Matthew Chapter 17 verse 10 Holy Bible
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elijah must first come?
read chapter 17 in ASV
And his disciples, questioning him, said, Why then do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?
read chapter 17 in BBE
And [his] disciples demanded of him saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first have come?
read chapter 17 in DARBY
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
read chapter 17 in KJV
read chapter 17 in WBT
His disciples asked him, saying, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
read chapter 17 in WEB
And his disciples questioned him, saying, `Why then do the scribes say that Elijah it behoveth to come first?'
read chapter 17 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 10. - Why then (ou+n) say the scribes that Elias must first come? The illative particle "then" shows that the apostles' question arose from something immediately preceding. The connection seems to be this: Elias had just appeared and then had vanished again; how could this visitation be reconciled with the scribes' interpretation of Malachi's prophecy? If Elias was to come before the advent of Messiah, and Jesus is the Messiah, how is it that he has only now shown himself? If he has a work to do on earth, how could he do that when his sojourn was limited to a few minutes' duration, and to the view of so few witnesses? Malachi had spoken of the Messenger who was to precede and prepare the way for Messiah; he had said, "Before the great day of the Lord, I will send you Elijah the prophet" (Malachi 3:1; Malachi 4:5); and the learned among the Jews interpreted these two passages of his appearance in person to herald the approach of Messiah. Hence the perplexity of the apostles, they, like the scribes, not distinguishing the two advents of Christ, and the double allusion in the prophet's announcement - the "Messenger" in Matthew 3:1 being a different personage from "Elias" in Matthew 4:5, though of the same power and spirit. Christ explains the difficulty in the two next verses.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(10) His disciples asked him.--The context clearly implies that the question came not from the disciples at large, but from the three who had seen the vision, and were brooding over the appearance, and yet more, perhaps, the disappearance, of Elijah, as connected with the tradition of the scribes. If Elijah was to come and prepare the way, why had he thus come from the unseen world for a moment only?
