And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
Parallel translations
- WEB and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’
- BSB ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
- NKJV and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’
- NASB and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not mourn.’
- NLT ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The fickle generation responds to neither joyful nor mournful summons. No approach satisfies hearts determined to refuse.
Overview
Completing the parable, Jesus pictures children complaining that others would neither dance to flutes nor mourn at dirges. The point is that this generation rejected both John's solemn call to repentance and Jesus' joyful proclamation of grace. Unbelief is exposed as willful, finding excuses against every form of God's appeal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 28:9–13Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
- Isa 30:29Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
- Jer 9:17–20Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
- Jer 31:4Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
- Matt 9:15And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
- Matt 9:23And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
- Luke 15:25Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
- 1 Cor 9:19–23For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
- 1 Kgs 1:40And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 11:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.