Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
Parallel Translations
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Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
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Some of them that stode there when they herde that sayde: This man calleth for Helyas.
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And some of them that stoode there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elias.
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 (3)
Passages linked to Matthew 27:47 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Mark 15:35-36 Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down.”
- Matthew 11:14 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 (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain They allude to Elijah’s name, not for want of…
They allude to Elijah’s name, not for want of understanding the tongue, but of a profane impudence and sauciness, and he repeated these words, to the end that this better harping upon the name might be understood.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 47 Some of them that stood there, when they…
47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
Ver. 47. This man calleth for Elias] A malicious mistake, a devilish sarcasm. While darkness was upon them they were over awed and hushed; their mouths were haltered (as horses must be, saith the psalmist, Psa 32:9, as the sea was by our Saviour, Mar 4:39, πεφιμωσο), and held in with bit and bridle lest they come near unto thee. But no sooner was it light again but they are at their old trade again, deriding our Saviour and depraving his words, as if, forsaken of his hope in God, he had fled to Elias for help. So when Cranmer, standing at the stake, cried out often, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, a Spanish monk that heard him ran to a nobleman there present, and tells him that those were the words of one that died in great despair.
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 And straightway one of them ran and took a…
And straightway one of them ran and took a sponge,.... Which was not far from the cross, where a vessel full of vinegar was set, Joh 19:29,
and filled it with vinegar; dipping it into it, it sucked it up. Some of these sponges had leathern handles to them. (r).
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And put it on a reed; a stalk of hyssop; See Gill on Joh 19:29,
and gave him to drink; not to revive his spirits, or hasten his death, as some have thought, but in contempt of him, and to mock him, he having signified that he was athirst,
(r) Misn. Sabbat, c. 21. sect. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 47. This man calleth for Elias.] Probably these…
Verse 47. This man calleth for Elias.] Probably these were Hellenistic Jews, who did not fully understand the meaning of our Lord's words. Elijah was daily expected to appear as the forerunner of the Messiah, whose arrival, under the character of a mighty prince, was generally supposed to be at hand throughout the east. See Mal 4:5; Matt 2:2-4; Matt 17:10-12.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 27:47-49. Some said, This man calleth for Elias…
Mat 27:47-49. Some said, This man calleth for Elias — These must have been some of the strangers, of whom there was always a great concourse at the passover, who did not understand the dialect then spoken in Jerusalem. And one of them ran, &c. — Jesus knowing that he had now accomplished every thing required by God of the Messiah, and foretold by the prophets, excepting that circumstance of his sufferings, which was predicted Psa 69:21, In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, in order to give occasion to the accomplishment of this like wise, he said aloud, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, (Joh 19:28.) And one took a sponge and filled it with vinegar — It is well known, that vinegar and water (which mixture was called posca) was the common drink of the Roman soldiers, for which purpose they usually carried vinegar with them in vessels when on duty. Perhaps, therefore, this vinegar was set here for their use, or for that of the crucified persons, whose torture would naturally make them thirsty. And put it on a reed — They put the sponge, as John tells us, upon hyssop, that is, a stalk of hyssop, called by the other evangelists καλαμος, which signifies not only a reed, but the stalk of any plant. For that hyssop was a shrub, appears from 1Ki 4:33, where it is reckoned among the trees. This office they performed to Jesus, not so much from pity, as to preserve him alive, in the hopes of seeing the miracle of Elijah’s descent from heaven, as appears from the next verse.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain This man calleth for Elias - This was done…
This man calleth for Elias - This was done purposely to deride him and his pretensions to be the Messiah. The words “Eli, Eli,” they might easily pretend that they understood to mean Elias, or so pervert them. The taunt would be more cutting, because it was the universal belief of the Jews, as well as the doctrine of Christ, that “Elias” would come before the Messiah. They derided him now, as calling upon “Elias” when God would not help him; still keeping up the pretensions to being the Messiah, and invoking “Elijah” to come from the dead to aid him. Or it is possible that this might have been said by some bystanders who did not understand the language in which he spoke, or who might not have been near enough to hear him distinctly.
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 This man calleth for Elias. St. Jerome thinks these…
This man calleth for Elias. St. Jerome thinks these might be some of the Roman soldiers, who understood not Syriac, but who had heard of the prophet Elias. (Witham) --- But if we understand it of the Jews, who could not possibly be ignorant of this word, we must suppose it was merely a stratagem of theirs, who wishing still to shew the weakness of our Redeemer, said that he called Elias to his aid. (St. Jerome) --- The soldiers thinking that he called for Elias, wished to hinder any one offering vinegar, lest it should hasten his death, and prevent Elias from coming to assist him; which, from the darkness and other signs, they might think probable. (St. Augustine) --- Wine and vinegar, on account of their penetrating quality, were thought to hasten death. We read in Plutarch, that wine was given to Mark Anthony, when he had stabbed himself, that he might die the sooner. (Jansenius)
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 47. This man calleth for Elias — They confound…
47. This man calleth for Elias — They confound the word Eli with Elias. We cannot think that this was a mockery.
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 47. This man calleth for Elias] This was probably…
47. This man calleth for Elias] This was probably spoken in pure mockery, not in a real belief that Jesus expected the personal reappearance of Elijah.
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 (47) This man calleth for Elias.—There is no ground…
(47) This man calleth for Elias.—There is no ground for looking on this as a wilful, derisive misinterpretation. The words may have been imperfectly understood, or some of those who listened may have been Hellenistic Jews. The dominant expectation of the coming of Elijah (see Notes on Mat_16:14; Mat_17:10) would predispose men to fasten on the similarity of sound, and the strange unearthly darkness would intensify the feeling that looked for a supernatural manifestation of His presence.
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 Some of them that stood there. These could not…
Some of them that stood there. These could not have been the Roman soldiers, for they would not have understood the Saviour"s language, and could have known nothing about Elias. Edersheim supposes that the guards were provincial soldiers, and not necessarily of Latin extraction. At any rate, the speakers are Jews standing near enough to the cross to catch more or less the words uttered by Jesus. This man (outov , he, pointing at him) calleth for Elias. Whether they wilfully misinterpreted the half-heard cry, "Eli, Eli!" or whether they really misunderstood it, is an undecided question. In the first ease, we must suppose that they spoke in cruel mockery the last of the brutal insults vented on the meek Sufferer. He cannot save himself; he appeals to the old prophet to come to rescue him; was there ever such presumption? There are two considerations which militate against this supposition. The time of ribaldry and abuse is now past; the supernatural darkness has had a calming and terrifying effect; and there is no spirit of mockery left in the awed bystanders. Besides this, it is not likely that Jews, who with all their errors and vices paid an outward respect to holy things, would have presumed to make a play on the sacred name of God. Therefore it is no more reasonable to hold that, misunderstanding Christ"s words, they spoke seriously, with some vague, superstitious idea that Elijah might appear at this crisis, and rescue the Sufferer (see ver. 49).
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 47. Some … said, He calleth of Elias. The…
47. Some … said, He calleth of Elias. The resemblance between the word “Eli” and the name Elijah is very close in the original. There is an allusion to the belief that Elijah would come before the Messiah.
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 27:47 It was widely believed that Elijah would return…
27:47 It was widely believed that Elijah would return before the day of the Lord (11:14-15; 17:10-13; Mal 4:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.