This verse records the reaction of the people who witnessed the miraculous healing of a paralytic man by Jesus, who before the healing declared the forgiveness of the man's sins,[1] that they glorified God, who had given such divine "power" or "authority" to men.[2][3]Dale Allison notes that a text in 4QPrNab, a document among the Dead Sea Scrolls, shows that some Jews think of one person who forgives another's sins with healing as the result.[1]
The Greek text according to Westcott and Hort has ἐφοβήθησαν ("they were afraid"; cf. Mark 5:15 for a similar reaction of fear at miraculous events), a rather solely physical effect than the word ἐθαύμασαν ("they marvelled") of the Textus Receptus,[4] which is more in agreement with words used in the parallel verses, Mark 2:12ἐξίστασθαι πάντας ("they all were amazed") and Luke 5:26ἔκστασις ἔλαβεν ἅπαντας ("they all were filled with fear").[3] Moreover, Mark 2:12 records the words the people said, "We never saw it after this fashion", whereas Luke 5:26 has "We saw strange things today".[3] The variants of words here and in the parallel verses are likely attributed to various translations of the Aramaic or Hebrew traditions.[4]
The event described here took place in Capernaum, where Jesus resided at the time (cf. Matthew 4:13).[1]
^ abExell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Matthew 9". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.