Bible Strands
Matthew 17:13
Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to His disciples immediately after declaring that the Son of Man will suffer as the coming Elijah was mistreated. The moment occurs right before they descend from the mountain to meet a crowd and a desperate petitioner.
The words — συνῆκαν (sunēkan) marks a completed past action of grasping the meaning behind Jesus’ prior statement. The text records this cognitive shift explicitly before any prophetic framework is applied.
The thread — The identification of John as the promised Elijah is established in Matthew 11:14, where Jesus directly names his role. The same interpretive key resurfaces in the passion predictions that follow this mountain encounter.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to acknowledge that spiritual clarity often arrives only after an event has concluded. It demands tracing Jesus’ words back to their intended referent rather than projecting external meanings onto the text.
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
Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
Cross-references
- Matthew 11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.