Ἰωάννην 1:21

Greek Modern Translation

Και ηρωτησαν αυτον· Τι λοιπον; Ηλιας εισαι συ; και λεγει, δεν ειμαι. Ο προφητης εισαι συ; και απεκριθη, Ουχι.

Parallel Translations

SBL Greek New Testament (2010)
καὶ ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· Τί οὖν; ⸂σὺ Ἠλίας εἶ⸃; καὶ λέγει· Οὐκ εἰμί. Ὁ προφήτης εἶ σύ; καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Οὔ.

Tischendorf 8th Edition
καὶ ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· τί οὖν; Ἡλείας εἶ; λέγει· οὐκ εἰμί. ὁ προφήτης εἶ σύ; καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· οὔ.

Textus Receptus (1550/1894)
και ηρωτησαν αυτον τι ουν ηλιας ει συ και λεγει ουκ ειμι ο προφητης ει συ και απεκριθη ου

Westcott/Hort UBS4 (1881)
και ηρωτησαν αυτον τι ουν συ ηλιας ει και λεγει ουκ ειμι ο προφητης ει συ και απεκριθη ου

Byzantine/Majority Text
και ηρωτησαν αυτον τι ουν ηλιας ει συ και λεγει ουκ ειμι ο προφητης ει συ και απεκριθη ου

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Art thou Elias: Malachi 4:5, Matthew 11:14, Matthew 17:10-12, Luke 1:17

Art thou that: or, Art thou a, John 1:25, John 7:40, Deuteronomy 18:15-18, Matthew 11:9-11, Matthew 16:14

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 17:1 - Elijah Mark 6:15 - it is Elias Mark 8:28 - Elias Luke 7:16 - a great Luke 9:8 - General Luke 9:19 - John John 6:14 - This John 7:39 - Of 2 Corinthians 4:5 - we

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they asked him, what then? art thou Elias?.... Elijah, the prophet; the Tishbite, as Nonnus in his paraphrase expresses it; who was translated, soul and body, to heaven: the Jews had a notion that that prophet would come in person a little before the coming of the Messiah; :- wherefore these messengers inquire, that since he had so fully satisfied them that he was not the Messiah, that he would as ingenuously answer to this question, if he was Elias, or not:

and he saith, I am not; that is, he was not Elijah the prophet that lived in Ahab's time, and was called the Tishbite; for John's answer is to the intention of their question, and their own meaning in it, and is no contradiction to what Christ says of him, Matthew 11:14 that he was the Elias that was to come; for he was the person meant by him in Malachi 4:5 though not in the sense the Jews understood it; nor is it any contradiction to what the angel said to Zacharias, Luke 1:17 for he does not say that John should come in the body, but in the power and spirit of Elias; Luke 1:17- :.

Art thou that prophet? Jeremiah, whom some of the Jews t have thought to be the prophet Moses spoke of, in Deuteronomy 18:15 and expected that he would appear about the times of the Messiah; see Matthew 16:14 or any one of the ancient prophets risen from the dead, which they also had a notion of, Luke 9:8 or, as it may be rendered, "art thou a prophet?" for prophecy had long ceased with them:

and he answered, no; he was not Jeremiah, nor any one of the old prophets risen from the dead, nor a prophet in the sense they meant: he was not like one of the prophets of the Old Testament; he was a prophet, and more than a prophet, as Christ says, Matthew 11:9 yet not such a prophet as they were; his prophesying lay not so much in predicting future events, as in pointing out Christ, and preaching the doctrine of the remission of sins by him.

t Baal Hatturim in Deut. xviii. 15. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 127. 4. & 143. 4. Siphre in Jarchi in Jer. i. 5.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Art thou Elias? - This is the Greek way of writing Elijah. The Jews expected that Elijah would appear before the Messiah came. See the notes at Matthew 11:14. They supposed that it would be the real Elijah returned from heaven. In this sense John denied that he was Elijah; but he did not deny that he was the Elias or Elijah which the prophet intended Matthew 3:3, for he immediately proceeds to state John 1:23 that he was sent, as it was predicted that Elijah would be, to prepare the way of the Lord; so that, while he corrected their false notions about Elijah, he so clearly stated to them his true character that they might understand that he was really the one predicted as Elijah.

That prophet - It is possible that the Jews supposed that not only “Elijah” would reappear before the coming of the Messiah, but also “Jeremiah.” See the notes at Matthew 16:14. Some have supposed, however, that this question has reference to the prediction of Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 1:21. Art thou Elias? — The scribes themselves had taught that Elijah was to come before the Messiah. See Matthew 17:10; and this belief of theirs they supported by a literal construction of Malachi 4:5.

Art thou that prophet? — the prophet spoken of by Moses, Deuteronomy 18:15, Deuteronomy 18:18. This text they had also misunderstood: for the prophet or teacher promised by Moses was no other than the Messiah himself. See Acts 3:22. But the Jews had a tradition that Jeremiah was to return to life, and restore the pot of manna, the ark of the covenant, c., which he had hidden that the Babylonians might not get them. Besides this, they had a general expectation that all the prophets should come to life in the days of the Messiah.

I am not. — I am not the prophet which you expect, nor Elijah: though he was the Elijah that was to come for in the spirit and power of that eminent prophet he came, proclaiming the necessity of reformation in Israel. See Matthew 11:14; Matthew 17:10-13.