Luke 18:41

“What do you want me to do?” He said, “Lord, that I may see again.”

World English Bible

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Other translations

WEBBE

“What do you want me to do?” He said, “Lord, that I may see again.”

BSB

“What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “let me see again.”

KJV

Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

ASV

What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

BBE

What would you have me do for you? And he said, Lord, that I may be able to see again.

Original Greek

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λέγων legōn saying G3004 τί ti What G5101 σοι soi to you G4771 θέλεις theleis desire you G2309 ποιήσω; poiēsō I may do G4160 ὁ ho (the) G3588 δὲ de And G1161 εἶπεν eipen he said G2036 κύριε kurie Lord G2962 ἵνα ina that G2443 ἀναβλέψω anablepsō I may receive sight G308

The early church

Or, He asked the blind man to the end that we might believe, that without confession no man can be saved.

Ambrose of Milan · d. 397Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Now for this reason He asks what the blind man wished, that He might stir up his heart to prayer, for He wishes that to be sought in prayer, which He knows beforehand both that we seek and He grants. (ubi sup.) The blind man seeks from the Lord not gold, but light. Let us then seek not for false riches, but for that light which together with the Angels alone we may see, the way whereunto is faith.

Gregory the Dialogist · d. 604Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

The voice of one invoking in faith stops Christ, for He looks back upon them who call upon Him in faith. And accordingly He calls the blind man to Him, and bids him draw nigh, that he in truth who had first laid hold on Him in faith, might approach Him also in the body. The Lord asks this blind man as he drew near, What will thou that I shall do? He asks the question purposely, not as ignorant, but that those who stood by might know that he sought not money, but divine power from God. And thus it follows, But he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

Cyril of Alexandria · d. 444Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

And to show that our Lord did not even walk without doing good, He performed a miracle on the way, giving His disciples this example, that we should be profitable in all things, and that nothing in us should be in vain.

Theophylact of Ohrid · d. 1107Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 35–43

This poor blind man sat by the wayside, begging. He was not only blind, but poor, the fitter emblem of the world of mankind which Christ came to heal and save. The prayer of faith, guided by Christ's encouraging promises, and grounded on them, shall not be in vain. The grace of Christ ought to be thankfully acknowledged, to the glory of God. It is for the glory of God if we follow Jesus, as those will do whose eyes are opened. We must praise God for his mercies to others, as well as for mercies to ourselves. Would we rightly understand these things, we must come to Christ, like the blind man, earnestly beseeching him to open our eyes, and to show us clearly the excellence of his precepts, and the value of his salvation.

Read Matthew Henry on Luke 18 →

Parallel passages

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Matthew 20:32–33 Mark 10:49–51

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Jesus

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.