Matthew 17

Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and James's brother John with him, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone.

1And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2There his appearance changed in front of them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.

2And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Note"Transfigured" renders a Greek word meaning that his form or outward appearance was changed; the same verb gives us the word metamorphosis. "Raiment" is simply clothing.

3Then Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

3And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

Note"Elias" is the Greek spelling of Elijah, which the King James New Testament uses throughout for the Old Testament prophet. Moses was the man through whom Israel received the law at Sinai; Elijah was the prophet taken up to heaven in a whirlwind in 2 Kings 2. Both are figures whose departures from the world the Hebrew scriptures describe as unusual.

4Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will put up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

4Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

Note"Tabernacles" here does not mean the great tent of Israel's worship. The Greek word means a booth or hut, a temporary shelter made of branches, like those Jews built and lived in for a week each year at the Feast of Booths.

5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them. A voice came out of the cloud and said, "This is my Son, whom I love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!"

5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

Note"Overshadowed" means covered or enveloped, not darkened; the cloud is described as bright. In Exodus a cloud settles on Mount Sinai and fills the tent of meeting as the visible sign that God is present. "Hear ye him" means listen to him, in the sense of obey.

6When the disciples heard the voice, they fell face down on the ground, terrified.

6And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

Note"Sore" in the King James is an intensifier meaning greatly or severely, not an injury. "Sore afraid" is terrified.

7Jesus came over and touched them. He said, "Get up. Do not be afraid."

7And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

8When they looked up, they saw no one there except Jesus alone.

8And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them an order. He said, "Do not tell anyone what you saw until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

9And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

Note"Son of man" is the phrase Jesus habitually uses of himself in the Gospels. In Hebrew and Aramaic it can simply mean "a human being," but it also echoes the figure "like the Son of man" in Daniel 7, who is given lasting authority and a kingdom. The English phrase keeps both senses open, as the Greek does.

10His disciples asked him, "Then why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"

10And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

Note"Scribes" were the professional experts in the law of Moses, trained to copy, interpret and teach it. Their expectation that Elijah must come first rests on Malachi 4:5, the last lines of the Hebrew scriptures, which promise that Elijah will be sent before the great day of the LORD.

11Jesus answered them, "Elijah does come first, and he will put everything back in order.

11And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

Note"Restore all things" picks up the promise in Malachi that Elijah will turn the hearts of parents and children back toward one another, that is, put what has gone wrong back in order.

12But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and people did not recognize him. Instead they did whatever they wanted to him. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

12But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

Note"Whatsoever they listed" means whatever they pleased or wanted; "list" in 1611 English meant to wish or choose, and has nothing to do with making a list. "Suffer of them" means suffer at their hands.

13Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

13Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

NoteMatthew has already reported that John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas and then beheaded, which is what "they have done unto him whatsoever they listed" refers back to.

14When they came back to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, knelt down in front of him, and said,

14And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

15"Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire, and often into the water.

15Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

Note"Lunatick" comes from the Latin word for moon, and translates a Greek verb meaning "moonstruck." It was the ordinary ancient word for the condition we describe as seizures or epilepsy, which was widely believed to come and go with the phases of the moon. It does not mean insane in the modern sense. "Sore vexed" means suffering severely.

16I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."

16And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

17Jesus answered, "You people of this time have no faith and have gone wrong. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."

17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

Note"Perverse" here carries its root sense of turned aside or twisted out of shape, not the narrower modern sense. "How long shall I suffer you" means how long must I put up with you; "suffer" in the King James regularly means to allow or endure.

18Jesus gave a sharp command to the demon, and it came out of the boy. The child was healed from that very moment.

18And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

NoteThe King James uses "devil" for two different Greek words. Here the word is the one meaning a demon, an individual unclean spirit, not Satan himself. "Rebuked" means issued a sharp, commanding word.

19Later the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20Jesus told them, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth: if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

20And 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.

NoteGreek manuscripts differ at this point: some read "unbelief," others read "littleness of faith," which is why modern translations say you have so little faith. The mustard seed was proverbially the smallest seed a farmer handled, so the point is the smallness of the quantity, not the kind of plant. "Verily I say unto you" is a solemn formula meaning I tell you the truth. "Remove hence to yonder place" means move from here to there.

21But this kind does not come out except by prayer and going without food."

21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

Note"Howbeit" means nevertheless. This whole verse is missing from the oldest and best Greek manuscripts of Matthew and is generally thought to have been copied in later from the parallel account in Mark 9:29, which is why many modern translations skip from verse 20 to verse 22. "Fasting" means deliberately going without food for a set time as part of prayer.

22While they were staying together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be handed over to men.

22And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

Note"Abode" means stayed or remained. "Betrayed" translates a Greek verb that means handed over or delivered up. It can cover treachery, but it can also simply mean transferred into someone's custody, and the same word is used later for Pilate handing Jesus over.

23They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." The disciples were filled with sorrow.

23And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Note"Exceeding sorry" means deeply grieved. In 1611 "sorry" meant full of sorrow, not apologetic.

24When they arrived in Capernaum, the men who collected the temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the tax?"

24And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?

NoteThis is not a Roman tax. "Tribute money" here translates a word meaning the two-drachma payment, the annual half-shekel that Exodus 30 required of every adult Jewish male toward the upkeep of the temple in Jerusalem. Two drachmas was roughly two days' pay for a laborer. "Your master" means your teacher.

25"Yes," Peter said. When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke first, before Peter could say anything. He asked, "What do you think, Simon? Who do the kings of the earth collect duties and taxes from: from their own sons, or from other people?"

25He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

Note"Prevented" in 1611 English means went before or spoke first, not stopped or hindered. "Custom or tribute" means duties on goods and taxes on persons or property. "Strangers" means those outside the royal family, that is, the king's subjects rather than his own household.

26Peter answered, "From other people." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons do not have to pay.

26Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

Note"Children" here means sons, and the argument turns on that: a king's own sons are not the ones taxed. The Greek word rendered "free" means exempt from the payment.

27But so that we do not offend them, go to the lake and throw in a hook. Take the first fish you catch, and open its mouth. You will find a coin there. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

27Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Note"Lest we should offend them" means so as not to give them cause for stumbling or grievance. "The sea" is the Sea of Galilee, a freshwater lake. The "piece of money" is a stater, a coin worth four drachmas, which is exactly two temple taxes, enough for Jesus and Peter together.