Matthew 9:35
in Matthew 9Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness.
KJV
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
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This verse in Matthew 9
Commentary
17 notes on this verse(Verse 35.) And Jesus went about all the cities and towns, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all illness and every infirmity. You see that He preached the Gospel equally to both villages and cities, that is, to both large and small, so that He would not consider the power of the nobles, but the salvation of the believers. He went through the cities, having this work that the Father had commanded: and this hunger, to save the unbelievers with His teaching.
This site's exposition
Jesus went through all the towns and villages
on Matthew 9:35-36
This summary of teaching, preaching and healing repeats 4:23 almost word for word, framing the miracles of chapters 8 and 9 as one unit. The words like sheep without a shepherd draw on Numbers 27:17 and the failed shepherds of Ezekiel 34. He was moved with compassion for them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
And this very thing Matthew also shows when speaking thus: And Jesus went about their cities and villages teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness, thus implying that he wrought …
"He went about," it is said, "all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease." And so far from punishing them for their insensibility, He did not even simply rebuke them; at once both evincing His meekness, and so refuting the calumny; and at the same time minded also by the signs which followed to exhibit His proof more completely: and then to adduce also the refutation by words. He went about therefore both in cities, and in countries, and in their synagogues; instructing us to requite our calumniators, not with fresh calumnies, but with greater benefits. Since, if not for man's sake, but God's, thou doest good to thy fellow-servants; whatsoever they may do, leave not thou off doing them good, that thy reward may be greater; since he surely, who upon their calumny leaves off his doing good, signifies that for their praise' sake, not for God's sake, he applies himself to that kind of virtue. For this cause Christ, to teach us that of mere goodness He had entered on this, so far from waiting for the sick to come to Him, of Himself hastened unto them, bearing them two of the greatest blessings; one, the gospel of the kingdom; another, the perfect cure of all their diseases. And not a city did He overlook, not a village did He hasten by, but visited every place.
Understand, 'of God;' for though temporal blessings are also proclaimed, yet they are not called The Gospel. Hence the Law was not called a Gospel, because to such as kept it, it held out not heavenly, but earthly, goods. It should be known that those whom He healed outwardly in their bodies, He also healed inwardly in their souls. Others cannot do this of their own power, but can by God's grace.
Observe how equally in villages, cities, and towns, that is to great as well as small, He preaches the Gospel, not respecting the might of the noble, but the salvation of those that believe. It follows, Teaching in their synagogues; this was His meat, going about to do the will of His Father, and saving by His teaching such as yet believed not. He first preached and taught, and then proceeded to heal sicknesses, that the works might convince those who would not believe the words. Hence it follows, Healing every sickness and every disease, for to Him alone nothing is impossible.
The Medieval Church1 voice
(non occ.) He taught in their synagogues the Gospel of the Kingdom, as it follows, Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.
10 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
It has been shown that he helped those who came to him; here he tells how he went to others. He does two things: first, how he bestowed effects on some; secondly, affects (v. 36). In regard to the first he shows where he confers …
(ap. Anselm.) By disease we may understand complaints of long standing, by sickness any lesser infirmity.
"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people." As Lover of mankind He did not wait for them to come to Him, but …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages,.... He did not confine himself, and his acts of kindness and compassion, to his own city, Capernaum, but he took a circuit throughout all Galilee; and not only visited their larger and more principal cities and towns, but their villages also; doing good to the bodies and souls of men in every place, and of whatever state and condition.
Note, Christ will not tarry long where he is not welcome. In righteous judgment, he forsakes those places and persons that are weary of him, but abides with those that covet and court his stay. If the unbeliever will depart from Christ, let him depart; it is at his peril, 1 Cor. vii.
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages ... - That is, in all parts of Galilee, for his labors were, as yet, confined to that part of Palestine. Compare the notes at Mat 4:24-25.
There are four lessons in this passage which deserve close attention. Let us mark them each in succession. Let us mark in the first place, that strong faith in Christ may sometimes be found where it might least have been expected. Who would have thought that two blind men would have called our Lord the “Son of David?”They could not, of course, have seen the miracles that he did: they could only know him by common report. But the eyes of their understanding were enlightened, if their bodily eyes were dark.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people--The italicized words are of more than doubtful authority here, and were probably introduced here from Mt 4:23.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:30w-of-47
There are four lessons in this passage which deserve close attention. Let us mark them each in succession. Let us mark in the first place, that strong faith in Christ may sometimes be found where it might least have been expected. Who would have thought that two blind men would have called our Lord the “Son of David?”They could not, of course, have seen the miracles that he did: they could only know him by common report. But the eyes of their understanding were enlightened, if their bodily eyes were dark. They saw the truth which scribes and Pharisees could not see; they saw that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. They believed that he was able to heal them. An example like this shows us that we must never despair of anyone’s salvation merely because he lives in a position unfavorable to his soul. Grace is stronger than circumstances: the life of religion does not depend merely upon outward advantages. The Holy Spirit can give faith, and keep faith in active exercise, without book-learning, without money, and with scanty means of grace. Without the Holy Ghost a man may know all mysteries, and live in the full blaze of the Gospel, and yet be lost. We shall see many strange sights at the last day. Poor cottagers will be found to have believed in the Son of David, while rich men, full of university learning, will prove to have lived and died, like the Pharisees, in hardened unbelief. Many that are “last will be first, and the first last” ( Matthew Let us mark in the next place, that our Lord Jesus Christ has had great experience of disease and sickness. He “went about all the cities and villages” doing good. He was an eye-witness of all the ills that flesh is heir to; he saw ailments of every kind, sort and description; he was brought in contact with every form of bodily suffering. None were too loathsome for him to attend to: none were too frightful for him to cure.
Jesus went about all the cities and villages - Of Galilee. See on Mat 4:23, Mat 4:24 (note). A real minister of Jesus Christ, after his example, is neither detained in one place by a comfortable provision made by some, nor discouraged from pursuing his work by the calumny and persecution of others. It is proper to remark, that, wherever Christ comes, the proofs of his presence evidently appear: he works none but salutary and beneficial miracles, because his ministry is a ministry of salvation. Among the people - Εν τω λαω. This clause is omitted by about fifty MSS., several of them of the first antiquity and authority; by the Complutensian, and by Bengel; by both the Syriac, both the Arabic, both the Persic; the Ethiopic, Gothic, Saxon, and all the Itala, except four. Griesbach has left it out of the text.
The words behind it
28 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 |
| περιῆγεν | periegen | was going throughout | G4013 → | 6 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἰησοῦς | iesous | Jesus | G2424 → | 908 times |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πόλεις | poleis | cities | G4172 → | 163 times |
| πάσας | pasas | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κώμας | komas | villages | G2968 → | 27 times |
| διδάσκων | didaskon | teaching | G1321 → | 96 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| ταῖς | tais | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| συναγωγαῖς | sunagogais | synagogues | G4864 → | 56 times |
| αὐτῶν | auton | of them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| κηρύσσων | kerusson | proclaiming | G2784 → | 59 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| εὐαγγέλιον | euangelion | gospel | G2098 → | 73 times |
| τῆς | tes | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| βασιλείας | basileias | kingdom | G932 → | 162 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| θεραπεύων | therapeuon | healing | G2323 → | 43 times |
| πᾶσαν | pasan | every | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| νόσον | noson | disease | G3554 → | 10 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πᾶσαν | pasan | every | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| μαλακίαν | malakian | sickness | G3119 → | 3 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
περιῆγενwas going throughout
periegenG4013 →6 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἸησοῦςJesus
iesousG2424 →908 times
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
πόλειςcities
poleisG4172 →163 times
πάσαςall
pasasG3956 →1235 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
κώμαςvillages
komasG2968 →27 times
διδάσκωνteaching
didaskonG1321 →96 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
ταῖςthe
taisG3588 →19766 times
συναγωγαῖςsynagogues
sunagogaisG4864 →56 times
αὐτῶνof them
autonG846 →5565 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
κηρύσσωνproclaiming
kerussonG2784 →59 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
εὐαγγέλιονgospel
euangelionG2098 →73 times
τῆςof the
tesG3588 →19766 times
βασιλείαςkingdom
basileiasG932 →162 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
θεραπεύωνhealing
therapeuonG2323 →43 times
πᾶσανevery
pasanG3956 →1235 times
νόσονdisease
nosonG3554 →10 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πᾶσανevery
pasanG3956 →1235 times
μαλακίανsickness
malakianG3119 →3 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 11:5The 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.
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:1–3
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 35:4–6
Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
- Isaiah 42:6–7
“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a…
- Isaiah 29:18
On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
- Isaiah 61:1–3
Through
Acts 10:38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.
it leads to
- Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 2:22
Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know.
- Isaiah 11:2
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
- John 3:34
For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
- Luke 4:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
About Matthew

This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 3; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 32; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Remigius of Rheims, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.
