Bible Strands
Mark 9:13
But I tell you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wished, just as it is written about him.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the three disciples immediately after the transfiguration, responding to their question about whether Elijah must appear before the Messiah suffers. He identifies John the Baptist as the fulfillment of that prophetic role while noting the hostility he faced.
The words — The text emphasizes ἐλήλυθεν (elēluthen), meaning "has come," to confirm the arrival, and καί (kai), meaning "and," to connect that arrival with the suffering that followed.
The thread — The statement aligns with Matthew 17:12, which repeats the claim, and draws on Matthew 11:14 to identify the coming figure as John, while Matthew 14:3 records the historical imprisonment that fulfills the warning.
Why it lands — The passage first records that the prophet arrived and was mistreated as written, then requires readers to accept that divine plans routinely bypass human expectations and demand endurance rather than comfort.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.
Cross-references
- Matthew 14:3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
- Matthew 11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
- Matthew 17:12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”
- Mark 6:14 Now King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
- Luke 1:17 And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
- Luke 3:19 But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done,
- Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—