Matthew 17:6

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
when	ἀκούσαντες akousantes	G191	to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
disciples	μαθηταὶ mathētai	G3101	a learner · noun — nominative plural masculine
heard	ἀκούω akoúō	G191	to hear (in various senses)
fell	ἔπεσαν epesan	G4098	to fall (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
on	ἐπὶ epi	G1909	properly · preposition
their	αὐτῶν autōn	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
face	πρόσωπον prosōpon	G4383	the front (as being towards view) · noun — accusative singular neuter
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
were	ἐφοβήθησαν ephobēthēsan	G5399	to frighten · verb — aorist passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
sore	σφόδρα. sphodra	G4970	of uncertain derivation) as adverb · adverb
afraid	φοβέω phobéō	G5399	to frighten

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

Acts 26:14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest tho…
Judges 13:20 For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar.…
2 Peter 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
Leviticus 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, t…
Judges 13:22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
1 Chronicles 21:16 And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretch…
Ezekiel 3:23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar…
Ezekiel 43:3 And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: a…

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 17:6

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 dead; and so fell with their faces fiat to the ground, not being able to stand before God, to behold his majesty, and hear his voice: and were sore afraid: they were filled with fear, when, awaking out of their sleep, they saw the surprising glory of Christ, and of the two men that were with him, insomuch that they knew not what to think, or say; and so they were when they entered into the cloud, a…

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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

Whereas the holy Apostles fell upon their faces, that was a proof of their sanctity, for the saints are always described to fall upon their faces, but the wicked to fall backwards.
— Remigius of Rheims ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

A like danger to which also befell Peter, and John, and James, (who confronted not the same light) without risking the loss of their reason and mind; and if they, who were unable to endure the glory of the Son, had only seen the Father, they must have died then and there: "For no man shall see God, and live.
— Tertullian, Against Praxeas

Through their speaking together it shows that the old prophets also spoke the same things as Jesus, even if enigmatically. In great awe the disciples fell on their faces, and the Savior raised them up. This shows that if Jesus had not been incarnate and had not been Mediator between God and humanity and strengthened his own nature, he would not have endured to hear the voice of God.
— Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENT 199

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
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 17:6

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 17:6

John Calvin on Matthew 17:1-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 17:6-7