But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
Parallel Translations
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But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
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But what wet ye oute for to se? A prophete? Ye I saye to you and more the a prophete.
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But what went ye out to see? A Prophet? Yea, I say vnto you, and more then a Prophet.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
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 11:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 1:76 And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways,
- Matthew 14:5 When he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
- Matthew 17:12-13 but I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they didn’t recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted to. Even so the Son of Man will also suffer by them.” Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Baptizer.
- Matthew 21:24-26 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.”
- Mark 9:11-13 They asked him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 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? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to, even as it is written about him.”
- Luke 1:15-17 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”
- Matthew 11:13-14 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 9 But what went ye out for to see?…
9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
Ver. 9. And more than a prophet] Because he pointed out Christ with the finger, whom they only saluted afar off. {αστασαμενοι, Heb 11:13} Chrysologus calleth him, legis et gratiae fibulam. The hinge of law and grace. Another resembleth him to the angel, that had one foot in the sea and another on the land. The law he resembleth to the sea, which is rough and movable. The gospel to the laud, which is firm and stable, &c.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For this is he of whom it is written,....…
For this is he of whom it is written,.... Mal 3:1
Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. That these words belong , to the world to come, or the times of the Messiah, that is, the Gospel dispensation, the Jews (z) themselves own; but as to the particular person meant by the "messenger", or "angel", because they are not willing to acknowledge the right person, are at the utmost loss. Jarchi makes him to be the angel of death, who is to destroy the wicked; Aben Ezra conjectures it may be Messiah the son of Joseph, who they fancy will come before Messiah the son of David. Kimchi thinks an angel from heaven is designed; and Abarbinel Malachi himself: but the more ancient sense of the synagogue was, that the same person is meant, as in Mar 9:5 under the name of Elijah the prophet; and some have thought, that Elijah the Tishbite himself, is intended; though others think, that some great prophet of equal degree with him, and who is called by his name, is what the prophecy has regard unto (a); which last is the true sense of the passage: nor should it be once called in question, when our Lord himself has applied it to John the Baptist; to whom the things said in it perfectly agree. He was an "angel", not by nature, but by office; a "messenger" sent by God, "before the face" of the Messiah; six months before him: such a space of time he was born before him; and such a space of time he entered on his public ministry before him; and "prepared" his "way before" him, by preaching the doctrine of repentance, administering the ordinance of baptism, pointing at the Messiah, and exhorting persons to believe on him. All which proves him to be, what Christ says he was, "more than a prophet".
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(z) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 219. 4. (a) Vid. Pocock in Mal. iii. 1.
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 More than a prophet - For the prophets only…
More than a prophet - For the prophets only pointed me out afar off; but John was my immediate forerunner.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. A prophet? yea - and more than…
Verse 9. A prophet? yea - and more than a prophet] That is, one more excellent (περισσοτερον) than a prophet; one greatly beyond all who had come before him, being the immediate forerunner of Christ, (see below,) and who was especially commissioned to prepare the way of the Lord. This was a fourth excellency: he was a prophet, a teacher, a man divinely commissioned to point out Jesus and his salvation; and more excellent than any of the old prophets, because he not only pointed out this Christ, but saw him, and had the honour of dying for that sacred truth which he steadily believed and boldly proclaimed.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A prophet? - He next asks whether they went…
A prophet? - He next asks whether they went to see a prophet. They had regarded him as such, and Jesus tells them that in this their apprehensions of him were correct.
More than a prophet - Sustaining a character more elevated and sacred than the most distinguished of the ancient prophets. Those had been regarded as the most eminent of the prophets who had most clearly predicted the Messiah. Isaiah had been distinguished above all others for the sublimity of his writings, and the clearness with which he had foretold the coming of Christ. Yet John surpassed even him. He lived in the time of the Messiah himself. He predicted his coming with still more clarity. He was the instrument of introducing him to the nation. He was, therefore, first among the prophets.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain More than a prophet. John was a prophet, because…
More than a prophet. John was a prophet, because he foretold the coming of Christ; and he was more than a prophet, because he saw him, which was a privilege that none of the ancient prophets enjoyed; and not only did he see him, but pointed him out, before he was acknowledged in that character. Again, he was more than a prophet, in as much as he was the precursor of the Messias, who even deigned to receive baptism at his hands. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. A prophet — They went to find something…
9. A prophet — They went to find something better than kings or courtiers, namely, a prophet of God. And our Lord assures them, with an emphasis, that they were not mistaken.
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 9. more than a prophet] Other prophets foresaw the…
9. more than a prophet] Other prophets foresaw the Messiah, the Baptist beheld Him, and ushered in His kingdom: he was the herald of the King. Further, John was himself the subject of prophecy.
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 (9) What went ye out for to see? A…
(9) What went ye out for to see? A prophet?—The words again throw the hearers back upon the impressions made on them when they first saw and heard the Baptist. They then went out to see a prophet, and they were not, disappointed. Nothing that they had seen or heard since was to lead them to think less worthily of him now. He was indeed a prophet, taught by the Spirit of Jehovah, predicting the glory of the kingdom; but he was also something more than this—a worker in the fulfilment of what he thus proclaimed.
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 But what went ye out for to see? A…
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? But wherefore went ye out? To see a prophet? (Revised Version). Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. Our Lord accepts their estimate of John, but says that it is insufficient. He thus passes on to show the relation in which John stood to himself. John was more than a prophet such as they thought of, for he was "the subject as well as the vehicle of prophecy" (Alford), and was the immediate forerunner of the great King. More than; much more than (Revised Version). Perissoteromn is probably neuter, for this not only agrees with ti , but emphasizes the thought more than the masculine. (cf. Mat_12:6, note)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 9. More than a prophet. He was more than…
9. More than a prophet. He was more than a prophet, because he was a reformer, forerunner and way-preparer, as well as prophet. No other prophet ever had so honored an office.
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues to talk to the crowds about John the Baptist.
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General Information:
In verse 10, Jesus quotes the prophet Malachi to show that the life and ministry of John the Baptist fulfilled prophecy.
But what did you go out to see—a prophet?
Jesus uses a question to make the people think about what kind of man John the Baptist is. AT: "But surely you went out to the desert to see a prophet!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Yes, I say to you,
"I say to you yes,"
much more than a prophet
This can be translated as a complete sentence. AT: "he is not an ordinary prophet" or "he is more important than a normal prophet" (See: Ellipsis)
This is he of whom it was written
This can be stated in active form. AT: "This is what the prophet Malachi wrote long ago about John the Baptist" (See: Active or Passive)
I am sending my messenger
The pronouns "I" and "my" refer to God. Malachi is quoting what God said.
before your face
Here "your" is singular, because God was speaking to the Messiah in the quotation. Also, "face" refers to the whole person. AT: "in front of you" or "to go ahead of you" (See: Forms of You and Synecdoche)
prepare your way before you
This is a metaphor that means the messenger will prepare the people to receive the Messiah's message. (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
prophet
written
messenger
face
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.