Matthew 11:17 BSB — MannaFest

Matthew 11:17

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

and say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not mourn.

KJV

And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Catena Aurea by Aquinas (420)

They say therefore, We have flayed music to you, and ye have not danced; i. e. We have called on you to work good works to our songs, and ye would not. We have lamented and called you to repentance, and this ye would not, rejecting both preaching, as well of exhortation to virtue, as of repentance for sin.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

And saying, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced,.... The allusion is to Jewish children, who having seen their parents and friends at their festivals and weddings, some play upon the pipe, and others dance to them, mimicked the same in their diversions; and also having observed, at funerals, the mourning women, making their doleful ditties, and others answering to them, acted the part of these persons, expecting their fellows would make their responses, but did not: hence the complaint, we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

We 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: ουκ εκοψασθε, from κοπτομαι, to strike, or beat the breasts with the hands, particularly in lamentation. So used, Nah 2:7; Luk 18:13; Luk 23:48, and by the best Greek and Roman writers. There is an allusion here to those funeral lamentations explained Mat 9:23.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

10 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
λέγουσιν·	legousin	saying:	G3004 →
ηὐλήσαμεν	ēulēsamen	We piped	G832 →
ὑμῖν	humin	for you	G4771 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ὠρχήσασθε,¶¬	ōrchēsasthe	you did dance,	G3738 →
ἐθρηνήσαμεν	ethrēnēsamen	we sang a dirge	G2354 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἐκόψασθε.	ekopsasthe	you did wail.	G2875 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

G2875ekopsastheyou did wail.8×

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 9:15
Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
leads to
- Revelation 19:9
  Then the angel told me to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
- John 3:29
  The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
- Revelation 21:2
  I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- Acts 13:1–3
  Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
- John 16:20–22
  Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
Through
Jeremiah 31:4
Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
leads to
- Jeremiah 33:7
  I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.
- Jeremiah 31:13
  Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
- Amos 5:2
  “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”

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About Matthew

John the Baptist Baptizes Jesus — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Matthew

Where the connections lead

The record, by era

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Matthew