Luke 9:40

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn't."

World English Bible · Public Domain

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ἐδεήθην

déomai

G1189

“to ask”

Verb, Aorist, Passive, Indicative, 1st person, Singular

Appears 22× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 9:38

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: middle voice of G1210

TDNT: 02:40,1

1. to want, lack 2. to desire, long for 3. to ask, beg a. the thing asked for b. to pray, make supplications

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

11: words
10: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is ἐδεήθην to ask G1189 — appearing just 22 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ἐδεήθην to ask G1189 occurs in 22 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

καὶ and G2532 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 9:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Luke 9:1 He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
Acts 19:13–16 But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."
2 Kings 4:31 Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Therefore he returned to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened.
Matthew 17:20 He said to them, "Because of your unbelief. For most assuredly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Luke 10:17–19 The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 9:40 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

40. and they could not] Jesus afterwards, at their request, told them the reason of this, which was their deficient faith. Mat_17:19-21.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God,.... Or at "the greatness", or "majesty of God"; which was displayed in this cure: for the great power of God was manifestly seen in it, to the astonishment of the disciples, who could not cure this child, and of the parent and friends of it, and of the whole multitude: and to the confusion of the Scribes and Pharisees:

but while they wondered every one, at all things which Jesus did; and were applauding him for them, and speaking in his praise on account of them:

he said unto his disciples; privately, when they were alone together, the following words, that he might not seem to be lifted up with the praise of men; and also to show their inconstancy, that those who, now admired him, would one day crucify him; and to take off the thoughts of the disciples from a temporal kingdom and glory, they were so much in expectation of, and which every miracle of Christ, and the applause he got thereby among men, strengthened them in.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Pulpit Commentary

And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. This appears to have been a case of the deadliest kind of epileptic lunacy. Our Lord distinctly assumes here that the disease in this case was occasioned by an unclean spirit who had taken possession of the suffering child. The whole question of demoniacal possession, its extent, its cause, whether or no it still survives in some of the many mysterious phases of madness, is very difficult. It has been discussed elsewhere. (see notes on Luk_4:33 and following verses)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

[40. Οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν, they were not able) This demon was one of a peculiar kind. For in Luk 9:1, the disciples are said to have received power over all demons.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

40. οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν. Jesus afterwards, at their request, told them the reason of this, which was their deficient faith. Mat 17:19-21.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

40. ἐδεήθην … ἵνα See on 4:3 and on 10:2. The disciples who failed here need not be the Apostles, who were charged to cast out demons (ver. 1). If they were, this one failure was exceptional (Mar 6:12, Mar 6:13).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 11 words (10 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is déomai (“to ask”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to ask” (déomai) shape what this verse is saying?
Matthew 9:38 shares the word «to ask» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“and” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Reading how The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 7 words in this verse.
“and” occurs 2× in this single verse.
10 distinct Greek lemmas span 11 words in this verse.