TRV
Translation
King James Version
Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
Berean Standard Bible
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He is calling Elijah.”
American Standard Version
And some of them that stood there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elijah.
World English Bible Messianic
Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
Geneva Bible (1599)
And some of them that stoode there, when they heard it, said, This man calleth Elias.
Young's Literal Translation
And certain of those standing there having heard, said--`Elijah he doth call;'
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In the KJVVerse 24,177 of 31,102
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Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers . Public domain.
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Hilary of Poitiers (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 367
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(de Trin. x. 50 &c.) From these words heretical spirits contend either that God the Word was entirely absorbed into the soul at the time it discharged the function of a soul in quickening the body; or that Christ could not have been born man, because the Divine Word dwelt in Him after the manner of a prophetical spirit. As though Jesus Christ was a man of ordinary soul and body, having His beginning then when He began to be man, and thus now deserted upon the withdrawal of the protection of God's word cries out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Or at least that the nature of the Word being transmuted into soul, Christ, who had depended in all things upon His Father's support, now deserted and left to death, mourns over this desertion, and pleads with Him departing. But amidst these impious and feeble opinions, the faith of the Church imbued with Apostolic teaching does not sever Christ that He should be considered as Son of God and not as Son of Man. The complaint of His being deserted is the weakness of the dying man; the promise of Paradise is the kingdom of the living God. You have Him complaining that He is left to death, and thus He is Man; you have Him as He is dying declaring that He reigns in Paradise; and thus He is God. Wonder not then at the humility of these words, when you know the form of a servant, and see the offence of the cross.
Vinegar is wine, which has turned sour either from neglect, or the fault of the vessel. Wine is the honour of immortality, or virtue. When this then had been turned sour in Adam, He took and drunk it at the hands of the Gentiles. It is offered to Him on a reed and a spunge; that is, He took from the bodies of the Gentiles immortality spoiled and corrupted, and transfused in Himself into a mixture of immortality that in us which was spoiled.
Or, He gave up the ghost with a loud voice, in grief that He was not carrying the sins of all men.
John Chrysostom (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 407
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. lxxxviii.) This darkness lasted three hours, whereas an eclipse is transient, and not enduring, as they know who have studied the matter.
Or otherwise; The wonder was in this, that the darkness was over the whole earth, which had never come to pass before, save only in Egypt what time the Passover was celebrated; for the things done then were a type of these. And consider the time when this is done; at mid-day, while over the whole world it was day, that all the dwellers on the earth might perceive it. This is the sign He promised to them that asked Him, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign, and there shall no sign be given it save the sign of Jonas the Prophet, (Matt. 12:39.) alluding to His cross and resurrection. And it was a much greater marvel that this should come to pass when He was fastened to the cross, than when He was walking at large on the earth. Surely here was enough to convert them, not by the greatness of the miracle alone, but because it was done not till after all these instances of their frenzy, when their passion was past, when they had uttered all that they would, and were satiated with taunts and gibes. But how did they not all marvel and conclude Him to be God? Because the human race was at that time plunged in exceeding sluggishness and vice, and this wonder was but one, and quickly past away, and none cared to search out its cause, or perhaps they attributed it to eclipse, or some other physical consequence. And on this account He shortly afterwards lifts up His voice to show that He yet lives, and Himself wrought this miracle; And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, &c.
He uttered this word of prophecy, that He might bear witness to the very last hour to the Old Testament, and that they might see that He honours the Father, and is not against God. And therefore too, He used the Hebrew tongue, that what He said might be intelligible to them.
Also for this reason He cried out with a loud voice to show that this is done by His own power. For by crying out with a loud voice when dying, He showed incontestably that He was the true God; because a man in dying can scarcely utter even a feeble sound.
John ChrysostomAD 407
Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 88
This is the sign which before He had promised to give them when they asked it, saying, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas;" meaning His cross, and His death, His burial, and His resurrection. And again, declaring in another way the virtue of the cross, He said, "When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He." And what He saith is to this purport: "When ye have crucified me, and think ye have overcome me, then, above all, shall ye know my might."
For after the crucifixion, the city was destroyed, and the Jewish state came to an end, they fell away from their polity and their freedom, the gospel flourished, the word was spread abroad to the ends of the world; both sea and land, both the inhabited earth and the desert perpetually proclaim its power. These things then He meaneth, and those which took place at the very time of the crucifixion. For indeed it was much more marvellous that these things should be done, when He was nailed to the cross, than when He was walking on earth. And not in this respect only was the wonder, but because from heaven also was that done which they had sought, and it was over all the world, which had never before happened, but in Egypt only, when the passover was to be fulfilled. For indeed those events were a type of these.
And observe when it took place. At midday, that all that dwell on the earth may know it, when it was day all over the world; which was enough to convert them, not by the greatness of the miracle only, but also by its taking place in due season. For after all their insulting, and their lawless derision, this is done, when they had let go their anger, when they had ceased mocking, when they were satiated with their jeerings, and had spoken all that they were minded; then He shows the darkness, in order that at least so (having vented their anger) they may profit by the miracle. For this was more marvellous than to come down from the cross, that being on the cross He should work these things. For whether they thought He Himself had done it, they ought to have believed and to have feared; or whether not He, but the Father, yet thereby ought they to have been moved to compunction, for that darkness was a token of His anger at their crime. For that it was not an eclipse, but both wrath and indignation, is not hence alone manifest, but also by the time, for it continued three hours, but an eclipse takes place in one moment of time, and they know it, who have seen this; and indeed it hath taken place even in our generation.
And how, you may say, did not all marvel, and account Him to be God? Because the race of man was then held in a state of great carelessness and vice. And this miracle was but one, and when it had taken place, immediately passed away; and no one was concerned to inquire into the cause of it, and great was the prejudice and the habit of ungodliness. And they knew not what was the cause of that which took place, and they thought perhaps this happened so, in the way of an eclipse or some natural effect. And why dost thou marvel about them that are without, that knew nothing, neither inquired by reason of great indifference, when even those that were in Judaea itself, after so many miracles, yet continued using Him despitefully, although He plainly showed them that He Himself wrought this thing.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Matthew
(Verse 47.) But some of those standing there, when they heard it, said: This man is calling Elijah. Not all, but some whom I believe were Roman soldiers, not understanding the nature of the Hebrew language, but from what he said: Eli, Eli, thinking that he was calling Elijah. But if we want to understand the Jews who said this, they do this in their usual way, to dishonor the Lord of weakness, who invokes the aid of Elijah.
Jerome (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 420
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
He employed the beginning of the twenty-first Psalm. (Ps. 22:1. Vulg.) That clause in the middle of the verse, Look upon me, is superfluous; for the Hebrew has only 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,' that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It is impiety therefore to think that this Psalm was spoken in the character of David or Esther or Mardocheus, when passages taken out of it by the Evangelist are understood of the Saviour; as, They parted my garments among them, and, They pierced my hands.
It follows, Some of them that stood by, &c.; some, not all; whom I suppose to have been Roman soldiers, ignorant of Hebrew, but from the words Eli, Eli, thought that He called upon Elias. But if we prefer to suppose them Jews, they do it after their usual manner, that they may accuse the Lord of weakness in thus invoking Elias.
It was a mark of Divine power in Him thus to dismiss the Spirit as Himself had said, No man can take my life from me, but I lay it down and take it again. (John 10:18.) For by the ghost in this place we understand the soul; so called either because it is that which makes the body quick or spiritual, or because the substance of the soul itself is spirit, according to that which is written, Thou takest away their breath, and they die. (Ps. 104:29.)
Vigilius of Thapsus (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 484
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Vigil. cont. Felicianum. 14.) Far be from the faithful any suspicion that Christ experienced our death in such sort that life (as far as it can) ceased to live. Had this been so, how could aught have been said to live during that three days, if the Fountain of Life itself was dried up? Therefore Christ's Godhead experienced death through its partaking of humanity or of human feeling, which it had voluntarily taken on it; but it lost not the properties of its nature by which it gives life to all things. For when we die, without doubt the loss of life by the body is not the destruction of the soul, but the soul quitting the body loses not its own properties, but only lets go what it had quickened, and as far as in it lays produces the death of somewhat else, but itself defies death. To speak now of the Saviour's soul; it might depart without being itself destroyed from His body for this three days' space, even by the common laws of death, and without taking into account the indwelling Godhead, and His singular righteousness. For I believe that the Son of God died not in punishment of unrighteousness which He had not at all, but according to the law of that nature which He took upon Him for the redemption of the human race.
Pseudo-Chrysostom (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 500
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Pseudo Chrys. in Hom. de Cruce et Latr. ubi sup.) Creation could not bear the outrage offered to the Creator; whence the sun withdrew his beams, that he might not look upon the crime of these impious men.
(Hom. vi. in Pass. [vol. iii. p. 733.]) Thus the Source of living water is made to drink vinegar, the Giver of honey is fed with gall; Forgiveness is scourged, Acquittance is condemned, Majesty is mocked, Virtue ridiculed, the Bestower of showers is repaid with spitting.
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 532
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(ad Polycarp. Ep. 7.) When we were together at Heliopolis, we both observed such an interference of the moon with the sun quite unexpectedly, for it was not the season of their conjunction; and then from the ninth hour until evening, beyond the power of nature, continuing in a direct line between us and the sun. And this obscuration we saw begin from the east, and so pass to the extreme of the sun's orb, and again return back the same way, being thus the very reverse of an ordinary eclipse.
Remigius of Rheims (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 533
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Or otherwise; The Jews as degenerating from the wine of the Patriarchs and Prophets were vinegar; they had deceitful hearts, like to the winding holes and hollows in spunge. By the reed, Sacred Scripture is denoted, which was fulfilled in this action; for as we call that which the tongue utters, the Hebrew tongue, or the Greek tongue, for example; so the writing, or letters which the seed produces, we may call a reed.
John Damascene (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 749
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(de Fid. Orth. iii. 27.) Although He died as man, and His holy soul was separated from His unstained body, yet His Godhead remained inseparate from either body or soul. Yet was not the one Person divided into two; for as both body and soul had from the beginning an existence in the Person of the Word, so also had they in death. For neither soul nor body had ever a Person of their own, besides the Person of the Word.
Rabanus Maurus (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 856
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Or, The Saviour said this as bearing about with Him our feelings, who when placed in dangers think ourselves forsaken by God. Human nature was forsaken by God because of its sins, and the Son of God becoming our Advocate laments the misery of those whose guilt He took upon Himf; there in showing how they who sin ought to mourn, when He who never sinned did thus mourn.
The soldiers misunderstanding the sound of the Lord's words, foolishly looked for the coming of Elias. But God, whom the Saviour thus invoked in the Hebrew tongue, He had ever inseparably with Him.
Glossa Ordinaria (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 1274
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(non occ.) God is said to have forsaken Him in death because He exposed Him to the power of His persecutors; He withdrew His protection, but did not break the union.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Matthew 27:47 captures a poignant moment during Jesus' crucifixion where some onlookers, hearing His cry of dereliction, tragically misunderstand it as a call for the prophet Elijah. This verse highlights the profound spiritual and linguistic disconnect between Jesus' ultimate sacrifice and the limited comprehension, or even deliberate mockery, of those witnessing His final agony on the cross. It underscores the atmosphere of misunderstanding and rejection surrounding the Messiah's death.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is immediately preceded by Jesus' profound cry from the cross, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" ("My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?") as recorded in Matthew 27:46. This cry, likely uttered in Aramaic, is the direct catalyst for the reaction described in verse 47. The scene is set on Golgotha, amidst the jeering crowds, Roman soldiers, and Jewish leaders who have been mocking Jesus throughout His crucifixion (e.g., Matthew 27:39-44). The misunderstanding serves to intensify the dramatic irony and the isolation of Jesus in His final moments.
Historical & Cultural Context: First-century Judea was a melting pot of languages, with Aramaic being the common spoken language among Jews, while Greek was the lingua franca of the Roman Empire and widely understood. Hebrew was primarily the language of scripture and religious discourse. Jesus' cry "Eli, Eli" (Aramaic for "My God, My God") bore a phonetic resemblance to "Elias" (the Greek form of the Hebrew prophet Elijah). Jewish eschatological expectations, rooted in passages like Malachi 4:5, widely anticipated Elijah's return before the coming of the Messiah or the Day of the Lord. Thus, some in the crowd, whether genuinely mistaken or intentionally mocking, interpreted Jesus' cry through this lens of prophetic expectation, perhaps hoping for a miraculous intervention or further ridiculing His claims to be the Messiah.
Key Themes: Matthew 27:47 contributes significantly to several key themes within the broader narrative of Jesus' passion and the Gospel of Matthew. The most prominent is the profound misunderstanding of Jesus' identity and mission, a theme present throughout His ministry, where His words and actions were often misconstrued by both disciples and opponents (e.g., Matthew 16:21-23). This verse also emphasizes the rejection and mockery Jesus endured, culminating in His ultimate sacrifice, fulfilling prophecies of a suffering servant (e.g., Isaiah 53:3). Furthermore, it subtly touches upon Jewish messianic expectations, particularly the role of Elijah, highlighting how these expectations were often misapplied or distorted in relation to Jesus, the true Messiah, who did not conform to their preconceived notions of a conquering king but rather a suffering servant as described in Isaiah 53.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Matthew 27:47 powerfully employs Dramatic Irony, where the audience (readers) understands Jesus' profound cry of dereliction to God the Father, while the characters within the narrative (the onlookers) tragically misunderstand it as a call for Elijah. This creates a stark Contrast between Jesus' ultimate spiritual agony and the crowd's superficial, perhaps even mocking, interpretation. The phonetic similarity between "Eli" and "Elias" functions as a form of Paronomasia (a play on words), which facilitates the misunderstanding, highlighting the linguistic barrier that contributes to the theological misapprehension. This misinterpretation also serves as a subtle Foreshadowing of the ongoing rejection of Jesus' true identity by many, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, underscoring the spiritual blindness that prevents recognition of the Messiah.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This verse profoundly illustrates the tragic human capacity for misunderstanding divine truth, especially when filtered through preconceived notions or a lack of spiritual discernment. Jesus' cry was a deep theological statement of His substitutionary atonement, bearing the weight of humanity's sin and experiencing separation from the Father on the cross. Yet, those who heard Him reduced this moment of cosmic significance to a mere invocation of a prophet, completely missing the profound spiritual depth and redemptive purpose of His suffering. This highlights the chasm between human expectation and God's surprising, often counter-intuitive, plan of salvation.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Matthew 27:47 serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of diligent and humble engagement with God's Word, seeking to understand its true meaning rather than imposing our own expectations or misinterpretations upon it. Just as Jesus faced profound misunderstanding even in His deepest agony, believers may also encounter situations where their words, intentions, or faith are misconstrued or mocked by the world. This verse encourages us to cultivate spiritual discernment, to listen not just with our ears but with our hearts, and to persevere in truth even when misunderstood. It deepens our appreciation for the immense and multifaceted suffering of Christ, which included not only physical torment but also the profound emotional and spiritual isolation of being rejected and ridiculed by the very people He came to save. His willingness to endure such indignity for our sake is a testament to His immeasurable love and commitment to our salvation.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did the onlookers confuse "Eli" with "Elias"?
Answer: The confusion stems from a phonetic similarity between Jesus' Aramaic cry "Eli, Eli" (meaning "My God, My God") and the Greek name for the prophet Elijah, "Elias." While Jesus was directly addressing God the Father, those who heard Him, particularly those less familiar with Aramaic or more inclined to mockery, mistook His anguished cry for an invocation of the prophet Elijah, whose return was a significant expectation in Jewish eschatology (as seen in Malachi 4:5).
What was the significance of the crowd thinking Jesus was calling for Elijah?
Answer: The Jewish people held a strong expectation, based on prophetic tradition, that Elijah would return before the coming of the Messiah or the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. When some in the crowd heard "Elias," they might have genuinely wondered if Jesus was calling for this anticipated prophet to rescue Him or validate His claims. Alternatively, it could have been a further act of mockery, challenging Jesus to prove His messianic claims by summoning a miraculous deliverer like Elijah, thereby fulfilling their own distorted expectations of what the Messiah should be (compare Matthew 16:13-14).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Matthew 27:47, though portraying a moment of profound misunderstanding, ultimately points to the Christ-centered fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. Jesus' cry, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (from Matthew 27:46), was not a desperate plea for Elijah's intervention, but the ultimate expression of His substitutionary atonement. In that moment, Jesus, the sinless Son of God, truly became sin for us, experiencing the divine abandonment that our sins deserved, so that we might never be forsaken (as articulated in 2 Corinthians 5:21). The crowd's mistaken call for Elijah, while ironic, underscores the spiritual blindness that prevented many from recognizing the true Messiah. Unlike Elijah, who was taken up to heaven (as recounted in 2 Kings 2:11), Jesus' path was one of suffering and death, not miraculous escape, fulfilling the prophecies of a suffering servant (see Isaiah 53:4-6). His cry was the culmination of His mission to reconcile humanity to God, a mission that required Him to bear the full weight of sin and separation, ultimately triumphing over death through His resurrection (as celebrated in Romans 4:25). Thus, even in their misunderstanding, the onlookers inadvertently highlighted the unique, unparalleled nature of Jesus' sacrifice, far surpassing any prophetic intervention.