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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Matthew 11:18 Commentaries: "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!'</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/matthew/11-18.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/matthew/11-18.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > Matthew 11:18</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../matthew/11-17.htm" title="Matthew 11:17">◄</a> Matthew 11:18 <a href="../matthew/11-19.htm" title="Matthew 11:19">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/alford/matthew/11.htm" title="Henry Alford - Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary">Alford</a> • <a href="/commentaries/barnes/matthew/11.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/bengel/matthew/11.htm" title="Bengel's Gnomen">Bengel</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/matthew/11.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/matthew/11.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/matthew/11.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/matthew/11.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/chrysostom/matthew/11.htm" title="Chrysostom Homilies">Chrysostom</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/matthew/11.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/matthew/11.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/matthew/11.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/matthew/11.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/matthew/11.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/egt/matthew/11.htm" title="Expositor's Greek">Exp Grk</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/matthew/11.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/matthew/11.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/matthew/11.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/matthew/11.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/matthew/11.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/matthew/11.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/matthew/10-42.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/matthew/11.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/icc/matthew/11.htm" title="ICC NT Commentary">ICC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/matthew/11.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/matthew/11.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/matthew/11.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/matthew/11.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/matthew/11.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/matthew/11.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/matthew/11.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/meyer/matthew/11.htm" title="Meyer Commentary">Meyer</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/matthew/11.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pnt/matthew/11.htm" title="People's New Testament">PNT</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/matthew/11.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/matthew/11.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/matthew/11.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/matthew/11.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/matthew/11.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/vws/matthew/11.htm" title="Vincent's Word Studies">VWS</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/matthew/11.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/matthew/11.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(18) <span class= "bld">He hath a devil.</span>—The phrase was a common one, asserting at once the fact of insanity, and ascribing it to demoniacal possession as its cause. (Comp. <a href="/john/7-20.htm" title="The people answered and said, You have a devil: who goes about to kill you?">John 7:20</a>; <a href="/john/8-48.htm" title="Then answered the Jews, and said to him, Say we not well that you are a Samaritan, and have a devil?">John 8:48</a>.) This was the explanation which the scribes gave of John’s austerities. The locusts and wild honey were to them the diet of a madman.<p><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/matthew/11.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>11:16-24 Christ reflects on the scribes and Pharisees, who had a proud conceit of themselves. He likens their behaviour to children's play, who being out of temper without reason, quarrel with all the attempts of their fellows to please them, or to get them to join in the plays for which they used to assemble. The cavils of worldly men are often very trifling and show great malice. Something they have to urge against every one, however excellent and holy. Christ, who was undefiled, and separate from sinners, is here represented as in league with them, and polluted by them. The most unspotted innocence will not always be a defence against reproach. Christ knew that the hearts of the Jews were more bitter and hardened against his miracles and doctrines, than those of Tyre and Sidon would have been; therefore their condemnation would be the greater. The Lord exercises his almighty power, yet he punishes none more than they deserve, and never withholds the knowledge of the truth from those who long after it.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/matthew/11.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>But whereunto shall I liken ... - Christ proceeds to reprove the inconsistency and fickleness of that age of people. He says they were like children - nothing pleased them. He refers here to the "plays" or "sports" of children. Instrumental music, or piping and dancing, were used in marriages and festivals as a sign of joy. See the notes at <a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/5-11.htm">Isaiah 5:11-12</a>. Compare <a href="/job/21-11.htm">Job 21:11</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/6-14.htm">2 Samuel 6:14</a>; <a href="/judges/11-34.htm">Judges 11:34</a>; <a href="/luke/15-25.htm">Luke 15:25</a>. Children imitate their parents and others, and act over in play what they see done by others. Among their childish sports, therefore, was probably an imitation of a wedding or festal occasion. We have seen also (the notes at <a href="/matthew/9-23.htm">Matthew 9:23</a>) that funerals were attended with mournful music, and lamentation, and howling. It is not improbable that children also, in play: imitated a mournful funeral procession. One part are represented as sullen and dissatisfied. They would not enter into the play: nothing pleased them. The others complained of it. We have, said they, taken all pains to please you. We have piped to you, have played lively tunes, and have engaged in cheerful sports, but you would not join with us; and then we have played different games, and imitated the mourning at funerals, and you are equally sullen; "you have not lamented;" you have not joked with us. Nothing pleases you. So, said Christ, is this generation of people. "John" came one way, "neither eating nor drinking," abstaining as a Nazarite, and you were not pleased with him. I, the Son of man, have come in a different manner, "eating and drinking;" not practicing any austerity, but living like other people, and you are equally dissatisfied - nay, you are less pleased. You calumniate him, and abuse me for not doing the very thing which displeased you in John. Nothing pleases you. You are fickle, changeable, inconstant, and abusive.<p>Markets - Places to sell provisions; places of concourse, where also children flocked together for play.<p>We have piped - We have played on musical instruments. A "pipe" was a wind instrument of music often used by shepherds.<p>Neither eating nor drinking - That is, abstaining from some kinds of food and wine, as a Nazarite. It does not mean that he did not eat at all, but that he was remarkable for abstinence.<p>He hath a devil - He is actuated by a bad spirit. He is irregular, strange, and cannot be a good man.<p>The Son of man came eating and drinking - That is, living as others do; not practicing austerity; and they accuse him of being fond of excess, and seeking the society of the wicked.<p>Gluttonous - One given to excessive eating.<p>Wine-bibber - One who drinks much wine. Jesus undoubtedly lived according to the general customs of the people of his time. He did not affect singularity; he did not separate himself as a Nazarite; he did not practice severe austerities. He ate that which was common and drank that which was common. As wine was a common article of beverage among the people, he drank it. It was the pure juice of the grape, and for anything that can be proved, it was without fermentation. In regard to the kind of wine which was used, see the notes at <a href="/john/2-10.htm">John 2:10</a>. No one should plead the example, at any rate, in favor of making use of the wines that are commonly used in this country - wines, many of which are manufactured here, and without a particle of the pure juice of the grape, and most of which are mixed with noxious drugs to give them color and flavor.<p>Wisdom is justified of her children - The children of wisdom are the wise - those who understand. The Saviour means that though that generation of Pharisees and fault-finders did not appreciate the conduct of John and himself, yet the "wise," the candid - those who understood the reasons of their conduct - would approve of and do justice to it. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/matthew/11.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>2. Now when John had heard in the prison—For the account of this imprisonment, see on [1261]Mr 6:17-20.<p>the works of Christ, he sent, &c.—On the whole passage, see on [1262]Lu 7:18-35.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/matthew/11.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">See Poole on "<a href="/matthew/11-19.htm" title="The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a drunkard, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.">Matthew 11:19</a>"</span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/matthew/11.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>For John came neither eating nor drinking,.... This and the following verse are an explanation of the foregoing "parable"; and this shows, that John and his disciples are the persons that mourned, of which his austere life was a proof: for when he "came", being sent of God, and appeared as a public preacher, he was "neither eating nor drinking"; not that he did not eat or drink at all, otherwise he could not have lived, and discharged his office: but he ate sparingly, very little; and what he did eat and drink, was not the common food and drink of men; he neither ate bread nor drank wine, but lived upon locusts and wild honey; he excused all invitations to people's houses, and shunned all feasts and entertainments; he abstained from all free and sociable conversation with men, in eating and drinking: and though the Scribes and Pharisees pretended to much abstinence and frequent fastings, yet they did not care to follow his very severe way of living, and lament, in answer to his mournful ditty; but in a calumniating way, <p>they say he hath a devil; is a demoniac, a madman, one that is unsociable and melancholy; under a delusion of Satan, and influenced by him to abstain from proper food and company of men, under a pretence of religion. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/matthew/11.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/meyer/matthew/11.htm">Meyer's NT Commentary</a></div><a href="/context/matthew/11-18.htm" title="For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil....">Matthew 11:18-19</a>. <span class="greekheb">Μήτε ἐσθίων μήτε πίνων</span>] hyperbolical; <span class="greekheb">ἡ μὲν Ἰωάννου δίαιτα δυσπρόσιτος καὶ τραχεῖα</span>, Euth. Zigabenus. Comp. <a href="/matthew/3-4.htm" title="And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.">Matthew 3:4</a>; <a href="/luke/1-15.htm" title="For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.">Luke 1:15</a>; <a href="/daniel/10-3.htm" title="I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.">Daniel 10:3</a>. In contrast to the liberal principles of Jesus, who <span class="ital">ate and drank</span> without imposing upon Himself Nazarite abstinences (like John) or regular fastings (<a href="/matthew/9-14.htm" title="Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but your disciples fast not?">Matthew 9:14</a>), or without declining (like the Pharisees) to go to entertainments provided by those in a different rank of life from His own.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">δαιμόνιον ἔχει</span>] which, through perverting His judgment, leads Him into those ascetic eccentricities; comp. <a href="/john/10-20.htm" title="And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad; why hear you him?">John 10:20</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">φαγός</span>] <span class="ital">glutton</span>, is a word belonging to a very late period. See Lobeck, <span class="ital">ad Phryn</span>. p. 434; on the accent, Lipsius, <span class="ital">gramm. Unters</span>. p. 28.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">καὶ ἐδικαιώθη ἡ σοφία ἀπὸ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς</span>] not a continuation of the words of the <span class="ital">Jews</span>, in which case <span class="greekheb">ἐδικαιώθη</span> would have to be taken ironically (in answer to Bornemann), but the closing observation of Jesus in reference to the perverse manner in which His own claims and those of John had been treated by the Jews; <span class="ital">and justified</span> (<span class="ital">i.e</span>. shown to be the <span class="ital">true</span> wisdom) <span class="ital">has been the wisdom</span> (the divine wisdom which has been displayed in John and me) <span class="ital">on the part of her children, i.e</span>. on the part of those who reverence and obey her (<a href="http://apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/4-11.htm" title="Wisdom exalteth her children, and layeth hold of them that seek her.">Sir 4:11</a>), who, through their having embraced her and followed her guidance, have proved how unwarranted are those judgments of the <span class="ital">profanum vulgus;</span> comp. <a href="/luke/7-29.htm" title="And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.">Luke 7:29</a>. <span class="ital">The</span> (actual) <span class="ital">confirmation has come to wisdom from those devoted to her</span> (<span class="greekheb">ἀπό</span>, comp. on <a href="/acts/2-22.htm" title="You men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the middle of you, as you yourselves also know:">Acts 2:22</a>; Hermann, <span class="ital">ad Soph. El</span>. 65; Kühner, <span class="ital">ad Xen. Anab</span>. vi. 5. 18; not <span class="greekheb">ὑπό</span>). Those disciples of wisdom are the same who in <a href="/matthew/11-12.htm" title="And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.">Matthew 11:12</a> are said <span class="greekheb">βιάζειν τὴν βασιλείαν</span>; but the <span class="greekheb">καί</span> which introduces the passage “cum vi pronuntiandum est, ut saepe in sententiis oppositionem continentibus, ubi frustra fuere, qui <span class="greekheb">καίτοι</span> requirerent,” Stallbaum, <span class="ital">ad Plat. Apol</span>. p. 29 B. Such a use of <span class="greekheb">καί</span> occurs with special frequency in John. Wolf, <span class="ital">ad Lept</span>. p. 238; Hartung, <span class="ital">Partikell</span>. I. p. 147. This view is in the main that of (though in some cases the <span class="greekheb">τέκνα τῆς σοφίας</span> has been too much limited by being understood as referring merely to the disciples of <span class="ital">Jesus</span>) Jerome (“ego, qui sum Dei virtus et sapientia Dei, juste fecisse ab apostolis meis filiis comprobatus sum”), Münster, Beza, Vatablus, Calovius, Hammond, Jansen, Fritzsche, Olshausen, de Wette, Ebrard, Bleek, Lange, Hofmann, Keim, Weiss. Yet many, while also retaining the meaning given above, take the aorist, though without any warrant from the text, or any example of it in the New Testament, in the sense of <span class="ital">cherishing</span> (see Kühner, II. 1, p. 139; Fritzsche, <span class="ital">ad Rom</span>. I. p. 305), as Kuinoel (“sapientia non nisi a sapientiae cultoribus et amicis probatur et laudatur, reliqui homines eam rident,” etc.). Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Castalio understand the words as expressing the thought that <span class="ital">the wisdom manifested in Jesus has nothing to answer for with regard to the Jews</span> (similarly Weizsäcker); a view to which it may be objected—first, that <span class="greekheb">δικαιοῦσθαι ἀπό τινος</span> cannot be taken in the sense of <span class="ital">to be free from the guilt of any one</span> (<span class="greekheb">δικ</span>. <span class="greekheb">ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τινός</span>; comp. <a href="http://apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/26-29.htm" title="A merchant shall hardly keep himself from doing wrong; and an huckster shall not be freed from sin.">Sir 26:29</a>; <a href="/romans/6-7.htm" title="For he that is dead is freed from sin.">Romans 6:7</a>); and secondly, that the <span class="ital">Jews</span>, unless something in the context should specially suggest or lead to it, cannot straightway be spoken of as the children of wisdom. The latter objection is equally applicable to the explanation of Schneckenburger: <span class="ital">and so wisdom</span> (which is supposed to mean <span class="ital">God’s care for His people;</span> comp. also Euth. Zigabenus and Grotius) <span class="ital">has been treated cavalierly</span> (has been arrogantly condemned) <span class="ital">by her own children</span>, which, moreover, is precluded by the fact that <span class="greekheb">δικαιοῦσθαι</span> is never used in this sense in the New Testament. Oppenrieder, p. 441 f., likewise understands the children of wisdom to refer to the <span class="ital">Jews</span>, inasmuch, that is, as they were subjected to the discipline of divine wisdom. The doings of <span class="greekheb">σοφία</span> were demonstrated to be righteous by the <span class="ital">conduct</span> of the Jews; that is to say, they had desired, instead of John, a divine messenger of a less ascetic character (and him the divine wisdom sent them in the person of Christ); while, on the other hand, instead of Christ, with His freer manner of life, they desired one more rigorously disposed (and this wish the divine wisdom had gratified by giving them the Baptist). So far Schneckenburger. But this conduct of the Jews was capricious and wilful, and was ill calculated to display the justice of the divine dealings, which it could have done only if it had been supposed to proceed from a feeling of real moral need, for which, however, in <a href="/context/matthew/11-16.htm" title="But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like to children sitting in the markets, and calling to their fellows,...">Matthew 11:16-19</a>, Jesus shows Himself by no means inclined to give them credit. Besides, one is at a loss to see, even if this view were adopted, how the Jews with their <span class="ital">foolish</span> and <span class="ital">obstinate</span> behaviour should come to be called <span class="greekheb">τέκνα τῆς σοφίας</span>. According to Ewald (<span class="ital">Gesch. Chr</span>. p. 432), Jesus means to say that it is just her wrong-headed children (who quarrel with her) that do most to justify the divine wisdom by their not knowing, with all their wisdom, what they would really like. But this view, again, which necessitates an antiphrastic interpretation of the <span class="greekheb">τέκνα τῆς σοφίας</span>, finds no support in the text, besides involving accessory thoughts to which there is no allusion. Similarly Calvin even understood the words to refer to the <span class="ital">Jews who thought themselves so wise;</span> before whom, however, wisdom is supposed to assert her dignity and authority through the medium of her genuine children.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/egt/matthew/11.htm">Expositor's Greek Testament</a></div><a href="/matthew/11-18.htm" title="For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil.">Matthew 11:18</a>. he commentary on the parable showing that it was the reception given to John and Himself that suggested it.—<span class="greekheb">μήτε ἐσθ</span>. <span class="greekheb">μήτε πιν</span>.: eating and drinking, the two parts of diet; not eating nor drinking = remarkably abstemious, ascetic, that his religious habit; <span class="greekheb">μήτε</span> not <span class="greekheb">οὐτε</span>, to express not merely the fact, but the opinion about John. <span class="ital">Vide</span> notes on chap. <a href="/matthew/5-34.htm" title="But I say to you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:">Matthew 5:34</a>.—<span class="greekheb">δαιμόνιον ἔχει</span>: is possessed, mad, with the madness of a gloomy austerity. The Pharisee could wear gloomy airs in fasting (<a href="/matthew/6-16.htm" title="Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.">Matthew 6:16</a>), but that was <span class="ital">acting</span>. The Baptist was in earnest with his morose, severely abstinent life. Play for them, grim reality for him; and they disliked it and shrank from it as something weird. None but Pharisees would dare to say such a thing about a man like John. They are always so sure, and so ready to judge. Ordinary people would respect the ascetic of the wilderness, though they did not imitate him.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/bengel/matthew/11.htm">Bengel's Gnomen</a></div><a href="/matthew/11-18.htm" title="For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil.">Matthew 11:18</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἦλθε</span>, <span class="ital">came</span>) A striking instance of <span class="ital">Anaphora</span>;[531] cf. <a href="/matthew/11-19.htm" title="The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a drunkard, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.">Matthew 11:19</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ΜΉΤΕ ἘΣΘΊΩΝ</span>, <span class="ital">neither eating</span>) John did not eat with others, nor even in the presence of others. His mode of life agreed with the character of his teaching, and so did that of Christ [with the character of HIS teaching.] Therefore the one is, as it were, implied by the other.—<span class="greekheb">μήτε πίνων</span>, <span class="ital">nor drinking</span>) See <a href="/luke/1-15.htm" title="For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.">Luke 1:15</a>.—<span class="greekheb">λέγουσι</span>, <span class="ital">they say</span>) The world disparages virtue, representing it as the extreme; it advocates the cause of vice, representing it as the mean.—<span class="greekheb">δαιμόνἱον</span>, <span class="ital">a devil</span>) in common parlance, <span class="ital">a familiar spirit</span>.—<span class="greekheb">ἔχει</span>, <span class="ital">He has</span>) A reproach common to the Jews, by which they denoted one who was mad, or silly, or proud. They who abstain from the society of men, easily incur this suspicion.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[531] See Append. The same word repeated in the beginnings of sentences or sections, in order to mark them.—ED.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/matthew/11.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For John came neither eating</span> (<a href="/matthew/3-4.htm">Matthew 3:4</a>) <span class="cmt_word">nor drinking</span> (<a href="/luke/1-15.htm">Luke 1:15</a>), <span class="cmt_word">and they say, He hath a devil</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> he is possessed of strange and melancholy fancies (see Bishop Westcott on <a href="/john/7-20.htm">John 7:20</a>). 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