New International Version
Matthew 11:17
17“ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
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.
- 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.’
- New Living Translation (NLT)‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’
Context of Matthew 11:17
15Whoever has ears, let them hear. 16“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: “ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 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, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right 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 28:9“Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast?
- 1 Corinthians 9:19Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
- Matthew 9:15Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
- 1 Kings 1:40And all the people went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.
- Isaiah 30:29And you will sing as on the night you celebrate a holy festival; your hearts will rejoice as when people playing pipes go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.
- Jeremiah 9:17This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them.
- Jeremiah 31:4I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful.
- Luke 15:25“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near 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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries