Probably he compares his opponents to spoiled children, but this is debated; the parable of complaining children (vv. 16-17) can fit this context (vv. 18-19) in one of two ways. Some interpreters suggest that the children represent Jesus and John, Jesus addressing the generation from the vantage point of joy and John of mourning; yet the generation rejects both witnesses (for example, Wimmer 1982:108; France 1985:196-97). On this reading, the children's complaint is true: Jesus and John approached the generation from two angles, but the other children would not play either game. Jesus scandalously paints the kingdom in terms of children's play. But this assumes an exact analogy that among other things would require two groups of children, one piping and the other mourning, a picture not explicit in this text (Dodd 1961:15-16; Schweizer 1975:264).

Another interpretation is probably more likely. Children in the marketplace complaining that others would not play their games would strike most ancient hearers as spoiled. These spoiled children thus resemble Jesus' opponents, who are dissatisfied no matter what (Dodd 1961:16; Jeremias 1972:160-61). They piped to John and he would not dance; they wailed to Jesus, but he refused to mourn (vv. 17-18). This interpretation makes the analogy between the parable and its application less exact, but makes more sense of the image.

In either case, the striking image of the parable is clear: the generation is committed to refusing the truth, even if fickle in their reasons for doing so (compare Is 29:11-12). The piping refers to weddings, and the dirge refers especially to women's role in funeral processions. Mourners expected all bystanders to join in funeral processions; rabbis might exempt their students from such duties, but only under special circumstances (ARN 4A; 8, 22B). On either reading, the generation rejects both John and Jesus.