Mat 8:16-17 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 16. When the even was come , etc. The fame of the miracles of Jesus would probably draw together a crowd, and those who had friends that were afflicted would bring them. All that were brought to him he healed. This was proof of two things: first, his great benevolence; and, secondly, of his Divine mission. He might have established the latter by miracles that would do no good. None of his miracles were performed, however, merely to make a display of power, unless the cursing of the barren fig-tree be an exception comp. . This was on the evening of the sabbath, . The Jews kept the sabbath from evening to evening, . On the sabbath they would not even bring their sick to be healed, ( ) but as soon as it was closed, on the evening of the same day, they came in multitudes to be cured. Possessed with devils . . With his word. By his command; by a word. (d) "brought unto him many"

Matthew 8:16-17

Verse 16. When the even was come, etc. The fame of the miracles of Jesus would probably draw together a crowd, and those who had friends that were afflicted would bring them. All that were brought to him he healed. This was proof of two things: first, his great benevolence; and, secondly, of his Divine mission. He might have established the latter by miracles that would do no good. None of his miracles were performed, however, merely to make a display of power, unless the cursing of the barren fig-tree be an exception comp. Mk 11:11-14. This was on the evening of the sabbath, Mk 1:21-32. The Jews kept the sabbath from evening to evening, Lev 23:32. On the sabbath they would not even bring their sick to be healed, (Lk 13:14) but as soon as it was closed, on the evening of the same day, they came in multitudes to be cured.

Possessed with devils. Mt 4:24.

With his word. By his command; by a word.

(d) "brought unto him many" Mk 1:32 Verse 17. That it might be fulfilled, etc. This passage is found in Is 53:4. Our English translation of that important passage is, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." The Greek in Matthew is an exact translation of the Hebrew, and the same translation should have been made in both places. In the fifty-third chapter, Isaiah fully states the doctrine of atonement, or that the Messiah was to suffer for sin. In the verse quoted here, however, he states the very truth which Matthew declares. The word translated griefs, in Isaiah, and infirmities, in Matthew, means properly, in the Hebrew and Greek, diseases of the body. In neither does it refer to the disease of the mind, or to sin. To bear those griefs, is clearly to bear them away, or to remove them. This was done by his miraculous power in healing the sick. The word rendered "sorrows," in Isaiah, and" sicknesses," in Matthew, means pains, griefs, or anguish of mind. To carry, then; is to sympathize with the sufferers; to make provision for alleviating those sorrows; and to take them away. This he did by his precepts, his example; and the cause of all sorrows--sin--he removed by his atonement. The passage in Isaiah and Matthew, therefore, mean precisely the same thing. See Magee on Atonement, and Isa 53:1 and following.

(e) "Esaias the prophet" Isa 53:4, 1Pet 2:24