Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Luke: Chapter 7]
he was dear to him. {Was sick} (\kak•s ech•n\). Having it bad.
Common idiom. See already Mt 4:24; 8:16; Mr 2:17; Lu 5:31, etc.
Mt 8:6 notes that the slave was a paralytic. {And at the point
of death} (\•mellen teleut•in\). Imperfect active of \mell•\
(note double augment \•\) which is used either with the present
infinitive as here, the aorist (Re 3:16), or even the future
because of the future idea in \mell•\ (Ac 11:28; 24:15). He was
about to die.
7:3 {Sent unto him elders of the Jews} (\apesteilen pros auton
presbouterous t•n Ioudai•n\). Mt 8:5 says "the centurion came
unto him." For discussion of this famous case of apparent
discrepancy see discussion on Matthew. One possible solution is
that Luke tells the story as it happened with the details,
whereas Matthew simply presents a summary statement without the
details. What one does through another he does himself. {Asking
him} (\er•t•n auton\). Present active participle, masculine
singular nominative, of the verb \er•ta•\ common for asking a
question as in the old Greek (Lu 22:68). But more frequently in
the N.T. the verb has the idea of making a request as here. This
is not a Hebraism or an Aramaism, but is a common meaning of the
verb in the papyri (Deissmann, _Light from the Ancient East_, p.
168). It is to be noted here that Luke represents the centurion
himself as "asking" through the elders of the Jews (leading
citizens). In Mt 8:6 the verb is \parakal•n\ (beseeching).
{That he would come and save} (\hop•s elth•n dias•s•i\). \Hina\
is the more common final or sub-final (as here) conjunction, but
\hop•s\ still occurs. \Dias•s•i\ is effective aorist active
subjunctive, to bring safe through as in a storm (Ac 28:1,4).
Common word.
7:4 {Besought} (\parekaloun\). Imperfect active, began and kept
on beseeching. This is the same verb used by Matthew in Mt 8:5
of the centurion himself. {Earnestly} (\spoudai•s\). From
\spoud•\ haste. So eagerly, earnestly, zealously, for time was
short. {That thou shouldst do this for him} (\h•i parex•i
touto\). Second future middle singular of \parech•\. Old and
common verb, furnish on thy part. \H•i\ is relative in dative
case almost with notion of contemplated result (Robertson,
_Grammar_, p. 961).
7:5 {For} (\gar\). This clause gives the reason why the elders of
the Jews consider him "worthy" (\axios\, drawing down the scale,
\axis\, \ago\). He was hardly a proselyte, but was a Roman who
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