Matthew 17:23

Mat 17:23 . ἐλυπήθησαν σφόδρα , they were all greatly distressed; but no one this time ventured to remonstrate or even to ask a question (Mar 9:32 ). The prediction of resurrection seems to have counted for nothing.

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

Verse 23. They were exceeding sorry] Since the conversation on the mount, with Moses and Elijah; Peter, James, and John could have no doubt that their Lord and Master must suffer, and that it was for this end he came into the world; but, while they submitted to the counsel of God, their affection for him caused them to feel exquisite distress.

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

(23) They were exceeding sorry.—St. Mark (Mar_9:32) and St. Luke (Luk_9:45) add that “they understood not the saying; it was hid from them, that they should not perceive it;” and that “they were afraid to ask Him.” Their sorrow was vague and dim, and they shrank from that which might make it more definite.

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

And they shall kill him,.... Put him to death, with the death of the cross; for the angels in rehearsing these words, affirm, that Christ told his disciples at this time, and in this place, whilst they were in Galilee, that he should be crucified, Luk 24:7.

And the third day he shall be raised again: this he said for their comfort; and it is observable, that when Christ speaks of his rising again, he makes mention of the exact time, the third day, on which he should rise, according to the types and prophecies of the Old Testament:

and they were exceeding sorry: that he should be betrayed into the hands of the Gentiles, fearing that another nation would come, and take away, and possess the worldly kingdom and grandeur they were dreaming of; and that he should die at all; and much more that he should die such a cruel and ignominious death, as that of the cross. They seem to have overlooked, and to have taken no notice of his rising again from the dead; which might have administered comfort to them, and have relieved them under their melancholy apprehensions of things; but this they understood not, nor indeed truly any part of what he had said; so Mark and Luke intimate: but then it may be said, how came they to be so very sorrowful, if they did not know what was said? To which may be replied, that this might be the reason of their sorrow, because they did not understand what he said, and they were afraid to ask; they could not tell how to reconcile the betraying of him into the hands of men, and his sufferings and death, with their notions, that the Messiah should abide for ever, and should set up a temporal kingdom, in great splendour and magnificence; and what he meant by rising again from the dead, they could not devise; they could not tell whether all this was to be understood in a literal, or mystical sense.

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

23 And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Ver. 23. And they were exceeding sorry] Out of love to their Lord, saith Jerome; out of ignorance and stupidity, saith St Mark {Mar 9:32} and St Luke: {Luk 9:45} so they grieve where no cause was, as we do often upon like grounds and causes. How well might our Saviour have said to them, as afterwards he did to the women, "Grieve not for me, but grieve for yourselves." They knew well that if Christ suffered, they should not escape scot free, Hinc illae laehrymae. We shrink in the shoulder when called to carry the cross, and pretend this and that for excuse, as Moses did the conscience of his own insufficiency, Exo 4:10, when the very truth was, he feared Pharaoh, lest he would have revenged the Egyptian’s quarrel against him, whom he had slain, and hid in the sand: and as Peter pretended his dear love to his Master, Mat 16:22, when it appears, Mat 17:26, he aimed indeed at the safeguard of his own life more than his Master’s safety. Let care be taken that (whatever we make believe) we be not self-lovers (which begins that black bead-roll, (list ŒD) 2Ti 3:2), and "lovers of pleasures," profits, preferments, "more than lovers of God" (which ends it).

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.

They that received the didrachmas, (Greek: ta didrachma) in value about fifteen-pence of our money. (Witham) --- A tax, according to some, laid on every person who was twenty years of age, for the service of the temple. See Exodus xxx. St. John Chrysostom thinks it was paid for the first-born only, whom the Lord would have redeemed for the first-born of the Egyptians, whom he slew. Others think it was a tribute paid to the Romans, as Christ, in ver. 24, seems to insinuate, by mentioning the kings of the earth; and the Jews were tributary to them at this time. In ver. 24, the evangelist uses the word Greek: Kensos, taken from the Latin census, or tax.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Shall be raised again (egeryhsetai); be wakened. This was always a subject of perplexity; and indeed, according to the other synoptists, "they understood not the saying; it was hid from them, and they perceived it not, and were afraid to ask him." Were exceeding sorry. They no longer rebuke him, as Peter had done, (Mat_16:22) or try to divert him from his purpose; they begin to realize the position, and to anticipate with poignant sorrow the overthrow of their hopes.

Hints concerning the coming Resurrection.

"The third day he shall be raised again." Our Lord tried to prepare his disciples for his resurrection by frequent allusions to it, and yet they never seemed to be able to take it into their souls. Perhaps they thought he was only speaking in his usual figurative and paradoxical way, though what he really meant they were unable to guess. The disciples would not allow themselves to contemplate their Lord"s violent death; and they could not else to conceive, of his abiding spiritual presence as altogether more important than his temporary bodily presence. Our Lord made much of his coming resurrection. Can we understand what it was to him?

I THE RESURRECTION INTIMATES THE CLOSE OF A HARD LIFE. Our Lord"s human life was a hard life. That is the best word for it, because human life is hard that involves constant humiliation and self-restraint. We should avoid exaggeration in speaking of Jesus as "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Life is hard for the man who is "cribb"d, cabined, and confined," and has always to be forcing his will into subjection to a superior will. Our Lord"s trouble was the power of the body to affect the will; but that would be done away with in the Resurrection.

II THE RESURRECTION LIFTS HIS THOUGHT OVER THE LAST STRUGGLE. Illustrate by the patient anticipating a serious operation. The best thing you can do to cheer him is to lift his thoughts over that time, away beyond that time, to the time of convalescence, and what is to be done then. So Jesus had Gethsemane, judgment halls, and Calvary to go through, and his best cheer was to slip over them, and think of the glorious resurrection life beyond.

III THE RESURRECTION WAS THE SIGN OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF HIS WORK. His release from the grave was the intimation of Divine approval, and the occasion for giving him his trust of the work of saving humanity. To think of that acceptance assured Christ that the Father"s smile was on him while he was working and suffering.

IV THE RESURRECTION WAS THE TIME WHEN HE COULD BECOME THE SPIRITUAL POWER HE WANTED TO BE. This point will open out with some freshness. Jesus always wanted to be a spiritual power in the souls of men. While he was in the body, the body seemed both to help and to hinder both him and them. It was a necessary help for a time, but Jesus longed for the risen and ascended life, in which he could be unhindered spiritual power to redeem and save. R.T.

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

23. They were exceeding sorry. Because he said that he must be put to death. There is only grief now, but no remonstrance.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

23.] Our Lord’s second announcement of His death and resurrection. Mar 9:30-32.Luk 9:43-45Luk 9:43-45. This followed immediately after the miracle (Mar 9:30);—our Lord went privately through Galilee; ἐδίδασκεν γὰρ κ.τ.λ.:—the imparting of this knowledge more accurately to His disciples, which He had begun to do in the last chapter, was the reason for His privacy. For more particulars, see Luke, ver. 45: Mark, ver. 32.

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

23. And they shall kill Him, and on the third day He shall be raised again.] Mk. has: “And they shall kill Him; and being killed, He shall rise after three days.” See on 16:21.

(M) And they were exceedingly grieved.] Mk. has: “And they were ignorant about the saying, and were fearing to ask Him.” For Mt.’s omission of the ignorance of the disciples, see Introduction, p. xxxiii.—λυπεῖσθαι] occurs six times in Mt., twice in Mk.—σφόδρα] seven times to Mt., once in Mk.

Lk. also found a difficulty in the ignorance of the disciples in view of Christ’s plain statement. He adds a clause to the effect that “it was hidden from them that they should not perceive it,” probably meaning that their ignorance was due to the divine providence. See note on Luk 9:45.

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