Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 9:8

"But when the multitudes saw it, they were afraid, and glorified God, who had given such authority unto men." — Matthew 9:8 (ASV)

They marvelled — The better reading, adopted by most editors, gives they were afraid. This agrees better with St. Mark’s “they were amazed, and glorified God,” and St. Luke’s “they were filled with fear.” St. Mark gives the words they uttered, “We never saw it like this before;” St. Luke, “We saw strange things today.”

Which had given such power to men — It was natural that this should be the impression made on the great body of the hearers. They rested in the thought of a delegated authority, a “power given to men,” as such, without passing on to the deeper truth of the union of the manhood with God.