Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 9:7
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
7. a cloud ] not dark and murky, but bright (Mat 17:5), overshadowed the lawgiver and the prophet, and perhaps also the Lord. “Light in its utmost intensity performs the effects of darkness, hides as effectually as the darkness would do.” Comp. 1Ti 6:16, and the words of Milton, “dark with excess of light,” and of Wordsworth, “a glorious privacy of light.” Trench’s Studies, pp. 205, 206.
a voice came out of the cloud ] The same Voice which had been heard once before at the Baptism (Mat 3:17), and which was to be heard again when He stood on the threshold of His Passion (Joh 12:28), attesting His Divinity and Sonship at the beginning, at the middle, and at the close of His ministry. Looking back afterwards on the scene now vouchsafed to him and to the “sons of thunder,” St Peter speaks of himself and them as “eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2Pe 1:16), i. e. literally, as men who had been admitted and initiated into secret and holy mysteries, and says that the Voice “came from the excellent glory” (2Pe 1:17), from Him, that is, Who dwelt in the cloud, which was the symbol and the vehicle of the Divine Presence. St John also clearly alludes to the scene in Joh 1:14 and 1Jn 1:1.
This is my beloved Son ] “In the words themselves of this majestic installation there is a remarkable honouring of the Old Testament, and of it in all its parts, which can scarcely be regarded as accidental; for the three several clauses of that salutation are drawn severally from the Psalms (Psa 2:7), the Prophets (Isa 42:1), and the Law (Deu 18:15); and together they proclaim Him, concerning whom they are spoken, to be the King, the Priest, and the Prophet of the New Covenant.” Trench, Studies, p. 207.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 9:7
This is My Beloved Son: hear Him.
Hearing Christ
I. We should hear the Lord Jesus with resolution. I will go. Nothing shall prevent me; no employments, no pleasures; no solicitations, no difficulties. The Son of God calls me, and I must go. Thus we ought all to feel.
II. We must hear Him with submission. Not the pride of the world only, but our own pride, is to be resisted. We have no right to say how much or what part of His message we will receive, or when or where we will follow Him.
III. We must hear Him with attention, with serious and concentrated heed.
IV. We must hear Him not so much from the principle of fear, as of deep and earnest affection. He came to speak to us because He loved us.
V. We must hear Him with singleness of mind, placing no other instruction on a footing with His, far less yielding them the precedence. (F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)
The ministry of Jesus
I. Christ is Gods Messenger to man. He came forth and proceeded from the Father. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He had
(1) a Divine commission;
(2) a Divine message;
(3) Divine credentials, divinely authenticated. He spake with authority. He revealed mysteries.
II. Mans duty to Gods Messenger. Hear Him-
1. Because His ministry is the supercessor of the ministries of Moses and Elias.
2. Because this ministry contains matters of universal importance.
3. Because the rejection of this ministry leaves no moral instructor available. Christ is the truth of God, through whom the Fathers latest will is made known to man. Hear Christs words, catch Christs spirit, obey Christs law, and you shall inherit Christs promises. (J. F. Porter.)
Hear Him
I. Christs authority is divine.
II. Christs authority is undivided.
III. Men are to be heard only so far as they repeat Christs words. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them,…. Jesus, Moses, and Elias, and also the disciples; who, according to Luke, entered into it, and so were covered by it.
And a voice came out the cloud, saying, this is my beloved Son, hear him. This was the voice of God the Father, bearing a testimony to the sonship of Christ; and was directed, not to Moses and Elias, but to the disciples, enjoining them to hear and obey him, who was the end of the law and prophets; was the great prophet Moses had spoken of, and was to be hearkened to, and whom all the prophets had testified of, and in whom they all centred; [See comments on Mt 17:5].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Sore afraid. Wyc., aghast by dread.
Beloved son. Wyc., most dearworthy.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And there was a cloud that overshadowed them,” (kai egeneto nephele episkiazousa autois) “And there came a cloud overshadowing them,” a bright one like the shekinah, Exo 20:21; Exo 40:24; 1Ki 8:10-11.
2) “And a voice out of the cloud, saying,” (kai egeneto phone ek tes nepheles) “And there came a voice out of the cloud,” that spoke as follows, audibly, intelligibly, affirming and commanding, as He did at Sinai, Exo 19:9; Exo 20:1-2.
3) “This is my beloved Son hear Him.” (houtosestin ho huios mou ho a gapetos a kouete auto u) “This one is (exists as) my beloved Son, hear ye, or you all heed Him,” the transfigured one, not Moses, not Elias, Hear Him and Him only as the final giver of truth, Joh 1:17; Joh 8:32; Joh 8:36; Joh 14:6; Act 3:22-23; Deu 18:15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(7) This is my beloved Son.It will be noted that St. Mark omits the words in whom I am well pleased.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And there came a cloud overshadowing them, and there came a voice from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him.”
The appearance of Moses and Elijah was followed by an overshadowing cloud which was testimony to the fact that God too had come to join the company (Exo 19:9). It was once more a reminder of Moses in the mount of God (Exo 24:18), but this time overshadowed Jesus, Moses and Elijah. This was their ‘booth’. They needed no other. And from the cloud came a voice to the disciples (compare Exo 24:16; Psa 99:7). And it made crystal clear to the three disciples the uniqueness of Jesus. For God testified to the fact that He was His ‘own beloved Son’, and that He was the One Who must above all be listened to. He was greater than Moses, He was greater than Elijah. In Him came the full truth about God. All other messengers had been superseded.
The idea that Jesus was the Father’s beloved Son had been emphasised after His baptism (Mar 1:11). It was apparent to the demon world (Mar 3:11; Mar 5:7). It is brought home to them here. It will be revealed in veiled form in the parable of the wicked tenants (Mar 12:6). And Rome acknowledges it at the cross (Mar 15:39). It runs like a golden cord through the narrative. This is God’s beloved Son.
‘A cloud overshadowing them.’ By the cloud God reveals His presence, yet veils it, and a cloud is regularly connected with the glory of God being revealed. (Exo 19:9; Exo 13:21-22; Exo 14:19; Exo 14:24; Exo 24:15-16; Exo 33:9-10; Exo 40:34-38; 1Ki 8:10-11; Eze 10:3-4). Here it is the glory of Jesus that is revealed and then veiled by the cloud. The implication of His divinity is unmistakable.
‘My beloved Son.’ See Mar 1:11. It would be some time before the full significance of this would dawn on the disciples, but from now on they had to recognise that He was like no other. He was truly the Messiah, but not only the Messiah, He had a unique relationship with the Father. ‘Beloved’ reflects the fact that Jesus was not adopted by God like the kings of Israel but was unique. It practically reflects the same idea as the ‘only begotten’ – it is used in LXX to indicate Abraham’s ‘only son’ and Jephthah’s ‘only daughter’ – but was especially suitable as distinguishing Jesus from the earlier Davidic kings, as the One Whom God essentially and uniquely loved, His only beloved Son, Whose relationship with God was like no other (compare Mar 12:6).
‘Listen to Him.’ Listen is a strong expression and means take notice and obey, for He is the ‘Prophet like Moses’ who was to come. It echoes Deu 18:15. (See Deu 18:15 with Deu 18:18-19). Moses and Elijah are not now required for He is the One Who is greater than all, and if men will not hear Him they will hear no one. The idea of the Prophet like to Moses was linked in 1st century Judaism with Messianic expectations.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
Ver. 7. See Trapp on “ Mat 17:5 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mar 9:7 . , before , and again before , in each place instead of Mt.’s ; in both cases pointing to something remarkable: an overshadowing cloud, and a mysterious voice from the cloud.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mark
THE TRANSFIGURATION
‘THIS IS MY BELOVED SON: HEAR HIM’
Mar 9:7
With regard to the first part of these words spoken at the Transfiguration, they open far too large and wonderful a subject for me to do more than just touch with the tip of my finger, as it were, in passing, because the utterance of the divine words, ‘This is My beloved Son,’ in all the depth of their meaning and loftiness, is laid as the foundation of the two words that come after, which, for us, are the all-important things here. And so I would rather dwell upon them than upon the mysteries of the first part, but a sentence must be spared. If we accept this story before us as the divine attestation of the mystery of the person and nature of Jesus Christ, we must take the words to mean-as these disciples, no doubt, took them to mean-something pointing to a unique and solitary revelation which He bore to the Divine Majesty. We have to see in them the confirmation of the great truth that the manhood of Jesus Christ was the supernatural creation of a direct divine power. ‘Conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary’; therefore, ‘that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’ And we have to go, as I take it, farther back than the earthly birth, and to say, ‘No man hath seen God at any time-the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father.’ He was the Son here by human birth, and was in the bosom of the Father all through that human life. ‘He hath declared Him,’ and so not only is there here the testimony to the miraculous incarnation, and to the true and proper Divinity and Deity of Jesus Christ, but there is also the witness to the perfectness of His character in the great word, ‘This is My beloved Son,’ which points us to an unbroken communion of love between Him and the Father, which tells us that in the depths of that divine nature there has been a constant play of mutual love, which reveals to us that in His humanity there never was anything that came as the faintest film of separation between His will and the will of the Father, between His heart and the heart of God.
But this revelation of the mysterious personality of the divine Son, the perfect harmony between Him and God, is here given as the ground of the command that follows: ‘Hear Him.’ God’s voice bids you listen to Christ’s voice-God’s voice bids you listen to Christ’s voice as His voice. Listen to Him when He speaks to you about God-do not trust your own fancy, do not trust your own fear, do not trust the dictates of your conscience, do not consult man, do not listen to others, do not speculate about the mysteries of the earth and the heavens, but go to Him, and listen to the only begotten Son in the bosom of the Father. He declares unto us God; in Him alone we have certain knowledge of a loving Father in heaven. Hear Him when He tells us of God’s tenderness and patience and love. Hear Him above all when He says to us, ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.’ Hear Him when He says, ‘The Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for many.’ Hear Him when He speaks of Himself as Judge of you and me and all the world, and when He says, ‘The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations.’ Hear Him then. Hear Him when He calls you to Himself. Hear Him when He says to you, ‘Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden.’ Hear Him when He says, ‘If any man come unto Me he shall never thirst.’ Hear Him when He says, ‘Cast your burden upon Me, and I will sustain you.’ Hear Him when He commands. Hear Him when He says, ‘If ye love Me keep My commandments,’ and when He says, ‘Abide in Me and I in you,’ hear Him then. ‘In all time of our tribulation, in all time of our well-being, in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,’ let us listen to Him.
Dear friends there is no rest anywhere else; there is no peace, no pleasure, no satisfaction-except close at His side. ‘Speak Lord! for Thy servant heareth.’ ‘To whom shall we go but unto Thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life.’ Look how these disciples, grovelling there on their faces, were raised by the gentle hand laid upon their shoulder, and the blessed voice that brought them back to consciousness, and how, as they looked about them with dazed eyes, all was gone. The vision, the cloud, Moses and Elias-the lustre and radiance and the dread voice were past, and everything was as it used to be. Christ stood alone there like some solitary figure relieved against a clear daffodil sky upon some extended plain, and there was nothing else to meet the eye but He. Christ is there, and in Him is all.
That is a summing up of all Divine revelation. ‘God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath, in these last days, spoken unto us by His Son.’ Moses dies, Elijah fades, clouds and symbols and voices and all mortal things vanish, but Jesus Christ stands before us, the manifest God, for ever and ever, the sole illumination of the world, It is also a summing up of all earthly history. All other people go. The beach of time is strewed with wrecked reputations and forgotten glories. And I am not ashamed to say that I believe that, as the ages grow, and the world gets further away in time from the Cross upon Calvary, more and more everything else will sink beneath the horizon, and Christ alone be left to fill the past as He fills the present and the future.
We may make that scene the picture of our lives. Distractions and temptations that lie all round us are ever seeking to drag us away. There is no peace anywhere but in having Christ only-my only pattern, my only hope, my only salvation, my only guide, my only aim, my only friend. The solitary Christ is the sufficient Christ, and that for ever. Take Him for your only friend, and you need none other. Then at death there may be a brief spasm of darkness, a momentary fear, perchance, but then the touch of a Brother’s hand will be upon us as we lie there prone in the dust, and we shall lift up our eyes, and lo! life’s illusions are gone, and life’s noises are fallen dumb, and we ‘see no man any more, save Jesus only,’ with ourselves.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
them : i.e. Moses and Elijah.
out of = out from. Greek. ek, App-104.
My beloved Son = My Son, the beloved.
hear = hear ye. Compare Deu 18:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
[7. ) Hear ye Him: viz. Jesus. For Moses and Elias had by this time disappeared.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
a cloud: Exo 40:34, 1Ki 8:10-12, Psa 97:2, Dan 7:13, Mat 17:5-7, Mat 26:64, Luk 9:34-36, Act 1:9, Rev 1:7
This: Mar 1:11, Psa 2:7, Mat 3:17, Mat 26:63, Mat 27:43, Mat 27:54, Joh 1:34, Joh 1:49, Joh 3:16-18, Joh 5:18, Joh 5:22-25, Joh 5:37, Joh 6:69, Joh 9:35, Joh 19:7, Joh 20:31, Act 8:37, Rom 1:4, 2Pe 1:17, 1Jo 4:9, 1Jo 4:10, 1Jo 5:11, 1Jo 5:12, 1Jo 5:20
hear: Exo 23:21, Exo 23:22, Deu 18:15-19, Act 3:22, Act 3:23, Act 7:37, Heb 2:1, Heb 12:25, Heb 12:26
Reciprocal: Exo 19:9 – Lo Mat 12:18 – my beloved Mar 4:24 – hear Mar 12:6 – his Luk 6:5 – General Joh 6:27 – for him 1Jo 3:23 – his commandment
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
HEAR HIM!
This is My beloved Son: hear Him.
Mar 9:7
The voice of Christ is still heard in the world.
I. He has a right to speak.
(a) Who has a higher claim on our bodies and souls? Whose words can bring so much profit at all seasons and under all circumstances? Who will be so patient, so loving, so gentle with us?
(b) The words of none other are so dangerous to resist. No others words press for so immediate attention.
(c) Whether we hear or forbear He must deal with us according to His laws.
(d) Shall we not wisely hear and obey at once? Shall we not throughout life seek daily and hourly to hear His voice and follow His guidance?
(e) Must we not, therefore, follow out His commands in regard to the world outside His Church? His words are for them as well as for us.
II. It is the Fathers commandHear Him.
(a) Hear Him tell that the Father hath sent Him; that He has died, yea, rather, has risen again; that He ever liveth to make intercession for us; that He is ever with those who proclaim Him; that the reward of the faithful worker is sure.
(b) The non-Christian world sees intimations of the Godhead, and worships blindly. Now God would show to it Jesus Christ as the Saviour, and bid it Hear Him.
(c) With what profit of personal peace, of a new life for the society as well as the individual convert, has this command been followed!
III. Our own duty.In the matter of missions, let us no longer hesitate or lend perfunctory help. But rather
(a) Hear Him and obey instantlylike the Apostles leaving their callings;
(b) Hear Him and obey joyfully, casting away all that may obstruct our movements;
(c) Hear Him with submission.
Illustration
One who heard Him, and went forth not knowing whither she went, was Miss Hester Needham, an English lady of means, and the head of flourishing Y.W.C.A. work in Brompton. She attended a public meeting, at the close of which a small pamphlet was put into her hands. In it was mentioned some place in Sumatra, which forty years before had asked for Christian teaching, and to which all these years no answer had gone. Before twenty-four hours had passed Hester had said Yes to the call, though what or where the place was, or under what Society she could go, she knew not. Writing from Mandailing eight years later, she said, I was obliged to confess that I had pledged myself to go to some place in Sumatra, the name of which I did not know, and did not know how to obtain. After much inquiry she found that the country was under Dutch control, and missionaries had been sent out by the Rhenish Mission at Barmen, in Germany, though not to Mandailing, the district in question. She went to Barmen and offered herself, and was accepted as an honorary missionary, being then at the age of forty-six. She worked for a time at Pansurnapitu, in Sumatra, and then went on to Mandailing, where she died in 1897.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
7
The announcement from the cloud was like the one heard at the baptism of Jesus except it had the words, hear him. The earthly work of Jesus was virtually completed and the authority of the Son of God over Moses and the prophets was thus announced in this important assembly.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 9:7. The account of Mark is the more vivacious, according to the correct readings. Mark and Luke omit: in whom I am well pleased (Matthew).
Hear him. The great practical lesson of the whole occurrence.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
A cloud frequently pictured God’s presence and protection in the Old Testament (e.g., Exo 16:10; Exo 19:9; Exo 24:15-16; Exo 33:1). The heavenly voice assured the disciples that even though the Jews would reject Jesus and the Romans would execute Him, He was still pleasing to the Father (cf. Mar 1:11). [Note: Plummer, p. 215.] It also helped these disciples understand Jesus’ superiority over the greatest of God’s former servants (cf. Deu 18:15; Psa 2:7; Isa 42:1). They disappeared, but Jesus remained indicating the end of their ministries in contrast to Jesus’ continuing ministry. Listening to Jesus in the fullest sense means obeying Him.
This revelation should encourage every disciple of Jesus. The Son of Man’s humiliation will give way to His glorification. He will certainly return to earth and establish the kingdom that the biblical prophets predicted. The faithful disciple can anticipate a glorious future with Him as surely as the beloved Son could look forward to that kingdom (cf. Mar 8:35).