For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
Parallel Translations
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For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
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For this is he of who it is wrytte. Beholde I sende my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy waye before the
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For this is he of whom it is written, Beholde, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Matthew 11:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 40:3 The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
- Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Mark 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you:
- Luke 7:26-27 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
- John 1:23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
- Matthew 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make the way of the Lord ready! Make his paths straight!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 10 For this is he, of whom it is…
10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Ver. 10. Behold, I send my messenger] Gr. τον αγγελον μου, mine angel. So Phinehas is called an angel, Jdg 2:1. The priest an angel, Ecc 5:6. Ministers of the gospel angels, 1Co 11:10. Ministers and angels have exchanged names and offices; for are they not all ministering spirits? Heb 1:14. Did not angels first preach the gospel, Luk 2:9-14, the ministration whereof is now committed to us? so that if there be a messenger, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his righteousness, then will God be gracious unto him, &c., Job 33:23.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain St. Luke hath the same, Luk 7:27,28, only he…
St. Luke hath the same, Luk 7:27,28, only he saith, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. It was written, Mal 3:1, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. The latter part was a prophecy of Christ. The former part a prophecy of John the Baptist, and applied to him not in this text only, but Mar 1:2; Luk 1:76; 7:27. Christ is set out as a great Prince, who sends his harbingers before him to prepare his way, and by John’s preaching we may learn the ministers’ duty, who are to prepare Christ’s way to people’s souls, viz. to preach repentance and faith in Christ.
Verily I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there hath not risen a greater; that is, (as Luke expounds it), a greater prophet; i.e. amongst all the prophets of the Old Testament, God raised up none greater than John.
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Notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Mr. Calvin and many others think that by this phrase is to be understood, the least of those who shall preach the gospel after my resurrection will be greater than he, that is, as to their doctrine. John could only declare me to be come. They shall preach me, as having died for my people’s sins, and risen again for their justification, Rom 4:25. The death and the resurrection of Christ were indeed great points of the gospel, which John could only prophesy of, not preach of, and declare us things in his time accomplished.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Verily I say unto you,.... What Christ had before…
Verily I say unto you,.... What Christ had before said, he proved from a testimony of Scripture; what he was about to say depending on his word, he asseverates in the most solemn manner:
among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. The phrase, "them that are born of women", is a "periphrasis", of men born into the world by ordinary generation; see Job 14:1 and the sense is, that of all the prophets that have been in the world, since the beginning of it, Moses himself not excepted, there has not been raised up by God a greater prophet than John, the first administrator of baptism; were but considered, the uncommonness of his birth, his being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, his exemplary life, the excellency of his doctrine; and especially, his work and office, as the harbinger of Christ, and the preparer of his ways.
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Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than he; which is to be understood, not of Christ, who was younger in age, and a junior preacher, and less in the esteem of the Pharisees, being greater than he, in nature and office, nor of the saints in heaven, where he that was least, the meanest, and most abject, when on earth, is more happy than John, who was then in prison; nor of all the believers under the Gospel dispensation; but of the apostles of Christ, and the least among them, who were then the kingdom of heaven, or the visible Gospel church state. These had a better opportunity of conversing with Christ, and of seeing and hearing the things they did, than John had; they had the power of performing miracles, which John had not; were immediately sent forth by Christ, to preach the Gospel, and had a clearer insight into the truths of it, than John; especially, after the Holy Ghost was in such an extraordinary manner poured forth upon them, on the day of Pentecost; particularly after the death and resurrection of Christ, they were able to preach him, not only as come in the flesh, but as having suffered and died, and obtained eternal redemption: they could speak of his blood being shed, of his righteousness being wrought out, and of his sacrifice and satisfaction as made, which John could not; and besides, were more successful in the conversion of sinners, both Jews and Gentiles, than ever he was. The comparison does not lie so much between their persons, as their several different degrees of light and doctrine.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Mal. iii, 1.
Mal. iii, 1.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. Behold, I send my messenger] A fifth…
Verse 10. Behold, I send my messenger] A fifth excellency of the Baptist was, his preparing the way of the Lord; being the instrument, in God's hand, of preparing the people's hearts to receive the Lord Jesus; and it was probably through his preaching that so many thousands attached themselves to Christ, immediately on his appearing as a public teacher.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For this is he ... - The passage of…
For this is he ... - The passage of Scripture here quoted is found in Mal 3:1. The substance of it is contained also in Isa 40:3.
Prepare thy way - That is, to prepare “the people;” to make them ready, by proper instructions, to receive the Messiah.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. Behold, I send my messenger — John is…
10. Behold, I send my messenger — John is more than a prophet; he is a messenger; nay, even THE messenger before the Messiah’s face. Our Saviour here quotes Mal_3:1.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. Behold, I send, &c.] Quoted from the Hebrew…
10. Behold, I send, &c.] Quoted from the Hebrew of Mal_3:2. The LXX. rendering of the passage is different.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) This is he, of whom it is written.—The…
(10) This is he, of whom it is written.—The words in the Greek are not taken from the LXX. version of Mal_3:1, but are a free translation from the Hebrew. In the original it is Jehovah Himself who speaks of His own coming: “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me.” In the Evangelist’s paraphrase it is Jehovah who speaks to the Christ—“shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” The reference to the prophecy of Malachi in the song of Zacharias (Luk_1:76) had from the first connected it with the Baptist’s work, and our Lord in thus adopting that reference, stamps the whole chapter with the character of a Messianic prophecy.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For. Omitted in the Revised Version. It is here…
For. Omitted in the Revised Version. It is here an explanatory gloss, though genuine in Mat_3:3. This is he, of whom it is written. Our Lord justifies his assertion of John"s unique position. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Mal_3:1, not from the LXX, but freely from the Hebrew, which runs, "Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. " Observe in Matthew
(1) thy way
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(2) before thee," instead of before me;
(3) the first clause is made to end with nearly the same phrase as the second, Matthew"s form is the more rhythmical, perhaps because of oral repetition (cf. Introduction, p. 10). Luke, (Luk_7:27) save for the omission of egw , is the same; Mark (Mar_1:2) only omits egw and "before thee." Christ does not hesitate to apply to himself a prophecy of the coming of God, nor did the early Church shrink from recording this of him. Such an application of an Old Testament passage Bengel calls "luclentissimum argumentum Deitatis Christi." (On this subject, of. Bishop Westcott, Add. Note on Heb_3:7)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.
Mat_11:10
Which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.
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Preparations for Christs coming
God does not seem, as a rule, to allow any great truth or blessing to burst upon the world without some sort of preparation. In this case two series of preparations:
(1) Prophecy, educating religious souls among the Jews to look out for a Messiah; and
(2) St. John Baptist, to point Him out when He had come. Johns business was, first of all, to gain the ear of his countrymen, and then to say, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, and afterwards to announce Jesus as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Thus John was, in the kingdom of grace, like those gifted men in the world of thought, or in the world of practical life, who are always ahead of the mass of people around them; they have the inspiration not of supernatural grace, but of natural genius, which is itself a gift of God, though of a different order of value and power. They are like lofty mountains whose summit the sun has already lit up, while he has not yet poured his beams upon the plain beneath. They are alone on their watch-tower; and, if they say what they think, it is only to be smiled down as enthusiasts. Two requisites for work like that of John Baptist:
I. Courage to tear the mask from evils and abuses, and this implies
(1) a firm, definite conviction that certain things are absolutely true, worth working for, suffering for, and (if need be) dying for; and
(2) Independence, i.e., detachment from those motives of subservience which, at critical times, stay the hand and silence the tongue of ordinary men.
II. Disinterestedness. A man may be brave, and yet he may be selfish; he may work and endure, yet only for himself. John Baptist had to resist this temptation. Some of his disciples would have liked him to become the founder of a new religious school. But he himself never yielded to the temptation to make selfish capital, in the way of influence or consideration, out of his popular power. He ever regarded it as his highest work and glory to bury his own miserable self beneath the surpassing greatness of his commission from Heaven. (Canon Liddon.)
John as forerunner of Jesus.
I. Tis written in the prophets that such a messenger she,rid go before and prepare the way of the Messias.
II. St. John was the person, or he of whom this was written.
III. In what manner did he prepare the way of the Lord?
1. Not with any worldly pomp or splendour.
2. Not by calling upon the inhabitants of the earth to meet their Lord in state and magnificence.
3. It was by preaching repentance, and turning men from their sins. (Matthew Hole.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. This is he, of whom it is written.…
10. This is he, of whom it is written. Of whom Malachi and Isaiah prophesied. See note on Matt. 3:3.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.