Matthew 9:14 - Exposition

Then ( τότε ). In this case the close chronological connexion with the preceding incident is confirmed by the parallel passages (especially Luke). Came ( come , Revised Version) to him. They move forward among the crowd, and draw near to him ( προσέρχονται αὐτῷ ) . The disciples of John ( vide supra ), saying, Why (of. verse 11) do we and the Pharisees fast? . Oft ( πολλά ); Textus Receptus, and Westcott and Hort margin, with all the versions and the great mass of the authorities. Yet probably to be omitted, with Westcott and Host, on the evidence of the Vatican manuscript, and the original hand of the Sinaitic. It may have arisen from a gloss on the πυκνά of Luke. But thy disciples fast not . The feast given by St. Matthew was evidently at the time of some fast observed by the stricter Jews.