Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 9:16
And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
16. And he asked the scribes, Whatquestion ye with them?Ere they had time to reply, the fatherof the boy, whose case had occasioned the dispute, himself stepsforward and answers the question; telling a piteous tale of deafness,and dumbness, and fits of epilepsyending with this, that thedisciples, though entreated, could not perform the cure.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he asked the Scribes,…. The Vulgate Latin renders it, “he asked them”; and the Ethiopic version, he said unto them; meaning either that he asked the disciples when he came to them, or else the people that ran to salute him; but the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions read, “the Scribes”; seeing them about his disciples, in close debate with them, and running hard upon them, he asks them,
what question ye with them? what is it ye seek and require of them? what is your dispute with them? what is your debate about? The Vulgate Latin version reads, “what question ye among you?” among themselves, and one another; and so Beza’s most ancient copy.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
What question ye with them? ( ;). Jesus had noticed the embarrassment of the nine and at once takes hold of the situation.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And He asked the scribes,”(kai eperotesen autous) “And He questioned them,” the scribes, the remainder of the day it appears.
2) “What question ye with them?” (ti suzeteite pros autous) “What question, issue, or proposition are you all debating with them?” With the disciples. It appears that they were taunting and deriding His disciples because they had not healed the young man with a dumb spirit, Mar 9:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘And he asked them, “What did you question with them?’
From Mar 9:14 we would see this as meaning that He asked the Scribes who had come with the crowd what they had been challenging His disciples about. However the fact that one of the crowd answers might suggest a question directed at the crowds with the Scribes seen as part of them, and the crowd seen as part of the questioning of the disciples through their leaders.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The boy with the dumb spirit:
v. 16. And He asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
v. 17. And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto Thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
v. 18. and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away. And I spake to Thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
v. 19. He answereth him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto Me.
v. 20. And they brought him unto Him; and when he saw Him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. As soon as Jesus came within speaking distance, He inquired about the cause of the disturbance. He asked not only the scribes, but all of them, What is all this disputing about? The scribes had begun the quarrel, and the people had probably taken sides, some with the scribes, some with the apostles. At the approach of Jesus the excitement subsided, both parties being evidently somewhat abashed by His presence. But one man out of the multitude, whose interest was a very natural and deep one, separated himself from the rest and stood forth, answering. He had brought his son, seeking the Lord in the place where the disciples were; but, Jesus being absent, he had appealed to the disciples to heal the boy, and they had not been able to do so. It was a pitiful tale which the man told. His son was lunatic, Mat 17:15, and possessed with a spirit, a demon that prevented his speaking. The boy’s organ of speech and all his members were normal, but the spirit held them in bonds. And not only that: the demon at times took hold of him and threw him into paroxysms, or cramps, in which the boy foamed at the mouth and ground his teeth, until his body could no longer stand the strain, when he swooned away in a stupor, much like the withering of a branch under a sudden scorching blast. This recital of troubles and the fruitless effort to become rid of them affected the Lord very deeply and caused Him to voice a bitter complaint. Note: His cry about the unbelief of the generation among which He was laboring, His wish to be freed from their presence, was directed to the whole nation of the Jews. They all, with very few exceptions, had heard the Word of the Gospel with ears that heard not. The number of disciples of Jesus was very small after all His efforts, and the number of believers still smaller. Even the apostles, in spite of their confession concerning Jesus the Christ, were still affected with the unbelief of the great mass of the Jews. Upon Christ’s command they now brought the boy to Him. No sooner, however, had the boy caught sight of the Lord than the spirit gave a demonstration of his hatred against Jesus and of his spite against the handiwork of God. He tore and twisted the sick boy in a ghastly manner, inflicting torments of every kind upon his body, as in extreme St. Vitus’s dance, so that he finally fell to the ground in convulsions, where he rolled about foaming. It was an awful exhibition of the power of Satan over the body of the boy, well calculated to teach his great strength and his lasting hatred against all the works of God.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
16. ] (1st), them , i.e. ‘ the multitude ,’ regarding the Scribes as a part of the . One of the multitude answers.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 9:16 . , He asked them, i.e. , the people who in numbers ran to meet Him. Jesus had noticed, as He drew near, that there was a dispute going on in which the disciples were concerned, and not knowing the composition of the crowd, He proceeds on the assumption that they had all a share in it = the crowd as a whole versus the nine.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
16.] (1st), them, i.e. the multitude, regarding the Scribes as a part of the . One of the multitude answers.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 9:16. , them) This is not reciprocal in the present instance, but is to be referred to the disciples, Mar 9:14.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
What: Mar 8:11, Luk 5:30-32
with them: or, among yourselves
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Jesus asked the scribes why they were questioning the disciples. As far as the text goes they never answered the question put to them by Jesus.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 9:16. Asked them. Probably the scribes. The opposition was thus transferred from the disciples to our Lord.
What question ye with them? About what, what is the subject of discussion?
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Perhaps Mark alone recorded Jesus’ question to stress His humanity. The result of the demons’ activity again shows their destructive purpose (cf. Mar 5:1-5). Jesus had given His disciples power to cast out demons (Mar 3:15), and they had done so successfully earlier (Mar 6:13). This boy showed the symptoms of epilepsy because of the demons’ affliction.