to ask for · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
his
αὐτοῦ·autou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
father
πατέραpatera
G3962
a "father" (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine
How long
πόσοςposos
G4214
interrogative pronoun (of amount) how much (large · correlative or interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
is it
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
ago
χρόνοςchronos
G5550
a space of time (in general · noun — nominative singular masculine
since
ὡςhōs
G5613
which how · particle
this
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
came
γέγονενgegonen
G1096
to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
unto him
αὐτῷ;autō
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
And
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
said
εἶπεν·eipen
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
child
παιδιόθεν.paidiothen
G3812
from infancy · adverb
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
John 9:20-21 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
Acts 9:33 And there he found a certain man named Æneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.
Job 5:7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Mark 5:25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
Luke 8:43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
Luke 13:16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabb…
John 5:5-6 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 9:14-29
We have here the story of Christ casting the devil out of a child, somewhat more fully related than it was in Mat 17:14, etc. Observe here,
I. Christ's return to his disciples, and the perplexity he found them in. He laid aside his robes of glory, and came to look after his family, and to enquire what was become of them. Christ's glory above does not make him forget the concerns of his church below, which he visits in great humility, Mat 17:14. And he came very seasonably, when the disciples were embarrassed and run a-ground; the scribes, who were sworn enemies both to him and them, had gained an advantage against them. A child possessed with a devil was brought to them, and they could not c…
When he saw him the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, etc. - When this demon saw Jesus, he had great rage, knowing that his time was short; and hence the extraordinary convulsions mentioned above.
John Gill on Mark 9:21
And he asked his father,.... As he lay rolling about in this miserable condition, that the length and stubbornness of his disorder might be known, and so the cure the more remarkable, and appear the more expressive of his divine power and goodness:
how long is it ago since this came unto him? since this evil spirit entered into him, and these disorders have attended him?
and he said of a child; or "from his infancy"; so that it was not for any actual sin that he had committed, that this sore affiction came upon him; and yet he could not be without sin, since it was not agreeable to the justice, mercy, and goodness of God, to afflict, or suffer to be afflicted, one that is innocent; and the…
Mark 9:14-27
Matthew 17:14-18
Mark 9:14-27
Luke 9:37-43
14. And when they were come to the multitude, a man came to him, kneeling before him, 15. And saying, Lord, have compassion on my son, for he is lunatic, and is grievously distressed; for frequently he falleth into the fire, and frequently into the water. 16. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17. And Jesus answering said, O unbelieving and perverse nation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. 18. And Jesus rebuked the devil, who went out of him; and from that instant the child was cured.
14. And when he came to the disciples, he saw a great multitude aroun…
The Church Fathers
Let Juliang blush, who dares to say that all men are born in the flesh, without the infection of sin, as though they were innocent in all respects, just as Adam was when he was created. For what was there in the boy, that he should be troubled from infancy with a cruel devil, if he were not held at all by the chain of original sin? since it is evident that he could not yet have had any sin of his own.
And he asked his father: How long has it been since this happened to him? And he said: From childhood. And often it cast him into the fire and into the water to destroy him. Let Julian be ashamed who dares to say that all men are born in the flesh without any contamination of sin, and as innocent in every way as Adam was when he was created. For what did this child have that he should be tormented by the bitterest demon from childhood, if he was not held by any bond of original sin, who is agreed to have not yet been able to have any personal sin? Let the Catholic confess, because no one is born immune from the stain of the first transgression, and let him invoke the grace of God, by which he is delivered from the body of death through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let the scribe learned in the kingdom of heaven understand that in this demoniac cured by the Lord is designated the salvation of all the faithful, who come into the world bound by the guilt of original fault, and are saved only by the faith and grace of one Redeemer Jesus Christ. But what was said: And often it cast him into the fire and into the water, designates the greatest crimes of human folly. For the burning of the fire must be referred to the fervor of anger. Water to the pleasures of the flesh, which by delights are wont to dissolve the mind. Or certainly the demoniac is carried into the fire, wherein the hearts of adulterers are inflamed, and into the waters which are wont to extinguish charity.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Daemoniac — One “possessed with a devil.” In the days of our Lord and his apostles, evil spirits, “daemons,” were mysteriously permitted by God to exercise an influence both over the souls and bodies of men,…
Demoniacs — This word is frequently used in the New Testament, and applied to persons suffering under the possession of a demon or evil spirit, such possession generally showing itself visibly in bodily disease…
Lunatics — (from the Latin Luna, the moon, because insane persons, especially those who had lucid intervals, were once supposed to be affected by the changes of the moon). This word is used twice in the New…
Demons · The epileptic boy — The epileptic boy
Doubting · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Epilepsy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The demon’s activity had been taking place since he was a little boy, and the demon had tried to kill the child in various ways. • if you can: The father’s request indicates that his faith had been severely dampened (9:18).
