7—14.
ἩἨλίαν δεῖ ἐλθεῖν πρῶτον ;”
231
II. Ὁ δὲ Ιησοῦς] ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν
adtois,2 “ Ἠλίας μὲν ἔρχεται πρῶτον,ὃ καὶ ) ἀποκαταστήσει πάντα :{ vide at Ch.
12. λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἩἨλίας ἤδη HAGE, καὶ οὐκ ἐπέγνωσαν αὐτόν»
xii. 13.
GAN ἐποίησαν ἐν αὐτῷ ὅσα ἠθέλησαν : οὕτω καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
A 2? µέλλει πάσχειν ot αὐτῶν.
13. Τότε συνῆκαν οἱ µαθηταί, ὅτι
περὶ Ιωάννου τοῦ Βαπτιστοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς.
14. Καὶ ἐλθόντων αὐτῶν * πρὸς τὸν ὄχλον, προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ἄνθρω-
~
1 SSBDLZ omit Ἰησους.
2 BD omit αντοις.
3 SBD omit πρωτον, which probably has come in from νετ. 10.
4 S$BZ sah. omit avtev.
most natural to take οὖν in connection with preceding verse, only not as τε- ferring to the prohibition of speech pro tem., but to the apparently slighting tone in which Jesus spoke. If the recent occurrence is not of vital importance, why then do the scribes say etc.? To lay the emphasis (with Weiss) on πρῶτον, as if the disciples were surprised that Moses and Elias had not come sooner, before the Christ, is a mistake. The advent would appear to them soon enough to satisfy the requirements of the scribes— just at the right time, after they had re- cognised in Jesus the Christ = Thou art the Christ we know, and lo! Elias is here to prepare the way for Thy public recognition and actual entry into Messianic power and glory. The sudden disappearance of the celestials would tend to deepen the disappointment created by the Master’s chilling tone, so that there is some ground for finding in οὖν a reference to that also. Ver 11. ἔρχεται : present, as in ii. 4, praesens pro futuro, Raphel (Annotationes in S.S.), who cites instances of this enallage temporis from Xenophon. Wolf (Curae Phil.), referring to Raphel, prefers to find in the present here no note of time, but only of the order of coming as between Elias and Christ. It is a didactic, timeless present. So Weiss.—amoxatacryoe πάντα. This word occurs in Sept., Mal. iv. 5, for which stands in Lk. i. 17: ἐπιστρέψαι; the reference is to restitution of right moral relations between fathers and children, etc. Raphel cites instances of similar use from Polyb. The function of Elias, as conceived by the scribes, was to lead Israel to the Great Repentance. Vide on this, Weber, Die Lehren des T., pp. 337-8.—Ver2. λέγω δὲ: Jesus finds the prophecy as to the advent of Elias fulfilled in John the Baptist, so still further reducing the significance of the
late vision. The contrast between the mechanical literalism of the scribes and the free spiritual interpretation of Jesus comes out here. Our Lord expected no literal coming of Elijah, such as the Patristic interpreters (Hilary, Chrys., Theophy., Euthy., etc.) supposed Him to refer to in ver. 11. The Baptist was all the Elijah He looked {οτ.- οὐκ ἐπέ- γνωσαν: they did not recognise him as Elijah, especially those who _profes- sionally taught that Elijah must come, the scribes.—aAN’ ἐποίησαν ἐν αὐτῷ, etc. Far from recognising in him Elijah, and complying with his summons to repentance, they murdered him in re- sentment of the earnestness of his efforts towards a moral ἀποκατάστασις (Herod, as representing the Zeitgeist.).— ἐν αὐτῷ: literally, in him, not classical, but similar construction found in Gen. xl. 14, and elsewhere (Sept.).—otrws: Jesus reads His own fate in the Baptist’s, How thoroughly He understood His time, and how free He was from illusions !—Ver. 13. τότε συνῆκαν: the parallel drawn let the three disciples see who the Elijah was, alluded to by their Master. What a disenchantment: not the glorified visitant of the night vision, but the beheaded preacher of the wilder- ness, the true Elijah !
Vv. 14-21. The epileptic boy (Mk. ix. 14-29; Lk. ix. 37-43).—Very brief report compared with Mk.—Ver. 14. ἐλθόντων: the αὐτῶν of T. R. might easily be omitted as understood from the οοππεοίοπ.--γονυπετῶν, literally, falling upon the knees, in which sense it would naturally take the dative (T. R., αὐτῷ); here used actively with accusa- tive = to beknee him (Schanz, Weiss).— Ver. 15. σεληνιάζεται, he is moon- struck; the symptoms as described are those of epilepsy, which were supposed to become aggravated with the phases of