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
Then G5119 charged he G1291 his G846 disciples G3101 that G2443 they should tell G2036 no man G3367 that G3754 he G846 was G2076 Jesus G2424 the Christ. G5547 From G575 that time forth G5119 began G756 Jesus G2424 to shew G1166 unto his G846 disciples, G3101 how that G3754 he G846 must G1163 go G565 unto G1519 Jerusalem, G2414 and G2532 suffer G3958 many things G4183 of G575 the elders G4245 and G2532 chief priests G749 and G2532 scribes, G1122 and G2532 be killed, G615 and G2532 be raised again G1453 the third G5154 day. G2250
And G1161 as they G846 came down G2597 from G575 the mountain, G3735 he charged G1291 them G846 that G2443 they should tell G1334 no man G3367 what things G3739 they had seen, G1492 till G1508 G3752 the Son G5207 of man G444 were risen G450 from G1537 the dead. G3498 And G2532 they kept G2902 that saying G3056 with G4314 themselves, G1438 questioning one with another G4802 what G5101 the rising G450 from G1537 the dead G3498 should mean. G2076 And G2532 they asked G1905 him, G846 saying, G3004 Why G3754 say G3004 the scribes G1122 that G3754 Elias G2243 must G1163 first G4412 come? G2064 And G1161 he answered G611 and told G2036 them, G846 Elias G2243 verily G3303 cometh G2064 first, G4412 and restoreth G600 all things; G3956 and G2532 how G4459 it is written G1125 of G1909 the Son G5207 of man, G444 that G2443 he must suffer G3958 many things, G4183 and G2532 be set at nought. G1847 But G235 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 That G3754 Elias G2243 is G2064 indeed G2532 come, G2064 and G2532 they have done G4160 unto him G846 whatsoever G3745 they listed, G2309 as G2531 it is written G1125 of G1909 him. G846
And G1161 he straitly charged G2008 them, G846 and commanded G3853 them to tell G2036 no man G3367 that thing; G5124 Saying, G2036 G3754 The Son G5207 of man G444 must G1163 suffer G3958 many things, G4183 and G2532 be rejected G593 of G575 the elders G4245 and G2532 chief priests G749 and G2532 scribes, G1122 and G2532 be slain, G615 and G2532 be raised G1453 the third G5154 day. G2250
And G2532 they shall scourge G3146 him, and put G615 him G846 to death: G615 and G2532 the third G5154 day G2250 he shall rise again. G450 And G2532 they G846 understood G4920 none G3762 of these things: G5130 and G2532 this G5124 saying G4487 was G2258 hid G2928 from G575 them, G846 G2532 neither G3756 knew they G1097 the things which were spoken. G3004
And G2532 said G2036 unto them, G846 Thus G3754 G3779 it is written, G1125 and G2532 thus G3779 it behoved G1163 Christ G5547 to suffer, G3958 and G2532 to rise G450 from G1537 the dead G3498 the third G5154 day: G2250 And G2532 that repentance G3341 and G2532 remission G859 of sins G266 should be preached G2784 in G1909 his G846 name G3686 among G1519 all G3956 nations, G1484 beginning G756 at G575 Jerusalem. G2419
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Matthew 17
Commentary on Matthew 17 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 17
Mt 17:1-13. Jesus Is Transfigured—Conversation 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 Boy—Second 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.