For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’
Parallel translations
- WEB For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
- KJV For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
- BSB For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’
- NKJV For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
- NASB For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’
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
John's austere lifestyle led critics to claim he was demon-possessed. They dismissed his ascetic ministry rather than repent.
Overview
John came as an ascetic, fasting and abstaining, and his opponents slandered him as having a demon. This illustrates the marketplace parable: they rejected his 'mournful' call. The verse shows how unbelief twists even holy self-denial into grounds for accusation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 3:4Now John himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
- Luke 1:15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
- John 10:20Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”
- Matt 10:25It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
- John 8:48Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
- Jer 15:17I didn’t sit in the assembly of those who make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand; for you have filled me with indignation.
- Hos 9:7The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great.
- John 7:20The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”
- 2 Kgs 9:11When Jehu came out to the servants of his lord, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” He said to them, “You know the man and how he talks.”
- Jer 29:26“Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in Yahweh’s house, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.
- Jer 16:8–9“You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink.”
- Acts 26:24As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”
- 1 Cor 9:27but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 11:18 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
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