And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

Whom when he saw, he said: Go, shew yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, they were made clean.

And seeing them he said to them, Go, shew yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass as they were going they were cleansed.

and having seen them, he said to them, 'Having gone on, shew yourselves to the priests;' and it came to pass, in their going, they were cleansed,

Perceiving this, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the Priests." And while on their way to do this they were made clean.

And when he saw them he said, Go, and let the priests see you. And, while they were going, they were made clean.

And when he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And it happened that, as they were going, they were cleansed.

When Jesus saw them, he said, "Go and show yourselves to the priest." And, as they were on their way, they were made clean.

Show yourselves to the priests This reply was equivalent to saying, "You are clean;" for we know that the discernment of leprosy belonged to the priests, who were enjoined in the law to distinguish between the clean and the unclean, (Leviticus 14:2.) Thus Christ preserves their right entire, and appeals to them as witnesses for approving of the miracle which he had wrought; and we have accordingly said, that pious and devout sentiments concerning Christ must have been entertained by those men who were instantly led, by his bare word, to entertain the hope of a cure. On this passage the Papists absurdly build their auricular confession. The lepers, I admit, were sent by Christ to the priests; but it was not for the purpose of vomiting out their sins into their ears. On the contrary, they were sent to offer a sacrifice, as the Law had enjoined. They were not sent to cleanse themselves, as the Papists imagine that cleanness is produced by confession, but to show to the priests that they were already clean. It is an additional proof of the folly of the Papists, that they do not consider what a foul stain of infamy they throw on their confession; for, according to their reasoning, it will be quite enough if, out of the whole troop of those who have gone to the priests, a tenth part only shall return to Christ, and all the rest shall wickedly revolt. They cannot plead this passage in behalf of their confession, without giving us liberty to throw back upon them this advantage which it yields, that none return from the priests to give glory to God. But, not to dwell on these fooleries, we have ascertained the reason why the priests were mentioned. It happened that, while they were going, they were cleansed. Here was displayed the divine power of Christ and of his words, and there was also a proof of the high estimation in which God holds the obedience of faith; for the great suddenness of the cure arose from the confident hope which induced them to undertake the journey, without hesitation, at the command of Christ. But if that transitory faith--which wanted a living root, and produced nothing more than the blade--was honored by God with a remarkable effect, how much more valuable is the reward that awaits our faith, if it is sincerely and permanently fixed on God? Though the nine lepers derived no advantage to salvation from the cure of the flesh, but only obtained a temporary gift by means of a fleeting and transitory faith, yet this figure points out to us the great efficacy which will attend true faith.

Go show yourselves - See the notes at Matthew 8:4. By this command he gave them an implied assurance that they would be healed; for the "design" for which they were to go was to exhibit the "evidence" that they were restored, and to obtain permission from the priest to mingle again in society. It may also be observed that this required no small measure of "faith" on their part, for he did not "first" heal them, and then tell them to go; he told them to go without "expressly" assuring them that they would be healed, and without, "as yet," any evidence to show to the priest. So sinners defiled with the leprosy of sin, should put faith in the Lord Jesus and obey his commands, with the fullest confidence that he is able to heal them, and that he "will" do it if they follow his directions; and that in due time they shall have the fullest evidence that their peace is made with God, and that their souls shall by him be declared free from the defilement of sin.
Were cleansed - Were cured, or made whole.

Show yourselves unto the priests - According to the direction, Leviticus 13:2, etc.; Leviticus 14:2, etc. Our Lord intended that their cure should be received by faith: they depended on his goodness and power; and though they had no promise, yet they went at his command to do that which those only were required by the law to do who were already healed.
And - as they went - In this spirit of implicit faith; they were cleansed. God highly honors this kind of faith, and makes it the instrument in his hand of working many miracles. He who will not believe till he receives what he calls a reason for it, is never likely to get his soul saved. The highest, the most sovereign reason, that can be given for believing, is that God has commanded it.

And when he saw them, he said unto them,.... When upon their loud cry he looked up, and towards them, and saw what a condition they were in, his compassion moved towards them, and he ordered them to do as follows;
go show yourselves unto the priests. The Ethiopic version reads in the singular number, "to the priest", as in Matthew 8:4 whose business it was to inspect into this matter, to see whether a person was healed, or not; and if he was to, pronounce him clean, when a gift was offered according to the law, in Leviticus 14:2. So careful was Christ that the ceremonial law, which was as yet in force, might be strictly observed: though these ten lepers could not be viewed and examined by the priest together, but one after another; for so is the tradition of the Jews (a),
"two leprosies are not looked upon together, whether they be in one man, or in two men; but he views one, and either shuts him up, or declares or dismisses him, and then goes to a second:''
And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed; before they came to the priests, whilst they were in the way, they at once found themselves entirely healed of their disease; as Christ very likely gave them reason to believe they should; whereby his power was seen in it; and it was a clear case, that it was owing to him, and not the priests, that they had their cleansing. On the nature of the disease of leprosy, and of the likeness there is between that and sin, and of the agreement between the cleansing of a leper, and the cleansing of a sinner by the blood of Christ; see Gill on Luke 5:12. Here it may be observed, that as these lepers had a cure while they were in the way of their duty, going, as Christ ordered them; so generally speaking, it is in the way of means, in an attendance on ordinances, that souls receive a spiritual cure from Christ: the man at Bethesda's pool waited long, and had healing at last; it is good to watch at Wisdom's gates, and wait at the posts of her door; faith in Christ, whereby the heart is purified, comes by hearing the word of God.
(a) Misn. Negaim, c. 3. sect. 1.

show yourselves--as cleansed persons. (See on Matthew 8:4.) Thus too would the Samaritan be taught that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22).
as they went, were cleansed--In how many different ways were our Lord's cures wrought, and this different from all the rest.