Luke 9:41

9:41 You faithless and corrupt people: It is unclear whether Jesus was speaking to the disciples or to the people as a whole.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

41. O faithless and perverse generation] Doubtless the Spirit of Jesus was wrung by the contrast—so immortally portrayed in the great picture of Raphael—between the peace and glory which He had left on the mountain, and this scene of weak faith, abject misery, and bitter opposition—faltering disciples, degraded sufferers, and wrangling scribes.

how long shall I be with you?] “He was hastening to His Father, yet could not go till He had led His disciples to faith. Their slowness troubled Him.” Bengel.

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.

Let these sayings sink down into your ears,.... The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "in your hearts": Christ's sense is, that they would, diligently attend to them, seriously consider them, and carefully lay them up in their memories; and what he refers to are not the words he had spoken, but what he was about to say; namely, as follow:

for the son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men; by whom he should be killed, though he should rise again the third day; See Gill on Mat 17:22, Mat 17:23

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

And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? This grave and mournful expression of the loving but just Master was addressed to the entire crowd, in whose midst he now found himself. The people, swayed hither and thither, now enthusiastic in his favour, when soma sweet promise, or noble sentiment, or marvellous work touched their hearts, now" coldly indifferent or even hostile, when his teaching seemed to exact some painful sacrifice of self at their hands. these were looking On with quiet indifference at his disciples" failure in the case of the poor possessed child, and listened to their scribes as they wrangled with the Lord"s dismayed and perplexed followers. These followers, trying to imitate their Master in his wonder-works, but failing because, after all, their faith in him wavered. The rather of the child, confessing his unbelief, but utterly wretched at the sight of the suffering of his boy. The ghastly spectacle of the insane boy writhing and foaming on the ground, and then lying all bruised and dishevelled, with the pallor of death on the poor, pain-wrung face, and this sorely afflicted one a child, one of those little ones whom Jesus loved so well. Poor child-sufferer, on whose comparatively innocent life the sin of mother and father weighed so heavily! What a contrast for the Lord between the heavenly hours he had just been spending on the mount, and this sad sight of pain and suffering, of jealousy and wrangling, of doubts and indecision, in the midst of which he now stood! "faithless and perverse," cried the pitiful Lord with a burst of intense sorrow, "how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?" One word, he knew, and for him all this might be exchanged for the scenes of heaven, for the company of angels and of blessed spirits, for the old home of grandeur and of peace; only it was just to heal this bitter curse that he had left his heaven-home. But the contrast between the glory of the Transfiguration mount and the memories which they evoked, and the present scene of pain and woe unutterable, of human passions and weakness, called forth from the Lord this bitter, sorrowful expression.

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

Jesus answered and said

"Jesus answered by saying"

You unbelieving and depraved generation

Jesus said this to the crowd that had gathered, and not to his disciples.

depraved generation

"corrupt generation"

how long must I be with you and put up with you?

Here "you" is plural. Jesus uses these questions to express his sadness that the people did not believe. They can be written as statements. AT: "I have been with you so long, yet you do not believe. I wonder how long I must put up with you." (See: Forms of You and Rhetorical Question)

Bring your son here

Here "your" is singular. Jesus is speaking directly to the father who addressed him. (See: Forms of You)

translationWords

Jesus

believe

generation

demon

rebuke

cure

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

41. Ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος κ.τ.λ. Doubtless the Spirit of Jesus was wrung by the contrast—so immortally portrayed in the great picture of Raphael—between the peace and glory which He had left on the mountain, and this scene of weak faith, abject misery, and bitter opposition—faltering disciples, degraded sufferers, and wrangling scribes. For διεστραμμένη see Act 20:30; Php 2:15.

ἕως πότε ἔσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. “He was hastening to His Father, yet could not go till He had led His disciples to faith. Their slowness troubled Him.” Bengel.

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.

41. ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος. This probably is neither addressed to the disciples, who had failed to cure the lad, nor includes them. It is addressed to the father, and includes the multitude. Per unum hominem Judæos arguit infidefilitatis (Bede). As in the case of the peralytic (5:20), the faith of those who had charge of the afflicted person is taken into account. This is more clearly brought out in Mk. It was a wish to see what the disciples could do, rather than faith in Divine power and goodness, which prompted the bringing of the boy to them. Possibly it was a wish to see what the disciples could not do that inspired some of them. The hierarchy sometimes attacked Jesus through His disciples (Mar 2:16, Mar 2:18, Mar 2:24, Mar 2:7:5; comp. Luk 13:14). In 12:46 ἄπιστος means “unfaithful,” and in Act 26:8 “incredible.”

καὶ διεστραμμένη. Not in Mk. It is a strong expression: “distorted, wrong-headed” (Act 20:30; Php 2:15; Deu 32:5). Comp. ὀ θυμὸς ἄρχοντας διαστρέφει καὶ τοὺς ἀρίστους ἄνδρας (Arist. Pol. iii. 16, 5); εἰσὶ δʼ αὐτῶν αἱ ψυχαὶ διεστραμμέναι [a.l. παρεστραμ] τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἕξεως (8:7, 7).

ἕως πότε ἔσουμαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς; The notion is that of being turned towards a person for the sake of intercourse; and the question implies that Jesus is not of that generation, or that it is alienated from Him. Comp. Isa 55:2. For ἕως ποτε comp. Joh 10:24; and for πρὸς ὑμᾶς, apud vos, comp. Mat 13:56; Mar 6:3, Mar 6:14:49; Joh 1:1, etc. Mt. has μεθʼ ὑμῶν. Vita Jesu perpetua tolerantia (Beng.).

In N.T. and LXX ἀνέχεσθαι has the gen. But in class. Grk., as sometimes in LXX, we have the acc. after ἀνέχεσθαι (Amo 4:7; Amo_4 Mac. 13:27).

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

Faithless. See on Mr 9:19.

Perverse. See on Mt 17:17.

How long [εως ποτε] . Lit., until when.

Suffer [ανεξομαι] . Better as Rev., bear with. See Act 18:14; 2Co 11:1. The literal meaning is to "bear up [ανα] under."

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 41-43 a. The Answer.

The severe exclamation of Jesus: Faithless and perverse generation, etc., has been applied to the disciples (Meyer); to the scribes (Calvin); to the father (Chrysostom, Grotius, Neander, De Wette); to the people (Olshausen). The father in Mark acknowledges his unbelief; the scribes were completely under the power of this disposition; the people had been shaken by their influence; lastly, the disciples—so in Matthew Jesus expressly tells them when the scene was over—had been defeated in this case by their want of faith. All these various explanations, therefore, may be maintained. And the expression, γενέα, generation, the contemporary race, is sufficiently wide to comprehend all the persons present. After enjoying fellowship with celestial beings, Jesus suddenly finds Himself in the midst of a world where unbelief prevails in all its various degrees. It is therefore the contrast, not between one man and another, but between this entire humanity alienated from God, in the midst of which He finds Himself, and the inhabitants of heaven whom He has just left, which wrings from Him this mournful exclamation. Διεστραμμένη, perverse, an expression borrowed from Deu 32:5.

The twice repeated question, how long...? is also explained by the contrast to the preceding scene. It is not an expression of impatience. The scene of the transfiguration has just proved, that if Jesus is still upon the earth, it is by His own free will. The term suffer you implies as much. But He feels Himself a stranger in the midst of this unbelief, and He cannot suppress a sigh for the time when His filial and fraternal heart will be no longer chilled at every moment by exhibitions of feeling opposed to His most cherished aspirations. The holy enjoyment of the night before has, as it were, made Him home-sick. Πρὸς ὑμᾶς, amongst you, in Luke and Mark, expresses a more active relation than μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν, with you, in Matthew.

The command: Bring thy son hither, has something abrupt in it. Jesus seems anxious to shake off the painful feeling which possesses Him; comp. a similar expression, Joh 11:34.

There is a kind of gradation in the three narratives. Matthew, without mentioning the preceding attack, merely relates the cure; the essential thing for him is the conversation of Jesus with His disciples which followed. In Luke, the narrative of the cure is preceded by a description of the attack. Lastly, Mark, in describing the attack, relates the remarkable conversation which Jesus had with the father of the child. This conversation, which bears the highest marks of authenticity, neither allows us to admit that Mark drew his account from either of the others, or that they had his narrative, or a narrative anything like his, in their possession; how could Luke especially have voluntarily omitted such details?

We shall not analyze here the dialogue in Mark in which Jesus suddenly changes the question, whether He has power to heal, into another, whether His questioner has power to believe; after which, the latter, terrified at the responsibility thrown upon him by this turn being given to the question, invokes with anguish the power of Jesus to help his faith, which appears to him no better than unbelief. Nothing more profound or exquisite has come from the pen of any evangelist. It is the very photography of the human and paternal heart. And we are to suppose that the other evangelists had this masterpiece of Mark’s before their eyes, and mutilated it!

We find these two incidents in Luke mentioned also in the raising of the widow of Nain’s son: an only son (Luk 9:38): and He gave him to his father (Luk 9:42). “They belong to Luke’s manner,” says the critic. But ought not the original and characteristic details with which our Gospel is full to inspire a little more confidence in his narratives?

The conversation which followed this miracle, and which Luke omits, is one of the passages in which the unbelief of the apostles is most severely blamed. This omission does not prove, at any rate, that the sacred writer was animated with that feeling of ill-will towards the Twelve which criticism imputes to him.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.