Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 9:12
And he answered and told them, Elijah verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at naught.
12. and how ] Rather, but how is it written of the Son of Man that He must suffer many things and he set at naught? See Tischendorf, Synop. Evang. The words that He must, or in order that He may, are very striking. They set before us the design of the It is written. “Elias cometh first. But how or to what purpose is it written of the Son of Man that He cometh? In order that He may suffer, not conquer like a mighty prince.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 12. And how it is written] Rather, as also it is written. Instead of , AND HOW it is written, I read , AS ALSO it is written of the Son of man, &c. This reading is supported by AKM, seventeen others, the later Syriac in the margin, Slavonic and Armenian. Some think the propriety of adopting this reading is self-evident.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he answered, and told them,…. Allowing that their observation was right, and that this was the sense of the Scribes, and that there was something of truth in it, when rightly understood:
Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things:
[See comments on Mt 17:11];
and how it is written of the son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. The sense of Christ is, that John the Baptist, whom he means by Elias, comes first, and restores all things: and among the rest of the things he sets right, this is one, and not of the least; namely, that he gives the true sense of such passages of the sacred writings, which related to the contemptuous usage, rejection, and sufferings of the Messiah; as that in these he was the Lamb of God typified in the sacrifices of the law, who by his sufferings and death takes away the sin, of the world; and therefore he exhorted and directed those to whom he ministered, to look unto him, and believe in him; see Joh 1:29.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Restoreth all things ( ). This late double compound verb, usual form in the papyri, is Christ’s description of the Baptist as the promised Elijah and Forerunner of the Messiah. See on Mt 17:10-13. The disciples had not till now understood that the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy in Mal 3:5f. They had just seen Elijah on the mountain, but Jesus as Messiah preceded this coming of Elijah. But Jesus patiently enlightens his dull pupils as they argue about the exegesis of the scribes.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And He answered and told them,” (ho de ephe autois) “And He explained to them,”
2) “Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; (Elias men elthon proton apokathistanei panta) “Indeed, Elias coming first will restore, bring to restoration, all things.” For the Jews expected Elijah to come in his own person, Joh 1:21; This prophecy was fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist, Luk 1:17.
3) “And how it is written of the Son of man,” (kai pos gegraptai epi ton huion tou anthropou) “And just how it has been written of the Son of man,” what is the order of His restoration of all things to occur?
4) “That He must suffer many things,” (hina polla pathe) “In order that(for the purpose that) He should (first) suffer many things.”
5) “And be set at nought,” (kai eksoudenethe) “And be set aside, at nought, rejected, or excommunicated,” by His own people, Joh 1:11-12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘And he said to them, ‘Elijah it is true comes first, and restores all things, and how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be set at nought (‘treated with contempt’)? But I say to you that Elijah is come, and they have also done to him whatever they willed, even as it is written of him.” ’
Jesus confirmed that Elijah was in fact to come first ‘to restore all things’ (Mal 3:5-6). In that the scribes were right. But then He explains what ‘restore all things’, which was probably a stereotyped saying about the coming of Elijah, meant. If, He asked, ‘restore all things’ meant all being put right, how could it be written of the Son of Man who was to follow Elijah that He should suffer and be treated with contempt, and be set at naught? A suffering Messiah must surely be introduced by a suffering Elijah. Thus ‘restore all things’ could not mean total restoration. It had to mean that Elijah’s work was the beginning of the restoration.
This reference to suffering has in mind Isa 50:6-7 and Isaiah 53 (where Isa 53:3 contains the same verb for ‘treated with contempt’ in some Greek versions). That was where God’s suffering Servant is described. And also possibly in mind was Psalms 22 which spoke of the sufferings of the Davidic king prior to the manifestation to the poor of God’s Kingly Rule (Psa 22:26-28). Added to that it was necessary to take into account ‘the anointed one’ (Messiah) who was to be cut off and would have nothing, as prophesied by Dan 9:26.
So what did ‘restore all things’ promise? The answer is clearly that he was to lay a firm and solid foundation for the establishing of the Kingly Rule of God. He was to bring Israel to a point where the King could come, turning the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, turning the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the righteous and to make ready for the Lord a prepared people (Mal 4:6; Luk 1:17). And that John had accomplished.
‘But I say to you that Elijah is come, and they have also done to him whatever they willed, even as it is written of him.’ Jesus then confirmed that Elijah had in fact come, in the person of John the Baptiser. And they had done to him what they wanted, just as it is written that the Elijah of old was treated (1Ki 19:2; 1Ki 19:10). Scripture was being repeated. It had already revealed how an Elijah who came was treated. And here it was again.
There was, of course, a restoring under John the Baptiser, but it was the restoring of those in Israel who were open to faith, as with the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1Ki 19:18) and not of the whole of Israel (see Romans 11). It was the restoring of those reserved within the purposes of God
The reference to fulfilled Scripture is interesting. It sees the lives of Elijah and John the Baptiser as combined in one. The Scripture referring to one is here seen as also fulfilled in the other, for John is the Elijah who was to come. That is he was engaging in Elijah’s continuing ministry and fulfilling his function. Elijah had stood up against a king and his notoriously sinful wife in spite of the danger to his life, and so now had John. Both had been persecuted by kings. Both had been concerned for righteousness. Both had been in danger of their lives. And it is saying that Elijah continued to be treated in the same way now that he had ‘come again’ in John the Baptiser. And in John’s case they had not only sought his life, they had taken it.
Note. Jesus was quite clear that John the Baptiser was the fulfilment of the prophecies about Elijah. He had already said this to the crowds at the time that John the Baptiser had sent messages to Him seeking confirmation of Who He really was (Mat 11:2-15). John had originally had no doubts of Who Jesus was, but he was clearly perplexed that he should be in prison in such dreadful conditions if the Messiah had come. He still received news, and heard about His powerful ministry. But where was the promised deliverance? It reminds us that John himself did not fully understand what God’s future purposes were, and that he, like his ‘namesake’ Elijah, could temporarily lose faith and begin to doubt (1Ki 19:4). In both cases a word from God was all that was needed to put them right.
Jesus had told the crowds who John the Baptiser really was. He was equal to the greatest of all prophets, including Elijah, prior to the coming of the Kingly Rule of God (Mat 11:11). He was the final great pre-Kingly Rule prophet (Mar 11:13). Indeed ‘if you are willing to receive it this is Elijah who is to come’, and then He declared that those with truly spiritual ears would recognise that this was so (Mar 11:14-15). In all ages there are those who are unwilling to receive it, but Jesus’ statements were unequivocal. Elijah had again essentially come. No further fulfilment was required. His preparatory work had been accomplished in fulfilment of Scripture. While the ‘two witnesses’ at the end of time will be similar in power to Elijah neither is called Elijah for they were under the Kingly Rule of God, and Elijah’s purpose had been completed when that Kingly Rule first became established in the ministry of Jesus.
(End of note).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
12 And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.
Ver. 12. Set at nought ] Vilified and nullified mean , or one that had nothing in him, . Vermis sum et non homo, I am a worm, and no man, saith the Psalmist in the person of Christ.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12. ] Meyer and others place the interrogation after , and regard . as its answer. But not to mention that such a sentence would be without example in our Lord’s discourses, the sense given by it is meagre in the extreme. As it stands in the text, it forms a counter-question to that of the Apostles in Mar 9:11 . They asked , How say the Scribes that Elias must first come? Our Lord answers it by telling them that it is even so; and returns the question by another: And how is it (also) written of the Son of Man, that He, &c.? then comes the conclusion in Mar 9:13 with , stating that Elias has come , and leaving it therefore to be inferred that the sufferings of the Son of Man were close at hand. Notice how the . binds both together. Just as the first coming of the Son of Man is to suffer and to die, so has the first coming of Elias been as it was written of him; but there is a future coming of Elias , and of the Son of Man in glory. See further in notes on Matt. The first in Mar 9:13 is also, binding what is said of Elias to that which has been said of the Son of Man: the second is simply and.
[On the various forms of . see Moulton on Winer, p. 113, note 2.]
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 9:12 . The construction of this sentence also is somewhat puzzling. After comes in the best MSS., raising expectation of a in the apodosis, instead of which we have ( ). Examples of such substitution occur in classic authors; concerning which Klotz, Devar. , p. 659, remarks: when , , or the like are put for after , it is not properly a case of construction, but rather: “quaedam quasi legitima orationis ”. Perhaps we are at a loss from merely reading the words instead of hearing them spoken with a pause between first and second half of sentence, thus: Elias, indeed, coming first, restoreth all things (so teach the scribes) and how stands it written about the Son of Man? that He should suffer many things and be set at nought! The aim is to awaken thought in the mind of the disciples by putting together things incongruous. All things to be restored in preparation for Messiah; Messiah Himself to suffer and be set at nought: what then can the real function and fate of Elijah the restorer be? Who is Elijah? : this form, found in [74] [75] and adopted by W.H [76] , is rare. The verb occurs in three forms , (T.R.), ; the latter two in more common use. The word in any form is late Greek. Vide Grimm’s Lexicon , and Lobeck, Phryn., p. 181 (from , or =to treat as nought).
[74] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[75] Codex Bezae
[76] Westcott and Hort.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
verily = indeed. Greek. men. Not the same as in Mar 9:1.
it is written = it standeth written.
of = upon. Greek. epi. App-104. Not the same as in Mar 9:17.
must suffer. See note on Mar 8:31.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] Meyer and others place the interrogation after , and regard . as its answer. But not to mention that such a sentence would be without example in our Lords discourses, the sense given by it is meagre in the extreme. As it stands in the text, it forms a counter-question to that of the Apostles in Mar 9:11. They asked, How say the Scribes that Elias must first come? Our Lord answers it by telling them that it is even so; and returns the question by another: And how is it (also) written of the Son of Man, that He, &c.? then comes the conclusion in Mar 9:13 with , stating that Elias has come, and leaving it therefore to be inferred that the sufferings of the Son of Man were close at hand. Notice how the . binds both together. Just as the first coming of the Son of Man is to suffer and to die, so has the first coming of Elias been as it was written of him; but there is a future coming of Elias , and of the Son of Man in glory. See further in notes on Matt. The first in Mar 9:13 is also, binding what is said of Elias to that which has been said of the Son of Man: the second is simply and.
[On the various forms of . see Moulton on Winer, p. 113, note 2.]
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 9:12. , told) In this discourse, Jesus acts as a president would in a discussion, allowing its just weight to the argument of the opponent, and then meeting it fully in His reply.-, first) This is construed with coming, , and with restoreth, , although in the preceding verse it is joined with come, , only. For so also forty years is construed in a double connection, Heb 3:9 [Tempted and Saw My works forty years], 17 [was He grieved forty years].-, restoreth) The present indefinite, as in Mat 2:4.- , and how[4]) That is, the expectation of Elias as a restorer of all things, and the Scripture concerning the death of the Messiah, seems to you as not capable of standing together [seem irreconcileable]: but yet, for all that, they do stand together.-, in order that) Because it was written, therefore He was bound to suffer.-, be set at nought) Isa 53:3. To reason, the restoration of all things seems not possibly compatible with this setting at nought.
[4] Engl. Ver. has no interrogation at Mar 9:12, but seems to mean (Ye should know) how it is written of the Son of Man, that He must suffer, etc. Lachm. puts an interrogation at ; and so in Vulg.: and (yet) how is it written concerning the Son of Man? (It is written) that He must suffer, etc. Tisch. puts the interrogation at ; and (yet) how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer, etc.?-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
restoreth: Mar 1:2-8, Isa 40:3-5, Mal 4:6, Mat 3:1-12, Mat 11:2-18, Luk 1:16, Luk 1:17, Luk 1:76, Luk 3:2-6, Joh 1:6-36, Joh 3:27-30
he must: Psa 22:1-31, Psa 69:1-36, Isa 53:1-12, Dan 9:24-26, Zec 13:7
set: Psa 22:6, Psa 22:7, Psa 69:12, Psa 74:22, Isa 49:7, Isa 50:6, Isa 52:14, Isa 53:1-3, Zec 11:13, Luk 23:11, Luk 23:39, Phi 2:7, Phi 2:8
Reciprocal: Isa 53:2 – he hath no Isa 53:3 – despised Dan 9:26 – Messiah Mat 17:12 – and they Mat 26:24 – Son of man goeth Mar 6:15 – it is Elias Mar 9:31 – The Son Mar 15:19 – they smote Heb 12:2 – despising
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
Jesus affirmed the prediction that Elias was to come first and restore all things, which means to get things in readiness for Christ.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 9:12. The punctuation is in dispute. The E.V. does not give how its proper meaning. Most later scholars take the first half only as a question: And how is it written of the Son of man? then the answer: That he should suffer, etc. Others take the whole as one question. The next verse shows that the main point is not so much to prove that the Son of man must soon suffer, as that the predicted Elijah had come, and, like the Old Testament. Elijah, had suffered as the Messiah also would, hence that this Elijah was John the Baptist (Mat 17:13).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mar 9:12-13. Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things, and how it is written That is, And, he told them, how it is written. As if he had said, Elijahs coming is not inconsistent with my suffering. He is come; yet I shall suffer. The first part of the verse answers their question concerning Elijah; the second refutes their error concerning the Messiahs continuing for ever.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 12
And restoreth all things; that is, he was to revive the religious spirit of former times, or, as it is expressed elsewhere, to turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus affirmed the scribes’ interpretation of the prophecy about Elijah. He went on to explain that that interpretation did not invalidate what He had just predicted about His own sufferings and shameful rejection (Psalms 22; Isa_52:13 to Isa_53:12).