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Matthew 17:10
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So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the Scribes that Elias must first come?
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?"
And His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
Then his followers asked him, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
The disciples asked Him, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the Scribes that Elias must first come?
And His disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
The disciples asked Him, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
The disciples asked Jesus, "Don't the teachers of the Law of Moses say that Elijah must come before the Messiah does?"
The talmidim asked him, "Then why do the Torah-teachers say that Eliyahu must come first?"
And [his] disciples demanded of him saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first have come?
The followers asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come before the Messiah comes?"
And his disciples asked him, and said, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?
Then the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"
And the disciples asked him, saying, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
And His disciples asked Him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?
His talmidim asked him, saying, "Then why do the Sofrim say that Eliyah must come first?
So the disciples asked him, "Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
And the disciples asked and said to him, Why therefore say the scribes that Elia must come first ?
And his disciples asked him, and said to him: Why then do the Scribes say, that Elijah must first come?
And his disciples asked hym, saying: Why then say the scribes, that Elias must first come?
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?
His disciples asked him, saying, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes, That Elijah must come first?
"Why then," asked the disciples, "do the Scribes say that Elijah must first come?"
And his disciplis axiden hym, and seiden, What thanne seien the scribis, that it bihoueth that Elie come first?
And the disciples asked him, saying, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes, that Elijah must first come?
The disciples asked him, "Why then do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?"
And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
Then his disciples asked him, "Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes?"
The followers asked Jesus, "Then why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?"
And the disciples asked him, "Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
And the disciples questioned him, saying - Why then do, the Scribes, say, that, Elijah, must needs come, first?
And his disciples asked him, saying: Why then do the scribes say that Elias must come first?
And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Eli'jah must come?"
And his disciples axed of him sayinge: Why then saye the scribes yt Helyas muste fyrst come?
And his disciples questioned him, saying, `Why then do the scribes say that Elijah it behoveth to come first?'
And his disciples axed him, and sayde: Why saye the scrybes then, that Elias must first come?
why then do the Scribes say, that Elias must first come?
The disciples, meanwhile, were asking questions. "Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?"
They asked him, "Why do the religious teachers say that old cowboy Elijah must come back first?"
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Why: Matthew 17:3, Matthew 17:4, Matthew 11:14, Matthew 27:47-49, Malachi 4:5, Malachi 4:6, Mark 9:11, John 1:21, John 1:25
Reciprocal: Malachi 3:1 - and he Mark 6:15 - it is Elias Luke 9:8 - General Revelation 20:4 - the souls
Cross-References
And Abram went down on his face on the earth, and the Lord God went on talking with him, and said,
I will make you very fertile, so that nations will come from you and kings will be your offspring.
And God said to Abraham, On your side, you are to keep the agreement, you and your seed after you through all generations.
In the flesh of your private parts you are to undergo it, as a mark of the agreement between me and you.
Every male among you, from one generation to another, is to undergo circumcision when he is eight days old, with every servant whose birth takes place in your house, or for whom you gave money to someone of another country, and not of your seed.
And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael's life might be your care!
And God said, Not so; but Sarah, your wife, will have a son, and you will give him the name Isaac, and I will make my agreement with him for ever and with his seed after him.
And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he underwent circumcision.
Abraham and Ishmael, his son, underwent circumcision on that very day.
But on this condition only will we come to an agreement with you: if every male among you becomes like us and undergoes circumcision;
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And his disciples asked him, saying,.... That is, these three, Peter, James, and John, before they came to the rest; whilst they were going down the mountain, or from it, to the place where the others were; for the rest knew nothing of the appearance of Elias, and so cannot be thought to join in a question concerning him.
Why then say the Scribes, that Elias must first come? That is, come before the Messiah comes; for certain it is, that this was the sense of the Scribes, as it was of the ancient Jews, and is still the opinion of the modern ones. They say h,
"that in the second year of Ahaziah, Elias was hid; nor will he appear, till the Messiah comes; then he will appear, and will be hid a second time; and then will not appear, till Gog and Magog come.''
And they expressly affirm i, that
"before the coming of the son of David, יבא אליהו לבשר, "Elias will come to bring the good news" of it.''
And this, they say k, will be one day before the coming of the Messiah. And Maimonides l observes,
"that there are of their wise men that say, המשיח יבא אליהו
שקודם ביאת, "that before the coming of the Messiah, Elias shall come".''
So Trypho the Jew, the same with R. Tarphon, so often mentioned in Talmudic writings, disputing with Justin Martyr, tells him m, that the Messiah,
"shall not know himself, nor have any power, μεχρι αν ελθων
Ηλιας, "till Elias comes", and anoints him, and makes him known to all.''
And hence the Targumist n often speaks of Messiah and Elias as together, and of things done by them; and in their prayers, petitions are put for them, as to come together o: this is founded upon a mistaken sense of Malachi 4:5 and which is the general sense of their commentators p. Now the Scribes made use of this popular sense, to disprove Jesus being the Messiah: they argued, that if he was the Messiah, Elias would be come; but whereas he was not come, therefore he could not be the Messiah. The disciples having just now seen Elias, are put in mind of this tenet of the Scribes, and of their use of it; and inquire of Christ, not so much about the truth of it, and the reason of their imbibing it, as why they were suffered to make use of it, to his disadvantage; and especially why they, the disciples, should be forbid publishing what they had seen; whereas, were they allowed to divulge this vision, and bear their testimony to this truth, that Elias had appeared, and they had seen him, it might be a means of stopping the mouths of these Scribes; and of convicting men of the truth of the Messiahship of Jesus, upon their own principles, and of confirming them that believed it: or else the sense is, whereas they had seen Elias, and he was gone again, without making any public appearance in the nation, their question is, how came the Scribes to say, that he should come first? and if there was any truth in this, how came it to pass, that he did not come sooner, even before Christ came in the flesh; and inasmuch as he did now appear, why he did not appear more publicly, as the person that was to come, at least, before the setting up of the kingdom and glory of the Messiah; which they might hope were at hand, and that Elias was come to usher it in: but that he did not appear publicly, and they were not allowed to speak of it, they wanted to know Christ's sense of these things; and took this opportunity as they came from the mountain, to converse with him about it.
h Seder Olam Rabba, p. 45, 46. i Gloss. in T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 43. 2. k R. Abraham ben David in Misn. Ediot, c. 8. sect. 7. l Hilch. Melacim, c. 12. sect. 2. m Dialog. cum Tryph. p. 226. n In Exod. xl. 10. Deut. xxx. 4. & Lam. iv. 22. o Seder Tephillot, fol. 56. 2. & 128. 2. p Aben Ezra, Kimchi, & Abarbinel in loc.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
See also Mark 9:11-13.
Why then say the scribes ... - The disciples appear to have been satisfied now that he was the Messiah. The transfiguration had taken away all their doubts, but they recollected that it was a common doctrine among the Jews that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came, and they did not then recollect that he had appeared. To this difficulty the word then refers. “We are satisfied that thou art the Christ, but Elijah has not yet come, as was expected; what, then, is the meaning of the common opinions of our learned men, the scribes? Were they right or wrong in their expectation of Elijah?” See the notes at Matthew 11:14.
Matthew 17:11
Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things - He did not mean by this that Elijah was yet to come, for he tells them immediately Matthew 17:12 that he had come; but he meant to affirm that it was a true doctrine which the scribes taught, that Elijah would appear before the coming of the Messiah. To “restore” means to put into the former situation. See Matthew 12:13. Hence, it means to heal, to correct, to put in proper order. Here it means that Elijah would put things in a proper state; he would be the instrument of reforming the people, or of restoring them, in some measure, to proper notions about the Messiah and preparing them for his coming. Before the coming of John their views were erroneous, their expectations were worldly, and their conduct were exceedingly depraved. He corrected many of their notions about the Messiah (see Matthew 3:0), and he was the instrument of an extensive reformation, and thus restored them, in some degree, to correct views of their own system and of the Messiah, and to a preparation for his advent.
Matthew 17:12
Elias is come already - That is, John the Baptist has come, in the spirit and power of Elias. See Luke 1:17.
They have done unto him whatsoever they listed - The word “list” is an old English word, signifying to choose, to desire, to be inclined. See Judges 3:8. It means, here, that they had done to John as they pleased; that is, they had put him to death, Matthew 14:10.
Mark adds Mark 9:12 that Jesus told them that it was “written of the Son of man that he must suffer many things, and be set at naught.” This was written of him particularly in Isaiah 53:1-12. To be set at naught is to be esteemed as worthless or as nothing; to be cast out and despised. No prophecy was ever more strikingly fulfilled. See Luke 23:11, Luke 23:14-21. This narrative, with some additions, is found in Mark 9:14-29, and Luke 9:37-43.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Matthew 17:10. His disciples — instead of HIS disciples, some MSS., with the Coptic, Armenian, Vulgate, all the Itala except two, and Origen, read simply, οι μαθηται, THE disciples, i.e. those only who had been with him on the mount, Peter, James, and John.
Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? — As the disciples saw that Elijah returned to heaven, knowing the tradition of the elders, and the prophecy on which the tradition was founded, Malachi 4:5-6, Behold I send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come; and he shall turn the hearts, &c., it was natural enough for them to inquire what the meaning of the tradition, and the intention of the prophecy, were.
