Matthew Chapter 17 verse 11 Holy Bible

ASV Matthew 17:11

And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things:
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BBE Matthew 17:11

And in answer he said, Elijah truly has to come and put all things right:
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DARBY Matthew 17:11

And he answering said to them, Elias indeed comes first and will restore all things.
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KJV Matthew 17:11

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
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WBT Matthew 17:11


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WEB Matthew 17:11

Jesus answered them, "Elijah indeed comes first, and will restore all things,
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YLT Matthew 17:11

And Jesus answering said to them, `Elijah doth indeed come first, and shall restore all things,
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 11. - Elias truly shall first come (ἔρχεται, cometh). Many of the best manuscripts and editions omit "first." The Vulgate has merely, Elias quidem venturus est. It is probably inserted in our text from the parallel passage in Mark, where it is certainly genuine. Christ is here alluding to his own second coming, which shall be preceded by the appearance of Elijah in person. This seems to be the plain meaning of the prophecy in Malachi, and of Christ's announcement, and is confirmed by St. John's statement concerning the two witnesses (Revelation 11:3, 6). That the paragraph cannot refer to John the Baptist is plain from the tenses used in this verse contrasted with those in the following. To regard ver. 12 as simply a correction of ver. 10 is to do violence to language, and to leave one half of Malachi's prediction unexplained. Restore (ἀποκατασήσει) all things. The event is still future, and was not fulfilled in the Baptist's preaching, however deep and extensive may have been its influence. Of course, John in a partial degree reproduced the character and acts of Elijah, directing the people to the eternal principles of justice and righteousness, to a reformation of religion and morals; but he could not be said to have reconstituted, re-established all things; though it is possible that, had his message been received and acted upon, some such effects would have been produced. How and in what degree Elijah, again appearing and living on earth, will effect this great achievement, we know not. We can only fall back on the ancient prophecy, which affirms that "he shall turn the heart of the fathers to [or, 'with'] the children, and the heart of the children to [or, 'and'] their fathers" (Malachi 4:6), and expect that in some way, known unto God, he shall convert one and all, young and old, unto the Lord; or unite the Jews who are the fathers in the faith to Christians who are their children, and thus embrace Jew and Gentile in one fold under one Shepherd.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11) Elias truly shall first come.--Better, cometh Our Lord's 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 Malachi 4:5 shall yet have a literal fulfilment, and John the Baptist when he confessed that he was not Elijah (John 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 Lord's 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 seem--at least as interpreted by Acts 3:21 (where see Note); Romans 8:21; Ephesians 1:22-23; 1Corinthians 15:28, and other like passages--to 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. . . .