Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Matthew 9:12 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Mt 9:12	Strong Concordance	But [1161] when Jesus [2424] heard [191] that, he said [2036] unto them [846], They that be [2192] whole [2480] need [5532] not [3756] a physician [2395], but [235] they that are [2192] sick [2560].
	King James	But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

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

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

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 matchless saying!

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
They 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 may be useful, and there is my proper place." Or the expression may mean, "I came on purpose to save sinners: my business is with them. There are none righteous; and as a physician is in his proper place with the "sick," so am I with guilty and miserable sinners."

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

They 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 may be useful, and there is my proper place." Or the expression may mean, "I came on purpose to save sinners: my business is with them. There are none righteous; and as a physician is in his proper place with the "sick," so am I with guilty and miserable sinners."

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
They 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: - 1. Jesus Christ represents himself here as the sovereign Physician of souls. 2. That all stand in need of his healing power. 3. 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 soul can be afflicted with to imagine itself whole, when the sting of death, which is sin, has pierced it through in every part, infusing its poison every where.

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

They 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: -

1. Jesus Christ represents himself here as the sovereign Physician of souls.

2. That all stand in need of his healing power.

3. 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 soul can be afflicted with to imagine itself whole, when the sting of death, which is sin, has pierced it through in every part, infusing its poison every where.

Top