Matius 11:14

11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.

Matius 16:14

16:14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, ¹  and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Matius 27:47

27:47 When ²  some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.”

Matius 27:49

27:49 But the rest said, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to save him.” ³ 

Lukas 1:17

1:17 And he will go as forerunner before the Lord ⁴  in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ⁵  to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

Lukas 4:25-26

4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ⁶  when the sky ⁷  was shut up three and a half years, and ⁸  there was a great famine over all the land. 4:26 Yet ⁹  Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ¹⁰ 

Lukas 9:30

9:30 Then ¹¹  two men, Moses and Elijah, ¹²  began talking with him. ¹³ 

Lukas 9:33

9:33 Then ¹⁴  as the men ¹⁵  were starting to leave, ¹⁶  Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, ¹⁷  one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he was saying.

Lukas 9:54

9:54 Now when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume ¹⁸  them?” ¹⁹ 

Yohanes 1:21

1:21 So they asked him, “Then who are you? ²⁰  Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not!” ²¹  “Are you the Prophet?” ²²  He answered, “No!”

Yohanes 1:25

1:25 So they asked John, ²³  “Why then are you baptizing if you are not the Christ, ²⁴  nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

Roma 11:2

11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

[16:14]  ¹ sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.

[27:47]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:49]  ³ tc Early and important mss (א B C L Γ pc) have another sentence at the end of this verse: “And another [soldier] took a spear and pierced him in the side, and water and blood flowed out.” This comment finds such a strong parallel in John 19:34 that it was undoubtedly lifted from the Fourth Gospel by early, well-meaning scribes and inserted into Matt 27:49. Consequently, even though the support for the shorter reading (A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy sa bo) is not nearly as impressive, internal considerations on its behalf are compelling.

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “before him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ⁵ sn These two lines cover all relationships: Turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children points to horizontal relationships, while (turn) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just shows what God gives from above in a vertical manner.

[4:25]  ⁶ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

[4:25]  ⁷ tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

[4:25]  ⁸ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

[4:26]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.

[4:26]  ¹⁰ sn Zarephath in Sidon was Gentile territory (see 1 Kgs 17:9-24). Jesus’ point was that he would be forced to minister elsewhere, and the implication is that this ministry would ultimately extend (through the work of his followers) to those outside the nation.

[4:26]  map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[9:30]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[9:30]  ¹² sn Commentators and scholars discuss why Moses and Elijah are present. The most likely explanation is that Moses represents the prophetic office (Acts 3:18-22) and Elijah pictures the presence of the last days (Mal 4:5-6), the prophet of the eschaton (the end times).

[9:30]  ¹³ tn Grk “two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah.” The relative clause has been simplified to an appositive and transposed in keeping with contemporary English style.

[9:33]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And it happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:33]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “as they”; the referent (“the men,” referring to Moses and Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:33]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to leave from him.”

[9:33]  ¹⁷ tn Or “booths,” “dwellings” (referring to the temporary booths constructed in the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles).

[9:33]  sn By making three shelters Peter apparently wanted to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths that looked forward to the end and to treat Moses, Elijah, and Jesus as equals. It was actually a way of expressing honor to Jesus, but the remark at the end of the verse makes it clear that it was not enough honor.

[9:54]  ¹⁸ tn Or “destroy.”

[9:54]  ¹⁹ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï it), read here “as also Elijah did,” making the allusion to 2 Kgs 1:10, 12, 14 more explicit. The shorter reading has better and earlier support (Ì^45,75 א B L Ξ 579 700* 1241 pc lat sa). It is difficult to explain how the shorter reading could have arisen from the longer, especially since it is well represented early on. However, the longer reading looks to have been a marginal note originally, incorporated into the text of Luke by early scribes.

[9:54]  sn An allusion to 2 Kgs 1:10, 12, 14.

[1:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “What then?” (an idiom).

[1:21]  ²¹ sn According to the 1st century rabbinic interpretation of 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah. How does one reconcile John the Baptist’s denial here (“I am not”) with Jesus’ statements in Matt 11:14 (see also Mark 9:13 and Matt 17:12) that John the Baptist was Elijah? Some have attempted to remove the difficulty by a reconstruction of the text in the Gospel of John which makes the Baptist say that he was Elijah. However, external support for such emendations is lacking. According to Gregory the Great, John was not Elijah, but exercised toward Jesus the function of Elijah by preparing his way. But this avoids the real difficulty, since in John’s Gospel the question of the Jewish authorities to the Baptist concerns precisely his function. It has also been suggested that the author of the Gospel here preserves a historically correct reminiscence – that John the Baptist did not think of himself as Elijah, although Jesus said otherwise. Mark 6:14-16 and Mark 8:28 indicate the people and Herod both distinguished between John and Elijah – probably because he did not see himself as Elijah. But Jesus’ remarks in Matt 11:14, Mark 9:13, and Matt 17:12 indicate that John did perform the function of Elijah – John did for Jesus what Elijah was to have done for the coming of the Lord. C. F. D. Moule pointed out that it is too simple to see a straight contradiction between John’s account and that of the synoptic gospels: “We have to ask by whom the identification is made, and by whom refused. The synoptic gospels represent Jesus as identifying, or comparing, the Baptist with Elijah, while John represents the Baptist as rejecting the identification when it is offered him by his interviewers. Now these two, so far from being incompatible, are psychologically complementary. The Baptist humbly rejects the exalted title, but Jesus, on the contrary, bestows it on him. Why should not the two both be correct?” (The Phenomenon of the New Testament [SBT], 70).

[1:21]  ²² sn The Prophet is a reference to the “prophet like Moses” of Deut 18:15, by this time an eschatological figure in popular belief. Acts 3:22 identifies Jesus as this prophet.

[1:25]  ²³ tn Grk “And they asked him, and said to him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the phrase has been simplified in the translation to “So they asked John.”

[1:25]  ²⁴ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[1:25]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:20.