And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away, х xeerainetai (G3583)] - rather, 'becomes withered,' 'dried up,' or 'paralyzed;' as the same word is everywhere else rendered in the New Testament. Some additional particulars are given by Luke, and by our Evangelist below. "Lo," says he in Luke 9:39, "a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that be foameth again, and bruising him hardly (or with difficulty) departeth from him."
And I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. Our Lord replies to the father by a severe rebuke to the disciples. As if wounded at the exposure before such a multitude, of the weakness of His disciples' faith, which doubtless He felt as a reflection on Himself, He puts them to the blush before all, but in language fitted only to raise expectation of what Himself would do.