Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 4].
left their boat and father and followed Jesus. They had also
already become disciples of Jesus. Now there are four who follow
him steadily.
4:23 {Went about in all Galilee} (\peri•gen en hol•i t•i
Galilaiai\). Literally Jesus "was going around (imperfect) in all
Galilee." This is the first of the three tours of Galilee made by
Jesus. This time he took the four fishermen whom he had just
called to personal service. The second time he took the twelve.
On the third he sent the twelve on ahead by twos and followed
after them. He was teaching and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom in the synagogues chiefly and on the roads and in the
streets where Gentiles could hear. {Healing all manner of
diseases and all manner of sickness} (\therapeu•n p•san noson kai
p•san malakian\). The occasional sickness is called \malakian\,
the chronic or serious disease \noson\.
4:24 {The report of him went forth into all Syria} (\ap•lthen h•
ako• autou eis hol•n t•n Syrian\). Rumour (\ako•\) carries things
almost like the wireless or radio. The Gentiles all over Syria to
the north heard of what was going on in Galilee. The result was
inevitable. Jesus had a moving hospital of patients from all over
Galilee and Syria. "{Those that were sick}" (\tous kak•s
echontas\), literally "those who had it bad," cases that the
doctors could not cure. "{Holden with divers diseases and
torments}" (\poikilais nosois kai basanois sunechomenous\). "Held
together" or "compressed" is the idea of the participle. The same
word is used by Jesus in Lu 12:50 and by Paul in Php 1:23 and
of the crowd pressing on Jesus (Lu 8:45). They brought these
difficult and chronic cases (present tense of the participle
here) to Jesus. Instead of "divers" say "various" (\poikilais\)
like fever, leprosy, blindness. The adjective means literally
many colored or variegated like flowers, paintings, jaundice,
etc. Some had "torments" (\basanois\). The word originally
(oriental origin) meant a touchstone, "Lydian stone" used for
testing gold because pure gold rubbed on it left a peculiar mark.
Then it was used for examination by torture. Sickness was often
regarded as "torture." These diseases are further described "in a
descending scale of violence" (McNeile) as "demoniacs, lunatics,
and paralytics" as Moffatt puts it, "demoniacs, epileptics,
paralytics" as Weymouth has it, (\daimonizomenous kai
sel•niazomenous kai paralutikous\), people possessed by demons,
lunatics or "moon-struck" because the epileptic seizures
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