‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance; 6
we wailed in mourning, 7 yet you did not weep.’
1 sn The background of these women is disputed. Are they “official” mourners of Jesus’ death, appointed by custom to mourn death? If so, the mourning here would be more pro forma. However, the text seems to treat the mourning as sincere, so their tears and lamenting would have been genuine.
2 tn Or “who were beating their breasts,” implying a ritualized form of mourning employed in Jewish funerals. See the note on the term “women” earlier in this verse.
3 sn This group probably includes outside or even professional mourners, not just family, because a large group seems to be present.
4 tn Grk “beating the breasts” (in mourning); see L&N 52.1.
5 tn Grk “They are like children sitting…and calling out…who say.”
6 sn ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance…’ The children of this generation were making the complaint (see vv. 33-34) that others were not playing the game according to the way they played the music. John and Jesus did not follow “their tune.” Jesus’ complaint was that this generation wanted things their way, not God’s.
7 tn The verb ἐθρηνήσαμεν (eqrhnhsamen) refers to the loud wailing and lamenting used to mourn the dead in public in 1st century Jewish culture.