^4:23Jesus⁸¹ said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’⁸² and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum,⁸³ do here in your hometown too.’ ” ^4:24And he added,⁸⁴ “I tell you the truth,⁸⁵ no prophet is acceptable⁸⁶ in his hometown. ^4:25But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,⁸⁷ when the sky⁸⁸ was shut up three and a half years, and⁸⁹ there was a great famine over all the land. ^4:26Yet⁹⁰ Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.⁹¹^4:27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha,⁹² yet⁹³ none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”⁹⁴

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Footnotes

81 Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
82 The proverb Physician, heal yourself! means that Jesus should prove his claims. It is a “Prove it to us!” mentality that Jesus says the people have.
83 The remark “What we have heard that you did at Capernaum” makes many suspect that Luke has moved this event forward in sequence to typify what Jesus’ ministry was like, since the ministry in Capernaum follows in vv. 31–44. The location of this event in the parallel of Mark 6:1–6 also suggests this transposition. For location see ; ; .
84 Grk “said,” but since this is a continuation of previous remarks, “added” is used here.
85 Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”
86 Jesus argues that he will get no respect in his own hometown. There is a wordplay here on the word acceptable (δεκτός, dektos), which also occurs in v. 19: Jesus has declared the “acceptable” year of the Lord (here translated year of the Lord’s favor), but he is not “accepted” by the people of his own hometown.
87 Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17–18.
88 Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.
89 Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see 8).
90 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.
91 Zarephath in Sidon was Gentile territory (see 1 Kgs 17:9–24). Jesus’ point was that he would be forced to minister elsewhere, and the implication is that this ministry would ultimately extend (through the work of his followers) to those outside the nation. For location see ; ; .
92 On Elisha see 2 Kgs 5:1–14.
93 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.
94 The reference to Naaman the Syrian (see 2 Kgs 5:1–24) is another example where an outsider and Gentile was blessed. The stress in the example is the missed opportunity of the people to experience God’s work, but it will still go on without them.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘ “Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”

“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then he said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. What we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also.’ ”

He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy, and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

“Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this parable: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Whatever we have heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also!” And he said, “Truly I say to you that no prophet is acceptable in his own hometown. But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months while a great famine took place over all the land. And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was made clean except Naaman the Syrian.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

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