A shorter form of “paralysis.” Many persons thus afflicted were cured by our Lord (Matt. 4:24; 8:5-13; 9:2-7; Mark 2:3-11; Luke 7:2-10; John 5:5-7) and the apostles (Acts 8:7; 9:33, 34).
Palsy
Palsy is the King James word for a body that cannot move, and it turns up whenever Jesus or his followers meet someone helpless. A centurion tells Jesus, “my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented,” and the servant is healed “in the selfsame hour.” In Acts, Peter finds Aeneas, who “had kept his bed eight years,” and says, “Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise.” Matthew also notes that people brought him those who “had the palsy; and he healed them.” The centurion’s story, Matthew 8:5-13, is a good place to begin.
5 verses
Matthew
Matthew 4:24
And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
Matthew 8:6
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Matthew 8:13
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Acts
From Easton's Bible Dictionary
Matthew George Easton, 1897
From Smith's Bible Dictionary
William Smith, 1884
(contracted from paralysis). The loss of sensation or the power of motion, or both, in any part of the body. The infirmities included under this name in the New Testament were various:--
(1.) The paralytic shock affecting the whole body, or apoplexy.
(2.) That affecting only one side.
(3.) Affecting the whole system below the neck.
(4.) Catalepsy, caused by the contraction of the muscles in the whole or a part of the body. This was very dangerous and often fatal. The part affected remains immovable and diminishes in size and dries up. A hand thus affected was called "a withered hand." (Matthew 12:10-13)
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(5.) Cramp. This was a most dreadful disease caused by the chills of the nights. The limbs remain immovably fixed in the same position as when seized as it, and the person seems like one suffering torture. It is frequently followed in a few days by death. Several paralytics were cured by Jesus. (Matthew 4:24; 8:13) etc.