Ver. 1 AND AFTER SIX DAYS,.... That is, so long after Christ's conversation with his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, Peter's confession of him, and the reproof he gave him, upon his intimating that he should suffer and die, and Christ's resentment of it; after he had discoursed about his disciples t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WAS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM,.... Peter, James, and John, before whom he was metamorphosed, or changed into another form; for not the substance of his body was changed, nor even the shape of it altered, only it received a more glorious form; that whereas before he appeared in the form of a serva... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEHOLD THERE APPEARED UNTO THEM,.... The disciples: MOSES AND ELIAS; Moses the giver of the law, and Elias one of the chief of the prophets: one of them had been dead near a thousand and five hundred years, and the other had been caught up to heaven, about nine hundred years before this. The Je... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ANSWERED PETER AND SAID UNTO JESUS,.... Which was, as Luke informs us, after he, and James, and John, awoke out of sleep; for it being night when Christ was transfigured, and they weary, were overpressed, and fell asleep on the mount, as they afterwards did in the garden with him: but when they... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE HE YET SPAKE,.... That is, while Peter was proposing the above to Christ, before an answer could be given by him, and which was unworthy of one, another scene of things presents, and a full answer is returned him by a voice from the Father; directing him and his fellow disciples, to attend to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE DISCIPLES HEARD IT,.... The voice out of the cloud, and which they apprehended came from God, and was uttered with so much majesty: THEY FELL ON THEIR FACE: not so much out of reverence, or for the sake of adoration, but as persons struck with astonishment and fear, and were as half de... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS CAME AND TOUCHED THEM,.... The disciples were at some little distance from Christ, but he observing the fear and surprise they were in, came to their relief and assistance; which he did not disdain to give, notwithstanding the glory he was covered with; but acts the part of a mediator betw... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD LIFT UP THEIR EYES,.... And "looked round about", as Mark says, to see whether the same objects still continued, as Moses and Elias; and the bright cloud: THEY SAW NO MAN; neither Moses nor Elias, who were both gone: signifying, that though the law and the prophets were till this... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS THEY CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN,.... Where all these things had been transacted, JESUS CHARGED THEM, SAYING, TELL THE VISION TO NO MAN: by the "vision" is meant, as it is explained in Mark, "what things they had seen"; as Moses and Elias, and the bright cloud that overshadowed them, and Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
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 q... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO THEM,.... By way of concession, ELIAS TRULY SHALL FIRST COME: this is indeed a tenet of the Scribes, and it is also certain, that there is a prophecy in Malachi 4:5 of the coming of Elias; of one that goes under that name, not of Elias the Tishbite, in person, but o... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I SAY UNTO YOU,.... A way of speaking used by Christ, when he opposes and contradicts any of the tenets of the Scribes and Pharisees; see Matthew 5:22 "that Elias is come already"; the person that was signified by, and prophesied of, under the name of Elias: for Christ refers not to the late app... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE DISCIPLES UNDERSTOOD,.... By his saying that Elias was come, and by the account he gave of his ill usage, it was clear to them, THAT HE SPAKE UNTO THEM OF JOHN THE BAPTIST; and that he was the Elias that was to come, and was come: so that this observation, that according to prophecy Elias... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO THE MULTITUDE,.... Which was on the next day, as in Luke 9:37 when Christ and his three disciples, Peter, James, and John, came down from the mount to the other nine, with whom the multitude of the people were; during their stay on the mountain, THERE CAME TO HIM A CERTAI... [ Continue Reading ]
LORD, HAVE MERCY ON MY SON,.... He addressed him with great marks of honour and respect, not only by gesture, but by words; he craves mercy, pity, and compassion; for the case he had to present, was a miserable one; and his earnestness and importunity he hoped might be excused, since it was for a ch... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I BROUGHT HIM TO THY DISCIPLES,.... To the nine, whilst Christ was with the other three upon the mountain: no doubt but his design was to bring him to Christ first; but he being absent, he applied to his disciples, and, desired them to make use of their power to heal him; and which they attempte... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID,.... Not to the disciples, but to the father of the child; see Mark 9:19 and those that were with him, and the Scribes that were present, disputing with the disciples, upbraiding them with their weakness, and triumphing over them: "O faithless and perverse generation"; a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS REBUKED THE DEVIL,.... The words may indeed be rendered, "and Jesus rebuked him, and the devil departed out of him"; so the Vulgate Latin, and the Oriental versions; but the sense our version gives is certainly right; for it was not the father of the child Christ rebuked for his unbelief;... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME THE DISCIPLES TO JESUS APART,.... Or "secretly", as the Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel read; that is, privately, and when alone; and as Mark says, "when he was come into the house"; and was by himself, then came the nine disciples to him, to converse with him about this matter,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, BECAUSE OF YOUR UNBELIEF,.... The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "because of your little faith", or "the smallness of your faith"; and so does one Greek manuscript; and which is what is doubtless meant by their unbelief; for they were not altogether destitute of faith,... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWBEIT, THIS KIND GOETH NOT OUT,.... The Vulgate Latin renders it, "is not cast out"; and so do the Arabic version, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel; and which confirm the more commonly received sense of these words, that they are to be understood of that kind of devils, one of which was cast out of the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHILE THEY ABODE IN GALILEE,.... Munster's Hebrew Gospel reads it וכשהלכו, "and while they were walking in Galilee", for they passed through it, when they departed from hence; see Mark 9:30 and as they were going to Capernaum, and so onward, to the coasts of Judea, in order to be at Jerusalem at... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL KILL HIM,.... Put him to death, with the death of the cross; for the angels in rehearsing these words, affirm, that Christ told his disciples at this time, and in this place, whilst they were in Galilee, that he should be crucified, Luke 24:7. AND THE THIRD DAY HE SHALL BE RAISED AG... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO CAPERNAUM,.... Called Christ's own city, Matthew 9:1 where he dwelt some time Matthew 4:13 and Peter had an house, Matthew 8:14 "they that received tribute money", or the "didrachms"; in Talmudic language, it would be גובין השקלים i, "they that collect the shekels": for no... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAITH, YES,.... Without any hesitation, knowing it had been his master's practice; and therefore as he had done it, did not doubt but he would again: AND WHEN HE WAS COME INTO THE HOUSE; that is, Peter, as both the Syriac and Persic versions express; when he was come into his own house, or at le... [ Continue Reading ]
PETER SAITH UNTO HIM,.... The Vulgate Latin reads, "and he said": and so the Ethiopic, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel; but without doubt Peter is meant, and rightly expressed; whose answer to Christ's question is, OF STRANGERS: meaning not foreigners, or such who formerly belonged to other nations, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTWITHSTANDING, LEST WE SHOULD OFFEND THEM,.... Though Christ could have maintained his right of exemption from payment, by such strong and clear reasons and arguments; yet he chose to forego it, lest any should be offended with him, and look upon him as a transgressor of the law; one that had no r... [ Continue Reading ]