1 And G2532 after G3326 six G1803 days G2250 Jesus G2424 taketh G3880 Peter, G4074 G2532 James, G2385 and G2532 John G2491 his G846 brother, G80 and G2532 bringeth G399 them G846 up G399 into G1519 an high G5308 mountain G3735 apart, G2596 G2398
2 And G2532 was transfigured G3339 before G1715 them: G846 and G2532 his G846 face G4383 did shine G2989 as G5613 the sun, G2246 and G1161 his G846 raiment G2440 was G1096 white G3022 as G5613 the light. G5457
3 And, G2532 behold, G2400 there appeared G3700 unto them G846 Moses G3475 and G2532 Elias G2243 talking G4814 with G3326 him. G846
4 Then G1161 answered G611 Peter, G4074 and said G2036 unto Jesus, G2424 Lord, G2962 it is G2076 good G2570 for us G2248 to be G1511 here: G5602 if G1487 thou wilt, G2309 let us make G4160 here G5602 three G5140 tabernacles; G4633 one G3391 for thee, G4671 and G2532 one G3391 for Moses, G3475 and G2532 one G3391 for Elias. G2243
5 While he G846 yet G2089 spake, G2980 behold, G2400 a bright G5460 cloud G3507 overshadowed G1982 them: G846 and G2532 behold G2400 a voice G5456 out of G1537 the cloud, G3507 which said, G3004 This G3778 is G2076 my G3450 beloved G27 Son, G5207 in G1722 whom G3739 I am well pleased; G2106 hear ye G191 him. G846
6 And G2532 when the disciples G3101 heard G191 it, they fell G4098 on G1909 their G846 face, G4383 and G2532 were sore G4970 afraid. G5399
7 And G2532 Jesus G2424 came G4334 and touched G680 them, G846 and G2532 said, G2036 Arise, G1453 and G2532 be G5399 not G3361 afraid. G5399
8 And G1161 when they had lifted up G1869 their G846 eyes, G3788 they saw G1492 no man, G3762 save G1508 Jesus G2424 only. G3441
9 And G2532 as they G846 came down G2597 from G575 the mountain, G3735 Jesus G2424 charged G1781 them, G846 saying, G3004 Tell G2036 the vision G3705 to no man, G3367 until G2193 G3739 the Son G5207 of man G444 be risen again G450 from G1537 the dead. G3498
10 And G2532 his G846 disciples G3101 asked G1905 him, G846 saying, G3004 Why G5101 then G3767 say G3004 the scribes G1122 that G3754 Elias G2243 must G1163 first G4412 come? G2064
11 And G1161 Jesus G2424 answered G611 and said G2036 unto them, G846 Elias G2243 truly G3303 shall first G4412 come, G2064 and G2532 restore G600 all things. G3956
12 But G1161 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 That G3754 Elias G2243 is come G2064 already, G2235 and G2532 they knew G1921 him G846 not, G3756 but G235 have done G4160 unto G1722 him G846 whatsoever G3745 they listed. G2309 Likewise G3779 shall G3195 also G2532 the Son G5207 of man G444 suffer G3958 of G5259 them. G846
13 Then G5119 the disciples G3101 understood G4920 that G3754 he spake G2036 unto them G846 of G4012 John G2491 the Baptist. G910
14 And G2532 when they G846 were come G2064 to G4314 the multitude, G3793 there came G4334 to him G846 a certain man, G444 kneeling down G1120 to him, G846 and G2532 saying, G3004
15 Lord, G2962 have mercy G1653 on my G3450 son: G5207 for G3754 he is lunatick, G4583 and G2532 sore G2560 vexed: G3958 for G1063 ofttimes G4178 he falleth G4098 into G1519 the fire, G4442 and G2532 oft G4178 into G1519 the water. G5204
16 And G2532 I brought G4374 him G846 to thy G4675 disciples, G3101 and G2532 they could G1410 not G3756 cure G2323 him. G846
17 Then G1161 Jesus G2424 answered G611 and said, G2036 O G5599 faithless G571 and G2532 perverse G1294 generation, G1074 how long G2193 G4219 shall I be G2071 with G3326 you? G5216 how long G2193 G4219 shall I suffer G430 you? G5216 bring G5342 him G846 hither G5602 to me. G3427
18 And G2532 Jesus G2424 rebuked G2008 the devil; G1140 and G2532 he G846 departed G1831 out of G575 him: G846 and G2532 the child G3816 was cured G2323 from G575 that very G1565 hour. G5610
19 Then G5119 came G4334 the disciples G3101 to Jesus G2424 apart, G2596 G2398 and said, G2036 Why G1302 could G1410 not G3756 we G2249 cast G1544 him G846 out? G1544
20 And G1161 Jesus G2424 said G2036 unto them, G846 Because G1223 of your G5216 unbelief: G570 for G1063 verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 If G1437 ye have G2192 faith G4102 as G5613 a grain G2848 of mustard seed, G4615 ye shall say G2046 unto this G5129 mountain, G3735 Remove G3327 hence G1782 to yonder place; G1563 and G2532 it shall remove; G3327 and G2532 nothing G3762 shall be impossible G101 unto you. G5213
21 Howbeit G1161 this G5124 kind G1085 goeth G1607 not G3756 out G1607 but G1508 by G1722 prayer G4335 and G2532 fasting. G3521
22 And G1161 while they G846 abode G390 in G1722 Galilee, G1056 Jesus G2424 said G2036 unto them, G846 The Son G5207 of man G444 shall be G3195 betrayed G3860 into G1519 the hands G5495 of men: G444
23 And G2532 they shall kill G615 him, G846 and G2532 the third G5154 day G2250 he shall be raised again. G1453 And G2532 they were exceeding G4970 sorry. G3076
24 And G1161 when they G846 were come G2064 to G1519 Capernaum, G2584 they that received G2983 tribute G1323 money came G4334 to Peter, G4074 and G2532 said, G2036 Doth G5055 not G3756 your G5216 master G1320 pay G5055 tribute? G1323
25 He saith, G3004 Yes. G3483 And G2532 when G3753 he was come G1525 into G1519 the house, G3614 Jesus G2424 prevented G4399 him, G846 saying, G3004 What G5101 thinkest G1380 thou, G4671 Simon? G4613 of G575 whom G5101 do G2983 the kings G935 of the earth G1093 take G2983 custom G5056 or G2228 tribute? G2778 of G575 their own G846 children, G5207 or G2228 of G575 strangers? G245
26 Peter G4074 saith G3004 unto him, G846 Of G575 strangers. G245 Jesus G2424 saith G5346 unto him, G846 Then G686 are G1526 the children G5207 free. G1658
27 Notwithstanding, G1161 lest G3363 we should offend G4624 them, G846 go thou G4198 to G1519 the sea, G2281 and cast G906 an hook, G44 and G2532 take up G142 the fish G2486 that first G4412 cometh up; G305 and G2532 when thou hast opened G455 his G846 mouth, G4750 thou shalt find G2147 a piece of money: G4715 that G1565 take, G2983 and give G1325 unto them G846 for G473 me G1700 and G2532 thee. G4675
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Matthew 17
Commentary on Matthew 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 17
Mt 17:1-13. Jesus Is Transfigured—Conversation about Elias. ( = Mr 9:2-13; Lu 9:28-36).
For the exposition, see on Lu 9:28-36.
Mt 17:14-23. Healing of a Demoniac Boy—Second Explicit Announcement by Our Lord of His Approaching Death and Resurrection. ( = Mr 9:14-32; Lu 9:37-45).
The time of this section is sufficiently denoted by the events which all the narratives show to have immediately preceded it—the first explicit announcement of His death, and the transfiguration—both being between His third and His fourth and last Passover.
Healing of the Demoniac and Lunatic Boy (Mt 17:14-21).
For the exposition of this portion, see on Mr 9:14-32.
Second Announcement of His Death (Mt 17:22, 23).
22. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them—Mark (Mr 9:30), as usual, is very precise here: "And they departed thence"—that is, from the scene of the last miracle—"and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it." So this was not a preaching, but a private, journey through Galilee. Indeed, His public ministry in Galilee was now all but concluded. Though He sent out the Seventy after this to preach and heal, He Himself was little more in public there, and He was soon to bid it a final adieu. Till this hour arrived, He was chiefly occupied with the Twelve, preparing them for the coming events.
The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men … And they were exceeding sorry—Though the shock would not be so great as at the first announcement (Mt 16:21, 22), their "sorrow" would not be the less, but probably the greater, the deeper the intelligence went down into their hearts, and a new wave dashing upon them by this repetition of the heavy tidings. Accordingly, Luke (Lu 9:43, 44), connecting it with the scene of the miracle just recorded, and the teaching which arose out of it—or possibly with all His recent teaching—says our Lord forewarned the Twelve that they would soon stand in need of all that teaching: "But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, He said unto His disciples, Let these sayings sink down into your ears; for the Son of man shall be delivered," &c.: "Be not carried off your feet by the grandeur you have lately seen in Me, but remember what I have told you, and now tell you again, that that Sun in whose beams ye now rejoice is soon to set in midnight gloom." Remarkable is the antithesis in those words of our Lord preserved in all the three narratives—"The son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men." Luke adds (Lu 9:45) that "they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not"—for the plainest statements, when they encounter long-continued and obstinate prejudices, are seen through a distorting and dulling medium—"and were afraid to ask Him"; deterred partly by the air of lofty sadness with which doubtless these sayings were uttered, and on which they would be reluctant to break in, and partly by the fear of laying themselves open to rebuke for their shallowness and timidity. How artless is all this!
Mt 17:24-27. The Tribute Money.
The time of this section is evidently in immediate succession to that of the preceding one. The brief but most pregnant incident which it records is given by Matthew alone—for whom, no doubt, it would have a peculiar interest, from its relation to his own town and his own familiar lake.
24. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money—the double drachma; a sum equal to two Attic drachmas, and corresponding to the Jewish "half-shekel," payable, towards the maintenance of the temple and its services, by every male Jew of twenty years old and upward. For the origin of this annual tax, see Ex 30:13, 14; 2Ch 24:6, 9. Thus, it will be observed, it was not a civil, but an ecclesiastical tax. The tax mentioned in Mt 17:25 was a civil one. The whole teaching of this very remarkable scene depends upon this distinction.
came to Peter—at whose house Jesus probably resided while at Capernaum. This explains several things in the narrative.
and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?—The question seems to imply that the payment of this tax was voluntary, but expected; or what, in modern phrase, would be called a "voluntary assessment."
25. He saith, yes—that is, "To be sure He does"; as if eager to remove even the suspicion of the contrary. If Peter knew—as surely he did—that there was at this time no money in the bag, this reply must be regarded as a great act of faith in his Master.
And when he was come into the house—Peter's.
Jesus prevented him—anticipated him; according to the old sense of the word "prevent."
saying, What thinkest thou, Simon?—using his family name for familiarity.
of whom do the kings of the earth take custom—meaning custom on goods exported or imported.
or tribute—meaning the poll-tax, payable to the Romans by everyone whose name was in the census. This, therefore, it will be observed, was strictly a civil tax.
of their own children, or of strangers—This cannot mean "foreigners," from whom sovereigns certainly do not raise taxes, but those who are not of their own family, that is, their subjects.
26. Peter saith unto him, Of strangers—"of those not their children."
Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free—By "the children" our Lord cannot here mean Himself and the Twelve together, in some loose sense of their near relationship to God as their common Father. For besides that our Lord never once mixes Himself up with His disciples in speaking of their relation to God, but ever studiously keeps His relation and theirs apart (see, for example, on the last words of this chapter)—this would be to teach the right of believers to exemption from the dues required for sacred services, in the teeth of all that Paul teaches and that He Himself indicates throughout. He can refer here, then, only to Himself; using the word "children" evidently in order to express the general principle observed by sovereigns, who do not draw taxes from their own children, and thus convey the truth respecting His own exemption the more strikingly:—namely, "If the sovereign's own family be exempt, you know the inference in My case"; or to express it more nakedly than Jesus thought needful and fitting: "This is a tax for upholding My Father's House. As His Son, then, that tax is not due by Me—I AM FREE."
27. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend—stumble.
them—all ignorant as they are of My relation to the Lord of the Temple, and should misconstrue a claim to exemption into indifference to His honor who dwells in it.
go thou to the sea—Capernaum, it will be remembered, lay on the Sea of Galilee.
and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money—a stater. So it should have been rendered, and not indefinitely, as in our version, for the coin was an Attic silver coin equal to two of the afore-mentioned "didrachms" of half a shekel's value, and so, was the exact sum required for both. Accordingly, the Lord adds,
that take, and give unto them for me and thee—literally, "instead of Me and thee"; perhaps because the payment was a redemption of the person paid for (Ex 30:12)—in which view Jesus certainly was "free." If the house was Peter's, this will account for payment being provided on this occasion, not for all the Twelve, but only for him and His Lord. Observe, our Lord does not say "for us," but "for Me and thee"; thus distinguishing the Exempted One and His non-exempted disciple.