Matthew 17:14-20
New English Translation
The Disciples’ Failure to Heal
14 When[a] they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures[b] and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but[c] they were not able to heal him.” 17 Jesus answered,[d] “You[e] unbelieving[f] and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure[g] you?[h] Bring him here to me.” 18 Then[i] Jesus rebuked[j] the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came[k] to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth,[l] if you have faith the size of[m] a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing[n] will be impossible for you.”[o]
Footnotes
Matthew 17:14 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 17:15 tn Grk “he is moonstruck,” possibly meaning “lunatic” (so NAB, NASB), although now the term is generally regarded as referring to some sort of seizure disorder such as epilepsy (L&N 23.169; BDAG 919 s.v. σεληνιάζομαι).
Matthew 17:16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
Matthew 17:17 tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
Matthew 17:17 tn Grk “O.” The marker of direct address, ὦ (ō), is functionally equivalent to a vocative and is represented in the translation by “you.”
Matthew 17:17 tn Or “faithless.”sn The rebuke for lack of faith has OT roots: Num 14:27; Deut 32:5, 20; Isa 59:8.
Matthew 17:17 tn Or “put up with.” See Num 11:12; Isa 46:4.
Matthew 17:17 sn The pronouns you…you are plural, indicating that Jesus is speaking to a group rather than an individual.
Matthew 17:18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”
Matthew 17:18 tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).
Matthew 17:19 tn Grk “coming, the disciples said.” The participle προσελθόντες (proselthontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.
Matthew 17:20 tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
Matthew 17:20 tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”
Matthew 17:20 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
Matthew 17:20 tc Many significant mss (א* B Θ 0281 33 579 892* e ff1 sys,c sa) do not include 17:21 “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” The verse is included in א2 C D L W Γ Δ ƒ1, 13 565 579 700 1241 1424 M al lat sy(p),h, but is almost certainly not original. As Metzger notes, “Since there is no satisfactory reason why the passage, if originally present in Matthew, should have been omitted in a wide variety of witnesses, and since copyists frequently inserted material derived from another Gospel, it appears that most manuscripts have been assimilated to the parallel in Mk 9.29” (TCGNT 35). The present translation follows NA28 in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.
