Matthew 17:14-18

The Disciples’ Failure to Heal

17:14 When ¹  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 ²  and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. 17:16 I brought him to your disciples, but ³  they were not able to heal him.” 17:17 Jesus answered, ⁴  “You ⁵  unbelieving ⁶  and perverse generation! How much longer ⁷  must I be with you? How much longer must I endure ⁸  you? ⁹  Bring him here to me.” 17:18 Then ¹⁰  Jesus rebuked ¹¹  the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment.

[17:14]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[17:15]  ² 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]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[17:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:17]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “faithless.”

[17:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “how long.”

[17:17]  ⁸ tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.

[17:17]  ⁹ sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.

[17:18]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[17:18]  ¹¹ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).