Matthew 17:20

Matthew 17:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
• New International Version (NIV)He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
• New King James Version (NKJV)So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Context of Matthew 17:20

18Jesus said to the bad spirit, ‘Stop!’ Then the bad spirit left the boy and immediately he became well again. 19When the disciples were alone with Jesus, they asked him, ‘Why could we not make the bad spirit leave the boy?’ Jesus replied, ‘You could not do it because you do not trust God very much. I tell you this: You may believe in God only a little bit, like a very small seed. Even then, you could say to this mountain, “Go away from this place and move to that other place.” Then it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you to do.’ [ 21Jesus then said, ‘This kind of spirit will not leave a person unless you pray and you do not eat for a time.’] 22When Jesus and his disciples all met together in Galilee, he said, ‘Soon they will deliver the Son of Man to powerful people.

Matthew 17:20 word by word

Ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐτοῖς· διὰ τὴν ὀλιγοπιστίαν ὑμῶν. ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν· ἐὰν ἔχητε πίστιν ὡς κόκκον σινάπεως, ἐρεῖτε τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ· μετάβα ἔνθεν ἐκεῖ, καὶ μεταβήσεται· καὶ οὐδὲν ἀδυνατήσει ὑμῖν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andδέde · thenG1161
• JesusἸησοῦςIēsous · JesusG2424
• saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• unto themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• Becauseδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• ofἀπιστίαapistia · unbeliefG570
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• verilyἀμήνamēn · amenG281
• Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• ye haveἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• faithπίστιςpistis · faithG4102
• asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• a grainκόκκοςkokkos · seedG2848
• of mustard seedσίναπιsinapi · mustardG4615
• ye shall sayἐρῶereō · to sayG2046
• untoὄροςoros · mountainG3735
• thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• Removeμεταβαίνωmetabainō · to departG3327
• henceἐντεῦθεν, ἔνθενenteuthen · from hereG1782
• to yonder placeἐκεῖekei · thereG1563
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• nothingοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
• shall be impossibleἀδυνατέωadunateō · be impossibleG101

Cross-references for Matthew 17:20

• Matthew 17:17Jesus replied, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. You have turned away from him. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you.’ Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring the boy here to me.’
• Matthew 14:30But then Peter saw that the wind was still blowing strongly. He became afraid and he began to go down into the water. He shouted to Jesus, ‘Lord, save me!’
• Hebrews 3:19So we must be careful ourselves! Those people did not trust God. As a result, they never arrived in God's special place.
• Matthew 21:21Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: You must believe in God. You must not have other ideas in your mind. If you believe in God, then you could also do the same thing to this fig tree. You could even say to this mountain, “Move away and throw yourself into the sea!” Then it would really happen.
• Mark 11:23I tell you this: A person could say to this mountain, “Move and throw yourself into the sea.” Then it will happen like he says. But he must not let other ideas come into his mind. He must really believe that those things will happen. If he does believe it, God will do those things for him.
• Luke 17:6The Lord replied, ‘You may believe in God only a very little bit, like a very small seed. Even if you only believe that little bit, you could say to this tree, “Pull yourself out of the ground and plant yourself in the sea.” Then the tree would obey you.
• 1 Corinthians 12:9The same Spirit causes other people to trust God strongly. He gives to other people gifts to make sick people well.
• 1 Corinthians 13:2I may be able to speak messages from God. I may understand all God's secret things, and know all the facts. I may have great faith so that I trust God enough to move mountains. But I am nothing if I do not love others.
• Matthew 13:31Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. It is like a very small seed of the plant called mustard. A man took this seed and he planted it in his field.
• Mark 4:31It is like this: A man takes a seed of the plant called mustard. He plants it in the soil. It is smaller than any other seed that people plant in the soil.
• Mark 9:23Jesus said to the father, ‘You should not say, “If you can do anything.” Everything is possible for those people who believe.’
• Luke 1:37There is nothing that God cannot do.’
• Luke 18:27Jesus replied, ‘God can do things that are impossible for people to do.’

Commentaries on Matthew 17:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Because of your unbelief - Are we preachers of the Gospel? Do the things of God rest upon our minds with a deep and steady conviction? Can we expect that a doctrine which we do not, from conviction, credit ourselves, can be instrumental in our hands of begetting faith in others? So we preached, end so ye believed. The word preached generally begets in the people the same spirit which the preacher possesses. Instead of Ϛ, unbelief, the famous Vatican MS…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20As a grain of mustard-seed - See the notes at Matthew 13:31-32. The mustard-seed was the smallest of all seeds. It has been supposed by some, therefore, that he meant to say, If you have the smallest or feeblest faith that is genuine, you can do all things. The mustard-seed produced the largest of all herbs. It has been supposed by others, therefore, to mean, If you have increasing, expanding, enlarged faith, growing and strengthening from small…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 The case of afflicted children should be presented to God by faithful and fervent prayer. Christ cured the child. Though the people were perverse, and Christ was provoked, yet care was taken of the child. When all other helps and succours fail, we are welcome to Christ, may trust in him, and in his power and goodness. See here an emblem of Christ's undertaking as our Redeemer. It encourages parents to bring children to Christ, whose souls are…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20Here, the phrase so little faith means the same as no faith. faith the size of a mustard seed: This suggests that even a tiny amount of faith can help the disciples achieve great things (Hebrews 21:21; compare 1 Corinthians 13:2). It also suggests that if they let their faith increase (see Matthew 13:31–32), they could act with strong belief. "Moving mountains" is a saying that means overcoming obstacles and achieving God's goals (Isaiah 40:4; 49:11…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 17:20

• Doubting
• Faith
• Jesus, the Christ
• Miracles
• Mountain
• Unbelief

In the dictionaries

• Jesus
• Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus
• Betray
• Cure
• Tabernacle
• Talking
• Games
• Impossible
• Intercession
• Jesus Christ

Commentaries on Matthew 17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings