Mark 9:12

He said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised?

World English Bible
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WEBBE

He said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised?

BSB

He replied, “Elijah does indeed come first, and he restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected?

KJV

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.

ASV

And he said unto them, Elijah indeed cometh first, and restoreth all things: and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be set at nought?

BBE

And he said to them, Truly, Elijah does come first, and puts all things in order; and how is it said in the Writings that the Son of man will go through much sorrow and be made as nothing?

Original Greek

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The early church

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Or else, the disciples asked Jesus, how it was written that the Son of man must suffer? Now in answer to this, He says, As John came in the likeness of Elias, and they evil intreated him, so according to the Scriptures must the Son of man suffer.
Pseudo-Chrysostom · d. 500Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
(ubi sup.) Again, He will restore all things, that is to say, those things which Malachi points out, saying, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; (Mal. 4:5, 6) he will yield up also to death that debt, which by his prolonged life he has delayed to render.
Bede · d. 735Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
Now the Lord puts this forward to oppose the notion of the Pharisees, who held that Elias was the forerunner of the first advent, showing that it led them to a false conclusion; wherefore he subjoins, And how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. As if He had said, When Elias the Tishbite cometh, he will pacify the Jews, and will bring them to the faith, and thus be the forerunner of the second advent. If then Elias is the forerunner of the first advent, how is it written that the Son of man must suffer? One of these two things therefore will follow; either that Elias is not the forerunner of the first advent, and thus the Scripture will be true; or that he is the forerunner of the first advent, and then the Scriptures will not be true, which say that Christ must suffer; for Elias must restore all things, in which case there will not be an unbelieving Jew, but all, whosoever hear him, must believe on his preaching.
Theophylact of Ohrid · d. 1107Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 1–13

Here is a prediction of the near approach Christ's kingdom. A glimpse of that kingdom was given in the transfiguration of Christ. It is good to be away from the world, and alone with Christ: and how good to be with Christ glorified in heaven with all the saints! But when it is well with us, we are apt not to care for others, and in the fulness of our enjoyments, we forget the many wants of our brethren. God owns Jesus, and accepts him as his beloved Son, and is ready to accept us in him. Therefore we must own and accept him as our beloved Saviour, and must give up ourselves to be ruled by him. Christ does not leave the soul, when joys and comforts leave it. Jesus explained to the disciples the prophecy about Elias. This was very suitable to the ill usage of John Baptist.

Read Matthew Henry on Mark 9 →

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Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.