New Living Translation
Matthew 11:17
17‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t 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.
- 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
15Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! 16“To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’ 18For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 19The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”
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 does the Lord think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned?
- 1 Corinthians 9:19Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ.
- Matthew 9:15Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
- 1 Kings 1:40And all the people followed Solomon into Jerusalem, playing flutes and shouting for joy. The celebration was so joyous and noisy that the earth shook with the sound.
- Isaiah 30:29But the people of God will sing a song of joy, like the songs at the holy festivals. You will be filled with joy, as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem, the mountain of the Lord— to the Rock of Israel.
- Jeremiah 9:17This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Consider all this, and call for the mourners. Send for the women who mourn at funerals.
- Jeremiah 31:4I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel. You will again be happy and dance merrily with your tambourines.
- Luke 15:25“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,
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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