Matthew 4:23
The gospel of the kingdom
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγέλιον euangelion · gospel
Original
Translations
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
And Jesus was going in all of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people,
예수께서 온 갈릴리에 두루 다니사 저희 회당에서 가르치시며 천국 복음을 전파하시며 백성 중에 모든 병과 모든 약한 것을 고치시니
예수님께서 온 갈릴리에 두루 다니사 그들의 회당들에서 가르치시고 왕국의 복음을 선포하시며 백성 가운데서 온갖 종류의 질환과 온갖 종류의 질병을 고치시니
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Matt 4:23-25 as a whole
Wherever Christ went, he confirmed his Divine mission by miracles, which were emblems of the healing power of his doctrine, and the influences of the Spirit which accompanied it. …
Read the whole commentary →Church Fathers Matt 4:23
Pseudo-Chrysostom: Kings, when about to go to war with their enemies, first gather an army, and so go out to battle; thus the Lord when about to war against the Devil, first collected Apostles, and then began to preach the Gospel. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley Matt 4:23
The Gospel of the kingdom - The Gospel, that is, the joyous message, is the proper name of our religion: as will be amply verified in all who earnestly and perseveringly embrace it.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
Matthew gathers the whole of Jesus' work in Galilee into one sentence. Three things He did, and at their centre stands the gospel of the kingdom.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Matthew 4:23After John's arrest Jesus left Nazareth for Capernaum, and Matthew reads the move as Isaiah's word coming true: "the people living in darkness have seen a great light" (Matthew 4:16). The first proclamation follows, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 4:17), then the call of four fishermen. This verse tells how that proclamation went out through all Galilee. Almost the same sentence comes back at Matthew 9:35, and between the two lie the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7) and a long run of miracles (chapters 8–9). The teaching and the healing this verse names are set out at length between the verse and its echo, which frame them like the two covers of a book.
The noun here is , and it is the object of a present participle of , "to proclaim." That is the herald's verb: the man who walks into the square and cries out the king's decree. So the gospel in this verse is first of all news announced, not an idea put forward for discussion. The genitive that follows, "of the kingdom," says what the news is about. means kingship and rule before it means territory: the news is that God is taking up His reign. The main verb, "went throughout," is imperfect, and all three participles (teaching, preaching, healing) are present. Matthew is not describing one tour but the steady pattern of those months. He uses the noun four times (4:23; 9:35; 24:14; 26:13) and never on its own: three times it is the gospel of the kingdom, once "this gospel."
The English versions agree on the shape of the phrase. The BSB and the KJV both read "preaching the gospel of the kingdom"; the LSV, keeping close to the Greek, has "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom." "Preach" and "proclaim" render the same herald's verb, and "gospel" and "good news" the same noun. The word "gospel" is itself a translation: Old English godspel, "good tidings," was made to render the Latin evangelium, so the two English phrases say one thing in two registers. Matthew elsewhere calls this kingdom "the kingdom of heaven," as in verse 17; here he simply says "the kingdom," and the versions leave it so.
In the Catena, Remigius separates the two words Matthew sets side by side: "teaching refers to things present, preaching to things to come" Remigius. Pseudo-Chrysostom explains why the teaching comes before the cures: "it is the word of holy instruction, and not miracles, that edify the soul" Pseudo-Chrysostom. Matthew Henry reads the healings as "emblems of the healing power of his doctrine" Matthew Henry, signs pointing past the body to the soul.
In Matthew's Galilee the news did not come alone. It came with Scripture opened in the synagogues and with hands laid on the sick. Whoever hears it today hears the same news, that God reigns, and can see in this verse which way His reign moves: toward people, and toward their healing.