Berean Standard Bible
Matthew 9:12
12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
Matthew 9:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
- New International Version (NIV)On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
- New King James Version (NKJV)When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Context of Matthew 9:12
10Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” 14Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
Read all of Matthew 9Matthew 9:12 word by word
ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας εἶπεν οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες ἰατροῦ ἀλλ᾽ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες.Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Matthew 9:12
- Psalms 6:2Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
- Psalms 41:4I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against You.”
- Psalms 147:3He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Jeremiah 17:14Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
- Jeremiah 30:17But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Jeremiah 33:6Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- Hosea 14:4I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
- Mark 2:17On 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 5:31Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
- Luke 8:43including a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no one was able to heal her.
- Luke 9:11But 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.
- Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- Romans 7:9Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
- Revelation 3:17You 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.
Commentaries on Matthew 9:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12They that be whole need not a physician - A common proverb, which none could either misunderstand or misapply. Of it the reader may make the following use: - Jesus Christ represents himself here as the sovereign Physician of souls. That all stand in need of his healing power. That men must acknowledge their spiritual maladies, and the need they have of his mercy, in order to be healed by him. 4. That it is the most inveterate and dangerous disease the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12They that be whole - Jesus, in reply, said that the whole needed not a physician. Sick persons only needed his aid. A physician would not commonly be found with those that were in health. His proper place was among the sick. So, says he, “If you Pharisees are such as you think yourselves - already pure and holy - you do not need my aid. It would be of no use to you, and you would not thank me for it. With those persons who feel that they are sinners I…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-13Verses 10-13 Some time after his call, Matthew sought to bring his old associates to hear Christ. He knew by experience what the grace of Christ could do, and would not despair concerning them. Those who are effectually brought to Christ, cannot but desire that others also may be brought to him. Those who suppose their souls to be without disease will not welcome the spiritual Physician. This was the case with the Pharisees; they despised Christ, because…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-13Jesus, as Lord and Messiah, removed the obstacles that stopped righteous Jews from interacting with people considered ceremonially unclean or sinful.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them--to the Pharisees and scribes; addressing Himself to them, though they had shrunk from addressing Him. They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick--that is, "Ye deem yourselves whole; My mission, therefore, is not to you: The physician's business is with the sick; therefore eat I with publicans and sinners." Oh, what myriads of broken hearts, of sin-sick souls, have been bound up by this…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 9:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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