John 1:21

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. AND THEY ASKED HIM, WHAT THEN? ART THOU ELIAS? AND HE SAITH, I AM NOT - that is, not Elijah in his own proper person, whom the Jews expected, and still expect, before the coming of their Messiah. ART THOU THAT PROPHET? [ ho (G3588) profeetees (G4396)] - rather, 'the prophet;' announced in Deuteronomy 18:15, etc., about whom they seem not to have been agreed whether he wet the same with the promised Messiah or no. And he answered, No....

21._Art thou Elijah _? Why do they name _Elijah _rather than Moses? It was because they learned from the prediction of Malachi 4:2, that when the Messiah, _the Sun of Righteousness_, should arise, _Elijah _would be the morning star to announce his approach. But the question is founded on a false opinion which they had long held; for, holding the opinion that the soul of a man departs out of one body into another, when the Prophet Malachi announced that _Elijah _would be sent, they imagined that the same _Elijah_, who lived under the reign of king Ahab, (1 Kings 17:1,) was to come. It is therefore a just and true reply which John makes, that _he is not Elijah_; for he speaks according to the opinion which they attached to the words; but Christ, giving the true interpretation of the Prophet, affir

19-28 John disowns himself to be the Christ, who was now expected and waited for. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, but he was not the person of Elias. John was not that Prophet whom Moses said the Lord would raise up to them of their brethren, like unto him. He was not such a prophet as they expected, who would rescue them from the Romans. He gave such an account of himself, as might excite and awaken them to hearken to him. He baptized the people with water as a profession of repentance, and as an outward sign of the spiritual blessings to be conferred on them by the Messiah, who was in the midst of them, though they knew him not, and to whom he was unworthy to render the meanest service....

Verse John 1:21. _ART THOU ELIAS?_] The scribes themselves had taught that Elijah was to come before the Messiah. See Matthew 17:10; and this belief of theirs they supported by a literal construction of Malachi 4:5. _ART THOU THAT PROPHET?_] the prophet spoken of by Moses, Deuteronomy 18:15, Deuteronomy 18:18. This text they had also misunderstood: for the _prophet_ or _teacher_ promised by Moses was no other than the Messiah himself. See...

ART THOU ELIAS? - This is the Greek way of writing Elijah. The Jews expected that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came. See the notes at Matthew 11:14. They supposed that it would be the real Elijah returned from heaven. In this sense John denied that he was Elijah; but he did not deny that he was the Elias or Elijah which the prophet intended Matthew 3:3, for he immediately proceeds to state John 1:23 that he was sent, as it was predicted that Elijah would be, to prepare the way of the Lord; so that, while he corrected their false notions about Elijah, he so clearly stated to them his true character that they might understand that he was really the one predicted as Elijah....

EXPOSITION THE title of the book is differently given in the manuscripts and ancient versions, and the differences are so considerable that they cannot be referred to the original text. The simplest form of the title is found in א, B, D, and is nothing more than "_according to_ John," ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ (B gives only one N in John's name, but א two); and this is followed by the vulgate and Syriac as a running title. The immense proportion of the uncials—A, C, E, F, G, L, and eight or nine others—read "Gospel according to John" (Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ιωάννην). This is followed by Tregelles, Lachmann, Alford. The T.R., with a large number of manuscripts, reads, "The Gospel according to John;" and in Stephen's third edition the word "holy" occurs before "Gospel." The cursives 69, 178, 259, read Εὐαγγέλιον ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωὰνην. Some cursives read, "Of the (holy) Gospel according to John." The p...

AND THEY ASKED HIM, WHAT THEN? ART THOU ELIAS?.... Elijah, the prophet; the Tishbite, as Nonnus in his paraphrase expresses it; who was translated, soul and body, to heaven: the Jews had a notion that that prophet would come in person a little before the coming of the Messiah; Matthew 17:10 wherefore these messengers inquire, that since he had so fully satisfied them that he was not the Messiah, that he would as ingenuously answer to this question, if he was Elias, or not: AND HE SAITH, I AM NOT; that is, he was not Elijah the prophet that lived in Ahab's time, and was called the Tishbite; for John's answer is to the intention of their question, and their own meaning in it, and is no contradiction to what Christ says of him, Matthew 11:14 that he was the Elias that was to come; for h

John 1:1. _In the beginning was the Word,_ Christ the Word has existed from all eternity. He is the eternal Son of the eternal Father; he is really what Melchisedec was metaphorically, «having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.» «In the beginning was the Word,» John 1:1. _And the Word was with God, and the Word was God._ The Word was as truly God as the Father was God, and as the Spirit was God:» these three are one,» and ever have been one. «Very God of very God» is that Jesus whom we trust, and love, and adore. John 1:2. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the li

JOHN 1:21 Ti, ou=n* Su. VHli,aj ei=* {C} Confronted with a multiplicity of competing variant readings, the Committee made its choice on the basis of age and diversity of supporting evidence....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. The Only-begotten, the Eternal Word; His Glory and His Manifestation -- Chapter 1:1-2:22 CHAPTER 1 __ 1. The Word: the Creator, the Life and the Light. (John 1:1 .) 2. The Light and the Darkness. The Light not Known. (John 1:5 .) 3. The Word Made Flesh and Its Gracious Results. (John 1:12 .) 4. The Witness of John. (John 1:19 .) 5. Following Him and Dwelling With Him. (John 1:35 .) 6. The Next Day. Nathanael's Unbelief and Confession. ...