Bible Strands
Luke 9:41
“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the father who reported the disciples' inability to cast out a demon, speaking to him and the surrounding crowd at the foot of the mountain. The remark occurs immediately after the father's complaint and before Jesus heals the boy.
The words — ἄπιστος (apistos) translates to "unbelieving," and γενεὰ (genea) means "generation." Jesus applies these descriptors to the current assembly to highlight their failure to trust God's power.
The thread — Jesus repeats this exact rebuke in Matthew 17:17, while the broader theme of a morally twisted generation aligns with Deuteronomy 32:5. Matthew 16:4 records a related but distinct condemnation, labeling the crowd a "wicked and adulterous generation" that demands a sign.
Why it lands — The text commands the father to bring the boy forward despite the disciples' prior failure. It requires readers to recognize that persistent unbelief blocks spiritual authority and that only direct divine intervention resolves the crisis.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 32:5 His people have acted corruptly toward Him; the blemish on them is not that of His children, but of a perverse and crooked generation.
- Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
- Matthew 17:17 “O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.”
- Mark 9:19 “O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”
- John 14:9 Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
- John 20:27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”
- Romans 2:4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
- Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
- Exodus 16:28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?
- Numbers 14:11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?