Matthew 17:15-27

Context
17:15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures¹ and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. 17:16 I brought him to your disciples, but² they were not able to heal him.” 17:17 Jesus answered,³ “You⁴ unbelieving⁵ and perverse generation! How much longer⁶ must I be with you? How much longer must I endure⁷ you?⁸ Bring him here to me.” 17:18 Then⁹ Jesus rebuked¹⁰ the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. 17:19 Then the disciples came¹¹ to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 17:20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth,¹² if you have faith the size of¹³ a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing¹⁴ will be impossible for you.”

17:21 [[EMPTY]]¹⁵

Second Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

17:22 When¹⁶ they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.¹⁷ 17:23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed.

The Temple Tax

17:24 After¹⁸ they arrived in Capernaum,¹⁹ the collectors of the temple tax²⁰ came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” 17:25 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first,²¹ “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes – from their sons²² or from foreigners?” 17:26 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons²³ are free. 17:27 But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin.²⁴ Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

[17:15] ¹tn Grk “he is moonstruck,” possibly meaning “lunatic” (so NAB, NASB), although now the term is generally regarded as referring to some sort of seizure disorder such as epilepsy (L&N 23.169; BDAG 919 s.v. σεληνιάζομαι).

[17:16] ²tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[17:17] ³tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:17] ⁴tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (w), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”

[17:17] ⁵tn Or “faithless.”

[17:17] ⁶tn Grk “how long.”

[17:17] ⁷tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

[17:17] ⁸sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

[17:18] ⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[17:18] ¹⁰tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[17:19] ¹¹tn Grk “coming, the disciples said.” The participle προσελθόντες (proselqontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[17:20] ¹²tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[17:20] ¹³tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”

[17:20] ¹⁴tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[17:21] ¹⁵tc Many important mss (א* B Θ 0281 33 579 892* pc e ff¹ sy^s,c sa) do not include 17:21 “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” The verse is included in א² C D L W Ë^1,13 Ï lat, but is almost certainly not original. As B. M. Metzger notes, “Since there is no satisfactory reason why the passage, if originally present in Matthew, should have been omitted in a wide variety of witnesses, and since copyists frequently inserted material derived from another Gospel, it appears that most manuscripts have been assimilated to the parallel in Mk 9.29” (TCGNT 35). The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

[17:22] ¹⁶tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[17:22] ¹⁷tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is considered by some to be used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NRSV “into human hands”; TEV, CEV “to people”). However, because this can be taken as a specific reference to the group responsible for Jesus’ arrest, where it is unlikely women were present (cf. Matt 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12), the word “men” has been retained in the translation. There may also be a slight wordplay with “the Son of Man” earlier in the verse.

[17:24] ¹⁸tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[17:24] ¹⁹map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[17:24] ²⁰tn Grk “Collectors of the double drachma.” This is a case of metonymy, where the coin formerly used to pay the tax (the double drachma coin, or δίδραχμον [didracmon]) was put for the tax itself (cf. BDAG 241 s.v.). Even though this coin was no longer in circulation in NT times and other coins were used to pay the tax, the name for the coin was still used to refer to the tax itself.

[17:25] ²¹tn Grk “spoke first to him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[17:25] ²²sn The phrase their sons may mean “their citizens,” but the term “sons” has been retained here in order to preserve the implicit comparison between the Father and his Son, Jesus.

[17:26] ²³sn See the note on the phrase their sons in the previous verse.

[17:27] ²⁴sn The four drachma coin was a stater (στατήρ, stathr), a silver coin worth four drachmas. One drachma was equivalent to one denarius, the standard pay for a day’s labor (L&N 6.80).