What Does Luke 17:15 Mean?
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice gave weight to God.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,THE KEY
The cure becomes visible first; then the man’s return gives God weight.
THE MEANING
Restoration becomes visible to you, and seeing it turns your attention back toward its source. The man’s loud voice gives God weight in public. The verse holds bodily healing and recognition together without making the return the price of the cure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that healing is only a private bodily change: here, the recognized cure becomes public acknowledgment of God.
THE ROOT
δοξάζων
doxazōn
GROWS FROM
δοξ-
dox-
The Greek word family carries the sense of esteem, worth, and honor; here, doxa is understood as weight.
“gave weight to God” in this verse is doxazōn. English can make “glorified” sound like a religious formula. The Greek family shows recognition being given voice: God’s weight is acknowledged out loud.
ALSO GROWS
doxa: Weight; honor, esteem, glory
δόξα
This is the noun behind the verb: the man’s words make God’s weight visible to those around him.
endoxos: Honorable, held in esteem
ἔνδοξος
This related word shows the family’s link to recognized worth, illuminating the public force of the man’s praise.
ὑπέστρεψεν
hypestrepsen
GROWS FROM
στρεφ-
streph-
Turn, bend, or change direction.
“turned back” in this verse is hypestrepsen. The root keeps the turning itself in view: its direction matters. The man’s turn back follows his seeing the cure and precedes his public recognition of God.
ALSO GROWS
epistrephō: Turn toward, return
ἐπιστρέφω
This related form makes clear that turning can be a movement back toward someone or something.
apostrephō: Turn away
ἀποστρέφω
The same turning root can point away; the verse’s “back” gives this man’s change of direction its force.
ἰάθη
iathē
GROWS FROM
ἰα- / ἰατ- (ia- / iat-)
Heal, cure.
“healed” in this verse is iathē. The word names a cure the man can see has happened; healing is already present before he turns. The verse preserves the difference between receiving restoration and recognizing it.
ALSO GROWS
iasis: Healing, cure
ἴασις
This related noun keeps the act of healing connected to the healed state the man recognizes.
iatros: Physician, healer
ἰατρός
This related word names one who heals, echoing the cure that has become visible to the man.
THE PATTERN
When restoration becomes visible, it can become embodied or spoken recognition of God.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he has redeemed from the hand of the one who presses.And immediately he looked up and followed him, giving weight to God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.And leaping up, he stood and walked, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.THE THREAD
And he said to him, Stand up and go your way; your trust has delivered you.Verse 15 names the cure with ἰάθη (iathē, “was healed”); verse 19 uses σέσωκέν (sesōken), from σῴζω (sōzō, “deliver; bring out”). The man’s return falls between the visible healing and Jesus’ fuller declaration of wholeness.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us