Mark 9:29

Mar 9:29. Δύναται, can) That is, by no means can you cast out this class of enemies, save with the accompaniment of prayer and fasting.

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

Mar 9:29 . τοῦτο τὸ γένος , etc.: This is one of the texts which very soon became misunderstood, the ascetic addition, καὶ νηστείᾳ , being at once a proof and a cause of misunderstanding. The traditional idea has been that Jesus here prescribes a certain discipline by which the exorcist could gain power to cope successfully with the most obstinate cases of possession, a course of prayer and fasting. This idea continues to dominate the mind even when the ascetic addition to the text has come to be regarded as doubtful; witness this remark: “The authorisation, however (for omitting καὶ νησ .), is not sufficient. But even if it were overwhelming, fasting would, in its essence , be implied” (Morison on Mark). What Jesus said doubtless was: “This kind can go out in (on the ground of) nothing except prayer,” and His meaning that there was no hope of success except through a believing (of course faith is implied) appeal to the almighty power of God. It was a thought of the same kind as that in Mat 19:26 (Mar 10:27 ): the impossible for man is possible for God. Of course in the view of Christ, prayer, faith ( vide Mat 17:20 ), both in healer and in healed, was needful in all cases, but He recognised that there were certain aggravated types of disease (the present, one of them) in which the sense of dependence and trust was very specially required. In the case of the epileptic boy this had been lacking both in the father and in the disciples. Neither he nor they were hopeful of cure.

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

29. [1984][1985] k omit καὶ νηστείᾳ. Cf. 1Co 7:5.

[1984] 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.

[1985] 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.

29. Τοῦτο τὸ γένος κ.τ.λ. The reply is obscure in two particulars. 1. What γένος? Evil spirits of any kind? or those which render their victims deaf and dumb? 2. Who is to pray? The exorcist? or the victim’s friends? or the possessed person himself? Mt. gives a much simpler answer, which may be regarded as interpreting Mk, Διὰ τὴν ὀλιγοπιστίαν. To be effectual, prayer must be accompanied by faith, and the disciples who had proved powerless either had not prayed, or had prayed without faith. They may have thought that the power to heal was inherent in themselves, and that there was no need to pray; or they had had little trust that God would hear their prayer. Mt. sometimes gives his interpretation of Christ’s words as having been actually spoken; see on Mar 9:1, Mar 8:29.

ἐν προσευχῇ. See crit. note. The widely diffused addition και νηστείᾳ may be safely rejected as an early interpolation in the interests of asceticism. In Act 10:30, νηστεύων καὶ is condemned on still stronger evidence ([2087][2088][2089][2090] and Versions), while the evidence against τῇ νηστείᾳ καὶ in 1Co 7:5 is overwhelming. Mat 17:21 is an interpolation from Mar 9:29 after καὶ νηστείᾳ had been added. Here the internal evidence is as strong as the external. When a demoniac was brought to the disciples to be healed, were they to say, “We must first fast for so many hours”?

[2087] 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.

[2088] 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.

[2089] 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.

[2090] 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.

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.

Verse 29. Prayer and fasting.] See Clarke on Mt 17:21.

This demon may be considered as an emblem of deeply rooted vices, and inveterate habits, over which the conquest is not generally obtained, but through extraordinary humiliations.

This case is related by both Matthew and Luke, but it is greatly amplified in Mark's account, and many new circumstances related. Another proof that Mark did not abridge Matthew.

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

(29) But by prayer and fasting.—The better MSS. omit the last two words. It is possible that they may have been added, like the “tears” of Mar_9:24, to strengthen the words actually spoken, by bringing in what had been found to bring with it a new intensity of spiritual volition, and therefore of power to rescue human souls from the frenzy and despair into which they had been plunged by the unclean spirits that possessed them. A like addition of “fasting” to prayer, apparently from a like ascetic tendency, is found in 1Co_7:5, where see Note. In St. Matthew both words are found, but some of the most ancient MSS. omit the whole verse. On the whole, however, there is a balance of evidence in their favour; and, as shown in the Note on Mat_17:21, what they teach is in harmony with other portions of the teaching both of our Lord and His Apostles.

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

29. This kind] In His reply to their question our Lord impresses upon them a twofold lesson: (i) The omnipotence of a perfect faith (see Mat_17:20-21); (ii) that, as there is order and gradation in the hierarchy of blessed spirits, so is it with the spirits of evil (see Eph_6:12). There are degrees of spiritual and moral wickedness so intense and malignant that they can be exorcised by nothing save by prayer and fasting, and the austerest rules of rigour and self-denial. These last words and fasting are wanting in the Sinaitic MS. and some Versions.

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 he said unto them,.... Matthew, besides the following reason, assigns another, as given by our Lord, why they could not cast out the foul spirit, which was their unbelief; of which they were guilty in some sort, as well as the Jews, and the father of the child; but Mark omits it, and only relates this as the reason;

this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting; which they had not observed; See Gill on Mat 17:21.

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

29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Ver. 29. But by prayer and fasting] The cause why they could not cure the child, was unbelief; the cure of unbelief is sought and wrought by fasting and prayer.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

"And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.

The work of the Christian Church essentially the same from age to age, although the external phase of it may change and pass away. "Casting out devils" sounds strangely on modern ears; its associations, whilst they are weird and picturesque, are too far away to seriously engage our attention. We are in the habit of dismissing it in an offhand fashion, as a form of religious activity necessarily confined to a transitional period of the development of Christianity, and having no relation to our own or any other age. But that is only a superficial view of the work of the gospel which will lead to such a judgment. "Casting out devils" is a task which belongs as much to the servant of Christ to-day as in the apostolicage. The particular form assumed by the "possession" may not be the same, but the fact of "possession" still continues; and the mission of the Son of God to "destroy the works of the devil" must be fulfilled, until human souls are freed from the thraldom to which Satan subjects them. In every sinful wish or thought Satan gains a foothold; in every sinful habit formed he may be said to "possess" the nature in which it exists. Until we regard sinful habits as not mere habits, but as involving the presence and power of the evil one, we need not expect to grasp or deal with the problem of evil in our world. In the work of converting human souls, we are contending not merely with those who are the immediate objects of our solicitude, but with a supernatural antagonist, holding them in subjection, and deeply skilled in the arts requisite for the maintenance of his influence. "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places". (Eph_6:12) It is due to this permanent characteristic of evil in human nature that such difficulties are met with as the text explains.

I EXCEPTIONAL DIFFICULTIES IN SPIRITUAL WORK.

1. Occasioned by

(1) a peculiar intensity of indwelling evil. We cannot explain it, but it is full of stubbornness, subtlety, and power of resistance. There is a mysterious sympathy, it may be, between the sinner and the special sin that besets him, or prevents his yielding himself to Divine grace. And this may go the length of

(2) total enslavement of the nature. Like the epileptic of the story, not only the body but the spirit may be enthralled. The will is so weak that it is practically powerless. The external ministries of the Church are insufficient to deliver, unaccompanied as they are by any strong desire for salvation on the part of the sinner. It sometimes happens, too, in more general work, that a spirit of opposition displays itself, or circumstances are persistently unfavourable. The Christian toils on, but his efforts are like the dashing of himself against a rock, or the ploughing of the sand. There are none of God"s people who are strangers to such experiences, which are:

2. From their very nature unexpected. The spiritual worker goes on with comparative or even brilliant success for a time, and then encounters sudden breakdown. The reason of this in most instances is, that a great proportion of Christian work is all but mechanical. It consists in a routine of duties; its results represent a sum total of indirect and sometimes unconscious agencies; religious institutions are originated perhaps in an impulse once imparted but not repeated, and are carried on thus far by "their own momentum." There occurs all at once a check, and a sense of helplessness and humiliation ensues, involving the baffled worker in spiritual perplexity. Such difficulties are:

3. Not an unmitigated calamity. They have their uses in the Divine economy. When searching of heart is induced, and hidden sins are revealed, or absence of direct communion with God is made manifest, or pride and self-sufficiency are brought low, they have accomplished a good and necessary work.

II HOW ARE THEY TO BE OVERCOME?

1. The means. "Prayer," or, in the Authorized or peculiar, but general. Could devils, then, come out by anything else than prayer, when man was the exorciser? It would almost seem as if the disciples had done their work hitherto by virtue of an external commission, using the name of Christ as a sort of talisman. This was sufficient for ordinary cases, but whenever one out of the usual occurred they were at a loss.

2. The reason for its necessity. The immediate occasion for the Master"s admonition probably was the increasing laxity of the disciples in personal prayer, their outwardness, and their failure to grasp the essential principles of his kingdom. But there was a more profound reason for the advice. The servant of God should be in complete sympathy and oneness with his Master, and that can only be cultivated by frequent acts of devotion and the exercise of a constant faith. It is not in his own strength that difficulties are to be met, but in Christ"s. But that can only be imparted through fellowship with his spirit, which depends for its efficiency and depth upon repeated acts of the spiritual nature. The disciple by this rule is called into conscious personal fellowship with God, whose power will only then be granted. Oneness with God is the secret of spiritual power.

3. The came principle applies to the whole fife of the Christian. True success depends upon vital spiritual effort, upon conscious co-operation with God, and consequent fasting from self. If we would not be taken at unawares we must be watchful, in constant actual exercise of faith, and uninterrupted personal communion with God. We are in danger of making too much of the external and accidental element in religion; we can never make too much of him who "worketh in" and through "us to will and to do of his good pleasure". (Php_2:13)

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

This

See, 1Ki 18:42-45; Act 13:2 The two best MSS. omit "and fasting." Cf. Mat 17:21

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29.] The answer is given more at length in Matt. ver. 20, and the Lord there distinctly includes the disciples in the γενεὰ ἄπιστος, by telling them διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν ὑμῶν. The assurance also occurs there, which was repeated Mat 21:21, where see notes.

τοῦτο τὸ γένος] That there are kinds, more and less malicious, of evil spirits, we find from Mat 12:45—and the pertinacity and cruelty of this one shewed him to belong to the worst kind. The Lord’s saying here (if the doubtful words are to stand) is rather for their after guidance, than their present; for they could not fast while He was with them, ch. 2:19.

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

29. τοῦτο τὸ γένος—this kind of thing, i.e. the genus evil spirit; not this kind of spirit, as if this was a specially vicious kind of spirit, that it took a good deal to exorcise. ἐν προσευχῇ—in prayer. καὶ νηστείᾳ, and fasting, is an evident gloss. It is one of the things that a later asceticism imported into the spiritual teaching of Jesus. It seems to be implied in the question of the disciples that they had expected to cast out the demon, so that their lack of faith in the matter had not taken the shape of doubt of their power. But what was lacking was prayer, which is the expression of faith considered as dependence on the Divine power and confidence in that. It is the sense of God that conveys all kinds of spiritual power. But this power was not subjective, it did not reside in themselves, but was power to move God, and this precludes the idea that a special degree of this power was necessary in the case of so stubborn a demon as this. But it is a general statement that miracles of any kind are possible only to him who prays.

Omit καὶ νηστείᾳ, Tisch. (Treg. marg.) WH. RV. א* B one ms. Lat. Vet. It is one of the things that would stand no chance of omission, if found in the original. Evidence shows that it was interpolated in a like passage (1Co 7:5).

SECOND PREDICTION OF DEATH

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