Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 11:16

"But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplaces, who call unto their fellows" — Matthew 11:16 (ASV)

It is like children sitting in the marketplaces — The comparison is drawn from one of the common amusements of children in an Eastern city. They form groups and act out wedding festivities and funeral processions. They play their pipes and expect others to dance; they beat their breasts in lamentation and expect others to weep. They complain if others do not comply with their demands.

Our Lord compares the evil generation in which He and John the Baptist lived to such a group. They loudly complained about John the Baptist because he would not share in their self-indulgent celebrations; they were bitter against Jesus because He would not live by the rules of their hypocritical austerity. Interpreted this way, the whole passage is coherent.

The more common explanation inverts this comparison, viewing our Lord and John the Baptist as the ones inviting others to mourning and joy, respectively, only to be rejected by their sullen playmates. While this interpretation would provide an adequate meaning on its own, it does not align with our Lord’s language, which specifically identifies the children who invite the others (this is the correct reading, rather than “their fellows”) with the “generation” that He condemns. The verses that follow, which record the language the same generation used to vent its anger and scorn against these two forms of holiness, better support the interpretation adopted here.