The Ten Lepers

Text and Narrative

This account appears only in the Gospel of Luke 17:11-19. As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, passing between Samaria and Galilee, he met ten lepers in a certain village. Standing afar off, they cried out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us" (Luke 17:13). Jesus told them, "Go shew yourselves unto the priests" (Luke 17:14), and as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them returned, glorifying God with a loud voice, and fell down at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. He was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Where are the nine?" (Luke 17:17), and then said to him, "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole" (Luke 17:19).

Background

• Leprosy: The Greek term is lepra, and the Hebrew is tsaraath. These words are understood to have referred broadly to a range of skin diseases, not only to what is now called Hansen's disease.
• Purity laws: Under the regulations of Leviticus 13-14, a person with this disease had to cry out "Unclean, unclean" and dwell alone outside the camp (Leviticus 13:45-46). After recovery, the person had to show himself to a priest, be declared clean, and offer the prescribed offerings before returning to the community. The ten men standing at a distance and calling out, and Jesus' sending them to the priests, both reflect this background.
• Samaritans: At that time, Jews and Samaritans were so hostile to each other that they had no dealings with one another (John 4:9). Jesus called the man who returned a "stranger" (Luke 17:18). The original Greek word, allogenēs, means "a person of another race."

Significance in the Wider Biblical Context

In Luke 4:27, Jesus says that there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian (Aramean). Naaman, too, returned after his healing and confessed the God of Israel (2 Kings 5:15). For this reason, the two accounts are often read side by side.

The Gospel of Luke portrays Samaritans favorably, as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). This account is likewise read as part of the gospel's movement beyond Israel. The cleansing of lepers is also presented as a sign that the Messiah has come (Luke 7:22).

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Healing and salvation: The Greek verb sōzō, rendered "made whole" (or "saved"), means both "to heal" and "to save."
• All ten were cleansed, yet these words were spoken to only one. Many interpreters therefore take them to point to a salvation that goes beyond physical healing.
• Others, noting that the same expression is used in other healing accounts (Luke 8:48; 18:42), read it as a confirmation of the healing.
• The nine: The text states only that the nine did not return.
• Some interpreters point out that they were obeying Jesus' command to go to the priests.
• Explanations such as "the nine never learned to be thankful" or "the nine were all Jews" do not appear directly in the text; they are interpretations or later additions to the story.
• Healing today: Emphases differ among denominations. Churches in the Pentecostal tradition tend to read this account as a basis for divine healing that continues today. Those who hold that the miraculous gifts ceased with the apostolic age emphasize its function as a sign demonstrating that Jesus is the Messiah (see Cessationism and Continuationism).

In the Korean Church

The question "Where are the nine?" is frequently cited in sermons on gratitude. The passage is especially common as a sermon text for Thanksgiving Day and the Feast of Harvest (Midyear Thanksgiving). Korean translations before the New Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) rendered the disease as mundungbyeong, but the New Korean Revised Version changed the rendering to nabyeong ("leprosy").