One of the multitude answered, “Teacher, I brought to you my son, who has a mute spirit;
Parallel Translations
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One of the multitude answered, “Teacher, I brought to you my son, who has a mute spirit;
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And one of the companye answered and sayde: Master I have brought my sonne vnto the which hath a dome spirite.
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And one of the companie answered, and said, Master, I haue brought my sonne vnto thee, which hath a dumme spirit:
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Mark 9:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
- Luke 11:14 He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.
- Mark 10:13 They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them.
- Luke 9:38 Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
- Matthew 12:22 Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
- Matthew 17:15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is epileptic, and suffers grievously; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water.
- Mark 5:23 and begged him much, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.”
- Mark 7:26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter.
- John 4:47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him, and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This famous history is also recorded by two other…
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:
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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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And one of the multitude answered and said,.... The…
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);
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"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.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And one of the multitude answering - The scribes…
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.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 17. A dumb spirit] That is, a demon…
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 17. my son] and his “only son” (Luk_9:38).
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (17) A dumb spirit.—This, again, is peculiar to St.…
(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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain One of the multitude answered him, Master I brought…
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
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.
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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.