Exploring the Meaning of Lepros in Greek

λεπρός describes someone as “leprous,” a condition repeatedly brought into view where Jesus is approached for cleansing, where his ministry is summarized, and where a named man’s household serves as a setting for a significant meal. The word’s nine appearances cluster in the Gospels, with scenes that highlight distance, impurity, and the hope of being made clean.

Occurrences

Matthew 8:2 — “Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.””

Here λεπρός marks the man by his condition even as he draws near to Jesus. The adjective frames the request in terms of cleansing (“make me clean”), so the description “a leper” sets up the tension between a defiling condition and the possibility of restoration. His worshipful posture and conditional appeal (“if you want to”) show that his leprous state is not merely descriptive; it is the reason he seeks Jesus’ decisive action.

Matthew 10:8 — “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give.”

In this commissioning list, λεπρός appears in the plural and functions as a class of people for whom a specific kind of help is commanded: “cleanse the lepers.” The adjective groups leprous persons alongside “the sick” and those afflicted by demons, but with a distinct verb attached—cleansing—so the word contributes the idea of a condition that calls for purification, not only relief.

Matthew 11:5 — “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

λεπρός is part of a catalog of reversals that can be witnessed and reported. The leprous are not said merely to improve; they “are cleansed,” which places their change alongside restored sight, mobility, hearing, and even life. The adjective identifies a group whose defining problem is answered by a cleansing act, reinforcing that their condition is socially and religiously significant enough to be summarized with that particular outcome.

Matthew 26:6 — “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,”

Here λεπρός serves as an identifying tag attached to a named individual: “Simon the leper.” The narrative uses it like a fixed descriptor, distinguishing him from other Simons and locating the ensuing events in his house. Even without describing symptoms or a cure in this verse, the adjective carries the weight of a remembered condition, shaping how the reader imagines the host and the setting.

Mark 1:40 — “A leper came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.””

As in Matthew 8:2, λεπρός introduces a person whose approach is marked by urgency and humility: “begging,” “kneeling.” The man’s leprous identity provides the background for his plea to be made clean, and the repeated conditional (“If you want to”) highlights dependence on Jesus’ will. The adjective therefore cues the reader to expect a cleansing response rather than mere instruction or consolation.

Mark 14:3 — “While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head.”

λεπρός again labels Simon, anchoring the scene in “the house of Simon the leper.” The adjective functions in the background while the action moves to the table and the pouring of costly ointment. Even so, the descriptor colors the social space: a meal in the home of someone remembered as leprous forms the setting for extravagant honoring of Jesus, linking a place associated with uncleanness to an act of devotion.

Luke 4:27 — “There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian.””

In this historical comparison, λεπρός appears in a generalized statement: “many lepers in Israel.” The adjective highlights the breadth of need (“many”), and the contrast hinges on cleansing—“not one of them was cleansed, except…”—so the word participates in an argument about selective cleansing. The leprous here represent a population whose condition underscores the significance of a rare cleansing.

Luke 7:22 — “Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

This parallel to Matthew 11:5 places λεπρός in a report of observable realities: “the things which you have seen and heard.” The leprous, again, are characterized by what happens to them—cleansing—so the adjective identifies a kind of affliction whose resolution is publicly verifiable. The repetition across Gospels shows that “lepers are cleansed” serves as a recognizable sign within the narrative summary of Jesus’ works.

Luke 17:12 — “As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance.”

Here λεπρός modifies a group—“ten men who were lepers”—and immediately shapes their behavior: “stood at a distance.” The adjective explains why they do not rush in but instead meet him from afar, suggesting an enforced separation consistent with their condition. In this scene, the word contributes not only a label but also the spatial dynamics of exclusion and guarded approach.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, λεπρός consistently functions as an adjective attached either to unnamed individuals (“a leper,” “ten men who were lepers”) or as an identifying epithet (“Simon the leper”). The word’s sense is activated by the repeated pairing with cleansing language: those described as leprous are the ones who ask to be made clean (Matthew 8:2; Mark 1:40), are commanded to be cleansed (Matthew 10:8), are cited as being cleansed as part of public evidence (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22), or are contrasted with a historical situation in which cleansing was rare (Luke 4:27).

The adjective also helps organize social and narrative space. In Luke 17:12, the description “lepers” is immediately connected to distance, portraying a group whose condition affects how they may approach. In the commissioning and summary lists (Matthew 10:8; Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22), the leprous are grouped among other sufferers, but the action associated with them remains distinctive: cleansing. This repeated collocation gives the adjective a strong association with impurity and restoration without requiring further elaboration in each individual scene.

When used as a descriptor for Simon in Bethany (Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:3), λεπρός operates almost like a surname. It signals that the man is known by that condition (whether current or remembered within the story-world), and it sets an evocative context for what happens at his table. The narrative does not pause to explain the label; it assumes its significance, letting the epithet quietly inform the reader’s sense of the setting in which costly ointment is poured on Jesus’ head (Mark 14:3).

Imagery

The passages repeatedly connect λεπρός with two vivid motifs: approach and cleansing. A leprous man comes near while pleading to be made clean (Matthew 8:2; Mark 1:40), leprous people are held up as evidence of a transforming ministry (“the lepers are cleansed,” Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22), and leprous men stand at a distance when they meet Jesus (Luke 17:12). Even where the word functions simply to identify a household (“Simon the leper,” Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:3), it still paints the scene with the memory of uncleanness in the background of a meal and an act of honor.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).