Matthew 12:23
in Matthew 12The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David?
KJV
And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
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This verse in Matthew 12
Commentary
14 notes on this verseIs not this the son of David? - Is not this the true Messiah? Do not these miracles sufficiently prove it? See Isa 35:5.
This site's exposition
a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute
on Matthew 12:22-23
Jesus healed “a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute”. The crowd asked “Could this be the Son of David?”, taking up the title first raised at 9:27. The double affliction left no room to credit natural skill, which drives the Pharisees to the darker explanation that follows.
This site's exposition
Could this be the Son of David
Son of David was a title for the Messiah, as John Wesley and Adam Clarke explain. Clarke points to Isaiah 35:5, where the eyes of the blind are opened. Hilary of Poitiers observes that the crowd's wonder made the Pharisees more jealous; verse 24 gives their answer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And all the people were amazed, saying, Is not this the Son of David? But the Pharisees said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." And yet what great thing had been said? Nevertheless, not even this did they endure: to such a degree, as I have already remarked, are they ever stung by the good works done to their neighbors, and nothing grieves them so much as the salvation of men. And yet He had actually retired, and had given room for their passion to subside; but the evil was again rekindled, because a benefit was again conferred; and the evil spirit was not so indignant as they. For he indeed departed from the body, and gave place and fled away, uttering no sound; but these were endeavoring now to slay, now to defame Him. That is, their first aim not succeeding, they would fain hurt His good name. Such a thing is envy, than which no worse evil can exist. For the adulterer indeed enjoys some pleasure, such as it is, and in a short time accomplishes his proper sin; but the envious man punishes himself, and takes vengeance upon himself more than on the person whom he envies, and never ceases from his sin, but is continually engaged in the commission thereof. For as a sow in mire, and evil spirits in our hurt, so also doth he delight in his neighbor's ills; and if anything painful take place, then is he refreshed, and takes breath; accounting the calamities of others his own joys, and the blessings of others his own ills; and he considers not what pleasure may accrue to himself, but what pain to his neighbor. These men therefore were it not meet to stone and beat to death, like mad dogs, like destroying demons, like the very furies? For as beetles feed on dung, so do these men on the calamities of others, being a sort of common foes and enemies of our nature. […]
All the multitude were astonished at this which was done, but the jealousy of the Pharisees grew thereupon, And all the multitude were astonished and said, Is not this the Son of David?
The Medieval Church3 voices
(e Beda in Luc.) The multitude who seemed less learned, always wondered at the works of the Lord; they, on the other hand, either denied these things, or what they could not deny laboured to pervert by an ill interpretation, as though they were wrought not by a Deity, but by an unclean spirit, namely, Beelzebub, who was the God of Acharon: The Pharisees when they heard it said, This man does not cast out dæmons but by Beelzebub, the prince of the dæmons.
(ap. Raban.) Because of His mercy and His goodness to them they proclaim Him the Son of David.
Then the effect of the miracle, namely, the amazement of the crowd: and all the people were amazed. Also their confession; hence they said, i.e., confessed, Can this be the son of David? It had been promised in the prophets that Christ would be born …
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
The demon had stopped up the avenues towards faith, that is, the eyes, the hearing, and the tongue. But Jesus healed, and was called the Son of David by the multitude. For the Christ was expected to come from the seed of David. And so …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Is not this the son of David - That is, the Messiah.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:82%@v22-23
And all the people were amazed,.... At the cure; it was such an instance of divine power, and so glaring a proof, that the person who wrought it was more than a man, and must be the Messiah.
Though Christ's intention in his miracles was to prove himself the Messiah, and so to bring men to believe on him, in order to which it was requisite that they should be known, yet sometimes he charged the people to conceal them, to set us an example of humility, and to teach us not to proclaim our own goodness or usefulness, or to desire to have it proclaimed.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
This passage of Scripture contains “things hard to be understood.” The sin against the Holy Ghost in particular has never been fully explained by the most learned divines. It is not difficult to show from Scripture what the sin is not, is difficult to show clearly what it is. We must not be surprised. The Bible would not be the book of God, if it had not deep places here and there, which man have no line to fathom.
This passage of Scripture contains “things hard to be understood.” The sin against the Holy Ghost in particular has never been fully explained by the most learned divines. It is not difficult to show from Scripture what the sin is not, is difficult to show clearly what it is. We must not be surprised. The Bible would not be the book of God, if it had not deep places here and there, which man have no line to fathom. Let us rather thank God that there are lessons of wisdom to be gathered, even out of these verses, which the unlearned may easily understand. Let us gather from them in the first place, that there is nothing too blasphemous for hardened and prejudiced men to say against religion. Our Lord casts out a devil, and at once the Pharisees declare that he does it “by ˆ the prince of devils” This was an absurd charge. Our Lord shows that it was unreasonable to suppose that the devil would help to pull down his own kingdom, and “Satan cast out Satan. But there is nothing too absurd and unreasonable for men to say when they are thoroughly set against religion. The Pharisees are not the only people who have lost sight of logic, good sense and temper when they have attacked the Gospel of Christ. Strange as this charge may sound, it is one that has often been made against the servants of God. Their enemies have been obliged to confess that they are doing a work, and producing an effect on the world. The results of Christian labor stare them in the face and they cannot deny them. What then shall they. They say the very thing that the Pharisees said of our Lord, “It is the devil.” The early heretics used language of this kind about Athanasius, the Roman Catholics spread reports of this sort about Martin Luther. Such things will be said as long as the world stands. We must never be surprised to hear of dreadful charges being made against the best of men, without cause.
The words behind it
13 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐξίσταντο | existanto | were amazed | G1839 → | |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὄχλοι | ochloi | crowds | G3793 → | 175 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἔλεγον· | elegon | were saying; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| μήτι | meti | surely not ever | G3385 → | 18 times |
| οὗτός | houtos | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| υἱὸς | huios | Son | G5207 → | 377 times |
| Δαυίδ;¶ | dauid | of David? | G1138 → | 59 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐξίσταντοwere amazed
existantoG1839 →
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ὄχλοιcrowds
ochloiG3793 →175 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἔλεγον·were saying;
elegonG3004 →1325 times
μήτιsurely not ever
metiG3385 →18 times
οὗτόςthis
houtosG3778 →1381 times
ἐστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
υἱὸςSon
huiosG5207 →377 times
Δαυίδ;¶of David?
dauidG1138 →59 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 9:27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
it leads to
- Matthew 15:22
And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”
- Matthew 20:30–31
And there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
- Mark 10:46–48
Next, they came to Jericho. And as Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho with a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road.
- Matthew 11:5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
- Luke 18:38–39
So he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
- Matthew 15:22
Through
Matthew 21:9The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
it leads to
- Psalms 118:24–26
This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
- Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”
- John 12:13–15
They took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting: “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”
- Psalms 118:24–26
Where this verse is studied
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Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 40; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Rabanus Maurus, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.