Discovery BoxMatthew 17:6-27
Context17:6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. 1 17:7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Do not be afraid.” 17:8 When 2 they looked up, all they saw was Jesus alone.
17:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, 3 “Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 17:10 The disciples asked him, 4 “Why then do the experts in the law 5 say that Elijah must come first?” 17:11 He 6 answered, “Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things. 17:12 And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In 7 the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.” 17:13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.
17:14 When 8 they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 17:15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures 9 and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. 17:16 I brought him to your disciples, but 10 they were not able to heal him.” 17:17 Jesus answered, 11 “You 12 unbelieving 13 and perverse generation! How much longer 14 must I be with you? How much longer must I endure 15 you? 16 Bring him here to me.” 17:18 Then 17 Jesus rebuked 18 the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. 17:19 Then the disciples came 19 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, 20 if you have faith the size of 21 a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing 22 will be impossible for you.”
17:21 [[EMPTY]] 2317:22 When 24 they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 25 17:23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed.
17:24 After 26 they arrived in Capernaum, 27 the collectors of the temple tax 28 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, 29 “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes – from their sons 30 or from foreigners?” 17:26 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons 31 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. 32 Take that and give it to them for me and you.”
[17:6] 1 tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
[17:8] 2 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[17:9] 3 tn Grk “Jesus commanded them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
[17:10] 4 tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.
[17:10] 5 tn Or “do the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
[17:11] 6 tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This has been simplified in the translation.
[17:12] 7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
[17:14] 8 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
[17:15] 9 tn 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] 10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
[17:17] 11 tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
[17:17] 12 tn 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] 15 tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.
[17:17] 16 sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.
[17:18] 17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”
[17:18] 18 tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).
[17:19] 19 tn 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] 20 tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
[17:20] 21 tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”
[17:20] 22 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
[17:21] 23 tc Many important
[17:22] 24 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[17:22] 25 tn 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] 26 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[17:24] 27 map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.
[17:24] 28 tn 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] 29 tn Grk “spoke first to him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
[17:25] 30 sn 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] 31 sn See the note on the phrase their sons in the previous verse.
[17:27] 32 sn 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).
