11:17a

We played the flute for you, and you did not dance: This sentence means that some children wanted the others to dance for them when they played happy music on a flute. But the other group of children did not want to play that game.

The Jews usually played flute music so that people would dance. They played this music at feasts and other happy occasions like weddings. In some languages it may be helpful to make this explicit. For example:

We played wedding music for you, but you wouldn’t dance! (Good News Translation)
-or-
We played/made happy music for you, but you did not dance!

flute: A flute is a musical instrument. It is a tube closed at one end with holes along the length. A person blows in or across an opening at one end to make the sounds.

and: There is contrast between what one group of children wanted and what the other group did. It may be more natural in your language to use the word “but” here instead of and. For example:

We played the flute, but you would not dance! (Contemporary English Version)

11:17b

we sang a dirge: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sang a dirge refers to singing a song of mourning to express grief and sorrow. People usually sang such songs at funerals or burials.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

We sang funeral songs (Good News Translation)
-or-
We sang songs sung at burials
-or-
We sang sad songs of death

If the people in your language area do not have funeral songs, you can translate in a more general way. For example:

we sang a sad song (New Century Version)

and you did not mourn: The word mourn means “express grief and sorrow.” Even though some of the children pretended to be at a funeral, the other children would not play along and pretend to cry.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

but you did not cry (New Century Version)

-or-

but you didn’t show any sadness (God’s Word)

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