Matthew 17:3

And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
behold	ἰδοὺ idou	G2400	used as imperative lo! · interjection
appeared	ὤφθη ōphthē	G3700	to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
them	αὐτοῖς autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Moses	Μωϋσῆς Mōusēs	G3475	Moseus · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
Elias	Ἠλίας Ēlias	G2243	Helias (i.e. Elijah) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
talking	συλλαλοῦντες sullalountes	G4814	to talk together · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
with	μετ᾽ met᾽	G3326	properly · preposition
him	αὐτοῦ.¶ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were w…
1 Kings 18:36-40 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham,…
Mark 9:4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.
Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them a…
Deuteronomy 34:5-6 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 34:10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 17:1-13

We have here the story of Christ's transfiguration; he had said that the Son of man should shortly come in his kingdom, with which promise all the three evangelists industriously connect this story; as if Christ's transfiguration were intended for a specimen and an earnest of the kingdom of Christ, and of that light and love of his, which therein appears to his select and sanctified ones. Peter speaks of this as the power and coming of our Lord Jesus (Pe2 1:16); because it was an emanation of his power, and a previous notice of his coming, which was fitly introduced by such prefaces. When Christ was here in his humiliation, though his state, in the main, was a state of abasement and afflicti…

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John Gill on Matthew 17:3

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 Jews sometimes speak of these two as together. They say (c), "that the Shekinah never descends below, but , "Moses and Elias" ascend above.'' Yea, they expect that these two will come together in future time; for so they represent (d) a God saying to Moses; "Moses, as thou hast given thy life for them (the Israelites) in this world, so in time to come (the days of the Messiah) when I shall bring…

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John Calvin on Matthew 17:1-8

Matthew 17:1-8 Matthew 17:1-8 Mark 9:2-8 Luke 9:28-36 1. And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, and James, and John his brother, and leadeth them to a high mountain apart; 2. And was transfigured before them: and his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. 3. And, lo, there appeared to them [473] Moses and Elijah talking with him. 4. And Peter answering said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. 5. While he was speaking, lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and, lo, a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well please…

The Church Fathers

However, if any man discerns a spiritual sense in the Law agreeing with the teaching of Jesus, and in the Prophets finds the hidden wisdom of Christ, (1 Cor. 2:7.) he beholds Moses and Elias in the same glory with Jesus.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Also that Moses and Elias only out of the whole number of the saints stood with Christ, means, that Christ, in His kingdom, is between the Law and the Prophets; for He shall judge Israel in the presence of the same by whom He was preached to them.
— Hilary of Poitiers ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Now, not even to His apostles was His nature ever a matter of deception. He was truly both seen and heard upon the mount; true and real was the draught of that wine at the marriage of (Cana in) Galilee; true and real also was the touch of the then believing Thomas.
— Tertullian, A Treatise on the Soul

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Piece Of Silver — I. In the Old Testament the word “pieces” is used in the Authorized Version for a word understood in the Hebrew (if we except) (Psalms 68:30) The phrase is always “a thousand,” or the like, “of…
Transfiguration, the — Of our Lord on a “high mountain apart,” is described by each of the three evangelists (Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36). The fullest account is given by Luke, who, no doubt, was informed by…
Miracles Of Christ, The · His transfiguration — His transfiguration
Mountain · Is transfigured upon — Is transfigured upon
Peter · .At the transfiguration — .At the transfiguration
Transfiguration · Of Jesus — Of Jesus

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 17:1-13

John Gill on Matthew 17:3

John Calvin on Matthew 17:1-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 17:1-13

John Gill on Matthew 17:3

John Calvin on Matthew 17:1-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 17:3