannot simply be combined with the old. To do so would be to destroy what is new and to put together something that does not fit.