Matthew 27:47

Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Some	Τινὲς Tines	G5100	some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative plural masculine
stood	ἑστηκότων hestēkotōn	G2476	to stand (transitively or intransitively) · verb — perfect active participle, genitive plural masculine
there	ἐκεῖ ekei	G1563	there · adverb
heard	ἀκούσαντες akousantes	G191	to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
said	ἔλεγον elegon	G3004	properly · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
This	οὗτος. houtos	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
for	φωνεῖ phōnei	G5455	to emit a sound (animal · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
Elias	Ἠλίαν Ēlian	G2243	Helias (i.e. Elijah) · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name

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:
Mark 15:35-36 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
Matthew 11:14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

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

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 27:9

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying-- (Zac 11:12-13). Never was a complicated prophecy, otherwise hopelessly dark, more marvellously fulfilled. Various conjectures have been formed to account for Matthew's ascribing to Jeremiah a prophecy found in the book of Zechariah. But since with this book he was plainly familiar, having quoted one of its most remarkable prophecies of Christ but a few chapters before (Mat 21:4-5), the question is one more of critical interest than real importance. Perhaps the true explanation is the following, from LIGHTFOOT: "Jeremiah of old had the first place among the prophets, and hereby he comes to be mentioned above all the rest…

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John Gill on Matthew 27:47

Some of them that stood there,.... Near the cross, looking on, and mocking at him, when they heard that; the words, "Eli, Eli", spoken by Christ, said, this man calleth for Elias. These could not be the Roman soldiers that said so, who had no notion of Elias; rather the Hellenistic Jews, who not so well understanding the Hebrew language, hearing the above words, and having some notion of the prophet Elias, fancied he was calling for him; though it seems most likely to be the Jews, who either through the nearness of the sound of the words, and mistake of them, and not near enough to hear and distinguish them, really thought he called for that prophet; or rather wilfully mistook him, with an…

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John Calvin on Matthew 27:45-56

Matthew 27:45-56 Matthew 27:45-56 Mark 15:33-41 Luke 23:44-49 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole land [280] till the ninth hour. 46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47. And some of those who were standing by, when they heard it, said, He calleth Elijah. 48. And immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and fastened it to a reed, and gave him to drink. 49. But others said, Let him alone, let us see if Elijah will come to save him. 50. And Jesus having again cried with a loud voice, gave up his spirit. 51. And, lo, the…

The Church Fathers

The soldiers misunderstanding the sound of the Lord's words, foolishly looked for the coming of Elias. But God, whom the Saviour thus invoked in the Hebrew tongue, He had ever inseparably with Him.
— Rabanus Maurus ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

It follows, Some of them that stood by, &c.; some, not all; whom I suppose to have been Roman soldiers, ignorant of Hebrew, but from the words Eli, Eli, thought that He called upon Elias. But if we prefer to suppose them Jews, they do it after their usual manner, that they may accuse the Lord of weakness in thus invoking Elias.
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Verse 47.) But some of those standing there, when they heard it, said: This man is calling Elijah. Not all, but some whom I believe were Roman soldiers, not understanding the nature of the Hebrew language, but from what he said: Eli, Eli, thinking that he was calling Elijah. But if we want to understand the Jews who said this, they do this in their usual way, to dishonor the Lord of weakness, who invokes the aid of Elijah.
— Jerome, Commentary on Matthew

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

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 27:9

John Gill on Matthew 27:47

John Calvin on Matthew 27:45-56

The Church Fathers

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 27:9

John Gill on Matthew 27:47

John Calvin on Matthew 27:45-56

The Church Fathers

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 27:47