Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 17:17
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
17. O faithless and perverse generation ] addressed to the scribes and the multitude thronging round, as representing the whole nation. The disciples, if not specially addressed, are by no means excluded from the rebuke.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation! – Perverse means that which is twisted or turned from the proper direction; and is often used of the eyes, when one or both are turned from their natural position. Applied to a generation or race of people, it means that they hold opinions turned or perverted from the truth, and that they were wicked in their conduct. Jesus applied this, probably, to the Jews, and not to his real disciples.
How long shall I suffer you? – That is, how long shall I bear with you? How long is it necessary to show such patience and forbearance with your unbelief and perversity? This was not so much an expression of impatience or complaint as a reproof for their being so slow to believe that he was the Messiah, notwithstanding his miracles.
Mark adds Mar 9:20-22 that when he that was possessed was brought, the spirit, by a last desperate struggle, threw him down and tore him, and left him apparently dead. He adds further, that the case had existed during the whole life of his son, from a child. This was a case of uncommon obstinacy. The affliction was fixed and lasting. The disciples, seeing the obstinacy of the case – seeing that he was a deaf-mute, wasted away, torn, and foaming – despaired of being able to cure him. They lacked the faith which was necessary; doubted whether they could cure him, and therefore could not.
The father of the child said Mar 9:22, If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us; an expression implying a weak faith, a lingering doubt whether he could restore him. Jesus replied to this, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth Mar 9:23; implying that the difficulty in the case was not that he could not heal him, but that he had not the proper kind and degree of faith with which to come to him. That is, this cure shall be effected if you have faith. Not that his faith would give Jesus the power to heal him, but it would render it proper that he should exert that power in his favor. In this way, and in this only, are all things possible to believers.
The man had faith, Mar 9:24. The father came, as a father should do, weeping, and praying that his faith might be increased, so as to make it proper that Jesus should interpose in his behalf, and save his child.
Help my unbelief, Mar 9:24. This was an expression of humility. If my faith is defective, supply what is lacking. Help me to overcome my unbelief. Let not the defect of my faith be in the way of this blessing.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. O faithless and perverse generation!] These and the following words may be considered as spoken:
1. To the disciples, because of their unbelief, Mt 17:20.
2. To the father of the possessed, who should have brought his son to Christ.
3. To the whole multitude, who were slow of heart to believe in him as the Messiah, notwithstanding the miracles which he wrought.
See KYPKE.
Perverse, , signifies –
1. Such as are influenced by perverse opinions, which hinder them from receiving the truth: and,
2. Such as are profligate in their manners. KYPKE.
This last expression could not have been addressed to the disciples, who were certainly saved from the corruption of the world, and whose minds had been lately divinely illuminated by what passed at and after the transfiguration: but at all times the expression was applicable to the Jewish people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark relates this part of the history much more largely, Mar 9:19-27, 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. 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. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And oft times it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. Luke relates this shorter, but addeth nothing to what is in the other evangelists, Luk 9:41,42. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation. Christ here calls them so not with respect to justifying faith, but that faith which respected the Divine power as to working miracles. Every revelation of the Divine will is the object of faith; Christ had revealed to the Jews that he was sent of God, and furnished with such a power; this the Jews, and particularly the scribes, did not believe. The faith of the father of this child was but very weak in the case; no more, as we shall see afterwards, was the faith of the disciples; so as he may be understood to respect them all, though in different degrees. He calls them perverse, because they had so often seen and experienced his power of this nature, yet their faith was not clear and strong. He biddeth that the young man should be brought to him, and it was done. And when he saw him, ( saith Mark), straightway the spirit tare him, & c. Our Saviour could easily have prevented this, but probably he suffered it that the miracle might be more evident. However, it letteth us see how hardly the devil parteth with his possession in us in any degree, and how ready he is to run to the length of his line in doing us mischief. Christ asked his father how long he had been so vexed; his father tells him, from a child. By this also the miracle was more illustrious, which probably was the reason why Christ propounded the question. No evils are too inveterate for Christ to remove. The father renewth his request, and in it showeth the weakness of his faith: If (saith he) thou canst do any thing. His coming to Christ, and crying to him, argued that he believed he could do something; his saying if thou canst do any thing speaks the weakness of his faith. Christ tells him, if he could believe, all things are possible. Nothing ties Gods hands but his creatures unbelief. It is said, that Christ could not in Capernaum do many mighty works because of their unbelief. Upon this the father cries out,
Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Men may truly believe, and yet have a mixture of unbelief. God rewards a weak faith, to souls labouring under the sense of their weakness, and desiring an increase of strength. Christ rebukes the spirit (called a dumb and deaf spirit, because it made the person such that was thus affected with it). Christ commands the spirit out, and so to come out as never more to enter into him. The evil spirit roars, rends him, comes out, and leaveth him as one dead: which still confirmeth us in his malice to mankind; he will do what harm he can when he cannot do us the harm he would.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then Jesus answered and said,…. Not to the disciples, but to the father of the child; see Mr 9:19 and those that were with him, and the Scribes that were present, disputing with the disciples, upbraiding them with their weakness, and triumphing over them: “O faithless and perverse generation”; a way of speaking, which is never used of the disciples, and indeed could not be properly said of them; for though they often appeared to be men of little faith, yet not faithless; nor were they so rebellious, stubborn, and perverse, as here represented, though there was a great deal of perverseness in them: but the characters better suit the body of the Jewish nation, who, on account of the incredulity of this man, and those that were present, being of the same temper with them, are exclaimed against in words, which were long ago spoken of their ancestors, De 32:5 and from whence they seem to be taken.
How long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Upbraiding them with the length of time he had been with them, in which so many wonderful works had been done among them, and yet they remained unbelieving and incorrigible; and intimating, that his patience and longsuffering would not always continue; and that in a short time, he should be gone from them, and they should no longer enjoy the benefit of his ministry and miracles, but wrath should come upon them to the uttermost: but however, whilst he was with them, notwithstanding all their unbelief and obstinacy, he should go on to do good; and therefore says,
bring him hither to me, meaning the lunatic child. These words also are directed, not unto the disciples, but to the father of the child; for so it is said in Lu 9:41 “bring thy son hither”; and so the Syriac renders it here , “bring thou him”; though, as expressed in the plural number, may very well be thought to intend him, and his friends.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Perverse (). Distorted, twisted in two, corrupt. Perfect passive participle of .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Perverse [] . Wyc., wayward. Tynd., crooked; dia, throughout; strefw, to twist. Warped.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
Mat 17:17
. O unbelieving and rebellious nation. Though Christ appears to direct his discourse to the father of the lunatic, yet there can be no doubt that he refers to the scribes, as I have lately explained; for it is certain that the reproof is directed, not against ignorant and weak persons, but against those who, through inveterate malice, obstinately resist God. This is the reason why Christ declares that they are no longer worthy to be endured, and threatens that ere long he will separate from them. But nothing worse could happen to them than that Christ should leave them, and it was no light reproach that they rejected so disdainfully the grace of their visitation. We must also observe here, that we ought to treat men in various ways, each according to his natural disposition. For, while our Lord attracts to him the teachable by the utmost mildness, supports the weak, and gently arouses even the sluggish, he does not spare those crooked serpents, on whom he perceives that no remedies can effect a cure.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) O faithless and perverse generation.The words were obviously addressed both to the scribes and the disciples. Both had shown their want of the faith which utters itself in prayer to the Father; both were alike perverse, in finding in the misery brought before them only an occasion of wrangling and debate. This was not the way to obtain the power to heal, and the formulae of exorcism were but as an idle charm, without the faith of which they were meant to be the expression.
How long shall I suffer you?The words are significant as suggesting the thought that our Lords whole life was one long tolerance of the waywardness and perversity of men.
Bring him hither to me.St. Mark, whose record is here by far the fullest, relates that at this moment the spirit tare him, and that he wallowed foaming, in the paroxysm of a fresh convulsion; that our Lord then asked, How long is it ago since this came unto him? and was told that he had suffered from his childhood; that the father appealed, half-despairing, to our Lords pity, If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us; and was told that it depended on his own faith, If thou canst believe; all things are possible to him that believeth; and then burst out into the cry of a faith struggling with his despair, Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief; and that that faith, weak as it was, was accepted as sufficient.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Faithless and perverse generation The scribes, who stood by cavilling at the failure; the people, who had brought the devil into such power over themselves and children by their sins; and the disciples, whose weak faith subjected the cause of God to ridicule, are all a part of this faithless and perverse generation, and all have a share in this rebuke of our Lord. He had just come from the celestial transfiguration on the mount; and how terrible was the transition to the company of devils, demoniacs, depraved unbelievers and weak disciples. Suffer you Moses, in Num 22:10, complained, and he was therein sinful; for no sinner may thus rebuke his fellow. But with Christ the pure, not merely the gain sayings of the wicked, but the short comings of humanity, were a true source of profound suffering.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to me.” ’
Nevertheless Jesus was concerned about their failure, because of what it revealed about them. It meant that they were still only marginally better in themselves than others in their generation. They were lacking in what He desired to see in them. For He saw the whole generation of that time as lacking in faith, as unreliable, and as constantly disobedient and wayward (compare Mat 12:39), and the disciples as being only a little better. They too were lacking in full faith and were perverse (constantly turning from the right path). Note how the two go together. The root cause of unbelief is the disobedient heart. For the ideas compare Deu 32:5. And because of this their failure was such that it caused Jesus great distress. He had hoped for so much more from them. In His view they should not have failed. Their faith should have been true. But it appeared that as soon as He left them to themselves they began to fail again.
‘How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?’ This brings out something of the trial that it was for Jesus to walk on earth in the midst of unbelief and failure which was so foreign to His own being. Had we been among them we would have been amazed at the greatness of their faith. But to Jesus it was very different. Their very attitude tore at His heart. Why was it that they were unable to understand and believe? He found it very hard to bear when He knew how faithful their Father was, and how He loved them.
‘Generation.’ The one generation that had less excuse than any other, for it was the generation that had had Jesus among them, and had proved itself for what it was (compare Mat 12:41-42).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The rebuke and the cure:
v. 17. Then Jesus answered and said, 0 faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to Me.
v. 18. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. A cry of the utmost weariness, almost of impatience. It includes all those present: the disciples, because of their lack of understanding and the smallness of their faith; all the people, because they were slow of heart to believe Him to be the Messiah. Faithless they are, having either too small a faith or no faith at all; and perverted, corrupt, turned the wrong way, unwilling to heed and to follow the way He was pointing out to them, the way of salvation and sanctification. They were permitting themselves to be led astray. He was weary of it all. He longed to be delivered of the dullness, the stupidity, the perverseness of this generation. But He was not unkind or ungracious. His words were a rebuke, not the peevish exclamation of a disappointed man. He had the boy brought to Him, He saw the evidence of the demon’s power, He made use of His divine power in earnestly rebuking the demon, and the result was a complete cure from that very hour. The devil may sometimes, by God’s permission, torture the body by some sickness, incurable before men, but the souls of them that put their trust in Jesus are in His hands, safe against all the Evil One’s attempts to possess them.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 17:17 . O unbelieving and perverse generation! Comp. Phi 2:15 . By this Jesus does not mean the scribes (Calvin), but is aiming at His disciples, who are expected to apply the exclamation to themselves , in consequence of their not being able to cure the lad of his disease. In no sparing fashion, but filled with painful emotion, He ranks them, owing to their want of an energetic faith, in the category of the unbelieving generation, and hence it is that He addresses it . Bengel fitly observes: “severo elencho discipuli accensentur turbae.” That the disciples are intended (Fritzsche, Baumgarten-Crusius, Steinmeyer, Volkmar), is likewise evident from Mat 17:20 . They wanted the requisite amount of confidence in the miraculous powers conferred upon them by Christ. The strong terms . . (Deu 32:5 ; Phi 2:5 ; Phi 2:15 ), are to be explained from the deep emotion of Jesus. Nor can the people be meant, who are not concerned at all, any more than the father of the sufferer, who, in fact, invoked the help of Jesus because he had faith in Him. The words are consequently to be referred neither to all who were present (Paulus, Kuinoel, Olshausen, Krabbe, Bleek, Ewald), nor to the father (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, Grotius), nor to him and the people (Keim), in which latter case many go the length of holding that the disciples are exculpated, and the blame of the failure imputed to the father himself ( , , Theophylact). In opposition to the context (Mat 17:16 ; Mat 17:20 ). Neander and de Wette explain the words in the sense of Joh 4:48 , as though Jesus were reflecting upon those who as yet have not known what it is to come to Him under a sense of their deepest wants, and so on.
. . .] a passing touch of impatience in the excitement of the moment: How long is the time going to last during which I must be amongst you and bear with your weakness of faith, want of receptivity, and so on?
] like what precedes, is addressed to the disciples; it was to them that the lunatic had been brought, Mat 17:16 . This in answer to Fritzsche, who thinks that Jesus “generatim loquens” refers to the father .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
Ver. 17. O faithless and perverse generation ] He reproves the nine disciples, but rejects them not. Christ in the very dunghill of unbelief and sinfulness can find out his own part of faith and holiness, as we see in Sarah, Gen 18:12 . That whole speech of hers was vile and profane (besides that for want of faith she laughed at the unlikelihood, and was therefore checked by the angel). One thing only was praise worthy in that sinful sentence, that she called her husband Lord: this God hath taken notice of, and recorded to her eternal commendation and others’ imitation, 1Pe 3:6 .
And perverse generation ] Depraved, distorted, dislocated, . Homo est inversus decalogus. Man now stands across to all goodness, is born with his back towards heaven, a perverse and crooked creature, Deu 32:5 , having his upper lip standing where his nether lip should, Pro 19:1 , and all parts else out of frame and joint. Rom 3:10-18
How long shall I suffer you? As they do, that willingly bear a burden and are content to continue under it. Christ bears with our evil manners, Act 13:18 , as a loving husband bears with a froward wife a but yet he is sufficiently sensible, and therefore complains of the pressure, Amo 2:13 , and once cried out under the importable weight of it, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The earth could not bear Korah and his company, but clave under and swallowed them up: as it soon after spewed out the Canaanites, who had filled it with filthiness from corner to corner,Ezr 9:11Ezr 9:11 . Consider, how often thou hast straggled over the mouth of the bottomless pit, and art not yet fallen into the boiling caldron, that fiery furnace. Oh stand and wonder at God’s patience, and be abrupt in thy repentance, lest abused mercy turn into fury.
a Ut qui volentes onus subeunt, et sub eo perdurant. Beza. .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] Bengel remarks, “severo elencho discipuli accensentur turb.” Compare the , Mat 17:20 , which however does not make this so certain, linked as it is to , as in the rec [145] . text: see digest. = Luke.
[145] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 17:17 . : exclamation of impatience and disappointment, as if of one weary in well-doing, or averse to such work just then. Who are referred to we can only conjecture, and the guesses are various. Probably more or less all present: parent, disciples, scribes (Mar 9:14 ). Jesus was far away in spirit from all, lonely, worn out, and longing for the end, as the question following ( , etc.) shows. It is the utterance of a fine-strung nature, weary of the dulness, stupidity, spiritual insusceptibility ( ), not to speak of the moral perversity ( ) all around Him. But we must be careful not to read into it peevishness or ungraciousness. Jesus had not really grown tired of doing good, or lost patience with the bruised reed and smoking taper. The tone of His voice, gently reproachful, would show that. Perhaps the complaint was spoken in an undertone, just audible to those near, and then, aloud: : bring him to me, said to the crowd generally, therefore plural.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
faithless = unbelieving.
perverse = perverted.
generation. See note on Mat 11:16.
how long . . . ? = until when . . . ? Figures of speech Erotesis and Ecphonesis. App-6.
suffer = put up with.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17.] Bengel remarks, severo elencho discipuli accensentur turb. Compare the , Mat 17:20, which however does not make this so certain, linked as it is to , as in the rec[145]. text: see digest. = Luke.
[145] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 17:17. , …,, faithless, etc.) By a severe rebuke the disciples are reckoned as a part of the multitude.- , how long) After Jesus had received an accession of strength on the Mount, a more grievous instance of human unbelief and misery demanded and obtained His succour; cf. Exo 32:19.[791]-, …, shall I be, etc.) He was in haste to return to the Father; yet He knew that He could not effect His departure until He had conducted His disciples to a state of faith. Their slowness was painful to Him; see Joh 14:9; Joh 16:31.- , with you) Jesus was not of this world.-, shall I suffer) An instance of Metonymia Consequentis.[792] The life of Jesus was a continued act of toleration.
[791] The transfiguration may have probably been the most delightful, and the case of the lunatic the most painful, of the events which befell Jesus whilst sojourning on the earth.-V. g.
[792] See explanation of technical terms in Appendix.-(I. B.)
Here, the substitution of the consequent for the antecedent. Jesus puts His toleration of them (the consequent) instead of His sojourning with them (the antecedent of the former).-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
O faithless: Mat 6:30, Mat 8:26, Mat 13:58, Mat 16:8, Mar 9:19, Mar 16:14, Luk 9:41, Luk 24:25, Joh 20:27, Heb 3:16-19
how long shall I be: Exo 10:3, Exo 16:28, Num 14:11, Num 14:27, Psa 95:10, Pro 1:22, Pro 6:9, Jer 4:14, Act 13:18
Reciprocal: Num 20:12 – Because ye believed Deu 32:5 – a perverse Deu 32:20 – children Jos 7:7 – to deliver Psa 62:3 – How Psa 82:2 – How Isa 49:4 – I have laboured Mat 12:41 – this Mat 17:20 – Because Mat 17:26 – General Luk 12:28 – O ye Act 2:40 – untoward Act 9:39 – while Phi 2:15 – a crooked 2Th 3:2 – for Heb 5:12 – for the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:17
This criticism concerning the lack of faith was meant for the disciples as we shall see at verse 20. How long, etc., was an expression of displeasure at the amount of long-suffering he was called upon to show towards them. Then addressing the father of the child he told him to bring the afflicted one to him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me.
[O faithless and perverse generation, etc.] the edge of these words is levelled especially against the scribes (see Mar 9:14); and yet the disciples escaped not altogether untouched.
Christ and his three prime disciples being absent, this child is brought to the rest to be healed: they cannot heal him, partly, because the devil was really in him; partly, because this evil had adhered to him from his very birth. Upon this the scribes insult and scoff at them and their master. A faithless and perverse generation; which is neither overcome by miracles, when they are done, and vilify, when they are not done! The faith of the disciples (Mat 17:20) wavered by the plain difficulty of the thing, which seemed impossible to be overcome, when so many evils were digested into one, deafness, dumbness, phrensy, and possession of the devil: and all these from the cradle.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 17:17. Unbelieving and perverse generation. The failure to cure, the catechizing of the scribes, and the effect produced on the people, proved that all present were unbelieving and liable to be led astray. But the term generation requires a still wider reference to the race and generation, whom this company represented.
How long shall I be with you? An expression of displeasure. He would not long remain on earth and bear with their unbelief and perversity. Less probably, it means that the disciples soon could not have Him to come thus personally to supply their lack of faith and power.
To me, emphasizing His power, despite the failure of the disciples. Mark (Mar 9:20-25) narrates a fearful paroxysm in the lad when brought to Jesus; a description of his case from the father with a new entreaty; the challenge given by our Lord to his faith, and his humble, tearful answer; the movement of the crowd excited by the previous failure and controversy; the language addressed to the evil spirit.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
These words are a severe rebuke given by Chrsit to his own disciples.
Where, observe, The person upbraided, his discples: and the sin upbraided with, unbelief. O faithless generation! Yet was it not the total want of faith, but the weakness and imperfection of faith, that they were upbraided with and reproved for.
Hence learn, 1. That secret unbelief may lie hid and undiscerned in a person’s heart, which neither others nor himself may take notice of, until some trial doth discover it. The disciples were not sensible of that unbelief which lay hid in them, till this occasion did discover it.
Learn, 2. That the great obstacle and obstruction of all blessings, both spiritual and temporal, coming to us, is our unbelief: O faithless generation! Others conceive that these words were not spoken to the disciples but to the Scribes, which Mark 9. says, at this time were disputing with Christ’s disciples, and perhaps insulting over them, as having found out a distemper which could not be cured by Christ’s name and power; and these he called now, as he had done heretofore, a generation of vipers.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 17
Suffer you; bear with you.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus’ rebuke recalls Moses’ words to Israel in Deu 32:5; Deu 32:20. Unbelief characterized the generation of Jews that had rejected Jesus, and now it marked His disciples to a lesser extent. Their failure to believe stemmed from moral failure to recognize the truth rather than from lack of evidence, as the combination of "perverse" and "unbelieving" makes clear (cf. Php 2:15). The disciples, too, were slow to believe, slower than they should have been. Jesus’ two rhetorical questions expressed frustration and criticism.
"Jesus has accepted that he will be rejected by the official leadership of Israel (Mat 16:21), but to find himself let down even by his own disciples evokes a rare moment of human emotion on the part of the Son of God." [Note: Ibid., p. 661.]