Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
He rose up (anastav). Second aorist active participle of anisthmi, a common verb. B. Weiss adds here "from the teacher's seat." Either from his seat or merely leaving the synagogue. This incident of the healing of Peter's mother-in-law is given in Mark 1:29-34 and Matthew 8:14-17, which see for details.
Into the house of Simon (eiv thn oikian Simwnov). "Peter's house" (Matthew 8:14). "The house of Simon and Andrew" (Mark 1:29). Paul's reference to Peter's wife (I Corinthians 9:5) is pertinent. They lived together in Capernaum. This house came also to be the Capernaum home of Jesus.
Simon's wife's mother (penqera tou Simwnov). The word penqera for mother-in-law is old and well established in usage. Besides the parallel passages (Mark 1:30; Matthew 8:14; Luke 4:38) it occurs in the N.T. only in Luke 12:53. The corresponding word penqerov, father-in-law, occurs in John 18:13 alone in the N.T.
Was holden with a great fever (hn sunexomenh puretw megalw). Periphrastic imperfect passive, the analytical tense accenting the continuous fever, perhaps chronic and certainly severe. Luke employs this verb nine times and only three others in the N.T. (Matthew 4:24 passive with diseases here; II Corinthians 5:14 active; Philippians 1:23 passive). In Acts 28:8 the passive "with dysentery" is like the construction here and is a common one in Greek medical writers as in Greek literature generally. Luke uses the passive with "fear," Luke 8:37, the active for holding the hands over the ears (Acts 7:57) and for pressing one or holding together (Luke 8:45; Luke 19:43; Luke 22:63), the direct middle for holding oneself to preaching (Acts 18:5). It is followed here by the instrumental case. Hobart (Medical Language of Luke, p. 3) quotes Galen as dividing fevers into "great" (megaloi) and "small" (smikroi).
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Luke 4:38:
Luke 4:38
Luke 4:39
Luke 6:1
Luke 19:43
Acts 28:8
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