Section 17:14–20

Jesus healed a boy whom a demon controlled

In 10:1 Jesus had given power to his twelve disciples to cast out demons and heal sick people. Then the disciples went out in groups of two and did those things (Mark 6:7–13). But in this section, they could not cast out a demon that caused a boy to have severe physical problems. Only Jesus was able to force the demon to leave the boy. This story shows that the disciples’ faith was not yet strong.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus Cures A Demon-Possessed Boy (God’s Word)
-or-
The Healing of a Boy With a Demon (New International Version)

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 9:14–29 and at Luke 9:37–43.

Paragraph 17:14–18

17:14a

This is the beginning of a new section. The Greek begins this new section with a conjunction that usually joins the next event to the previous one. Many English versions translate this conjunction as “and,” but the Berean Standard Bible does not translate the word here.

You should begin this new section in a way that is natural in your language.

they came to the crowd: This clause implies that Jesus and his disciples came up to the edge of a crowd of people. They reached these people after walking down the mountain.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus and his disciples ⌊descended and⌋ arrived at a crowd ⌊of people⌋
-or-
when ⌊they arrived at the bottom of the mountain,⌋ they came to a crowd ⌊of people⌋

17:14b

a man: This man was most likely a Jewish man from the surrounding area. He was not a disciple of Jesus.

came up to Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as came up means “approached.”

Here is another way to translate these words:

approached him/Jesus

17:14c

and knelt before Him: The man got on his knees in front of Jesus to show that he understood that Jesus was more important than he was. He wanted to show his own humility and his respect for Jesus. He did this in front of Jesus to show that he wanted to talk with him.

In some cultures, these things are shown by bowing down in front of the person. For example:

and bowed before him (New Century Version)

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