New English Translation
Matthew 11:17
17‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.’
Matthew 11:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
- English Standard Version (ESV)"'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'
- New King James Version (NKJV)and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’
Context of Matthew 11:17
15The one who has ears had better listen! 16“To what should I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; we wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.’ 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
Read all of Matthew 11Matthew 11:17 word by word
λέγουσιν· ηὐλήσαμεν ὑμῖν καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε,¶¬ ἐθρηνήσαμεν καὶ οὐκ ἐκόψασθε.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Matthew 11:17
- Isaiah 28:9Who is the Lord trying to teach? To whom is he explaining a message? Those just weaned from milk! Those just taken from their mother’s breast!
- 1 Corinthians 9:19For since I am free from all I can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.
- Matthew 9:15Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
- 1 Kings 1:40All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake.
- Isaiah 30:29You will sing as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival. You will be happy like one who plays a flute as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel.
- Jeremiah 9:17The Lord who rules over all told me to say to this people, “Take note of what I say. Call for the women who mourn for the dead! Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”
- Jeremiah 31:4I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, so that you will once again be built up. Once again you will take up the tambourine and join in the happy throng of dancers.
- Luke 15:25“Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
Commentaries on Matthew 11:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced - We have begun the music, which should have been followed by the dance, but ye have not attended to it. We have mourned - and ye have not lamented - Ye have not smote the breast: , from , to strike, or beat the breasts with the hands, particularly in lamentation. So used, Nahum 2:7; Luke 18:13; Luke 23:48, and by the best Greek and Roman writers. There is an allusion here to those funeral lamentations…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16-19Verses 16-19 But whereunto shall I liken - Christ proceeds to reprove the inconsistency and fickleness of that age of people. He says they were like children - nothing pleased them. He refers here to the “plays” or “sports” of children. Instrumental music, or piping and dancing, were used in marriages and festivals as a sign of joy. See the notes at Isaiah 5:11-12. Compare Job 21:11; 2 Samuel 6:14; Judges 11:34; Luke 15:25. Children imitate their…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-24Verses 16-24 Christ reflects on the scribes and Pharisees, who had a proud conceit of themselves. He likens their behaviour to children's play, who being out of temper without reason, quarrel with all the attempts of their fellows to please them, or to get them to join in the plays for which they used to assemble. The cavils of worldly men are often very trifling and show great malice. Something they have to urge against every one, however excellent and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-19John’s message was like funeral songs. He lived with strict self-denial, fasting often and not drinking wine (Matthew 11:18; see 3:4). The message of Jesus is more like wedding songs, with feasting and drinking (see 9:9–17). In both cases, the people of this time respond to God's messenger with indifference and rejection.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-191. And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciple--rather, "the twelve disciples," he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities--This was scarcely a fourth circuit--if we may judge from the less formal way in which it was expressed--but, perhaps, a set of visits paid to certain places, either not reached at all before, or too rapidly passed through, in order to fill up the time till the return of the Twelve…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 11:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 11
- 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
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- 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
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