From: Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11
Elijah
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Commentary:
48:1-16. This passage is a summary of the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
The author highlights Elijah’s mission to turn the heart of the father to his sons, to
placate God’s wrath (v. 10). In the New Testament these same words are applied
to John the Baptist, with reference to his mission of preparing the way of the Lord
(Lk 1:17; cf. Mal 4:5-6). Thanks to the preaching of those prophets, Sirach reminds
us, a remnant of the people remained faithful (v. 16), and the continuation of the
history of salvation was assured.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Matthew 17:9a, 10-13
The Transfiguration (Continuation)
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Commentary:
10-13. Malachi 4:5 (3:23 in the Hebrew) speaks of the coming of Elijah the pro-
phet before “the great and terrible day of the Lord”, the Judgment Day. When
Jesus says that Elijah has already come, He is referring to St. John the Baptist,
whose mission it was to prepare the way for the First Coming of the Lord, the
same as Elijah will have to do prior to His last coming. The scribes failed to
grasp the meaning of the prophecy of Malachi; they thought it referred simply
to the coming of the Messiah, the First Coming of Christ.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.