Mark 9:17

Mar 9:17. Εἷς, one) Neither the Scribes nor the disciples were venturing to speak.

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

Mar 9:17 . The father of the sick boy answers for the company, explaining the situation, laying the main stress of course on the deplorable condition of his child. πρὸς δε , to thee , not aware that Jesus was absent. πνεῦμα ἄλαλον , a dumb spirit; the boy dumb, and therefore by inference the spirit.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 17. A dumb spirit] That is, a demon who afflicted those in whom it dwelt with an incapacity of speaking. The spirit itself could not be either deaf or dumb. These are accidents that belong only to organized animate bodies.

See this case explained, Mt 17:14, &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(17) A dumb spirit.—This, again, is peculiar to St. Mark, as is also the “gnashing of the teeth” and the “pining” or “withering” in the next verse.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. my son] and his “only son” (Luk_9:38).

a dumb spirit] dumb in respect to articulate sounds, to which he could give no utterance, though he could suddenly cry out (Luk_9:39).

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.

And one of the multitude answered and said,.... The Scribes made no reply, being afraid to engage with him, whom they had often found too hard for them; and the disciples, if they were spoken to, were silent, through shame, because they had not succeeded in the cure of the person brought to them, which gave their enemies an handle against them: wherefore the parent of the afflicted child made answer, saying; the occasion of this debate between the Scribes, and thy disciples, is as follows:

Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; signifying, that he had heard much of him, as a very great man, and he believed him to be a master in Israel, who was famous both for doctrine and miracles, and therefore he brought his son to him, to be cured by him; but Christ not being in the way, he proposed him to his disciples, who attempted it without success. The case of his son was, he had a "dumb spirit". The Evangelist Matthew says he was "lunatic", Mat 17:15; and by his account of him it appears, that he had the "epilepsy", or falling sickness; and which, when upon him, took away the use of his speech. And so the Jews ascribe dumbness to the violence of a disease: thus they ask (g);

"what is "Cordiacus" (kardiakov)? one that has a disorder which affects the heart, and causes a deliquium (a fainting and swooning away), but a man, , "who is become dumb", through the force of a disease;''

which was the case of this child: though this disease did not arise from natural causes, but from a diabolical possession; for he had a spirit, a foul spirit, a devil, as he is called: some further account is given of this unhappy case, in the next verse.

(g) Jarchi in Misn. Gittin, c. 7. sect. 1.

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

This famous history is also recorded by two other evangelists, Matthew and Luke; we have opened it in our notes on Mat 17:14-21;

(See Poole on "Mat 17:14", and following verses to Mat 17:21) and considered what Mark and Luke have to complete it. For our instruction we may learn several things from the consideration of it:

1. The great goodness of God in preserving us from the power of evil spirits, as also the daily working of his providence for our preservation. What but this kept this man from being destroyed by the fires and the waters into which he had been often thrown by the evil spirit?

2. That the shorter the devil’s time is, the more he rageth, Mar 9:20. This is true, both as to the devil himself, and his instruments: Rev 12:12, The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Thus, in the moment of conversion Christians often meet with the strongest conflicts of temptation.

3. The fault is not in Christ, but in ourselves, if we receive not that mercy from him which he hath, and which we stand in need of, and beg from him—If (saith Christ) thou canst believe.

4. God rewardeth weak faith where it is attended with a sincere desire of increase. This poor man showed a very imperfect faith in saying, If thou canst do any thing; but it being in some degree sincere, the Lord rewardeth it, though weak, he desiring an increase of it, and that God would from his goodness supply what was defective in his faith.

5. The great cures both of our bodies and souls in some cases, require more extraordinary and importunate addresses and applications unto God, more especially where evils are more inveterate. For other things relating to this history;

See Poole on "Mat 17:14", and following verses to Mat 17:21.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

One of the multitude answered him, Master I brought the Greek is hnegkaunto thee my son. He brought his son, expecting to find Jesus; but failing in this, he applied to our Lord"s disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they could not. St. Matthew (Mat_17:14) says that the man came kneeling to Christ, "and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic." The word in the Greek there is selhniazetai . Etymologically, no doubt, "lunatic" conveys the meaning of the word most nearly. But the graphic description here of St. Mark corresponds exactly to epilepsy, and to epilepsy acted upon by an unclean spirit, who in this instance deprived the sufferer of his speech. Lunatics were so called from the prevailing impression, not without foundation, that the light and the changes of the moon have an influence upon the body, and so act through the body upon the mind. This influence seems to be recognized in Psa_121:6, "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night."

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

And one of the multitude answering - The scribes gave no answer to our Lord's question. They did not care to repeat what they had said to his disciples. A dumb spirit - A spirit that takes his speech from him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Connecting Statement:

To explain what the scribes and other disciples were arguing about, a father of a demon-possessed man tells Jesus that he has asked the disciples to send the demon out of his son, but they could not. Jesus then casts the demon out of the boy. Later the disciples ask why they were not able to send the demon away.

He has a spirit

This means the boy is possessed by an unclean spirit. "He has an unclean spirit" or "He is possessed by an unclean spirit" (See: Idiom)

he foams at the mouth

A convulsion, or seizure, can cause a person to have trouble breathing or swallowing. This causes white foam to come out of the mouth. If your language has a way to describe that, you could use it. AT: "bubbles come out of his mouth"

he becomes rigid

"he becomes stiff" or "his body becomes rigid"

they could not

This refers to the disciples not being about to drive the spirit out of the boy. AT: "they could not drive it out of him" (See: Ellipsis)

He answered them

Though it was the boy's father who made a request of Jesus, Jesus responds to the whole crowd. This can be made clear. AT: "Jesus responded to the crowd" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Unbelieving generation

"You unbelieving generation." Jesus calls the crowd this, as he begins to respond to them.

how long will I have to stay with you? ... bear with you?

Jesus uses these questions to express his frustration. Both questions have the same meaning. They can be written as statements. AT: "I have become weary by your unbelief!" or "Your unbelief tires me! I wonder how long I must bear with you." (See: Rhetorical Question and Parallelism)

bear with you

"endure you" or "put up with you"

Bring him to me

"Bring the boy to me"

translationWords

teacher

son

demon

disciple

cast out

believe

generation

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

17. ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ ([1920][1921][1922][1923][1924][1925] 33) rather than ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν ([1926][1927][1928][1929]).

[1920] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[1921] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[1922] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[1923] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[1924] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

[1925] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mar 9:5 to Mar 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

[1926] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[1927] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[1928] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[1929] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

17. εἷς ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου. The question was addressed to the multitude; the man who was specially interested at once replies. He was eager to secure help before more time was lost.

Διδάσκαλε. Mt., as at Mar 9:5, has the more reverent Κύριε. The Aramaic would be Rabbi in both places. The father tells much more than Christ had asked, and his statement is very natural, though not quite accurate. He had set out intending to bring his boy to Christ, but had arrived during His absence, and so had brought him to the disciples (Mt.). The spirit is called “dumb” either because of its effect on the boy, or because it refused to answer when addressed. Lagrange quotes Plut. De defectu orac. p. 438 B of a Pythia who gave no response ἀλάλου καὶ κακοῦ πνεύματος οὖσα πλήρης. Cf. Luk 11:14; Mat 12:22.

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.

17. πρός σε] i.e. intended to do so, not being aware of His absence. From Luke, ver. 38, we learn that this was his only son.

ἄλαλον, causing deafness and dumbness, and fits of epilepsy: see Luk 11:14.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. καὶ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ εἷς—And one … answered him. εἷς—one made answer, though the question was addressed to the crowd. εἷς is not like the indefinite τις, but calls attention to the number.

ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ, instead of ἀποκριθεὶς … εἶπε, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BDL Δ 28, 33, mss. Lat. Vet. Memph.

πνεῦμα ἄλαλον—a dumb spirit. For other instances of this accompaniment of the disease, see Mat 9:32, Mat 12:22.

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