Matthew 8:5 - Exposition

And when Jesus (Revised Version, he ) was entered into Capernaum. (On Capernaum, see Matthew 4:1-25 . 13.) There came unto him ; i.e. by messengers, as we learn from St. Luke ( vide supra ) . A centurion, beseeching him . The centurion probably belonged to the soldiers of Antipas, in whose district Capernaum lay. They would naturally be organized after the Roman manner; of the forces of the Indian native states and our own. It should be observed, by the way, that even the imperial troops stationed in Palestine were drawn, not from distant lands, but from the non-Jewish inhabitants of the country, perhaps especially from Samaritans.