Thursday in Easter Week
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English Standard Version
Matthew 9:15
Bible Study Resources
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests
And Iesus saide vnto them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourne, as long as the bridegrome is with them? But the dayes will come when the bridegrome shall bee taken from them, and then shall they fast.
And 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.
And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the groom cannot mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus answered, "The friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus replied to them, "Can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Iesus saide vnto them, Can the children of the marriage chamber mourne as long as the bridegrome is with them? But the daies will come, when the bridegrome shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
And Jesus said to them, "The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said to them, "Can the attendants of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
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.
Jesus answered: The friends of a bridegroom don't go without eating while he is still with them. But the time will come when he will be taken from them. Then they will go without eating.
Yeshua said to them, "Can wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast.
And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn so long as the bridegroom is with them? But days will come when the bridegroom will have been taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus answered, "At a wedding the friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. They cannot fast then. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. Then they will fast.
Jesus said to them, Is it possible for those at the wedding feast to fast as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days are coming, when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus answered, "Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said to them, "The bridegroom's attendants are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will have been taken from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said unto them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast.
And Jesus said to them, Will the friends of the newly-married man be sad as long as he is with them? But the days will come when he will be taken away from them, and then will they go without food.
Yeshua said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests can't mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."John 3:29; Acts 13:2-3; 14:23; 1 Corinthians 7:5;">[xr]
Jeshu said to them, Neither can the sons of the marriage-chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them: but the days are coming when the bridegroom shall be taken up from them, and then shall they fast.
Jesus said to them: Can the children of the nuptial chamber fast, so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
And Iesus sayde vnto them: Can the chyldren of the bryde chaumber mourne, as long as the brydegrome is with them? But the dayes wyll come, when the brydegrome shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
And Jesus said unto them, Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast.
Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bride-groom is with them? But the days will come, when the bride-groom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
"Can the bridegroom's party mourn," He replied, "as long as the bridegroom is with them? But other days will come (when the Bridegroom has been taken from them) and then they will fast.
And Jhesus seide to hem, Whether the sones of the spouse moun morne, as long as the spouse is with hem? But daies schulen come, whanne the spouse schal be takun a wei fro hem, and thanne thei schulen faste.
And Jesus said to them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said to them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus replied, "Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Jesus said, "Can the friends at a wedding be sorry when the man just married is with them? But the days will come when the man just married will be taken from them. Then they will not eat food so they can pray better.
And Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Jesus said unto them, - Can, the sons of the bridechamber, mourn, so long as, the bridegroom, is, with them? But days will come, when the bridegroom, shall be taken from them, and, then, will they fast.
And Jesus said to them: Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.
And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
And Iesus sayde vnto them: Can ye weddynge chyldren morne as longe as ye bridegrome is wt them? The tyme will come whe the bridegrome shalbe take fro them and then shall they faste.
And Jesus said to them, `Can the sons of the bride-chamber mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but days shall come when the bridegroom may be taken from them, and then they shall fast.
And Iesus sayde vnto the: Can the weddynge chyldre mourne as loge as the bridegrome is with them? The tyme will come, when the bridegrome shalbe taken from them, and the shall they fast.
Jesus answer'd them, can the bride-men mourn, while the bridegroom is with them? the day indeed will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then will be the time to fast.
Jesus told them, "When you're celebrating a wedding, you don't skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!"
Jesus told them, "The folks at a wedding don't get all sad and mopey when the groom is at the party. There will come a time he has to light out and leave 'em. That's when they will fast.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Can: Matthew 25:1-10, Judges 14:11-20, Psalms 45:14, Psalms 45:15, John 3:29, Revelation 19:9, Revelation 21:2
when: Luke 24:13-21, John 16:6, John 16:20-22, Acts 1:9, Acts 1:10
and then: Isaiah 22:12, Acts 13:1-3, Acts 14:23, 1 Corinthians 7:5, 2 Corinthians 11:27
Reciprocal: Job 29:5 - the Almighty Psalms 35:13 - humbled Ecclesiastes 3:4 - time to weep Daniel 10:2 - I Daniel Joel 2:16 - let Zechariah 7:3 - Should Matthew 6:16 - when Matthew 11:17 - piped Matthew 22:1 - General Mark 16:10 - as Luke 17:22 - when John 16:4 - because Acts 13:2 - fasted 2 Corinthians 6:5 - fastings
Cross-References
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.
And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance.
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
and said, "O Lord , God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;
"Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.
For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
Do not spurn us, for your name's sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us.
yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.
to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Jesus said unto them,.... To the disciples of John, the Pharisees being present, who both have here a full answer; though it seems to be especially directed to the former:
can the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom, is with them? By the "bridegroom" Christ means himself, who stands in such a relation to his church, and to all, believers; whom he secretly betrothed to himself from all eternity, in the covenant of grace; and openly espouses in the effectual calling; and will still do it in a more public manner at the last day John, the master of those men, who put the question to Christ, had acknowledged him under this character, John 3:29 and therefore they ought to own it as belonging to him; so that the argument upon it came with the greater force to them. By "the children of the bride chamber" are meant the disciples, who were the friends of the bridegroom, as John also says he was; and therefore rejoiced at hearing his voice, as these did, and ought to do; their present situation, having the presence of Christ the bridegroom with them, required mirth and not mourning, John, their master, being witness. The allusion is to a nuptial solemnity, which is a time of joy and feasting, and not of sorrow and fasting; when both bride and bridegroom have their friends attending them, who used to be called
×× × ×××פ×, "the children of the bride chamber". The bride had her maidens waiting on her; and it is said i,
"she did not go into the bridechamber but with them; and these are called, ×× × ××פת×, "the children of the bride chamber".''
So the young men that were the friends of the bridegroom, which attended him, were called by the same name; and, according to the Jewish canons, were free from many things they were otherwise obliged to: thus it is said k:
"the bridegroom, his friends, and all ×× × ×××פ×, "the children of the bride chamber", are free from the booth all the seven days;''
that is, from dwelling in booths at the feast of tabernacles, which was too strait a place for such festival solemnities. And again,
"the bridegroom, his friends, and all ×× × ×××פ×, "the children of the bride chamber", are free from prayer and the phylacteries;''
that is, from observing the stated times of attending to these things, and much more then were they excused from fasting and mourning; so that the Pharisees had an answer sufficient to silence them, agreeably to their own traditions. Give me leave to transcribe one passage more, for the illustration of this text l.
"When R. Lazar ben Arach opened, in the business of Mercava, (the visions in the beginning of Ezekiel,) Rabban Jochanan ben Zaccai alighted from his ass; for he said it is not fit I should hear the glory of my Creator, and ride upon an ass: they went, and sat under a certain tree, and fire came down from heaven and surrounded them; and the ministering angels leaped before them, ××× × ××פ×, "as the children of the bride chamber" rejoice before the bridegroom.''
The time of Christ's being with his disciples, between his entrance on his public ministry, and his death, is the time here referred to, during which the disciples had very little care and trouble: this was their rejoicing time, and there was a great deal of reason for it; they had no occasion to fast and mourn; and indeed the Jews themselves say m, that
"all fasts shall cease in the days of the Messiah; and there shall be no more but good days, and days of joy and rejoicing, as it is said, Zechariah 8:19.''
But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; in a forcible manner, and put to death, as he was;
and then shall they fast and mourn, and be in great distress, as John's disciples now were, on account of their master being in prison.
i Zohar in Gen. fol. 6. 4. k T. Bab. Succa, fol. 25. 2. & Hieros. Succa, fol. 53. 1. Maimon. Succa, c. 6. sect. 3. l T. Hieros. Chagiga, fol. 77. 1. m Maimon. Hilchot Taaniot, c. 5. sect. 19.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Then came the disciples of John ... - This narrative is found also in Mark 2:18-22; Luke 5:33-39. The reference here is to John the Baptist. It is probable that they had understood that John was the forerunner of the Messiah; and if such was the case, they could not account for the fact that there was such a difference between them and the disciples of Jesus. The Pharisees fasted often - regularly twice a week besides the great national days of fasting, Luke 18:12. See the notes at Matthew 6:16-18. This was the established custom of the land, and John did not feel himself authorized to make so great a change as to dispense with it. They were desirous of knowing, therefore, why Jesus had done it.
Besides, it is probable that this question was put to Jesus when John was in prison, and his disciples, involved in deep grief on account of it, observed days of fasting. Fasting was the natural expression of sorrow, and they wondered that the followers of Jesus did not join with them in lamenting the captivity of him who was the forerunner and baptizer of their Lord.
Christ, in reply to them, used three illustrations, all of them going to establish the same thing - that âwe should observe a fitness and propriety in things.â The first is taken from a marriage. The children of the bride-chamber - that is, the bridemen, or âmen who had the special care of the bridal chamber, and who were therefore his special friendsâ - do not think of fasting while he is with them. With them it is a time of festivity and rejoicing, and mourning would not be appropriate. When he is removed or taken away, then their festivity will be ended, and âthenâ will be the proper time for sorrow. So, says he, John, your friend and teacher, is in captivity. With you it is a time of deep grief, and it is appropriate that you should fast. I am with my disciples. It is with them a time of joy. It is not fit that they should use the tokens of grief, and fast now. When I am taken away, it will then be proper that they should fast. For an account of the ceremonies of an Eastern marriage, see the notes at Matthew 25:1-13.
Matthew 9:16
No man putteth a piece of new cloth ... - A second illustration was drawn from a well-known fact, showing also that there was âa propriety or fitness of things.â None of you, says he, in mending an old garment, would take a piece of entire new cloth.
There would be a waste in it. An old piece, or a piece like the garment, would be better. The word here translated ânew,â in the original means ârude, undressed, not fulledâ by the cloth-dresser. In this state, if applied to an old garment, and if wet, it would âcontractâ and draw off a part of the garment to which it was attached, and thus make the rent worse than it was. So, says he, my ânewâ doctrines do not match with the old rites of the Pharisees. There is a fitness of things. Their doctrines require much fasting. In my system it would be incongruous; and if my new doctrines were to be attached to their old ones, it would only make the matter worse.
Matthew 9:17
Neither do men put new wine ... - The third illustration was taken from wine put into bottles.
Bottles, in Eastern nations, were made, and are still made, of skins of beasts. Generally the skin was taken entire from a sheep or a goat, and, properly prepared, was filled with wine or water. Such bottles are still used, because, in crossing deserts of sand, they have no other conveyances but camels, or other beasts of burden. It would be difficult for them to carry glass bottles or kegs on them. They therefore fill two skins, and fasten them together and lay them across the back of a camel, and thus carry wine or water to a great distance. These bottles were, of course, of different sizes, as the skins of kids, goats, or oxen might be used. Bruce describes particularly a bottle which he saw in Arabia, made in this manner of an ox-skin, which would hold 60 gallons, and two of which were a lead for a camel. By long usage, however, bottles of skins became tender and would be easily ruptured. New wine put into them would ferment, and swell and burst them open. New skins or bottles would yield to the fermenting wine, and be strong enough to hold it from bursting. So, says Christ, there is âfitnessâ or propriety of things. It is not âfitâ that my doctrine should be attached to or connected with the old and corrupt doctrines of the Pharisees. New things should be put together, and made to match.
This account of Eastern bottles may illustrate the following passages in the Bible: The Gibeonites took âwine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up,â Joshua 9:4. âMy belly is ready to burst, like new bottles,â Job 32:19. âI am become like a bottle in the smoke,â Psalms 119:83; i. e., like a bottle of skin hung up in a tent filled with smoke.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Matthew 9:15. Can the children of the bride-chamber — Î½Ï Î¼ÏÏνοÏ. Or, Î½Ï Î¼ÏÎ¹Î¿Ï , bridegroom, as the Cod. Bezae and several versions have it. These persons were the companions of the bridegroom, who accompanied him to the house of his father-in-law when he went to bring the bride to his own home. The marriage-feast among the Jews lasted seven days; but the new married woman was considered to be a bride for thirty days. Marriage feasts were times of extraordinary festivity, and even of riot, among several people of the east.
When the bridegroom shall be taken from them, c.] There was one annual fast observed in the primitive Church, called by our ancestors [Anglo-Saxon] the spring fast, and, by us, LENT by the Greeks ÏεÏÏεÏακοÏÏη, and by the Latins, Quadrigessima. This fast is pretended to be kept by many, in the present day, in commemoration of our Lord's forty days' fast in the wilderness; but it does not appear that, in the purest ages of the primitive Church, genuine Christians ever pretended that their quadrigessimal fast was kept for the above purpose. Their fast was kept merely to commemorate the time during which Jesus Christ lay under the power of death, which was about FORTY HOURS; and it was in this sense they understood the words of this text: the days will come, c. With them, the bridegroom meant Christ: the time in which he was taken away, his crucifixion, death, and the time he lay in the grave. Suppose him dying about twelve o'clock on what is called Friday, and that he rose about four on the morning of his own day, (St. John says, Early, while it was yet dark, Matthew 20:1,) the interim makes forty hours, which was the true primitive Lent, or quadrigessimal fast. It is true that many in the primitive Church were not agreed on this subject, as Socrates, in his Church History, book v. chap. 22, says, "Some thought they should fast one day others two; others more." Different Churches also were divided concerning the length of the time, some keeping it three, others five, and others seven weeks; and the historian himself is puzzled to know why they all agreed in calling these fasts, differing so much in their duration, by the name of Quadrigessima, or forty days' fast: the plain obvious reason appears to me to have been simply this: They put DAYS in the place of HOURS; and this absurdity continues in some Christian Churches to the present day. For more on fasting, Matthew 6:16.
