Peter answered, and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Parallel Translations
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Peter answered, and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
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Then answered Peter and sayde to Iesus: master here is good beinge for vs. If thou wylt leet vs make here.iii. tabernacles one for the and one for Moses and one for Helyas.
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Then answered Peter, and saide to Iesus, Master, it is good for vs to be here: if thou wilt, let vs make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Matthew 17:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Mark 9:5-6 Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
- Luke 9:33 As they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not knowing what he said.
- Revelation 22:3-5 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
- 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
- Psalms 63:1-5 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water. So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,
- John 14:8-9 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
- Exodus 33:18-19 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim Yahweh’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
- Psalms 4:6 Many say, “Who will show us any good?” Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us.
- Psalms 16:11 You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
- Isaiah 33:17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land.
- John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord,…
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Ver. 4. Lord, it is good for us to be here] Hic plura absurda quam verba. But he knew not what he should say, he was so amused, or rather amazed, at that blissful sight. So Paul, whether in the body or out of the body, when enraptured into the third heaven, he cannot tell, God knoweth; and again, he cannot tell, God knoweth, 2Co 12:2-3. Only this he can tell, that he heard αρρητα ρηματα, wordless words, such things as words are too weak to utter, and at the thought whereof,
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" Claudicat ingenium, delirat linguaque, mensque."
It is as impossible to comprehend heaven joys, as to compass the heaven with a span or contain the ocean in a nutshell. No wonder then though Peter cry out, It is good being here; or, it is better being here than at Jerusalem (so St Chrysostom senseth it), whither our Saviour had said he must go, and suffer many things of the elders and be killed, &c. That St Peter liked not; but would build here rather. All men would have heaven, but not the rough way that leads to it; they would enter into Paradise, but not through that narrow portal of afflictions; they would sit in the seat of honour with Zebedee’s children, but not drink of Christ’s cup, much less be baptized with his baptism; that is, be doused over head and ears in the waters of miseries. They would feed on manchet, {a} tread on roses, and come to heaven, as passengers at sea do many times to the haven, while they are sleeping, or before they are aware. But this is no less a folly than a delicacy, thus to think to divide between Christ and his cross, to pull a rose without pricks, to have heaven without hardship.
One for thee, one for Moses, one for Elias] He never thought of one for himself, he was so transported; but he had provided ill for himself and us, if Christ had taken his counsel: for so he should have declined death, whereby life and immmortality was brought to light to the saints, 2Ti 1:12. And this unadvised advice was so much the worse in Peter, because but six days before he had been sharply rebuked by our Saviour, and called Satan for such carnal counsel; and besides that, even then he heard Moses and Elias conferring with Christ about his departure, confirming him against it, Luk 9:31. It is hard to say how often we shall fall into the same fault (though foul) if left to ourselves
{a} The finest kind of wheaten bread. ŒD
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.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. The person supplicating, Peter. No doubt…
Observe here, 1. The person supplicating, Peter. No doubt the other two, James and John, were much affected, but Peter is more fervent and forward; yet there is no arguing with the Papists from his fervency to his superiority; his personal prerogatives were not hereditary.
Observe, 2. The person supplicated, Jesus; not Moses, nor Elias; the disciples make no prayer, no suit to them, but to Christ only. Prayers to saints departed are both vain and unlawful.
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Observe, 3. The supplication itself, and that was for their continuance where they were. It is good for us to be here. O what a ravishing comfort is the fellowship of the saints! but the presence of Christ among them renders their joys transporting.
Observe, 4. Their proffer of service to farther this continuance; Let us make three Tabernacles. This motion was well meant and devout. St. Peter will stick at no cost nor pains for the enjoyment of Christ’s presence and his saints’ company, yet was the motion unadvised and rash. St. Peter erred in desiring a perpetuity of that condition which was but transient and momentary. This vision was only a taste of Glory, not a full repast. He errs, in that he would bring down heaven to earth, and take up with Tabor instead of heaven. He errs, in that he would enter upon the possession of heaven’s glory, without suffering, and without dying. Peter would be clothed upon, but was not willing to be unclothed.
Learn, 1. That a glimpse of glory is enough to wrap a soul into ecstasy, and to make it out of love with worldly company.
2. That we are apt to desire more of heaven upon earth than God will allow: we would fain have the heavenly glory come down to us, but we are unwilling to go by death to that; we know not what we say, when we talk of felicity in tabernacles upon earth.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus,.... Which was,…
Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus,.... Which was, as Luke informs us, after he, and James, and John, awoke out of sleep; for it being night when Christ was transfigured, and they weary, were overpressed, and fell asleep on the mount, as they afterwards did in the garden with him: but when they were awaked, either by the talk of the men with Christ, or by the rays of brightness and glory, which darted from them, and especially from Christ, to their great surprise; they saw the glory that was upon him, and observed the two men that were with him, who appeared also in glorious forms; whom either by revelation, or the sequel of their discourse, they knew to be Moses and Elias: and just as these were taking their leave of Christ, Peter, charmed with such objects, and with such delightful company, and pleasant conversation, he had the happiness of hearing part of, addresses himself to Christ and says,
Lord, it is good for us to be here; in this mountain, with thyself and such company; better than to be below among the throng and multitude, where nothing but misery and distress are to be seen, and noise and tumult heard; or it is better to be here, than to go to Jerusalem, and there suffer and die; the horror of which, is thought by some, still to abide on Peter's mind.
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If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: tents, or booths, such as were made, at the feast of tabernacles, of boughs and branches of trees, to keep off heat, cold, and rains:
one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias; Luke adds, "not knowing what he said"; and Mark, "for he wist not what to say": the one representing him, as with the rapture and surprise, not himself; and the other, under the awe and dread of such majesty, as at the utmost loss what to say, agreeably to such a situation of things: not but that he knew what words he did deliver, and with what view; but he spake as a mistaken man, being ignorant of the design of this appearance; which was, not that this glory should continue, only that he should be an emblem and pledge of what was future; and besides, he was wrong in putting these two men upon an equal foot with Christ, each of them being to have a separate tabernacle as he; and he appeared to be quite out of the way, in proposing earthly tabernacles for glorified persons to dwell in, who had an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens: moreover, as to the mystical sense, Moses and Elias, the law and the prophets, were not to be considered as in distinct apartments, and separate from Christ, but as agreeing with him, and fulfilled and swallowed up in him; who only, according to the voice that followed, was to be heard and attended to, and not they, as distinct from him.
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 Let us make three tents - The words of…
Let us make three tents - The words of rapturous surprise. He says three, not six: because the apostles desired to be with their Master.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. Peter said - let us make, &c.]…
Verse 4. Peter said - let us make, &c.] That is, when he saw Moses and Elijah ready to depart from the mount, Lu 9:33, he wished to detain them, that he might always enjoy their company with that of his Lord and Master, still supposing that Christ would set up a temporal kingdom upon earth.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Let us make here three tabernacles - A tabernacle…
Let us make here three tabernacles - A tabernacle is a tent. It was made, commonly, by fixing posts into the ground, and stretching on them cloth fastened by cords. See the notes at Isa 33:20. In some instances they were made of branches of trees a temporary shelter from the sun and rain, not a permanent dwelling. Peter was rejoiced at the vision and desirous of continuing it. He proposed, therefore, that they should prolong this interview and dwell there. Mark adds, “For he wist not (that is, knew not) what to say, for they were sore afraid.” They were frightened, amazed, and rejoiced; and, in the ecstasy of the moment, Peter proposed to remain there.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Good for us to be here — It…
4. Good for us to be here — It was not a moment of terror but of bliss when Peter spoke this. Amid paradisaic company, and in an atmosphere of paradise, even amid this mountain forest something of the elevation of paradise fills his soul. Three tabernacles — Three tents, booths, or camps. Peter does not say palaces, although he would have held palaces, whether of cedar, marble, or solid gold, none too good for such residents. But the rugged and woody sides of snowy Hermon afforded no implements for the building of such structures, and he proposes tabernacles.
Perhaps he intended a tabernacle not unlike that of Moses in the wilderness; the true purport of which was to be, as it were, the dwelling for the Shekinah, or divine presence. He will have these divine ones not disappear and go back to heaven or paradise. They shall remain there and make it a constant paradise. And there, rather than on Moriah, the temple-mount, shall be the divine presence.
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Peter does not propose more than three tabernacles, though six persons are present. The three glorified ones are to be the residents, and for each an apostle for a servant.
The word tabernacle is derived from the Latin word taberna, a shop or shed. The tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness was a building of rectangular figure, about forty-five feet long, fifteen broad, and fifteen high, so constructed as to be taken down, transferred on the march, and again set up. It was a movable temple for God, which was enlarged upon the grandest scale upon a similar model, and completed in the temple of Solomon.
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 4. let us make] Read, with the best MSS.,…
4. let us make] Read, with the best MSS., “let me make.” The transition to the singular is in keeping with Peter’s temperament; he would like to make the tabernacles.—Meyer. By “tabernacles” are meant little huts made out of boughs of trees or shrubs.
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased] words that recall the baptism of Jesus; ch. Mat_3:17.
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 (4) Lord, it is good for us to be…
(4) Lord, it is good for us to be here.—For “Lord” St. Luke has “Master;” St. Mark (giving. probably, as elsewhere, the very word uttered) “Rabbi.” It is not easy to trace the thoughts that passed rapidly through the soul of the disciple in that moment of amazement. Afterwards—if we may judge from St. Mark’s account (Mar_9:6), “he knew not what to answer, for they were sore afraid,” or St. Luke’s (Luk_9:33) “not knowing what he said”—he could hardly explain them himself. We may venture to see in the very naïveté of the words a touch of originality and unexpectedness which, as far as it goes, attests the truthfulness of the narrative. What the words seem to imply is:—(1) An abounding joy at being thus brought into a glory which fulfilled the Apostle’s brightest hopes. It was, indeed, good to be thus carried, as it were, into Paradise, or the third heaven, and to hear there words which human lips might not reproduce. (2) His thoughts travelled back to the records of the Exodus, when the Lord talked with Moses in the tabernacle (Exo_33:7-10). What if like tabernacles could now be made for those three glorious forms, that all Israel might come and gaze, and hear and worship? Would not this be a better consummation than the shame and death at Jerusalem? Would it not meet the belief of the scribes and of the people that “Elias must first come”?
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 Then answered Peter. According to St. Luke, it was…
Then answered Peter. According to St. Luke, it was when the two Divine prophets were disappearing, or were being withdrawn from sight, that Peter spoke. Bewildered, overcome with joy and astonishment, not knowing what to say (Mark), yet in his excitement and ardour unable to keep silence, he cries to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; perhaps equivalent to to remain here. He includes Moses and Elias in his eager exclamation. Some commentators confine the reference to the three apostles, as if Peter meant that it was "good" that they were present in order to prepare the necessary habitations. This seems meagre and insufficient. Here were peace, seclusion, safety: might they not last? Was there any need to quit this hallowed spot at once, and lose the heavenly company with which it was blessed? If thou wilt. Even at this supreme moment, he will not set his will in opposition to his Master"s. Let us make (I will make, Revised Version) here three tabernacles (skhnav). Booths, of branches and grass, such as were used by travellers camping out, or such as the people erected when celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. He speaks of but three shelters, regarding only Jesus and the two prophets, and considering himself and his fellow disciples as mere servitors and attendants, for whom no such provision was needed. In his confusion he thinks that if these three remain, they must have some kind of habitation. Like a child, he would fain prolong indefinitely the joy of this great vision; and with a Jew"s hankering for a conquering Messiah and the permanence of the old covenant, he desired that from that secure mountain top the laws of the kingdom might be issued, and all men might acknowledge the Christ attended and supported by the great lawgiver and prophet. Was there not also a latent hope that thus might be deferred or laid aside that departure to Jerusalem, with its calamitous consequences? But this was not to be. No answer was vouchsafed to Peter"s thoughtless request.
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 4. Peter answered. The words were spoken as they…
4. Peter answered. The words were spoken as they departed (Luke 9:33). Lord, it is good for us to be here. It is too brief a converse, too transient a glimpse and foretaste of the heavenly glory. He would fain detain these august visitors. Let us make three tabernacles. Three booths of boughs, like those of the Feast of the Tabernacles. It seemed to him that the hour for the long-looked-for reign had come.
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.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 17:4 three shelters as memorials: Peter probably thought that…
17:4 three shelters as memorials: Peter probably thought that the Kingdom was about to be ushered in with full glory (cp. Acts 1:6), and he desired to memorialize the moment.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.