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Selected Verse: Matthew 8:3 - New American Standard Bible©

Verse	Translation	Text
Mt 8:3	New American Standard Bible©	Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
	King James	And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
And Jesus--or "He," according to another reading,--"moved with compassion," says Mark (Mar 1:41); a precious addition. put forth his hand, and touched him--Such a touch occasioned ceremonial defilement (Lev 5:3); even as the leper's coming near enough for contact was against the Levitical regulations (Lev 13:46). But as the man's faith told him there would be no case for such regulations if the cure he hoped to experience should be accomplished, so He who had healing in His wings transcended all such statutes. saying, I will; be thou clean--How majestic those two words! By not assuring the man of His power to heal him, He delightfully sets His seal to the man's previous confession of that power; and by assuring him of the one thing of which he had any doubt, and for which he waited--His will to do it--He makes a claim as divine as the cure which immediately followed it. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed--Mark, more emphatic, says (Mar 1:42), "And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed"--as perfectly as instantaneously. What a contrast this to modern pretended cures!

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

And Jesus--or "He," according to another reading,--"moved with compassion," says Mark (Mar 1:41); a precious addition.

put forth his hand, and touched him--Such a touch occasioned ceremonial defilement (Lev 5:3); even as the leper's coming near enough for contact was against the Levitical regulations (Lev 13:46). But as the man's faith told him there would be no case for such regulations if the cure he hoped to experience should be accomplished, so He who had healing in His wings transcended all such statutes.

saying, I will; be thou clean--How majestic those two words! By not assuring the man of His power to heal him, He delightfully sets His seal to the man's previous confession of that power; and by assuring him of the one thing of which he had any doubt, and for which he waited--His will to do it--He makes a claim as divine as the cure which immediately followed it.

And immediately his leprosy was cleansed--Mark, more emphatic, says (Mar 1:42), "And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed"--as perfectly as instantaneously. What a contrast this to modern pretended cures!

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
And Jesus ...touched him - It was an offence to the Jews to "touch" a leprous person, and was regarded as making him who did it ceremonially impure, Lev 13:3. The act of putting forth his hand and "touching" him, therefore, expressed the intention of Jesus to cure him, and was a pledge that he "was," in fact, already cured.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

And Jesus ...touched him - It was an offence to the Jews to "touch" a leprous person, and was regarded as making him who did it ceremonially impure, Lev 13:3. The act of putting forth his hand and "touching" him, therefore, expressed the intention of Jesus to cure him, and was a pledge that he "was," in fact, already cured.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Jesus put forth his hand - I will; be thou clean - The most sovereign authority is assumed in this speech of our blessed Lord - I Will: there is here no supplication of any power superior to his own; and the event proved to the fullest conviction, and by the clearest demonstration, that his authority was absolute, and his power unlimited. Be thou cleansed, καθαρισθητι; a single word is enough. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed - What an astonishing sight! A man whose whole body was covered over with the most loathsome disease, cleansed from it in a moment of time! Was it possible for any soul to resist the evidence of this fact? This action of Christ is a representation of that invisible hand which makes itself felt by the most insensible heart; of that internal word which makes itself heard by the most deaf; and of that supreme will which works every thing according to its own counsel.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Jesus put forth his hand - I will; be thou clean - The most sovereign authority is assumed in this speech of our blessed Lord - I Will: there is here no supplication of any power superior to his own; and the event proved to the fullest conviction, and by the clearest demonstration, that his authority was absolute, and his power unlimited. Be thou cleansed, καθαρισθητι; a single word is enough.

And immediately his leprosy was cleansed - What an astonishing sight! A man whose whole body was covered over with the most loathsome disease, cleansed from it in a moment of time! Was it possible for any soul to resist the evidence of this fact? This action of Christ is a representation of that invisible hand which makes itself felt by the most insensible heart; of that internal word which makes itself heard by the most deaf; and of that supreme will which works every thing according to its own counsel.

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