Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Matthew » Chapter 17 » Verse 1-13

Matthew 17:1-13 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 And G2532 after G3326 six G1803 days G2250 Jesus G2424 taketh G3880 Peter, G4074 G2532 James, G2385 and G2532 John G2491 his G846 brother, G80 and G2532 bringeth G399 them G846 up G399 into G1519 an high G5308 mountain G3735 apart, G2596 G2398

2 And G2532 was transfigured G3339 before G1715 them: G846 and G2532 his G846 face G4383 did shine G2989 as G5613 the sun, G2246 and G1161 his G846 raiment G2440 was G1096 white G3022 as G5613 the light. G5457

3 And, G2532 behold, G2400 there appeared G3700 unto them G846 Moses G3475 and G2532 Elias G2243 talking G4814 with G3326 him. G846

4 Then G1161 answered G611 Peter, G4074 and said G2036 unto Jesus, G2424 Lord, G2962 it is G2076 good G2570 for us G2248 to be G1511 here: G5602 if G1487 thou wilt, G2309 let us make G4160 here G5602 three G5140 tabernacles; G4633 one G3391 for thee, G4671 and G2532 one G3391 for Moses, G3475 and G2532 one G3391 for Elias. G2243

5 While he G846 yet G2089 spake, G2980 behold, G2400 a bright G5460 cloud G3507 overshadowed G1982 them: G846 and G2532 behold G2400 a voice G5456 out of G1537 the cloud, G3507 which said, G3004 This G3778 is G2076 my G3450 beloved G27 Son, G5207 in G1722 whom G3739 I am well pleased; G2106 hear ye G191 him. G846

6 And G2532 when the disciples G3101 heard G191 it, they fell G4098 on G1909 their G846 face, G4383 and G2532 were sore G4970 afraid. G5399

7 And G2532 Jesus G2424 came G4334 and touched G680 them, G846 and G2532 said, G2036 Arise, G1453 and G2532 be G5399 not G3361 afraid. G5399

8 And G1161 when they had lifted up G1869 their G846 eyes, G3788 they saw G1492 no man, G3762 save G1508 Jesus G2424 only. G3441

9 And G2532 as they G846 came down G2597 from G575 the mountain, G3735 Jesus G2424 charged G1781 them, G846 saying, G3004 Tell G2036 the vision G3705 to no man, G3367 until G2193 G3739 the Son G5207 of man G444 be risen again G450 from G1537 the dead. G3498

10 And G2532 his G846 disciples G3101 asked G1905 him, G846 saying, G3004 Why G5101 then G3767 say G3004 the scribes G1122 that G3754 Elias G2243 must G1163 first G4412 come? G2064

11 And G1161 Jesus G2424 answered G611 and said G2036 unto them, G846 Elias G2243 truly G3303 shall first G4412 come, G2064 and G2532 restore G600 all things. G3956

12 But G1161 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 That G3754 Elias G2243 is come G2064 already, G2235 and G2532 they knew G1921 him G846 not, G3756 but G235 have done G4160 unto G1722 him G846 whatsoever G3745 they listed. G2309 Likewise G3779 shall G3195 also G2532 the Son G5207 of man G444 suffer G3958 of G5259 them. G846

13 Then G5119 the disciples G3101 understood G4920 that G3754 he spake G2036 unto them G846 of G4012 John G2491 the Baptist. G910

Commentary on Matthew 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 17

Mt 17:1-13. Jesus Is TransfiguredConversation about Elias. ( = Mr 9:2-13; Lu 9:28-36).

For the exposition, see on Lu 9:28-36.

Mt 17:14-23. Healing of a Demoniac BoySecond Explicit Announcement by Our Lord of His Approaching Death and Resurrection. ( = Mr 9:14-32; Lu 9:37-45).

The time of this section is sufficiently denoted by the events which all the narratives show to have immediately preceded it—the first explicit announcement of His death, and the transfiguration—both being between His third and His fourth and last Passover.

Healing of the Demoniac and Lunatic Boy (Mt 17:14-21).

For the exposition of this portion, see on Mr 9:14-32.

Second Announcement of His Death (Mt 17:22, 23).

22. And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them—Mark (Mr 9:30), as usual, is very precise here: "And they departed thence"—that is, from the scene of the last miracle—"and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it." So this was not a preaching, but a private, journey through Galilee. Indeed, His public ministry in Galilee was now all but concluded. Though He sent out the Seventy after this to preach and heal, He Himself was little more in public there, and He was soon to bid it a final adieu. Till this hour arrived, He was chiefly occupied with the Twelve, preparing them for the coming events.

The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men … And they were exceeding sorry—Though the shock would not be so great as at the first announcement (Mt 16:21, 22), their "sorrow" would not be the less, but probably the greater, the deeper the intelligence went down into their hearts, and a new wave dashing upon them by this repetition of the heavy tidings. Accordingly, Luke (Lu 9:43, 44), connecting it with the scene of the miracle just recorded, and the teaching which arose out of it—or possibly with all His recent teaching—says our Lord forewarned the Twelve that they would soon stand in need of all that teaching: "But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, He said unto His disciples, Let these sayings sink down into your ears; for the Son of man shall be delivered," &c.: "Be not carried off your feet by the grandeur you have lately seen in Me, but remember what I have told you, and now tell you again, that that Sun in whose beams ye now rejoice is soon to set in midnight gloom." Remarkable is the antithesis in those words of our Lord preserved in all the three narratives—"The son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men." Luke adds (Lu 9:45) that "they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not"—for the plainest statements, when they encounter long-continued and obstinate prejudices, are seen through a distorting and dulling medium—"and were afraid to ask Him"; deterred partly by the air of lofty sadness with which doubtless these sayings were uttered, and on which they would be reluctant to break in, and partly by the fear of laying themselves open to rebuke for their shallowness and timidity. How artless is all this!

Mt 17:24-27. The Tribute Money.

The time of this section is evidently in immediate succession to that of the preceding one. The brief but most pregnant incident which it records is given by Matthew alone—for whom, no doubt, it would have a peculiar interest, from its relation to his own town and his own familiar lake.

24. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money—the double drachma; a sum equal to two Attic drachmas, and corresponding to the Jewish "half-shekel," payable, towards the maintenance of the temple and its services, by every male Jew of twenty years old and upward. For the origin of this annual tax, see Ex 30:13, 14; 2Ch 24:6, 9. Thus, it will be observed, it was not a civil, but an ecclesiastical tax. The tax mentioned in Mt 17:25 was a civil one. The whole teaching of this very remarkable scene depends upon this distinction.

came to Peter—at whose house Jesus probably resided while at Capernaum. This explains several things in the narrative.

and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?—The question seems to imply that the payment of this tax was voluntary, but expected; or what, in modern phrase, would be called a "voluntary assessment."

25. He saith, yes—that is, "To be sure He does"; as if eager to remove even the suspicion of the contrary. If Peter knew—as surely he did—that there was at this time no money in the bag, this reply must be regarded as a great act of faith in his Master.

And when he was come into the house—Peter's.

Jesus prevented him—anticipated him; according to the old sense of the word "prevent."

saying, What thinkest thou, Simon?—using his family name for familiarity.

of whom do the kings of the earth take custom—meaning custom on goods exported or imported.

or tribute—meaning the poll-tax, payable to the Romans by everyone whose name was in the census. This, therefore, it will be observed, was strictly a civil tax.

of their own children, or of strangers—This cannot mean "foreigners," from whom sovereigns certainly do not raise taxes, but those who are not of their own family, that is, their subjects.

26. Peter saith unto him, Of strangers—"of those not their children."

Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free—By "the children" our Lord cannot here mean Himself and the Twelve together, in some loose sense of their near relationship to God as their common Father. For besides that our Lord never once mixes Himself up with His disciples in speaking of their relation to God, but ever studiously keeps His relation and theirs apart (see, for example, on the last words of this chapter)—this would be to teach the right of believers to exemption from the dues required for sacred services, in the teeth of all that Paul teaches and that He Himself indicates throughout. He can refer here, then, only to Himself; using the word "children" evidently in order to express the general principle observed by sovereigns, who do not draw taxes from their own children, and thus convey the truth respecting His own exemption the more strikingly:—namely, "If the sovereign's own family be exempt, you know the inference in My case"; or to express it more nakedly than Jesus thought needful and fitting: "This is a tax for upholding My Father's House. As His Son, then, that tax is not due by Me—I AM FREE."

27. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend—stumble.

them—all ignorant as they are of My relation to the Lord of the Temple, and should misconstrue a claim to exemption into indifference to His honor who dwells in it.

go thou to the sea—Capernaum, it will be remembered, lay on the Sea of Galilee.

and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money—a stater. So it should have been rendered, and not indefinitely, as in our version, for the coin was an Attic silver coin equal to two of the afore-mentioned "didrachms" of half a shekel's value, and so, was the exact sum required for both. Accordingly, the Lord adds,

that take, and give unto them for me and thee—literally, "instead of Me and thee"; perhaps because the payment was a redemption of the person paid for (Ex 30:12)—in which view Jesus certainly was "free." If the house was Peter's, this will account for payment being provided on this occasion, not for all the Twelve, but only for him and His Lord. Observe, our Lord does not say "for us," but "for Me and thee"; thus distinguishing the Exempted One and His non-exempted disciple.