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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 17:19 - 17:21
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_17:19-21
19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" 20And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,'and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." 21[" But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." ]
Mat_17:19 "Why could we not drive it out" Jesus answers this question in Mat_17:20 where He said, "You have so little faith." This was a repeated comment by Jesus (cf. Mat_6:30; Mat_8:26; Mat_14:31; Mat_16:8). The Apostles were not super saints. There are no super saints!
Mat_17:20
NASB "the littleness of your faith"
NKJV "your unbelief"
NRSV "your little faith"
TEV "do not have enough faith"
NJB "you have so little faith"
The oldest Greek manuscripts, including à and B, have "little faith" (olieopistis), while others including C, D, L & W, have "unbelief" (apistis). Because the first term was so rare it was probably original. The UBS4 gives it an "A" rating.
▣ "if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move over here to there'" The mustard seed was the smallest seed known to the Jewish people. Jesus was not emphasizing the power of human faith itself, but the object of their faith. Jesus was not disparaging their need for faith; it is crucial (cf. Heb_11:1). From Mat_21:21 it seems that " little faith" is characterized by Jesus as "doubt." This is a third class conditional sentence; He assumed they would have faith. The concept of a mountain being moved was a proverbial way of referring to a major problem. This can be seen in Isa_40:4; Isa_49:11; Isa_54:10. Some believe that Jesus gestured to the mountain where He had just been transfigured the night before.
Mat_17:21 Mat_17:21 is not found in the Greek text of either Siniaticus ( à ) or Vaticanus (B). It seems to have been incorporated by very early copyists from the parallel account in Mar_9:29, where it is included in the original text. The UBS4 gives its exclusion an "A" rating.