Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 17:11
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things.
11. restore all things ] To restore is strictly to bring back to a lost perfection, then to develope, raise, to introduce a purer, nobler epoch; here specially to proclaim the kingdom of God. Cp. Act 1:6, and ch. Mat 19:28.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. Elias – shall first come, and restore all things.] Or will reform, ; this word our Lord quotes from the Septuagint; who render the Hebrew vehesheb leb aboth al banim, he will cause the heart of the fathers to turn to the children, by, , who will convert, or restore, the heart of the father to the son. We are not therefore to understand the version of the Septuagint quoted by our Lord in any other sense than the Hebrew will allow. No fanciful restoration of all men, devils and damned spirits, is spoken of as either being done, or begun, by the ministry of John; but merely that he should preach a doctrine tending to universal reformation of manners, and should be greatly successful: see Mt 3:1-7, and especially Lu 3:3-15, where we find that a general reformation had taken place,
1. among the common people;
2. among the tax-gatherers; and
3. among the soldiers.
And as John announced the coming Christ, who was to baptize with the Holy Ghost, i.e. to enlighten, change, and purify the heart, that the reform might be complete, both outward and inward, he may be said, in the strictest sense of the word, to have fulfilled the prophecy: and that he was the Elijah mentioned by Malachi, the words of Gabriel to the virgin Mary prove; Lu 1:17. And he (John) shall go before him (Christ) in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, c. and that his ministry was powerfully effectual for this purpose, we have already seen.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark saith, Mar 9:12, He answered and told them, Elias verily comes 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. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. Our Saviour agreeth to the promise, but showeth their mistake as to the true sense of it. They understood the promise of Elijah the Tishbite: the promise referred only to one of his spirit, and such a one was come, that was John the Baptist, as the angel told Zacharias, Luk 1:17, He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias. Very much of the power and spirit of Elijah was evident in John. Elijah was full of zeal for God, 1Ki 19:10; so was John the Baptist. Did Elijah freely reprove, not only Baals priests, but even Ahab and Jezebel? John as freely reproved Herod and Herodias, and the Pharisees and Sadducees. Was Elijah an austere man? Such was John the Baptist. Did Elijah flee unto the wilderness to save his life? John Baptist, for some time, lived and preached there. Elijah living in a corrupt time, was a great means or instrument to restore decayed religion: so was John the Baptist, in the time wherein he lived. This notwithstanding, not the Jews only, but some Christians, and that not only papists, but some protestants, think, that besides the Elias which is long since come, there is another Elias, who shall come before the end of the world. They found their opinion upon this text in a great measure,
1. Because our Saviour here saith, , he doth come first; and Mark saith, , , coming first, restoreth all things. Now John the Baptist was both come and gone; nor had he restored all things. Besides, they say, that John denied himself to be Elias, Joh 1:21; and it is plain, that not the scribes and Pharisees, but the disciples, only understood the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite; and Malachi saith, that Elijah should come before the terrible day of the Lord, which day, they say, is the day of judgment, in the constant language of Scripture. But to all this is answered,
a) That the Baptist, Joh 1:21, only denied himself to be that Elias about which they inquired, according to their tradition.
b) That it is true, that the disciples were led away with the Jewish tradition, and looked for Elijah the Tishbite, but Christ both here and elsewhere correcteth their error.
c) That not only the day of general judgment is called the terrible day of the Lord, but the gospel time, Mat 3:10, when the axe was laid to the root of the tree, &c.; so Act 2:20; and the day of the Jews particular judgment, which some understand hinted in those texts.
d) That our Lord first repeateth the words of Malachi, and so he saith, Elias shall come, or is coming; and then he expounds the words of Malachi of John the Baptist.
e) That the words of Mal 4:6 are expounded by the angel, Luk 1:16,17, and there applied to John the Baptist.
f) That John did fulfil the words of the prophet, by endeavouring the conversion of the Jews, and prevailing in a great measure.
g) That the last words in Malachi, lest I smite the earth with a curse, plainly show that the text in Malachi cannot be understood of the day of judgment.
And though the name of Elias be given to John, yet it is no more than the giving the name of David to the Messias, Eze 37:24. So as there is no other Elijah to be expected, but the Elijah prophesied of by Malachi was (as our Saviour doth expound it) John the Baptist, whom Herod had beheaded.
They knew him not, their tradition blinded them so as they could not discern the prophecy of Malachi fulfilled in him, so did unto him whatsoever they listed; and, saith our Saviour, so shall they do with the Son of man, that is, with me, who am the Son of man.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Jesus answered and said unto them,…. By way of concession,
Elias truly shall first come: this is indeed a tenet of the Scribes, and it is also certain, that there is a prophecy in Mal 4:5 of the coming of Elias; of one that goes under that name, not of Elias the Tishbite, in person, but of one that was to come in his power and spirit,
and restore all things. The Syriac and Persic versions render it, “shall perfect, or complete all things”, that are prophesied of him; and shall put a period to the law and the prophets, and close the Mosaic economy, and direct persons to Christ; in whom are the perfection of the law, and the fulfilling of the prophets. The Arabic version reads it, “he shall teach you all things”; the whole of the Gospel being to be reduced to these two heads, repentance towards God, and faith in Christ; both which were taught by the true Elias: but the truest sense of the phrase is to be learned out of Mal 4:6. “He shall restore, , he shall turn all things, the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”; and as this is explained in Lu 1:17 “he shall turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, and make ready a people prepared for the Lord”: which is other, and better sort of work, than what the Jews assign to their Elias, whom they expect, and whom they make to be a restorer of all things, in their way: they often speak of his purifying q of things, or pronouncing things pure, that were defiled; and among others, that he will purify bastards, and , “restore them” to the congregation of the Lord r. Though Maimonides s denies, that when he comes he will pronounce defiled that which is pure, or pronounce pure, that which is defiled. They pretend t, that he is now employed, and very busy, in writing everything that is done in every age; so that when he comes, he will be able to give an account of everything: and nothing is more common with them, than to say concerning any matter, that there is any doubt or difficulty about it u,
, “let it be left till Elias comes”.
q T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 25. 1. & Becorot, fol. 33. 2. & 34. 1. r Kimchi in Zech. ix. 6. s Hilchot Melacim, c. 12. sect. 2. Vid. Misn. Ediot, c. 8. sect. 7. & Maimon & Bartenora in ib. t Seder Olam Rabba, p 46. u Misn. Bava Metzia, c. 1. sect. 8. T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 3. 1. & 37. 1. & Bava Bathra, fol. 94. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Cometh. Elijah cometh first. An abstract statement expressing the fact that Elijah ‘s coming precedes in time the coming of the Messiah. It is a point of Jewish chronology; just as a teacher of history might say to his pupils, “The Saxons and Danes precede the Normans in England.” Elijah had already come in the person of John the Baptist.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
11. Elijah indeed will come first. We have stated elsewhere the origin of that error which prevailed among the Jews. As John the Baptist was to resemble Elijah by restoring the fallen condition of the Church, the prophet Malachi (Mal 4:5) had even given to him the name of Elijah; and this had been rashly interpreted by the scribes, as if Elijah the Tishbite (1Kg 17:1) were to return a second time to the world. Christ now declares that every thing which Malachi uttered was true, but that his prediction had been misunderstood and distorted from its true meaning. “The promise,” says he, “that Eliah would come was true, and has been already fulfilled; but the scribes have already rejected Elijah, whose name they idly and falsely plead in opposing me.”
And will restore all things. This does not mean that John the Baptist restored them perfectly, but that he conveyed and handed them over to Christ, who would complete the work which he had begun. Now as the scribes had shamefully rejected John, Christ reminds his disciples that the impostures of such men ought not to give them uneasiness, and that it ought not to be reckoned strange, if, after having rejected the servant, they should, with equal disdain, reject his Master. And that no one might be distressed by a proceeding so strange, our Lord mentions that the Scripture contained predictions of both events, that the Redeemer of the world, and Elijah his forerunner, would be rejected by false and wicked teachers.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) Elias truly shall first come.Better, cometh Our Lords words are obviously enigmatic in their form, and, as such, admit of two very different interpretations. Taken literally, as they have been by very many both in earlier and later times, they seem to say that Elijah shall come in person before the yet future day of the Lord, the great second Advent of the Christ. So it has been argued the prophecy of Mal. 4:5 shall yet have a literal fulfilment, and John the Baptist when he confessed that he was not Elijah (Joh. 1:21) was rightly expecting his appearance. It would hardly be right to reject this interpretation merely on the ground of its literalism, or its improbability, or the resemblance which it has to the fantastic belief and practices, which have kept their ground even in modern Judaism, in connection with the expected appearance of the Tishbite, though these, so far as they go, must be thrown into the adverse scale. The words that follow in the next verse are, however, more decisive.
And restore all things.Better, and shall restore. Leaving for the present the question who was to do the work, we turn to the nature of the work itself. Our Lords language generalises the description given by Malachi. That work of turning the hearts of the children to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children, was but part of a wider restoration of things and persons. Old truths were to be reproclaimed, and cleared from the after-growths of traditions. Men, as a race, were to be brought into their right relation to their God and Father. The words seemat least as interpreted by Act. 3:21 (where see Note); Rom. 8:21; Eph. 1:22-23; 1Co. 15:28, and other like passagesto point forward to a restitution of all things, the bringing in of order where now there is disorder and confusion, which shall embrace not Israel only, or even mankind, but the whole universe of God, visible and invisible.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Elias truly shall first come That is, such is the doctrine of ancient prophecy, that thus it shall be. Obviously our Lord speaks of what was future to the prophets who predicted the coming of Elias. He evidently does not mean, as some understand him, that Elias is now to come before Christ’s second advent. Restore all things Such shall be his office and mission, however unsuccessful in the result. To restore all things is to bring the things of the kingdom from their confusion to a state of restored order before Messiah came. He is a restorer, to set the house to rights before the arrival of a great visitor.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he answered and said, “Elijah is indeed coming, and will restore all things, but I say to you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did to him whatever they would. Even so will the Son of man also suffer of them.” ’
In His reply Jesus first confirms that the promise that Elijah would come and ‘restore all things’ was true. ‘Restore all things’ is probably quoting the Scribal viewpoint, without necessarily accepting their interpretation of it (it is not found in Scriptures concerning Elijah, but Sir 48:10 paraphrases Mal 4:6 as ‘to restore the tribes of Jacob’. Compare Isa 49:6 where ‘the preserved of Israel’ are in mind). But then He pointed out that that had already happened. Elijah had come (compare Mat 11:14). But the Scribes had failed to recognise him as well (because he had not restored things in their favour and exalted them and their teaching), and thus they had ‘treated him as they would’. This last is a typically Jewish description representing the self-will of evil men (compare Dan 8:4; Dan 11:3; Dan 11:16).
So the Scribes had failed to recognise the very one of whom they had spoken, and they had caused him to suffer just as they will also cause the Son of Man to suffer. Indeed their very treatment of Elijah means that such treatment must be anticipated for the Son of Man as well. If they fail to recognise the one, they will not recognise the other (compare here Mat 21:23-27).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 17:11. Elias truly, &c. True, Elias was to come first, and to set all things right: Mat 17:12. But I tell you, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 17:11 . In His reply, Jesus admits the correctness of the teaching of the scribes in regard to this matter, and at the same time supplements the quotation made from it by the disciples (by adding . . .), in which supplement the use of the future-present and the future . are to be justified on the ground that they are the ipsissima verba of the teaching in question. “Unquestionably it is precisely as they say: Elias is coming and will restore everything again.” Inasmuch as what is here meant is the work of the coming Elias , and not the whole moral work of the Messiah in regenerating the world (as in Act 3:21 ), the , an expression taken from the rendering of Mal 4:6 by the LXX., refers, in the sense of the scribes , to the restitutio in integrum (for such is the meaning of the word, see note on Act 3:21 ) of the entire theocratic order of things by way of preparation for the Messiah, in which case we are not to think merely of a moral regeneration of the people, but also of the restoration of outward objects of a sacred character (such as the urna mannae , and so on). Jesus , on the other hand, knowing as He does that the promised coming of Elias has been fulfilled in the Baptist (Mat 11:14 ), refers to the preaching and preparatory labours of the latter, in which he believes the to have been realized in the highest sense, and in the way most in keeping with the prophet’s own words in Mal 4:6 ( Sir 48:10 ; Luk 1:17 ; Luk 3:1 ). The coming of the real Elias, who is expected to appear before the second advent (Hilary, Chrysostom, Augustine, Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, the majority of the older Catholic expositors, likewise Arnoldi, Schegg), is taught by Jesus neither here nor elsewhere. See, on the contrary, Mat 17:12 f., Mat 11:14 . This also in answer to Lechler in the Stud. u. Krit . 1854, p. 831.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Ver. 11. And restore all things ] viz. In Malachi’s sense, i.e. not simply, absolutely, perfectly, for the royalty of restoring all things so was reserved for Christ alone, Act 3:21 , but comparatively, to the state of the old Church. So those renowned reformers, Luther, Farellus, &c., abroad, Cranmer, Cromwell, &c., here at home, freed the churches from many burdens and bondages, did (for their time) worthily in Ephrata, and are therefore famous in Bethlehem. But as eiusdem non est invenire et perficere (it is a praise proper to Christ only, to be Alpha and Omega, author and finisher of that which he sets about, Rev 1:8 ; Heb 12:2 ), those brave men left many abuses and disorders in the Church unrectified, unreformed, which either they did not see or could not help. But now as more light is diffused, so great thoughts of heart, yea, and great hopes are conceived, that God will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness,Rom 9:28Rom 9:28 ; that he will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall be no more remembered, Zec 13:2 , yea, that he will cause the false prophets, and with them the unclean spirit, to pass out of the land. We read,Neh 8:17-18Neh 8:17-18 , of a feast of tabernacles so well kept by the Jews newly come out of captivity, with dwelling in booths and reading every day out of the law, &c., as had not been done in many hundred years before, no, not in the reign of David and Solomon.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
shall first come = cometh first.
restored will restore. Not the same, but better. The noun occurs only in Act 3:21. The verb occurs eight times: Mat 12:13; Mat 17:11. Mar 3:5; Mar 8:25; Mar 9:12. Luk 6:10. Act 1:6. Heb 13:19.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 17:11. , cometh) The present tense, midway between prediction and fulfilment; and the ministry of John was efficacious also after his death.-, shall restore) The same verb is used by the LXX. in Mal. 3:24 [Mat 4:6]. And this office of restoring all things furnishes a proof that the prophecy concerning Elias did not refer to his brief appearance on the Mount of Transfiguration.-, all things) sc. regarding parents and children, i.e. seminally;[784] see Joh 10:40-41, and Act 19:3.
[784] Seminaliter, i.e., he will sow the seed of these things: he will initiate them, as the preparation for what is to follow.-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
and restore: Mal 4:6, Luk 1:16, Luk 1:17, Luk 3:3-14, Act 3:21
Reciprocal: Mar 6:15 – it is Elias Mar 9:2 – after Mar 9:11 – General Mar 15:35 – he Luk 20:4 – baptism
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:11
Shall oome is future tense in form but Jesus was only quoting the prophecy of Malachi. To restore means to bring about a reformation in the lives of the people of Israel (Mal 4:6; Luk 1:16-17).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
[And he shall restore all things.] The Jews feign many things which Elias shall restore: “He shall purify the bastards; and restore them to the congregation. He shall render to Israel the pot of manna, the vial of holy oil, the vial of water; and there are some who say, the rod of Aaron.”
He shall restore; or make up; not into the former state, but into a better. There were times of restitution of all things determined by God, Act 3:21; wherein all things were to be framed into a gospel-state, and a state worthy of the Messias: a church was to be founded, and the doctrine of the gospel dispersed, the hearts of the fathers, the Jews, to be united to the sons, the Gentiles; and the hearts of the sons, the Gentiles, to the fathers the Jews: which work was begun by the Baptist, and finished by Christ and the apostles. Which term of the restitution of all these expiring, the commonwealth of the Jews expired also; and the gifts of revelation and miracles granted for this purpose, and so necessary to it, failed. “However, therefore, ye have crucified Christ,” saith Peter in that place of the Acts now cited, “yet God shall still send you Jesus Christ in the preaching of the gospel to fulfil these things. Him, indeed, as to his person the heavens do contain, and shall contain, until all these things be perfected; expect not, therefore, with the erring nation, his personal presence always on earth: but he shall make up and constitute all things by us his ministers, until the times determined and prefixed for the perfecting of this restitution shall come.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 17:11. Elijah indeed cometh. Our Lord confirms the view, that Elijah should come (Mal 4:5).
Shall restore or establish anew, all things. Comp. Mal 4:6. The actual work of restoration was however the work of the Messiah, for which Elijah should prepare the way (comp. Luk 3:4; Act 3:21).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 11
Restore all things; recall the nation, to the faith and obedience of their fathers.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus confirmed the scribes’ teaching about Elijah coming, but He said another factor needed consideration. John the Baptist’s ministry had been a success as far as it had gone (cf. Mat 3:5-6; Mat 14:5), but he had "restored all things" to only a limited degree. The scribes perceived the ministry of Messiah’s forerunner correctly, but they did not realize that John the Baptist had been that forerunner (Mat 11:10). Elijah had already come in John the Baptist. However, Israel’s leaders had rejected him, and he had died without accomplishing the complete restoration of Israel. John had not fulfilled his mission but died doing so. Likewise Jesus would die at His enemies’ hands without fulfilling His mission of establishing the kingdom. John had restored all things as much as he could and yet died. Jesus, too, would fulfill His mission as much as He could and yet die. This was the answer to the disciples’ question.
"A suffering Forerunner is to be followed by a suffering Messiah." [Note: Plummer, p. 240.]
"In other words, just as the messianic forerunner’s coming had two phases: John the Baptizer (one to suffer and die), and Elijah the Prophet (one of restoration and glory), so also would the Messiah’s coming. The response to the forerunner foreshadowed the response to the Messiah and necessitated the postponement of the fulfillment specifically promised to national Israel." [Note: J. Randall Price, "Prophetic Postponement in Daniel 9 and Other Texts," in Issues in Dispensationalism, p. 134.]
God predicted through Malachi that a Jewish revival would precede Messiah’s kingdom (Mal 4:5-6), and the revival did not come. Consequently that revival and the kingdom must still be future.